Beer Place: Ebenezer Ale House

I can count the number of times I have been to the Ebenezer Ale House in West Seneca on one hand.  But every one of those times I have been extremely satisfied with their beer selection and food quality.  Tonight I went there with my wife on a "dinner date".  I wasn't sure how busy the Ale House would be tonight given the fact that the area just endured a couple cold and miserable days with some fairly substantial snowfall.  Maybe people would be exhausted and want to stay home?  Or maybe people were eager to have a night out?  What we discovered was that the Ebenezer Ale House was pleasantly, but not overly, packed.  But certainly more full than I had expected.

My wife and I were not in a hurry so we didn't mind waiting the 20 minutes for a table.  We stood comfortably in the bar area about two people deep and I looked over their beer board.

The beer board blends some pretty cool craft beer with non-craft standards, so everyone will find an appropriate beer to drink.  I am always a fan of beer bars that support local breweries, so I was instantly happy to see that Hamburg Brewing was the beer of the month.  I was also happy to see Flying Bison, Resurgence Brewing and Southern Tier on tap as well.  I immediately ordered the "Hamburg House Dressing" but to my dismay that beer was not available (pet peeve of mine- please take that beer off the board then!).  As a replacement, I was offered a Hamburg Small Town (saison) that I was happy to drink in lieu of the House Dressing.  At $3 a pint this was definitely a great deal.

Here are a couple pictures from the bustling bar:

The crowd was spirited and you could tell by looking around the room that people were having a good time.  Whether it be the relief of getting away from the house after shoveling snow, because it was Saturday night, or maybe because there was good beer on tap, everyone appeared thirsty and happy!  The atmosphere in the restaurant waxed and waned as the partisan Buffalo crowd cheered against the hated New England Patriots in their playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens.  Collective sigh and cheer undertones could be heard as people watched the playoff game on numerous and conveniently-located televisions.

Back at my table, I took the opportunity to sample more selections before and throughout dinner.  I tasted the Oskar Blues IceyPA (clever name, right?), the Saranac Tramonay Rouge (saison), and ended the night with a Resurgence Brewing IPA.  I was very pleased with all of these beers.  I did not delve into the darker and more potent beers on tap, and decided to save those for another visit.  Here is a picture from our table and a picture of the beer menu:

I appreciate how the research on the beers was done for me!  The numbers on the right of the menu are the Ratebeer.com and Beeradvocate.com rankings for each beer.  This list possesses a beer for everyone whether you are a craft beer aficionado or you chose not to deviate from Labatt Blue because you are still amazed that you can record TV shows on some amazing piece of technology called a VCR.  Coupled with a great atmosphere and really good food, Ebenezer Ale House is a great place to settle in after shoveling snow to enjoy a few pints.  An entry that was logged into my mental to-do list?  Come back for happy hour.  Soon.