Great spot for good brews! I've been to Active Ingredient several times and they always have a great draft list, including a few ciders as well as a list of wines and cocktails. Most recently, I tried their Pumpkin Pi beer (most of the beers have scientific names due to the owner's science background) and it was delicious. I've never had their food but they do offer a large menu of appetizers, tacos, sandwiches and salads. The atmosphere is great and there is plenty of seating at the bar and at the indoor and outdoor tables. The bartenders are always friendly and eager to help customers. They'll also let you try things before you commit to a drink. Definitely worth a stop! read more

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First trip here. Beer was great - Mom Gene's was fantastic. We were there Sunday around 2:30 for a late lunch after the children's museum ( Don't judge they have a kids menu). We played a table game of taco cat pizza and we were a little rowdy! We spilled lemonade in our slap action play. I felt awful about it, while it's kid friendly and has games I never want to cause a mess for the staff! They were so nice about it. Our food was excellent ( be warned they carry really good local ground beef - the kids may find it a little off putting as it's grass fed and not the standard beef most kids are used to). We will visit again read more

Nice and relaxing experience! You order by scanning a qr code at the table. Beers are served in 3oz, 5oz, 10oz sizes. They were good. We had the street corn tacos which had decent spice but was quite short on street corn (perhaps 6 kernels per taco). Water is serve yourself from a huge icey water dispenser. Ordering by qr code incurs a. 99 cent service charge in addition to tip. The patio is dog friendly. Merch is available but it's quite expensive (even more than Tree House). Parking is convenient and abundant. read more

Active Ingredient Brewing Company - Dog friendly seating area - Breweries Near Me - Malta, New York

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My favorite brewery in the area mostly for the German and porter styles. What is unique is the use of quality food ingredients and love the fried cheese curds. I wish the nachos were with queso though, but the burger is really solid. read more

Came by after Kayaking the upper Hudson River. Location is right off of Route 9 in Malta. Strip mall with an outdoor space. Plenty of seats inside and outdoor. There is a fire pit and Cornhole boards along with darts inside. Ordering is done at the bar which is a little clunky or at the table QR code with your camera. We ordered 2 beers, a sour, Delta Ph for me and NE IPA, Control Group for Amanda. Food, Beer pretzel(a little too much salt) and chicken bacon ranch handheld(no lettuce). Beers were good and food was a little salty but tasty. Would we come back, we'd like to try more beers and come back at night for Darts, Cornhole, and a fire. read more

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Quality beer served at a reasonable price by a friendly staff. I recommend trying the Both Alive and Dead Vienna lager at 4.8% abv, good stuff., read more

The longer I stayed here, the more I enjoyed my visit. This brewery is run by a pharmacist couple, and I appreciated all the references to science and chemistry without them being overwhelming (I channeled my inner Thomas Dolby a bit here (Google that if you don't get it)). A lot of the beers are strong here, so expect smaller pours of some items. But it wasn't just the beer, or the atmosphere (darts on the back wall on the left too) or banter with the staff, the food was very satisfying as well. My chicken tacos were just as good if not better than some of the ones I've had in the "taco district" in the Albany, Troy, and Cohoes area, and cheaper. Your food here is as good as your drink. The location is also very convenient, in a strip mall just off Route 9, with plenty of parking. read more

Active Ingredient Brewing Company - a glass of beer - Breweries Near Me - Malta, New York

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This place was new and trendy! Service was with a smile! Food was great! I got a burger and it was moist and perfectly cooked. French fries were a great amount and just enough salt. Buffalo chicken had grill marks which made it pop with flavor! Be back again read more

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I love it here. Great ambiance in the tasting room, delicious ciders and stouts, and the chicken tenders and fries always hit the spot. I have been here several times and they are consistently fantastic from service to drinks to food. Check them out! read more

Active Ingredient Brewing Company - Enjoying a round during Christmas time - Breweries Near Me - Malta, New York

Love this place. What an eclectic choice of brew. Mom Genes is my favorite. Great environment. Food is amazeballs. Service is very friendly and accommodating. Highly recommend. read more

Active Ingredient Brewing Company - Nachos - Breweries Near Me - Malta, New York

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Very hip ambience with great natural light. The beers were fine. The person working was all business which isn't bad but doesn't leave a great impression. The food menu is wildly overpriced. I've never seen chips and guac cost $14 anywhere, especially at a brewery. Well, maybe at an airport. It did look like they make their own chips, but geez Louise. I was hungry and wanted more beer but I didn't wanna go broke. read more

