9 Upstate New York Breweries to Try on a Road Trip

Genesee Brew House

Genesee is one of the most famous breweries in New York, and some would consider this one responsible for the popularity of Cream Ale in the US to begin with. This brewery was founded in 1878, and rose in popularity in 1960 after the addition of the Cream Ale- their answer to popular European Pilsners and Lagers.

Today the brewery focuses heavily on their core line, but the brewhouse also features an array of European style brews like Bock, Kolsch, and Oktoberfest, and other more unique creations to modernize to the country's changing beer palate.

Whether you visit for a Cream Ale or a more modern hazy New England IPA, a visit to the brewhouse is best served with an order of pretzels and a view of High Falls just across the way. No other brewery in this guide can feature a waterfall with your brew!

Genesse Brew House is located at 25 Cataract St in Rochester, NY.

Lunkenheimer Craft Brewing

Lunkenheimer is an award-winning brewery in Weedsport, NY, with traditional brews like American IPA, Cream Ale, and a sweet Milk Stout as well as European favorites like AltBier, Scottish Export, Kolsch, and more.

The brewery has won awards for its Buster (Kolsch) where it won Bronze in the 2017 Commonwealth Cup and silver in the 2018 Denver International Beer Competition as well as the Toasted Coconut Porter which won bronze in the 2019 NYS Craft Brewers Competition.

The brewery is in process of an expansion into a new location across the street from their facility, and we're looking forward to seeing what award winner they come out with next!

Lunkenheimer Craft Brewing is located at 8920 N Seneca St in Weedsport, NY. 

Prison City Brewery

You don't have to be a resident of Auburn's maximum security prison to enjoy a beer from Prison City, and we're quite happy this is the case.

This brewery features an array of unique brews with prison-style names like the Bleek Worden (an award-winning beer made with Belgian yeast), the Nope on a Rope IPA (an IPA with Kolsch yeast and several hops varieties), Old Gaol (an Imperial Stout), The Great Escape (brewed with Chardonnay grape juice), KCBC Solitary Confinement (a dark sour), and more. As the draft list here is quite long, you'll definitely be wanting to get a flight (or two) to try them all!

When visiting Prison City Brewery, be sure to go with an appetite as the brewery also features a rather delicious food menu as well.

Prison City Brewery is located at 28 State Street in Auburn, NY.

Summerhill Brewing

Summerhill Brewing is one of those brewery success stories we love to hear about. It started in the head brewer's garage, where patrons would swing by, park on their street, and have a beer on weekends (hooray no zoning restrictions!). 

Since then Summerhill has expanded to a gorgeous barn on a hilltop with stunning views of the countryside, ample seating, a large production facility, and much more planned for the future for events, growing grains/hops, and more.

In being a smaller brewery that just underwent expansion, most of the beer styles here range among the traditional, with an interesting naming structure like Farmer's Tan (an American Ale), Summer Hillbilly (a fruited wheat series), Naked Neighbor (an Amber named for a nudist colony nearby), and more.

Sometimes simple, easy drinking beers with a great view is sometimes all you need, but I expect this one to have some more fun with the styles as they get the new brewery up to full capacity.

Summerhill Brewing is located at 14408 NY-90 in Summerhill, NY.

Heritage Hill Brewhouse

Many breweries in New York have opened in recent years due to legislation that makes it easier to operate as long as they use a certain percentage of New York grains. Heritage Hill takes this one step further and grows almost all of their grains themselves!

This brewery is settled on a hilltop in Pompey, NY, just outside of Syracuse and features delicious brews, farm grown and raised foods, stunning views, and even a glimpse of Syracuse in the far distance.

The beer style here may err on the traditional side of things, but when made with local grains made, quite literally, on the farm, you end up with some of the finest iterations of the styles you'll ever have. For Hefeweizen fans, be sure to try the Lot 47- their 100% New York made Hefeweizen that tastes exactly like its German counterparts- a real treat (and feat) for a US brewery!

Heritage Hill Brewhouse is located at 3149 Sweet Road in Pompey, NY.

Willow Rock Brewing Company

Willow Rock Brewing Company is located just outside of Syracuse proper and features a mix of conventional brews as well as unique creations like Kakaw (a fruit beer made with cacao fruit juice), Sugar Smacks (a brown ale made after the breakfast cereal), Membeer Berries (a fruit hefeweizen), and more.

During my visit most of the unusual creations were only available in cans, so my flight included some of the more traditional brews that were clean iterations for their style, but did not pop as much as I suspect some of the unique options do. As such, I'm going to have to re-visit this one shortly for more!

Willow Rock Brewing Company is located at 115 Game Street in Syracuse.

Middle Ages Brewing Company

Middle Ages is one of the oldest breweries in Syracuse (established 1995), and as such has a lot to show for its long history.

If variety is what you seek, Middle Ages is the place to be. This brewery has nearly 20 drafts with a spread of New England IPAs, Milkshake IPAs, fruit beer and wheats, porters and stouts, other pale ales, and more.

Whether you want to go conventional or unusual (the strawberry milkshake IPA with lactose and Imperial Wheat were personal favorites), this one will have something to please just about everyone.

Middle Ages Brewing Company is located at 120 Wilkinson Street in Syracuse.

Talking Cursive Brewing Company

Talking Cursive Brewing was one of those spots that surprised me during my exploration of breweries in New York. While many of the beers here follow the typical molds of Pilsner, Extra Special Bitter, IPAs, and more, the brewery also has some rather unique takes on these styles with an Orange Cream Pale Ale, a brown ale with sweet potato, and rye IPAs gracing the menu as well.

Normally when a brewery just does the standards well, we call them clean, easy drinking beers. There is nothing wrong with that, and we mean it as a sign of respect. Talking Cursive is on the high end of this thought as, apart from a few variations mentioned above, the styles are simply exceptional iterations of popular brews. The fact that you can get them within a short walk of downtown Syracuse and we have a win in our books!

Talking Cursive Brewing Company is located at 301 Erie Blvd in Syracuse.

Liquid State Brewing

Liquid State Brewing is the kind of brewery any college town needs. A large space in the heart of town, a draft list of nearly 20 beers, and a variety of delicious brews ranging from IPA to German, Belgian, fruited sour, and more- perfect for when your group's taste is varied.

While we could go into great detail with all of these, it is really the variety that had us hooked on Liquid State and we made two trips in a single weekend in order to sample the entire list. Brews here can come in pre-made flights, or you can get half or full pours of nearly all of the options (high ABV beer is only available as a 13 oz pour, however).

Angie gravitated towards the IPA here as they had complex hop profiles and settled on the DIPAs which were more nuanced than overly juicy or sweet while I had my fill of the Belgian Tripel which would hold up to many producers in the country itself. Delightful!

Liquid State Brewing is located at 620 W Green Street in Ithaca.

More Upstate New York Breweries Coming Soon!

We are frequent travelers in New York and planning on visiting more breweries soon. If your favorite hasn't made this list, it means we haven't visited yet, but would love to hear where to go next in the comments below!

For more brewery guides, check out our collection of Pittsburgh breweries, Cincinnati breweries, and Cleveland breweries! Or, if you fancy yourself a wine drinker, check out our guide to our favorite wineries in the Finger Lakes!

Some of the above breweries were visited as part of a media trip in the region. Others I visited on my own selection. As always, all opinions are my own.