Fort Orange Brewing — Restaurant in City of Albany

Opening night. I have a bit of brewing experience, but mostly I've worked on judging for brewing competitions in clubs. Mind you commercial beer doesn't always mean it meets BJCP guidelines, which is often my baseline. I wanted to take time to write this, because I think a one star warrants an explanation. That being said, work needs to be done, but that also means Fort Orange has room to grow. The first beer I had was one of the IPAs. Modern brewers love this style because all malt flaws can be hidden in dry hop. The thing about scaling is that less hops are needed proportionately in the boil to reach a certain bitterness. This beer was bitter without redemption or balance. My first shot at improving would be to up the caramel malt content and increase the dry hop with less IBU. My girlfriend had the bold red. Again, it was over hopped in the boil I think making it too bitter for the style and very close to the IPA. Distinctive malt aroma and color were the only give away for the style difference. The golden ale was sour and I'm worried it was from possible infection. We couldn't finish it. The stout was one of the only beers that piqued my interest but that's because the chocolate coffee flavors finally covered up what I think was an underlying issue in each beer. Every beer has the bandaid/spicy swimming pool flavor which is almost ubiquitous for chlorophenol. This means either untreated chloramine from their water source or bleach based sanitation. I've seen it before in NY. Broken Bow is constantly serving beer with this flaw. But at the end of the day, all this is fixable, if you want it to be fixed. I hope things will get better and these issues (which I'm happy to discuss) addressed, but given the stock of home brewing experience among the owners, I think it's going to take expert advice from someone who has experience on the larger scale to turn things around. At the end of the day, I can only use my knowledge from beer judging to suggest what the flaws are and where they could come from. It will take work to find a good solution. I look forward to changing my review to 5 stars someday.

Edit: Okay! So they figured it out! Much better. Beer is now mashed at the correct temp fixing the DMSO issue. Nothing mind blowing, but on the right track. Some styles are...

What's not to like? Great beers brewed 20 feet from the taproom, friendly proprietors, corn hole and board games (including old school Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots for the kiddos!) and a brewery with a sense of old Albany history. (Ask why their beer flight rack and logo look like that)

The Local Stout was flavorful and roasty good, their namesake Fort Orange IPA was a straight-up NEIPA with citrusy nose, juicy flavor and just the right amount of hoppy goodness. I also sipped on their Irish red, Whistlestopper, easy to drink in the Smithwick's vein, but with a dry note from a bit more aggressive hopping than most reds. Open just since October, this place is already brewing gems and has great potential.

Ask about the way-cool "Beer It Forward" chalkboard wall and buy your mates a brew for a...

From the time you walk through the doors, you can appreciate the time and effort that was put in to making this brewery comfortable. From the hanging lights, the comfy picnic tables, to the historical mural painted on the wall every detail has been attended to. In addition, the very family-friendly atmosphere makes it a unique spot in downtown Albany where children are welcome. As for the beer, delicious! Whether it’s a pint or two, or a flight served in their uniquely designed Fort Orange trays, you will be pleased. If it’s the rich flavors of an IPA that is something you’re looking for or the smoothness of a stout, all palates will be satisfied. If you haven’t had a chance yet, get there quickly and check this place out, and plan on returning over and over again....