Madison Pour House — Restaurant in City of Albany

This morning, a telephone post studded with hundred of nails caught my eye.

A man driving me to work chatted at me as we went the back roads to East Syracuse.

No real way I could ask him to stop and let me pop out and take a picture of the remarkable post at the corner of Fremont and Kirkville Roads.

The nails caught my attention, each one pounded in by a person putting up a sign, hoping for a free advertisement.

No sign appeared on the post today.

I wonder what people with only enough money to make a sign and buy nails to put it up will do when telephone poles become an item of the past.

We've started to bury telephone and power lines, protecting the lines against failure when the snow piles up high and the wind and ice take down telephone poles.

An iPhone doesn't require a telephone line.

When we unhook from the wall jack in our homes, we unhook from the telephone lines too.

Sunday, I rented a bicycle near the College of Saint Rose near Central Albany New York and I pedaled it past Washington Park and through the Lark Street restaurant district and by the Albany Museum of Art and History and hooked it up to a docking station across the street from the State Capitol of the State of New York.

My phone told me I had pedaled for two and a half miles, arriving at the capitol after twenty minutes, costing me two dollars and fifty cents.

Google kept track of the path, knowing that I had bicycled from Madison Tap Room to Wellington's Restaurant in the Renaissance Hotel.

Google asked me for a review of the tap room and I wrote a review of Wellington's after waiting fifteen minutes for so much as a glass of water.

I could write some glowing words about the tap room, where staff were frosting a cake before the time came for a going away party.

One of the wait staff has chosen to move along.

The bartender invited me to stay and enjoy a few free pulls from the firkin and a spread of food that the chef had cooked up.

I think I could write a good review of the tap room.

I loved sitting out in the beirgarten and a metal patio table, enjoying the foot traffic walking buy, moms pushing strollers, a woman with her grocery bags and couples walking to dinner at the Indian restaurant or the Mediterranean restaurant.

The biergarten had a fence made of old weathered wine and whiskey barrels, each topped with a pot of begonias, petunias and ferns.

A jolly good tap room made to look old fashioned where friends could sit around the tap with a pint and show off You Tube vidoes to one another.

I think this is what a futurist called years ago, "High Tech, High Touch".

I could have stayed at my table until the party for Adrianna began but the bicycle ride through Albany appealed to me more.

A historical marker across the street gave the past a say this Sunday.

Near here Mohawk and Hudson First Railroad chartered in the country, 1826, began its run Albany to Schenectady.

Clinton's Ditch, the Erie Canal, had opened for business in 1825, the year before the railroad began to run to Schenectady.

Almost a hundred years later, public leaders allowed the burial of great sections of the Erie Canal now that railroads and trucks could carry all the freight more economically.

I got on the bike and pedaled, begining my journey home to a house...

I seldom leave poor reviews, but I wanted to share my experience.

First the good: -- Bar decor is excellent and cozy -- Vast draft selection. Beers are referred to by number vs. their name (at least 30+ from what I remember). Great variety too with plenty of IPAs, sours, gose, etc. on tap

If you're going for just a beer (and nothing more) with a group of friends, this seems like a solid spot.

Now the bad:

-- Only 2 bar stools by the bar, lots of empty space -- gives the implication you shouldn't be there unless with other people -- The kitchen: There was one cook who left to apparently grab supplies from the local grocery store. I guess they don't order from AA Provisions or another premium food supplier. When he finally got back, I was made aware that what I wanted wasn't available since they didn't have any pulled pork. Mind you: this was 20 mins. after I placed the order. After being made aware of this, I decide to order the Harold and Kumar, which was 4 Brauts with what sounded like some interesting toppings so I just go with that. While I'm waiting for my food, I hear a timer go off and then the unmistakeable sound of a microwave opening...

...Are my freakin' brauts being microwaved?!?

It appeared no one else was ordering food so it had to be for my order. A discussion ensues between the cook and the bartender (Courtney was her name, and she did just fine) and my food still isn't out. 50 mins. total have passed since my initial order, and I decide to just cash out my beers. I still left a dollar tip per beer since it wasn't the bartenders fault.

My suggestion: grab your grub before you come here, and make sure you're...

Do you get annoyed when your server at a 'Beer Bar' can't offer descriptions or suggestions? Do you prefer the focus of your imbibing to be your conversation and the beer? Do you like the option to drink outside or by a fireplace?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then the Madison Pour House is a place you should check out. The staff is knowledgeable, the beer selection is top notch (40 taps + 2 casks + bottles) and the food hits the spot. They also have a quality, hand selected offering of wines and sip-able liquors for your party members who are hesitant to embrace beer (though I'd be willing to bet they can find something to their liking here). In the summer they have a great patio out front - in the winter, the upstairs features a roaring fire. They've also limited the distractions to just three flat screens mounted unobtrusively above the bar and keep the music level low.

TL:DR - if you like craft...