WNY craft: Beer, wine, spirits and other craft beverages across the Buffalo-Niagara region

By Scott Scanlon
(Image above: A flight board of sours at Mortalis. Canandaigua-based Mortalis Brewing Company specializes in smoothie-style sours like the four on these flight boards in its Buffalo taproom, L-R: Beholder, made with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and granola, slathered in yogurt; DemiSmooj, a Banana Fosters-inspired sour made with lactose-free ice cream in collaboration with Smooj Brewing Company of Ann Arbor, Mich.; Hydra Slayer, made with black currant, peach and cream; and Hydra Raspberry, Strawberry and Pink Guava.)

Ashley Smith sells a wide range of beer styles at Premier Gourmet in Amherst, from aisles arranged by state and national origin and a cooler teeming with cold beer to go.

The variety that captivates her most?

“I absolutely love sours,” Smith told me this month. “Some are on the lighter side. Some are on the heavier side. They’re versatile. I like the smoothie ones the best.”

Sours tend to be more popular in summer, but breweries known for them attract fans year-round by continuing to find creative ways to make them shine.

But sour fanaticism has waned since the craft beer revival slowed two years ago, a development underlined regionally in recent weeks with the closings of Froth Brewing Company in Buffalo and Fifth Frame and K2 breweries in suburban Rochester.

“I’m upset,” Smith said, “but there are alternatives.”

Two sour-friendly breweries – Mortalis and Frequentem – continue with a presence in both metro regions. There is also plenty to choose from in a few other taprooms, as well as retail coolers Smith and others stock from breweries close to home and farther afield.

Still, craft beer lovers can expect to see fewer sours for sale going forward because of the decline in their popularity and the rising cost to produce them.

Four-packs now meet, or slightly exceed, $30 in some retail outlets.

“I still think there’s a need and demand for them, so I don’t think they’re going to be completely going away anytime soon, but they’ll be a little harder to find,” said Matt Kahn, president and co-founder of Big Ditch Brewing Company, which has taprooms in downtown Buffalo and Lockport.

Wide variety

The style varies widely but shares an acidity that comes from adding bacteria, often Lactobacillus, and wild yeast, typically Brettanomyces, during the brewing and fermenting process. Lagers and most other styles are generally pH neutral and count on sweet malts and bitter hops for their taste.

The simplest of sours taste like tart wheat beer. Add coriander and salt, you get a gose.

Some brewers add coffee, spices or vegetables to knock down the sour taste.

Most add fruit, often more than one kind. This variety got hot across the country during the last decade, including the thickest of them all, rife with puree, fruit and sometimes other ingredients. Popular beers in recent years – sours or not – also have included chocolate, peanut butter, cereal or marshmallows.

“Obviously, a pastry sour with lactose and tons and tons of raspberry is not going to read like a traditional sour that’s kind of funky,” said Evan Flury, brewer for Spotted Octopus Brewing Company, with taprooms in Rochester and Buffalo.

Riding the surge

Froth opened seven years ago in the Buffalo Riverside District and quickly gained a reputation for thickly fruited sours. Its rise to prominence gained steam the following spring, during the coronavirus pandemic, when home-bound craft-beer lovers thirsted for something new and refreshing.

“During the early days of Covid, that genre was the hype beer,” Flury said. “Beer releases would have huge lines.”

Froth made a name for its Liquid Lollypop sour series as the pandemic continued.

Fifth Frame opened in late 2017 in downtown Rochester and over time gained a similar reputation for its Bath Bombs. K2 opened the same year and became known for its top-flight sours.

All three also had a following for other beers, including hazy ales, lagers and stouts, as is the case for remaining regional breweries with popular sours.

Big sours helped pay the bills, especially when off-site retail distribution became an option. It also presented a challenge. If cans weren’t kept cold, the contents could restart the fermentation process – and sometimes explode.

Breweries that counted on sours to buttress their bottom lines, including Froth, invested in fixes, some of which weren’t cheap. Centrifuges, for instance, make sours more shelf-stable, increase yield and boost production – but cost $100,000 or more.

Big Ditch has one but also has the financial clout that comes with brewing the most popular craft beer in the region, Hayburner IPA. They became a far heavier lift for smaller breweries with more limited means.

Challenges surface

Rochester beer writer Will Cleveland first reported on financial pressures that caused Fifth Frame to close its Rochester site in September 2024 and abruptly leave its only taproom last month in nearby Irondequoit. His Cleveland Prost also reported last October that K2 faced even greater strains by the time its owners announced in November that their brewing operation was temporarily closing. It has not reopened.

Eli and Travis Hale, brother-owners of Froth, and brewer Jesse McLaughlin closed their taproom Feb. 1. By then, almost all their brewhouse equipment had been sold at auction.

“What we take with us is overwhelming pride in what we built together and deep appreciation for everyone who made it possible,” they wrote on Facebook.

