Tap Handle #312: Flying Bison - Aviator Red

This tap is very rare - I haven't ever seen another - and it's aviation-related, so I really wanted it. It's very sturdy and made of metal.

Flying Bison Brewery was founded in Buffalo, New York, in 1995 but didn't open for business until 2000, due to red tape and various calamities that included the loss of original partner, Lawrence "Red" Mrozek, to a motorcycle accident in 1998. The brewery continued on with majority partners, Phil Internicola and Tim Herzog, along with 25 individual investors, and began operations as a 20-barrel facility.  It was the first stand-alone brewery to operate in Buffalo since the Iroquois Brewing Company closed in 1972. Flying Bison draws its name in part from Buffalo's rich history of aviation manufacturing.

Herzog was a home brewer that studied at the Siebel Institute of Brewing and at the American Brewers Guild.  He also completed internships at Kelmer’s Brewhouse in Santa Rosa, California; the Oregon Trail Brewery in Corvallis, Oregon; and the Niagara Falls Brewery in Niagara Falls, Ontario.  Herzog’s work in beer evaluation earned him recognition as a Certified Beer Judge, and he also founded the New York State Craft Brewer Association. Flying Bison’s two flagship products were designed and developed by Herzog, who employed his many years of home brewing experience and a one hectoliter system salvaged from the cast-offs of a brew-on-premises shop. Herzog experimented with ingredients, techniques, and yeast strains until the results were both satisfactory to his very demanding palate and consistently repeatable. Internicola was an award-winning home brewer himself, who built his own fifteen gallon re-circulating infusion mash system and used it extensively to develop recipes that became some of Flying Bison's seasonal beer offerings.

In early 2004, Flying Bison installed a full bottling line and upgraded its production capacity by adding a 40 barrel fermenter. The brewery since expanded by more than 200%, adding 4 more 40 barrel fermenters. However, it attributed severe financial difficulty to a rise in the cost of ingredients, which caused a brief halt in production in 2010. A sale of the brewery to F. X. Matt Brewing Co., the Utica, New York-based makers of Saranac beer rescued the brewery. The terms of the sale stated that Matt was a parent company and that production would continue in Buffalo.

Aviator Red is an Irish red ale that is full bodied and brewed from the finest ingredients. A blend of six of the highest quality malts to give Aviator its rich malt flavor and signature ruby red color. It's named after former partner Red Mrozek (mentioned above). Recommended food pairings are barbecue, roast pork, and anything spicy. Weighted average on ratebeer.com is 3.09 out of 5.

Flying Bison Official Website