Buffalo Beer

Buffalo's appreciation for a frosty pint stretches back more than a century before anyone enjoyed a cold one with a basket of wings. By the middle of the 1800s, the industrial hub counted malt and beer among its most vital and satisfying products. Operations like Simon Pure Beer, Iroquois Beverage and the Magnus Beck Brewing Company brought Buffalo's world-class ales to the rest of the country. Prohibition saw a thriving business in black market hooch, though it all but killed the city's historic breweries. A few survivors struggled to recover. Today, a new batch of breweries like Community Beer Works and Big Ditch Brewing Company are crafting a beer revolution in the Queen City. Historian Michael Rizzo and brewer Ethan Cox explore the sudsy story of Buffalo beer.

Michael F. Rizzo owned Naked Buffalo Tours for six years. He has published five books and articles for the Buffalo News as well as preservation grant applications for the City of Buffalo. He has spoken at the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, Lancaster Historical Society, Polish Genealogical Society and City Hall.  Ethan Andrew Cox is the president of Community Beer Works, a brewery he co-founded in 2010. He was a homebrewer for fifteen years, and is a BJCP-certified homebrewing competition judge as well as a Certified Cicerone. Cox also serves on the board of the New York State Brewer's Association. He lives in Buffalo.