The Green Onion Pub

Saturday night Kim and I finally had a chance to have a couple pints at The Green Onion Pub in Utica, New York. We don't have many options in Central New York for great microbrews on tap, especially in the Utica-Rome area. In Utica, there is the Green Onion and Nail Creek pubs.

Earlier in the day the The Green Onion hosted a tasting of Brewery Ommegang beers. Brewery Ommegang is located in Cooperstown, New York and is the premier brewery for Belgian beers in the States. I've read that they are expanding their brewery again. The Green Onion Pub had switched the kegs so that there was a whole row of Ommegang beers on tap!

All Ommegang beers on tap!

Some are specialty and seasonal beers that would cost quite a bit if you bought each one at Marcy Discount Beverage. But here was a chance to try a few for $5 a pint on draft.

We were fortunate enough to run into a co-worker of mine, Kevin, and his wife Sue. Kevin is an avid fan of beer, a frequenter of The Green Onion Pub, and a home brewer with years of experience. Fueled by some fantastic, high ABV pints, the conversation was lively. We had a good time getting to know Kevin and Sue.

Our first beers of the evening was the Witte for Kim and the Belgian Pale Ale for me. Both are year round beers for Ommegang. According to their website, the Ommegang Witte is a Belgian-white, or Witbier. Kim enjoyed it enough to have a second pint.

Beeradvocate reviews of Witte.

The Belgian Pale Ale is a Belgian-style pale ale, which differs considerably from an English or American pale ale. It's not very bitter and it doesn't even have a strong hop profile.

Witte and Belgian Pale Ale

My second beer was the Ommegang Adoration. The Ommegang site describes it as follows:

Ommegang Adoration, brewed in the authentic style of Belgian winter, or noel beer, is dark, strong, malty and assertively spiced. At 10% abv Adoration is not a lightweight beer, and is best sipped before a roaring fire, or on a sleigh ride over the hills to Grandma’s house. (But let someone else drive.) It would also be a tasty accompaniment to dark roasts and wild game. Even at the strong abv, the beer is well-balanced and not at all hot or fiery. The dark malts give it lush, malty flavors and aromas, strongly complemented by the five spices, including coriander, cumin, mace, cardamom and grains of paradise. Hopping is modest, as befits such a beer.

I really loved the Adoration. My favorite beer of the night.

Beeradvocate reviews of Adoration.

My third beer was the Indica IPA from Lost Coast Brewery & Cafe from Eureka, California. Awesome. The aroma was grainy and hoppy at the same time. Really. It smelled like the wort as it was cooking.

My fourth beer was the Chocolate Indulgence. Very yummy. Kim tasted it and liked it too.

Eventually, our friends had to leave. We decided to go to Nail Creek. We weren't there long, but I was there long enough to have a Green Flash West Coast IPA. 

Green Flash West Coast IPA

The beer was absolutely wonderful. A good friend had recommended this beer to me. I would like to try it again sometime when I am a little less lit. : )

Beeradvocate reviews of Green Flash West Coast IPA.

Regarding The Green Onion Pub, I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a couple pints of great craft beer. It has a cozy, welcoming atmosphere. I know that this last Thursday they had a Southern Tier Brewing Co. tasting (I wish I could have gone to) and on Friday they had a Saranac tasting. With the Ommegang tasting on Saturday, that means they did three straight days of tastings for New York State breweries, and for each tasting, they swapped out the kegs to offer an unrivaled selection of the feature brewery's beers (!). I'm impressed.