Restaurant Review
1110 Madison Avenue
Albany, NY 12208
Over 40 beers on tap and reasonably priced 5 oz. pours so that you can spread the love. That’s my idea of a good time. Combine that with an excellent menu of “crafty food for crafty people” and I had no regrets about hanging out in Albany after dropping my wife at the airport for a business trip.
The minute you walk into the Madison Pour House the ambiance screams cask ales and pub nosh. Woodwork, stone, and candelabra mingle with prints, old photographs, and unique pieces that feel at once rustic and cosmopolitan. The second floor is a bit more open, but I stuck myself in a corner with a clear view of the bar as I settled in for the evening.
I started with an order of soft pretzels and a cask ale, Wandering Star Red Oktober out of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It was my only beer from beyond New York’s borders for the evening, but I had to go with the bartender’s recommendation. It was perfect. Amped up malt and hops provided intense yet smooth flavors out of the cask. The pretzels were great too–soft and chewy with tasty mustard and cheese dipping sauces.
Next I moved to Southern Tier Nitro IPA for a difficult to get selection from one of my favorite New York breweries. It was wash of hoppy goodness carried on a silky, creamy mouth feel that I have come to associate with nitro beers.
With Sixpoint’s Sensi Harvest I stuck with another of my standby breweries in NY craft beer and was again rewarded. This time with juicy hops layered over a coppery harvest ale.
Around this time I also ordered dinner and went with Madison Pour House’s house macaroni and cheese. It was a comfort food kind of evening and baked mac-n-cheese with jalapenos, bacon, and onions sounded just right.
As I worked my way down the beer list, I found a couple of New York breweries I had never tried before. I was looking for something dark to stand up to jalapenos, bacon, and onions, and I found it in Rare Form’s Karass Porter. This fantastically malty beer out of Troy, NY was an awesome accompaniment, and as a big Kurt Vonnegut fan I also really appreciated the name. I definitely need to check these folks out more closely and make a pilgrimage to their taproom.
Finishing the evening (before I walked down the street and chilled out a while with some locally roasted coffee and a cookie), was Rushing Duck’s Kroovy. My goodness I couldn’t have finished on a better note. It was an imperial red ale balanced with some serious hops. These guys are out of Chester, NY and another brewery I am going to be on the lookout for.
With an ever evolving beer list and many other things on the menu I would love to try, I can’t wait to get back there. And I didn’t even consider their lengthy bottled beer list, which is sure to have more gems.