I really like the ambiance of Active Ingredient, I can't wait till it's warmer to try their patio area. All of the bartenders were very nice. They had excellent beers, along with some wine and cocktails for the non-beer drinkers. My husband loved their Amber, and I loved their Freudian Sips, which was a honey Kolsch. Both of their sours had a nice taste as well as their Oryza, which is a Japanese Rice lager. The food was good as well. We got the pretzel as an appetizer, it was nice and buttery. I wish there was just a touch more seasoning . My husband got their Nashville hot chicken sandwich, he didn't offer to share so that speaks for itself. I got their special burger which was a Mac and cheese burger. We both would definitely come again. read more

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A must visit spot in Malta - great beer, cider and food. They also have cocktails, but we haven't had them as we come for the beer typically. On this visit we did a flight and some pints. All absolutely delicious and we truly appreciate the wide variety on tap. Love the science by the pint theme, it's always clean there with plenty of seating available inside and out. Bonus of some dart boards to play with friends. The service is awesome, always helpful with questions. This is a perfect gathering spot with family and friends. read more

Active Ingredient Brewing Company - two glasses of beer - Breweries Near Me - Malta, New York

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Love Active Ingredient. The selection of beers is diverse so there's something for every taste. Served nice and cold and fresh. Bar help is always friendly and inviting. Great local stopping point. And the menu is always fresh, and a great compliment to the beers. No reason not to go. read more

Great beer, great staff, great ambiance. The brewer is attractive as well. All in all, a lovely place.

Came to Active Ingredient because several of our friends had recommended the beer. I ordered a flight to try several beers, and I can honestly say they make some of the best beer in the capitol region. My favorites were their Cell Out (a German witbier) and the delta ph (a delicious sour). We also ordered food- I got the crispy chicken sandwich and my partner got the smashburger. While we both really enjoyed our meals, the food was a little heavy on the salt (and I love salt), and the sandwich I ordered came with a "zesty horseradish sauce" that I could barely taste. The interior of the brewery has a nice clean feel, and there is a cute outdoor patio available to sit at as well. Overall, I would definitely come back for the beer- once we finish the stuff we purchased to go. Great brewery. read more

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They have NEIPA on draft but here it stands for Neat Environment Imbued with Poor Attitude. Went out of my way to come here today, as I was in the mood for an IPA. They have NEIPA on the menu, which I haven't seen in print before (DIPA yes NEIPA no). Thinking the bartender would give me just a general description of the "active ingredients", she was instead disinterested and down right rude. Ordinarily, a bartender would say something like "hazy, fruity, hoppy" etc. Nope, instead she gave me a blank stare then seeme generally shocked that I didn't order anything. It was so bad that at one point I asked her if she was in the middle of something because she kept staring off at a distance. Meanwhile, there were a total of six people in this place between two groups. To Druther's I go..... read more

Active Ingredient Brewing Company - Bar - Breweries Near Me - Malta, New York

We live close by and love that this is an option in Malta. Love the ambiance outside, and we always say how the beer and food is good and worth stopping for( black bean burger, fries are great and taste like they're hand cut and kale salad are some of my faves) I've had a tasty Moscow mule here and it was so light and refreshing, some times they can be too harsh and bitter. Lastly, you've got to try the fried Oreos. Omg they are out of this world and plentiful. If you're having a bad day, these will change that. I found my new guilty pleasure. Wow! I wish I took a pic of them read more

This brewery used to be a go to. Our meal and service this evening was extremely subpar to what we have been accustomed to from Active Ingredient. We also tripped into a defaulted 20% tip when we then received the wrong order. App got away from us and defaulted back to a standard 20% tip. We are well aware of this infuriating practice, but didn't catch it when we added an item to our order. Active Ingredient has been well aware of what we would consider a deceitful practice and choose to default to a 20% tip when the service they provide is simply bringing your food and drink. No check up at your table. No offer for additional food or beverage. Server brought out the wrong dish. We attempted to stop her and could not get a reaction at all. We have come to recognize this server in our years of frequenting Active Ingredient. Now we were afforded the opportunity to stand in line to bring back the wrong dish. Service seemed cold and apathetic until we received the wrong dish. We were offered a free drink, which was considerate, except I was driving. The dish, fried chicken, was a ton of bread and salt and some dry chicken somewhere in it. So to sum it up, expensive subpar food, after receiving the wrong order, with apathetic service, and we had to swallow a defaulted 20% tip. read more

