The old factory town of Schenectady (light bulbs and GE appliances, locomotives), for several postwar years home and source for fiction ideas of Kurt Vonnegut, has been perking up a bit from its classic rustbelt look lately. Near the Mohawk River and the community college, lower State Street now features a block of new buildings, capped on one corner by the Frog Alley Brewing Co. Open since 2018,
the brewery shares a wall with Annabel's Pizza, where pizza and sandwiches can be ordered through an opening in the pub. An expansive area in the back offers frequent music events. The name derives from a once-marshy area near the river and then an eponymous baseball team. This sporting nine became famous in 1903 by playing a game vs. Albany on a Sunday, in violation of the blue laws, and spending the night in jail courtesy of the Schenectady P.D.
Brewing is done on what looks like a 20-bbl system with a canning line. Draft beer flows though a pair of sixteen tap handles. While IPAs predominate, good choices remain in the darker and maltier styles. I tried a flight with a winter ale (pale in color but with the same spicy flavors that marzen style usually has), a pilsner, a brown and a porter. All nicely done and the darks would have been good for a pint later.
The day I stopped in, the World Cup was on and the U.S. vs England game was starting to draw a crowd near one of the many tv screens in the pub area.
(Visited 11/25/2022)
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