McGlaughlin told me the trio seeks a contract brewer, so they can continue making some of Froth’s most popular beers for retailers.

Related conditions

The closures came amid worldwide turbulence in the craft beverage industry. Competition today in bars, restaurants, taprooms and retail stores includes a broader mix of beers, wines and spirits, cocktails and meads, alcoholic seltzers and ciders, and non-alcoholic brands in most of those categories.

For the first time since 2005, more craft breweries closed than opened in 2024. The trend continued last year, according to the Brewers Association, a nonprofit trade group.

Ebbs and flows hit home, too. IPAs remain king in many beer-forward establishments but lagers, pilsners and other styles with lower alcohol by volume – and in many cases, cost – have grown in popularity.

Sours, in most cases, have taken a bigger hit. It’s why you’re likely to see fewer on tap at many brewery taprooms this year.

“As with anything, you try something too much, and you just get burnt out on it,” said Flury, also the treasurer of the WNY Brewers Guild. “The smoothies are big beers, where a lot of people are looking for moderation, generally.”

Affordability also has become a greater force in the craft beverage market and among its customers.

Big Ditch’s thickest sour used to be called Raspberry Vision. The brewery switched to strawberries as raspberry prices in the U.S. more than doubled during the first half of this decade. Both fruits present an added expense when making a thick sour, but these days raspberry puree costs almost 40 percent more. When you’re working with hundreds of pounds to make beer batches, profit-and-loss margins become a growing concern.

“We hear from our accounts that they do want a sour on their draft lines, and our customers want them in our taprooms,” Kahn said. “I think where the issue comes in is there’s only so much you can charge, so can you keep it on tap and still make it affordable for folks?”

It’s why Big Ditch and Spotted Octopus plan to brew fewer sours this year. Flury said he has heard the same from others.

In Clarence, IPAs, lagers and stouts make up the bulk of offerings on the 25 taps at Murphy Brown Craft Bear Emporium. Owner Drew Brown recently decided to keep one line dedicated to a rotating mix of sours, instead of two.

“We have two on for ciders instead,” he said. “Those are more popular now with customers, especially some of our younger ones.”

Sours to try

Mortalis Brewing: This Finger Lakes outfit, which creates nationally recognized sours, has taprooms on the Buffalo West Side and Rochester. Try everything smoothie sour on the menu here, like I did in the Buffalo taproom earlier this month.

Frequentem Brewing: The nine-year-old Canandaigua brewery opened a taproom two years ago in Buffalo. Just Fruit batches offer a variety of combinations, including two on tap this month in the Old First Ward: blueberry, strawberry and blackberry, and passionfruit and mango.

Briar Brothers Brewing: Try one or more of its layered Punch Bowl sours. Its latest, Tropic Bloom, features apricots, with subtle notes of mango and blueberry.

Eli Fish Brewing Company: Another flight-worthy sour stop, known for its lighter, refreshing El Guapo series.

Minkey Boodle: This leading regional hazy pink sour by Thin Man features the raspberry. It’s now part of Community Beer Works’ Chandler Street Breweries.

Strawberry Vision (L) remains one of few thick sours brewed by Big Ditch Brewing Company, although Blueberry Cobbler will be temporarily available in its Buffalo and Lockport taprooms come March. The Blueberry Cobbler pastry sour by Big Ditch will remind you of toaster strudel. Photo provided by Big Ditch Brewing

Blueberry Cobbler: This pastry sour by Big Ditch is brewed with blueberry puree, toasted oats and milk sugar, and dusted with cinnamon.

Ward Rainbow Sour: This sour, a New York State Craft Brewery Competition silver medalist brewed by Resurgence Brewing, tastes like tropical punch conditioned on cereal marshmallows.

Upcoming events

Cheesy About Beer: Magic Bear Beer Cellar owner and certified cicerone Craig Altobello will pair four beers with cheeses at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20 in his Larkinville taproom, 799 Seneca St., Suite B. Cost is $35; advanced reservations required online here.

Kenan Wine & Beer Bash: 4 to 7 p.m. Feb. 21, Kenan Arena, 195 Beattie Ave, Lockport. Features unlimited tastings from regional craft wineries and breweries, along with live music by Uptown Groove. Food can be purchased. General admission runs $45. A VIP ticket gets you an extra hour up front for $65. Designated drivers pay $10. Learn more and buy tickets here.

Be Mine with Wine: The Niagara Wine Trail will get sweet on Valentine’s Day a weekend late, with a wine and chocolate pairing. Visit participating wineries from noon to 5 p.m. Feb. 21 and 22 with a tasting ticket that includes three tastings and a treat. Online tickets at niagarawinetrail.org/mine-wine cost $30 and are available through 9 p.m. Feb. 19; tickets are available for $35 during the special weekend at participating wineries. Designated drivers are welcome to enjoy a treat at each stop for $20.

Have a tip or idea for a column? Email Scott@WNYcraft.com