By JACQUI COLT

COLUMNIST

North Country brew train, coming to a town near you!  Whoo whoooooo!  Oh wait, actually the town we are all already in!  That’s right, folks, our very own Canton, NY has a brewery in it.    Contrary to many SLU kids’ popular belief, there actually is quite a bit more to Canton than the Blackbird and the Tick Tock!

The St. Lawrence Brewing Company is over on Commerce Ln., which is the first left turn after both bridges, down Main St. or Route 68 towards Ogdensburg.  Exactly 1.5 miles from campus, it is a quick drive (get a DD!) or pedal from campus, and the beer is brewed right on site!  They even have tours on Friday nights! 

Inside, the place is nice.  I am not talkin’ Hoot-On A Monday nice or even Theme-House-After-A-Deep-Clean nice.  It is a whole new level…actually nice!  They have got a great wooden bar, darts, foosball, comfy couches, board games (including drinking Jenga!), Trivia Wednesdays, Karaoke Fridays, a fun staff and great beer!  And for beer that is actually nice (and higher alcohol content), it is pretty darn cheap. 

But wait, I forgot to mention my absolute favorite part of the brewery: Beerchkers.  No, that was not a typo.  I think I made up that particular name, but regardless, they have BEER CHECKERS at the brewery!  Not checkers with beer caps, not a checkerboard with cheesey pictures of beers on it, but LITERAL CHECKERS WITH BEER INSTEAD OF CHECKERS.  How can this magic work?  Well, it is easy!  Simply order a small pitcher of beer for each player (two different beers that look different), and 24 little glasses.  The tabletops are all checkerboarded, as if the person who made them knew the magic that is Beerchkers would eventually occur on their surfaces. 

So now you are probably wondering what beers to play Beerchkers with.  The options are yours, but I might recommend the Maple Porter and the Skinny Dipper IPA.  The Porter is a brewery classic, and probably the beer that they are most known for.  It is a strong, sweet porter that really does not mess around at 8%.  Skinny Dipper is not messing around either, and they have just re-vamped the recipe!  Drink Local, friends!