Synod Assembly

For the past six years, I’ve volunteered to represent our congregation at our Synod Assembly. The Upstate New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America holds its assembly on the first weekend in June, and the past four years it has been in Rochester, NY. Similar to my business trips to Pittsburgh, after a while you get to know the lay of the land. I find one place, try another, and return to my favorites. Two of my favorites, The Old Toad (http://www.theoldtoad.com/) and Rohrbach Brewing (http://www.rohrbachs.com/rochester_brewery.php), were not on our itinerary this trip.

Jenn and I have learned over the years that paying top dollar for hotel food was not a very good plan, and so we had other things in mind. Luckily, the Rochester Convention Center is adjacent to the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. The Dinosaur is good for lunch, dinner, snacks, but unfortunately not for breakfast. Needless to say I love this place for the food and the ambiance. Unfortunately, they have a nice selection of beers, just not one that changes very often. The best that I could hope for was that there would be local seasonal beer, and two were on the list. I had the Custom Brewcrafter’s Raspberry Wheat on draft, followed by High Falls (old Genessee Brewing) JW Dundee Hefe-Weizen. The beers were light enough to quench the heat from the bar-b-que (the pulled pork made my ears sweat).

The next night we had some time to kill over dinner, and chose to explore the Jefferson Avenue portion of Rochester. I found out that they had a Christmas Tree Shop, and while Jenn explored there, I went over to the Beers of the World beer store. I’ve heard about this place, and was thankful that I had the opportunity to go over and visit. It is like a beer supermarket, and the owners encourage shoppers to mix and match bottles. I got two six packs (and sent them home with Jenn after the assembly). I would say the highlight for me was to find a Dogfish Head Black and Blue. This is a Belgian Strong Ale flavored with blackberries and raspberries. I had missed it at Oliver’s here in Albany, and was glad to find a bottle to share with my friends.

Next was a stop at MacGregor’s Grill and Taphouse. MacGregor’s boasts over 136 beers on tap. The problem with so many beers that without a lot of customers, the beer can get stale, and it is a devil to take care of all the taplines. My barmaid allowed me to have a 2 oz. sample of any of the beers that I wanted, and would politely let me know with a frown or a shake of the head that the beer was not at its best. I got to try several Sothern Tier beers, as they apparently contract brew for MacGregor’s and had about six different ones on draft. My favorite was the Scotch Ale, and I would stay away of the Cherry Ale (it was even worse than Sam Adams Cherry Lambic).

Jenn and I had dinner at Red Robin, and I had the opportunity to return the next day to pick up my camera that I had left there the night before. It costs me two days of vacation to go out and participate, but I enjoy learning about the larger church and spending time with my lovely wife. - 4185



"We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards. Strong beer is the milk of the old." - Martin Luther