They had a "mystery opening" the night before their official grand opening, which they announced through their email list, so we went to that. It was quite busy, but there were still plenty of seats available. The space is bright and modern with a fantastic chemistry theme ("Science by the Pint"). They were just a tiny bit slow as the staff was getting used to the menu and their payment & ordering system, but we went again a few days later and they were already much faster at handling orders. We got a flight, which was served on a fun science beaker-shaped flight board. I particularly enjoyed their coffee porter, the witbier, and one of the IPAs they had. The patio outside was great and had tons of seating, allows dogs, and even had cornhole in the back. We also ordered food. The elotes are good (the thick, crunchy tortilla chips are perfect with the elotes), and we also liked the fries with the multiple dip options. The only negatives I'd give are minor: the meat & cheeseboard is a bit overpriced for what it gives you, and I wasn't a big fan of the pickle spear version of the fried pickles. There were also only about 7 pickles (sliced and spear) on the fried pickle plate, which at $7 is pretty disappointing. read more

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multiple award winning beers, great food! had a nice chat with the owners, definitely worth a stop.

Went for the first time last night with a friend. Very cute place that has darts and cornhole, beautiful outside area and they have trivia Wednesday nights. Reason I'm giving it 3 stars is because I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and the patty was tiny compared to the bun. It might as well have been a slider, the French fries were delicious. I would come here again but never get the burger again. read more

Active Ingredient Brewing Company - Breweries Near Me - Malta, New York

This was our first visit to Active Ingredient and it was a bit of a mixed bag. The ambiance was very kid & family friendly, almost a bit too much though as there were kids running all over, high chairs, and food throwers. We could have moved outside to their beautiful patio space, but it was a little cold with a chance of rain, so we stuck it out inside. Menu was quite nice, food selection (we got the chicken sandwich and the chicken tacos). The online food ordering you had to do at the table allowed us to get beer roo... but after a while with no drinks nor food appearing (nor an update on the app to indicate they had even seen our order) I went to the bar to see what's up. One of the beers you can order at the table was actually kicked an hour before, so that was a let down. Swapped it out for Mom Genes (their hazy NEIPA) - which was pretty good. My wife got the wheat beer, which was light on flavor. All in all service was pretty slow, granted they were pretty swamped, but it felt like the process was flawed a bit. read more

Loved Active Ingredient ! Beers and cider amazing and food exceptional. Staff amazing as well. Very family friendly too. Items on menu for all tastes. You must attend Oktoberfest, we went last year and loved it. it's Sept 30th this year. Check out their Facebook page and buy tickets !!! read more

Visited on a Wednesday night which unbeknownst to us is trivia night. Beer was good. Food was OK. I'm sure it would've been better if the kitchen wasn't being slammed by loud, hungry trivia players. To get to the point of my review and I hate to sound like an old, grumpy boomer, but what dampened the experience for me were all the children running around. At one point I was exiting to the patio and a toddler barely old enough to walk stood in the way and made me nervous about opening the door. We regarded one another for a while until he trotted away. Of course he was adorable and I smiled at the parents sitting nearby but it made me once again wonder why parents bring children to a brewery? I know I'm crossing a line here with young parents but please forgive me for saying, if I want to enjoy a beer and meal with little children running around, I'd go to chucky cheese or friendly's not a local brewery. Anyway, I Just want this review to maybe be helpful to boomers like me by letting you know Wednesday is trivia/kids night at Active Ingredient and this is what you can expect. I'm giving this evening two stars and what can be improved is 21 and over at breweries, wineries and distilleries. Yep, I'm old fashioned just like I always feared. read more

Get a flight, try many of their brews. So many are so good. Food is amazing. Truffle fries a must. Steak & cheddar sandwich delicious. Wish I lived closer. read more

Active Ingredient Brewing Company - steak & cheddar sandwich. - Breweries Near Me - Malta, New York

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Great diversity on the tap today. I wish we had more time to sample another few. We had lunch (burger, blt-a, fries, Philly cheesesteak, and the pretzel with beer cheese) and it definitely was tasty. Plenty of seating, clean all around, and very attentive and friendly staff. We will be back when we are back in the area. read more

Great beer and awesome food. I am always pleased after spending time at Active Ingredient. Really good people.

