Common Roots Brewing Company

Found our way to the new Albany Outpost – Common Roots Brewing Company on a recent Friday night, and the place was hopping!

The Albany Outpost has only been open since Leap Day so we planned on busy. We located a table in the back room behind the bar. This area is filled with family picnic table-style seating and some 4 top tables along with a grand fireplace as the room’s focal point.

Brewing tanks were on display above the seating area.

Bar Service Ordering

The ordering process at the moment is completed at the bar in the main seating area when you walk in. QR codes are at all the tables to pull up the beer, food, and to-go can menus. The bartenders give you sharing trays, napkins, and silverware to take back to your table. Once you order you are also given a number card and your food is brought out to you when complete. The nice thing they do here is you get to keep your number all night, your number becomes attached to the name on the tab for the remainder of the evening.

We started with the hand-breaded chicken crispy bites, buffalo style which were super tasty. We also tried the Bavarian-style pretzel which was so lackluster we didn’t finish it, can’t win them all! For dinner we went with the OG cheese pizza, the crust was delicious, the cheese and sauce complimented each other, and every bite was delicious.

On to the main event, the BEER! Started with a flight consisting of Party Shirt Fridays a tropical IPA at 6.9% ABV, Big Cozy DIPA at 8%ABV, Artic Sour Ale which comes in at 4.2%ABV, and Chasing Night Schwarzbier with an ABV of 5.5%.

The Party Shirt Fridays IPA was the first taster of the evening it was fantastic, bursting with tropical fruit goodness, this version is passion fruit, guava, and orange. Hazy on the pour, with a lovely passionfruit nose. A bit of sweetness to it without being overwhelming, citrusy and light with a little kick of tartness. Extremely enjoyable, and spoiler alert I had two more pours of this before the night was over!

Big Cozy got me with its description even though it’s a DIPA which is typically out of my wheelhouse for enjoyment. Whenever I see stone fruit in a beer’s explanation I go for it, even if it says mango somewhere in the beer story(mango isn’t typically my favorite). I’ve had great luck with stone fruit beer over the years. A golden haze on the pour with a mango citrus nose. Smooth with a bright citrus flavor, hardly any bitterness, definitely drinks like a single rather than a double, another win!

Next out of the gate was Arctic Sour Ale, it pours a gorgeous color thanks to the blueberries and lemons it’s conditioned on, with a blueberry nose. A light-bodied easy drinker, adequately sour, but lacking in the way of fruit flavor. I was expecting more blueberry after the lovely blueberry nose, so I was a bit let down.

Last in the flight was Chasing Night a Schwarzbier. A nice dark pour with a chocolate nose. Smooth, malty, and roasty with a nice finish of dark chocolate and coffee. One of the better Schwarzbiers I’ve had to date.

The Bartenders

The night I was in was fairly busy and unfortunately, I didn’t get any of the bartender’s names. But what I can tell you, is that Common Roots Brewing Company management hired well. All of the staff was pleasant and happy to answer any questions despite being busy. When I went to snap this photo the girls quickly smiled as if on cue. The right personality on the bar can make or break an experience as much as the beer. So kudos to the staff there at Common Roots Albany Outpost for making everyone feel welcome!

It was closing time when we were ready to wrap up for the night, a sure sign of an enjoyable experience. As an Albany area resident, I have to say I’m quite happy to have Common Roots Brewing closer with this new Albany Outpost. I’ve stopped up at the flagship Taproom Common Roots Brewing Company – Common Roots Brewing Company is a craft brewery located in South Glens Falls, New York. just south of Lake George a few times but as it’s an hour away it happens much too infrequently. So a big fat welcome to the neighborhood from Jen’s Hoppy Hour!

A Little Bit Extra

The original Common Roots taproom opened in 2014 but was devastated by a fire in 2019. The local brewing community rallied around the Common Roots family holding numerous fundraisers and offering space in their breweries to continue the creation of Common Roots Beers. While construction was completed on the new brewery space a temporary taproom was used nearby to keep things afloat. In June of 2020, the new building was opened at 58 Saratoga Ave in South Glens Falls. A multifaceted craft brewery that now boasts a private event center called the Bierhall & Barrel House and the Common Roots Cafe which offers its own selection of house-roasted coffee beans from Common Roots Coffee Company. You’ll find coffee, cold brew, and select breakfast items available Monday-Friday from 7am-12pm in the Cafe.