I don’t know what I think sometimes. I’ve gone to Brown’s (located at 417 River Street in Troy, NY) and places like it, and I get cute when I order. I partially blame the menu, which features a number of cute entrées, but I can’t fully because nobody places my order but me. Every time I have gone, I’ve either ordered one of these entrées or just an appetizer, and I’ve been disappointed.

They have some pretty good beers. I would recommend the flight of 8 beers for $8. You can pretty much get everything they have on tap at the moment and a pretty good buzz with that. And, to be honest, their beers have a wide range of flavor profiles and types, so, once you find one you like, I’d even stick with it. [Drink responsibly and do not drive if you are consuming]

I like the Whiskey Porter, so that’s what I ordered for this trip.

There are days where I need my onion ring fix. Mentally, I have myself programmed to not worry about my diet if I eat onion rings every few weeks. Browns has an appetizer consisting of beer battered (their tomahawk pilsner) onion rings, so I had to order that.

To guild the Lilly, I decided to not be cute this time and order a burger. I have gotten a number of recommendations about how great the burgers are. I decided on the Old Hickory Burger [“Deliciously smoky, covered with bacon, cheddar jack cheese and smothered in our Cherry Raspberry Ale BBQ Sauce”]; that’s my type of burger out of the list on the menu. So that’s what I got (no fries, but I did get cole slaw).

My beer was just as I like it. Thick porter, complex in flavor, further complicated in flavor by living in whiskey barrels for a short period of time. It’s not a super-high alcohol beer. In my opinion, it is far and away the best beer I’ve had at Browns.

The onion rings were somewhat disappointing on this trip. Onion rings are a tough food to nail, and everything is there for these to have tasted great. I just feel like they were a little soggy and spongy this time around. Could have been extra moist onions or not enough time in the fryer.

The burger was alright. I really liked the cheddar cheese and the cherry raspberry ale BBQ sauce. The burger came out fairly well-done, even though I asked for medium. Fine, most places aren’t going to give you an undercooked burger nowadays; I’m moving past that. The bun left a lot to be desired. It was a weird hybrid between a picnic hamburger bun and a hard roll, texturally. It didn’t really hold up well against the burger and BBQ sauce. I’m nitpicking. Let me be more general. It was average. It wasn’t terrible; It wasn’t the greatest thing on the planet; I’d order it again.

I’ll put it another way: it’s better than any entrée I’ve ordered there.

Brown’s is a pub that represents Troy rather nicely. At the heart of it, it’s a great place to get together with some people, belly up to the bar and have some microbrews, sit at the patio with some brewskies, and/or munch on some not-great-for-you foods until your heart’s content.

MORE derryX Dines!!!!!