Council Rock Brewery

I stopped by here with my group for some drinks (for those of you who have read my other recent Cooperstown reviews, you may be picking up on a trend with this statement...). It wasn't a bad experience but the staff -- all two of them -- seemed to be pretty overwhelmed by the number of customers. It's not a large place (at least not from the perspective of where we were sitting). There were a few tables -- all of which were filled -- right where you walk in. We sat at the bar, since we were only ordering drinks, along with a decent number of other people.

I tried a few of their beers (although I can't remember what any of them were named), and they were all pretty good. The others who were with me agreed that they had some good beers on tap.

Understandably, the two people working here -- one working the bar, the other working the kitchen and apparently helping to wait on tables -- had a tough time keeping up with everything, and the guy at the bar in particular was starting to show his frustration. He wasn't rude, but you could tell he was stressed.

Despite that, we had a pretty good experience, but I would certainly like to try it again under better (and smoother) circumstances.

The beer was pretty good. I enjoyed their new Red Ale as well as the Scotch Ale.

I was pretty disappointed in the food- I'd give the food 2 stars. I had the Portuguese Grilled Chicken Breast Salad for $8. I got a plate of greens, a chicken breast, onions and tomatoes. Bleck. The dressing was nice, the chicken was tender but it was a huge let down of a salad.

My pal got the pulled pork sandwich and MAN that may have been the worst pulled pork I've ever had. It was incredibly TOUGH.

Bonus- garlic, pesto fries are good.

As others have said, I'd focus less on the food- have a few GOOD items: hot dog, hamburger, fries and call it a day. The beer is the main draw here.

Get the five-beer sampler plus one more to try all six super fresh, delicious brews on tap. For us, this included two guest beers, a nice malty blonde and an APA, and the house Full Nelson (hopped with Nelson Sauvin), fruity IPA, a nicely bitter brown, and our favorite the Sunken Island Scotch Ale. Two beer-braised bratwursts and a huge pile of sweet potato tater tots later, we were ready to roll... ourselves... the rest of the way to Cooperstown.

Don't expect anything upscale about the decor here except for where it counts: the glorious multi-wood bar and lathe-turned tap handles made by a friend of the brewer. More seating in the back and at picnic tables outdoors. Perfect first stop after a long drive for a weekend enjoying the best Cooperstown has to offer (in our book): beer!