This place is so great it was awarded Brewery of the Month, Nov. ’19.
BDB Rating 95
This place ROCKS! As of the writing of this review, Fifth Frame has received our highest rating and was awarded Brewery of the Month for Nov '19. Before our trip to Rochester, FF wasn't near the top of our list of breweries to check out. But after talking with various locals, this became a MUST visit. When more than 1 bartender at different breweries say you need to visit Fifth Frame...you go to Fifth Frame. (We highly value the opinions of anyone serving us at a brewery...and we haven't been disappointed yet by following their recommendations)
For BarDownBrews purposes, FF checks off all the boxes: location - in the heart of Rochester, not next to the rinks but not far away either, Food - they have a kitchen, menu and food looked satisfying but we just had lunch elsewhere so nothing else to report, Atmosphere - this place is modern but not pretentious. There were a few small kids there with parents so seemed family friendly but the place is definitely focused on the beer as we didn't see other distractions like foosball or darts....same with the small amount of swag which tells us they have a lean budget or beer is the #1 priority - it is the latter. This is the ideal place for a small to medium group, come in, maybe grab a bite, taste some fantastic beers and buy your favorites to-go for after your next hockey game.
But the foundation of this high score is due to both the staff and the beer. Maria and Jon (one of the owners) were outstanding. They were attentive, knowledgeable, fun and businesslike. They didn't engage in idle chit chat because when you are serving great beer, you don't have much downtime. Yet they took the time to answer our questions so we could learn more about the brewery and the beer. Only downer is they don't serve flights but they offer samples of the beers available on tap. So we had to try a half dozen of them. Every one of them was EXCELLENT...that is rarely seen, to have a full array of high quality beers (not even 1 so-so beer in the lot, amazing). Our favorite is Are You Here? 8% DIPA with Citra, Ella and Aussie Enigma hops...we love Citra and will now be seeking beers with the other 2 hops as well. We also bought a 4pk of Cool Down (not avail on tap) as it was flying off the shelves...for good reason.
Fifth Frame rivals the top breweries in the east coast like Trillium, Other Half, Tree House, Alchemist, etc. yet they still have that small-town brewery charm. Get there while you can before the demand goes up and you are waiting hours in line for their can releases.
Bonus Points: we loved the care they had in filling our crowlers (which also had a very cool design). Maria filler the cans with co2 before adding in the beer. We aren't sure how effective this is but it can only help to keep the beer fresh.
