Fifty West Logo

To kick off my birthday weekend I finally made it to Fifty West Brewing Company, which has been operating out of the old Heritage Restaurant space on Route 50 since late last year. The historic building that now houses the brewery was built in 1827 and while it still has some of its original charm a lot of work has been put into modernizing the structure. It is really beautiful both inside and out.

Outside

My parents, my brother, and his girlfriend would all be joining my wife, son, and I for the evening. We asked about a table for the seven of us and were shown to a side room where two large tables take up the majority of the space. It is a little disconnected from the rest of the bar and restaurant, but it would work perfect for our rather large group. I grabbed a snifter of their bourbon barrel aged Horse and Buggy scotch ale from the bar while the staff worked to prepare our table. My first beer at the brewery was excellent and the evening was off to a great start!

Tap Wall

Once our table was set we all moved back to the side room for some additional beer sampling. Thanks to a sampling tray I was able to quickly get a taste of a handful of their 14 different beers available. Other favorites of mine included Gaddy’s Irish Red, Alternate Route German style brown ale, the Loneliest Road stout, and finally the Punch You in the EyePA.

Sampler Tray

While enjoying the beers we were treated to complimentary dough pretzels while we looked over the newly added food menu, which features mostly tapas style small plates that are meant for sharing. My favorite of what we ordered was easily the roasted poblano pepper ($8) that is stuffed with house chicken chorizo queso fresco and topped with citrus crema. The red sauce that blanketed the pepper had a nice kick to it that really spiced up the dish.

Roasted Poblano

We also shared smoked salmon guacamole ($7) and an order of their “potato skins” ($6), which features twice baked Yukon Gold potatoes filled with house boursin cheese, parsnips, house bacon, and roasted garlic before being finished with a balsamic fig reduction. The skins were tasty, but the serving size was very small and hard to share with our larger group.

“Potato Skins”

Other items of note that I observed during our stay. The music being played throughout the bar and restaurant spaces is all on vinyl and comes from a record player near the bar. There is a shuffle board table hidden between the bar and the bathrooms. A window into the brewery can also be viewed on the same walk toward the bathrooms. The beer list is constantly changing and appears on large chalk boards with descriptions of each.

Brewery

Beer List

It is still hard for me to believe that it took me this long to check out Fifty West. It easily met my expectations and I honestly hope it doesn’t take me as long to make a repeat appearance.