Fiden’s Brewing, Albany NY

1 April 2025

Let me state categorically that this post is NOT an April Fools’ post — it’s as real as I can make it! Secondly, kudos to my favorite bartender Kathleen at Two Weeks Notice for recommending this place when I mentioned that I was looking for somewhere to stop in Albany on this trip.

As Fiden’s website warns, the parking lot right next door is only available on weekends and after a certain time on weekdays, but they are absolutely correct when they say there’s lots of street parking. I had no problem at all getting a convenient spot and the parking is free. Inside, the space is huge and there’s even a small upstairs area over the bar.

I decided to sit at the bar and that was a great choice because both of the bartenders were interesting and we had great chats about the beer and trips. Unfortunately, Fiden’s doesn’t offer flights, but they do offer “short pours” of everything on tap so that’s what I did in order to have four different beers with lunch (plus tastes of two others, as you’ll see).

My first was their Albany Amber, a 5% amber ale that was just the perfect amount of malt flavor for my taste. If only it had been available in cans … it was just that good and I’m not usually motivated to buy this style.

My second was their Cold Calculation, a 5% Dunkel, and they knocked this one out of the park as well. Not only was it the right flavors and feel, but it was just mild enough to be good for multiple pints in a session. And just look at that head!

They have a decent menu with lots of options and this is the Grown-Up Grilled Cheese, a classic grilled cheese with butter-braised onions and bacon added to it, and I upgraded from chips to fries (they also offer a side salad which I really should have had instead, but it’s the last day of my trip so what the heck?! and anyway, those fries were GOOD!!). I’m not sold on the onions in this, but everything on this tray disappeared in short order and it was plenty of food to last me the rest of the day.

Next up: The sample is the Teacher’s Pet, a 5.4% Pale Ale that I had really wanted to love. Unfortunately, while the primary hop is Citra, this also uses Nelson hops and I’m just not fond of that flavor so I’m glad I didn’t do the full short pour of it. Having the sample also meant that I didn’t take a 4-pack home as I’d planned to! The full short pour is Farmer Jr, a 6.8% Hazy IPA. It’s a “Jr” because they also have this in a Double IPA. It struck me as mostly a stronger version of Teacher’s Pet with strong citrus but also with piney flavors substituted for the Nelson hops flavor. I wasn’t too sure about it, but certainly didn’t dislike it.

The last pour was this absolute beauty called The Color of the Night, a 5.2% Oatmeal Stout. It’s everything I like in this style, smooth, roasted flavor, and a great mouthfeel with a perfect head. Again, if only they’d had this in cans …

There are two more I don’t have pictures of, but they are also unforgettable beers. The first, I had a sample of because I was curious, Henok’s Axe, a Quadruple IPA at 12%. I’ve never seen a QIPA before, but this was just so unbelievably smooth, rather like a finely aged scotch. I told the bartender that I was really sorry they didn’t have this in cans and he said they did, but the cans sold out in only two days! No wonder — this was, I believe, the best strong beer I have ever had. The second was a can from a 4-pack I took home with me, a 10% Triple IPA called Triple Matakana. When I asked for this one, the bartender highly approved of my decision and now being halfway through a can, it’s clear why — it’s not quite as smooth as the Henok’s Axe but it’s close, and it’s full of that wonderful citrus flavor in a pale gold hazy brew.

Fiden’s clearly has a talent for the higher-ABV beers. While there are plenty of choices on draft for those who don’t like IPAs, they currently had the single pale ale, the single IPA, but 7 Double IPAs, 2 Triple IPAs, and the Quad IPA. That’s a very impressive lineup and I’m honestly tempted to stay overnight in Albany sometime so that I can better sample more of the Doubles and Triples. Even just as a stop near the end of my day, they’ll be on my list for future trips without a doubt.

[Edit: Here is the list of everything they had available when I visited:]