We stopped by Binghamton this afternoon, on the way back from visiting Howe Caverns.  The neighborhood has seen better days (we got asked for change every block or so), but we enjoyed walking around and doing some shopping anyway.  We really enjoyed browsing in River Read Books.

We had dinner at Water Street Brewing, and really enjoyed it.  Their menu is somewhat limited, but we liked everything we got.  They had 8 beers on tap, and we tried them all:

• Their Munich Helles was light and smooth, the way a Helles should be.
• The Cream Ale was a good example of one of my favorite styles — just a light pale ale, with medium body.  Cream ale is one of my favorites to drink on a hot summer day, and we got a growler to take home with us.
• I didn’t care for the Southern English Mild — I think I’ve only had dark mild, and this was very different.
• The Weizenbock was very good, spicy and malty.  There was none of the wheaty tang that often spoils wheat beers for me.
• The Beyond Blonde ale was a solid Belgian blonde — not my favorite Belgian style, but nice anyway.
• I didn’t like the Thousand Year Porter much (nice name though).  It was dry and roasty, so not my thing.
• The Harvest ale was rich and satisfying.
• The beer I liked best was their Wee Heavy.  It’s one of my favorite styles, and theirs wasn’t too peaty and had a nice caramel note to it that I really liked.   Of course, this was their special small-batch beer, in a small glass and not available for growlers.

All said, a very nice place for dinner and very solid beers.  They had a good variety, and everything was at least a solid effort if not my favorite style.