Aurora Brew Works

If you are a beer drinker who loves exploring different microbrews, you NEED to get here ASAP.

Finally, a bar where I don't have to watch people drinking Labbatt's, Molson, Coors, PBR or other domestic swill.  This place refuses to serve any of that junk.

Instead, you will find about 6-7 taps of microbrews, from Buffalo and beyond.  They are tapped to very small kegs so throughout the course of the evening a few taps will be swapped out for a new beer.  More to try!!

You can buy your beer small for tasting or regular pint-sized.

Even better, FLIGHTS OF BEER.  Need I say more???? Reasonably priced for $10.

Another perk: this is also a beer store with tons of cans and bottles that you can't find anywhere else.  At the end of our evening we purchased a few beers to enjoy at home.

This is a small space with limited seating but the friendly service and the amazing selection make this a perfect experience.  Now if only we could get someone to emulate this concept downtown ....

After a trip to Italy early on in his career, what struck  Howard Schultz was that Italians lived incredibly balanced lives.   Shultz lamented that, unlike the Italians and their 100s of thousands of coffee bars, Americans had no place to gather that wasn't work and wasn't home: a third place.  

Shultz brought that notion back to the US, built Starbucks into a worldwide coffee empire, bought the Seattle Supersonics, drove them into the ground, sold them to a rich oil baron, and now Kevin Durant plays in Oklahoma City for the Thunder.  But, I digress.

What I'm trying to say is:  these guys at ABW got it right!  This is our new "third place."    ABW is a gathering place for white collar, blue collar, hipster, the opposite of hipster, moms, dads, grandparents, the opposite of grandparents.... ok. you get the picture.  It's all inclusive.  They have a tremendous craft beer selection for tasting (there are always six kegs flowing), as well as a monster selection of bottled beer to take home.  Mix and match your favorites if you want because it's all priced by the bottle.   No kidding.

They are very principled about what beers they will carry -- they recently informed me that my favorite west coast brew which I thought was "craft" turned out to be owned by a larger syndicate, hence they won't be carrying it.   Did I mention these guys know their beer?

You should get to ABW now -- not just to sit, sip a brew, and talk with the owners or a neighbor, but because you'll be able to say you sat in the original location when in 20 years they've achieved world domination.    Let's just make sure they don't end up selling the Sabres before then.

Stopped in here to grab some beers for my family the day before Christmas Eve.  The atmosphere here was a welcomed reprieve from the holiday madness.  There were some dudes at the bar and some loving couples snuggled on the leather couches sampling some awesome beers.  The staff were attentive and so awesome in helping me select some mixed 6 packs for try family to enjoy this holiday.  Can't wait to go back!