Buffalo Beer: The History of Brewing in the Nickel City

by Michael F. Rizzo, Ethan Cox

Buffalo’s appreciation for a frosty pint stretches back more than a century before anyone enjoyed a cold one with a basket of wings. By the middle of the 1800s, the industrial hub counted malt and beer among its most vital and satisfying products. Operations like Simon Pure Beer, Iroquois Beverage and the Magnus Beck Brewing Company brought Buffalo’s world-class ales to the rest of the country. Prohibition saw a thriving business in black market hooch, though it all but killed the city’s historic breweries. A few survivors struggled to recover. Today, a new batch of breweries like Community Beer Works and Big Ditch Brewing Company are crafting a beer revolution in the Queen City. Historian Michael Rizzo and brewer Ethan Cox explore the sudsy story of Buffalo beer.

221 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Michael F. Rizzo was born in Buffalo, New York. In the 1990s he produced and wrote a weekly television show, COMX-TV about the busy comic book industry. With his co-host, they interviewed hundreds of comic book creators and attended dozens of conventions.

His first book, Through The Mayors' Eyes, was finished in 1990 but languished for 15 years. He found self-publishing and released the book in 2005. After releasing several more self-published books, he published four books with The History Press.

Rizzo ran Zippy Delivery, a bike messenger courier business, for seven years, then started The Mob Tours, and founded two nonprofits.

In 2013 he and his family moved to the Pacific Northwest. In 2015 Rizzo co-hosted Northwest Brew Talk with his partner.

Following him at https://www.subscribepage.com/g4u1x1

Reviews

[Michael Roman]

As a reader who actually cares about the myriad of breweries and brewers that existed in Buffalo, NY over the last two centuries (unlike the other reviewer), there is a whole lot of knowledge in this fairly small book. It is quite dense and tough to digest all the names and dates that seem to be thrown out pretty much every line, but the dedication of the authors to research and put together this book is extremely admirable. While this may seem like a juvenile request, my only wish for this book was that there were even more pictures scattered throughout. The architecture of these breweries, as well as the product design throughout the years is particularly interesting to me and I wish I was able to experience more of this (even though there is a great deal of photos already throughout the book). If you're looking for an easy-to-read basic history of Buffalo brewing history, this is not your book. But if you're willing to put in the time and concentration, there is a vast amount of knowledge here at your fingertips.

[Puddlediving]

I had a hard time reading this book, as it reads like a 6th grade essay. Lots of facts, little flow. There was no cohesiveness to the narrative, just a chronological accounting of the people and places that were integral to Buffalo Brewing from the war of 1812 on. Not a recommended read unless you actually care about the myriad of breweries and brewers that existed in Buffalo, NY over the last two centuries.