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Four Mile Brewery & Harvest Ale ABV: 5.0%

Four Mile Brewing has taken an interesting angle on the Farm to Pint beers that our local brewers have engineered for our Buffalo Beer Week enjoyment. While many of their counterparts have designed delicious IPAs or wild sours, Gregg, Nick, Jaye and Craig took a heavy load of roasted malts from New York Craft Malt and turned them into one of the area’s most interesting amber ales. The toasty color and flavor of the beer are perfect for the coming season—and even this week, as skies gray and temperatures dip. Caramel dances across your tongue with each sip, but the beer also has a little bite, which is to say the brewers at Four Mile have achieved a great balance. As we head into autumn, our homes will be filled with the warmth from our ovens, and the smells of the same, and the spice of this beer will pair fantastically with an apple pie or banana bread. If the day is unseasonably warm and you find yourself grilling, the beer will go great with some pulled chicken and a nice slab of cheddar. If you happen by Four Mile’s pre-prohibition brewery in Olean, pair the beer with their Potato Skins or their Four Mile sandwich. Of course, you could just enjoy the beer with the company of some friends and a blazing fall pyre, which I highly recommend.




Otter Creek - Couch Surfer
Style: Oatmeal Stout
ABV: 5.4%

There are brief moments that occur on hot, humid summer days that every native Buffalonian should know...the desire for crisp fall air and the smell of sweet smoke from an outdoor fire. It happens just the same in the middle of each season, the longing for the best part the coming one. Fall is my favorite. It’s the weather that makes beer better. September weekends are filled as a last hurrah to the brief blip we call Summer and the weekdays in between are busy enough to forget what the hell even happened. I reach for stouts and porters just the same as jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. I started early this year with Otter Creek Couch Surfer showing up in their new seasonal variety pack. Their focus on hop forward beer since the “scrap everything, let’s start new” a couple years ago has launched them to the forefront of East Coast Brewery greats. A most welcome addition, this superb Oatmeal Stout is a breakaway from the hop heavy mindset in a rich, roasty and smooth offering. For those who remember Wolaver’s excellent Oatmeal Sout, you’ll be instantly familiar. This is a stout that does not weigh on your ability to have more than one and be sane...leave that to the double IPAs. Get out your sleeves and long pants, it’s time to chop some wood.

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