Butternuts Beer and Ale, Garrattsville, New York

From the “you can’t win ’em all” department, we bring you Butternuts Beer and Ale in Garrettsville, New York. This little brewery has a way with their brew names that make us laugh. Classics like Moo Thunder, Snapperhead IPA, and of course, their number one seller, Porkslap Pale Ale. All make us smile. We assumed a brewery with such fun names would have a fun tasting experience as well, but we were disappointed and would unfortunately not recommend this stop on the Cooperstown Beverage Trail.

Cheers:	Jeers:
Beautiful setting in the countryside Get your picture taken as the pigs in a huge Porkslap sign Free Tasting	The tasting room was claustrophobic, hot, and lacking in any real character The staff was not friendly and even rude at one point The brewing area seemed to lack the cleanliness and professionalism we have grown to expect.

The Cooperstown Beverage Trail is a 37 mile loop that runs from the Bear Pond Winery on one end to Butternuts Beer and Ale on the other. Along the way there are several very nice places to visit like Brewery Ommegang (and some that are not even part of the trail like Council Rock Brewing). On our trip around the trail, we started on the south east end and traveled counter clockwise. The last segment of this beer tasting adventure was a nearly 30 minute trip from Cooperstown out into the countryside to Butternuts Beer and Ale.

Upon pulling into the parking lot, you are greeted by a massive barn built in 1947 by Norman S. Walter according to the painted letters on the front. The barn has that great rustic look and is painted white with green trim. On the front is a beautiful old wooden cask mounted on a beam with a sign saying “Brewery” under it. This had great promise.

Off to the right side of the barn was the Taproom entrance and to our “excitement”, there was a wooden standup where you could have your picture taken with your face in the Pork Slap Pale Ale can. There is an outdoor patio area where you can sit on a nice day and enjoy a beer. Things still looked promising.

Immediately as we entered the taproom, the complexion of this visit changed. The taproom itself is in a side room in the barn and has a low ceiling. It is the type of room where anyone over the height of 6′ 2″ has to duck as they walk around because they’ll feel like they are going to hit their head. There is a large refrigerated cooler just inside the door to the right, and a couple of high tables off to the left. The bar, with half-dozen stools, runs half the length of the room. The entire taproom is about fifteen feet wide and thirty feet long. We were asked if we had come for a tasting and because there were already six people there, the two of us had to take turns getting to the bar in the narrow opening that was remaining. We quickly started to notice flies, everywhere! Due to the lack of air conditioning and the warmth of the day, the door had to remain open allowing the flies to come in. This did not add to the ambiance at all.

Our process of review is to see how the true experience is. We do not announce that we are reviewing the brewery until we have completed our visit and are on the way out the door. At that point, will introduce ourselves and let the brewery staff know why we are there. Throughout our visit we will take the pictures that you see in these articles. At Butternuts, in our typical fashion, we were shooting pictures. This time, we were scolded for it. The woman behind the bar first snapped at us saying, “Don’t take any pictures of me!” which we were not. She proceeded to go on a rant about how people “out there are scary” and how she couldn’t stand pictures being taken. So… there are not many pictures in this review.

The day we were there tasting, six beers from the tap or cans were available. The tasting was free which is always a plus. The samples were in the 1 1/2 to 2 oz. range and were, surprisingly, not in the traditional light to dark order that most breweries use. The Moo Thunder Stout, for example, was served third in the order. We were also very extremely underwhelmed with the service during the tasting, the verbal description of each beer was disinterested, almost in a tone that a teenager gives when you ask them if they’ve cleaned their room. The beers sampled that day are in the list below.

Amber Lager	Golden Lager	5.5% ABV	40 IBU
Country Gold	Saison / Farmhouse Ale	6.3% ABV
Heinnieweisse Weissebier	Hefeweizen	4.9% ABV	10 IBU
Moo Thunder Stout	Milk / Sweet Stout	4.8% ABV	35 IBU
Snapperhead IPA	American IPA	6.1% ABV	63 IBU
Porkslap Pale Ale	American Pale Ale	4.3% ABV	35 IBU

The overall impression we had of the beers was that they were all a little too similar and none had the refinement of many other breweries in this region. It would have been difficult to tell the IPA from the Pale Ale blindfolded or the Amber from the Country Gold. Even the Stout didn’t have the typical stout heaviness; it seemed more like a pale ale with added color. Overall, we were very disappointed with the beers (they get a 1 out of 5 rating just for the funny names). Interestingly however, others guests present at the tasting seemed to really enjoy them and bought multiple growlers to take home with them. Taste is always very subjective, but that said, we were underwhelmed.

The brewing at Butternuts happens in the main part of the barn and there are windows from the tasting room that overlook the brewing kettles and canning line (all of their beer is sold in cans). The overall impression we had was that it was chaotic and needed a very thorough cleaning. In most breweries, they pride themselves on having floors you could eat off to and brewing kettles that sparkle. This is not the impression we got from Butternuts. This had more of a “Louisiana Bayou Moonshine Shack” feel to it.

It’s a Wrap

Not every Microbrewery will resonate with every beer enthusiast. Butternuts Beer and Ale did not resonate with us. While we were charmed by the location and felt that there was much promise. For us, this quickly fell flat when we were disappointed with the taproom, the service, and the beer. We recommend that before you make the journey to Garrettsville, maybe you should pick up a can of Porkslap at your favorite beer store and try it out. If it resonates with you, then make the trip; if not, join us at one of the many other wonderful microbreweries in the Cooperstown area and have a better experience.