Great experience here. Good brews, vodka and some wine options for non brew drinkers. Excellent service

Yes. They have the brew and the food. Like cheese sauce for the huge pretzel was totally homemade. Steak sammie was cut pieces of steak. Cooked perfect. With fresh peppers, not soggy. Fries were the real deal, would recommend! read more

Active Ingredient Brewing Company - Flights. Just do it. - Breweries Near Me - Malta, New York

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Came here for a quick lunch at 1:30 on a Saturday and were all pretty happy! Ordered at the counter and the food came pretty quick. Fried chicken sandwich was excellent, fries were well seasoned but were small pieces. Wings were nice and crispy, decent sized wings. Blue cheese and veggies also good quality. Burger was great, meat filled out the large bun. read more

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An absolutely beautiful tasting room. Bright and friendly they also had games and video games for kids to play. Their beer was very solid and those working there were kind, friendly, and positive. It was a comfortable environment. Well worth the visit! read more

Active Ingredient Brewing Company - a large group of people sitting at tables - Breweries Near Me - Malta, New York

I so wanted to love this place since I heard good things. Being my first time I asked what beers they had that they were known for or won awards for. He didn't know. No personality whatsoever. Didn't greet me I had to greet him. They have cool clear beaker flask like plexiglass taster boards which they write on in black dry erase and place on the black bar with beer spilled everywhere. His partner came out and they together complained about the equipment. Beer was OK though I'm not sure what I had. I don't think he got the right beers. Only beer that I can say was exceptionally good was the honey kolsch which apparently they won an award for. I say apparently because neither bartender knew what the medal hanging from the sign signified. Some guy named Brian was at the end of the bar on a computer and looking at food that had the fancy plate covers you see in a Hosptial. Never once said hi. Judging he had the fancy shirt with his name on it I assume he is the manager or owner. Place was hot. Bartender's shirts were soaked. Place reaked of cigarette smoke. Decor otherwise was vey nice. Even if their full menu wasn't on the board....check out Untapped. I went somewhere else after and learned they served food. Oh well. If you come here go a bit south and to Unified behind the Minogues on Stonebreak. This place is meh. Unified is not. read more

Following up on my previous review, we went back this afternoon and were very happy with everything. Beers were good, I did a flight and liked the sour and the porter. They also have a variety of purees they can add to any of their beers and ciders. We tried the blueberry in a pint of Proton sour, added some sweetness and interesting character. On a budget so just ordered the fries to snack on and they were highly addictive. read more

Just went there tonight, and I won't be going back. Picture an overpriced, loud cafeteria with beer, that's what this place is. And no service. We ordered after scanning the menu and paid for it then too. I gave them a 20% tip for service, which is funny because there isn't any other than bringing your order to the table. I ordered a cheeseburger which was somewhere below mediocre. Same with the fries that came with it. The only reason I gave it two stars was because my girlfriend thought the tacos were good. I spent $60, the only alcohol on the bill was with one 5oz pumpkin ale, which sucked. Ironically, I drove by a bunch of decent restaurants to get to this place. I should have went to one of them instead. read more

If you want choices for craft brews, this is your place to go, and also perfect wings. Hang out on the outside patio, too!

My wife and I met here for dinner for first time and we awaited arrival of our son to join us at bar. We asked bartender if possible to change an interview taped sports show to live US Open Semifinal and he obliged. Was a little perplexed why this brewery was lit up like a luncheonette, but I guess not everyone likes a dim bar. My wife and I order drinks and food which comes out fast (and tasty) and we are soon joined by our son who is ignored for 15 minutes. It wasn't that busy, I don't get why bartenders are looking at their phones vs seeing what is going on with patron's needs. C'mon guys, look around and observe what people might need. Ask questions. Icing on the cake came when bartender (who put our tennis on) changed the channel without saying a word to us mid-match. OK, I guess we're done here, goodnight. In no hurry to go back here.... read more

This place just opened and we have already visited twice. The brewery design is clean, bright, and modern and the staff is very friendly. The food is fantastic and so is the beer. Parking is easy and their spacious outdoor patio is dog friendly. An awesome spot to check out in Malta and a great add to the community! read more

Stopped here for lunch. Brat burger was delicious! Wife had the street corn dip which was fantastic. Mom Genes (Double IPA) and Cell Out (Witbier) were both excellent. Wife really enjoyed the Atoms Apple (Cider). Plenty of seating inside an out. Very helpful staff. Exciting new spot in Malta! read more

Just opened. Got there on the official opening day which was hopping. Has plenty of seating and lots of great staff. Opening day has some issues though, like problems with the card reader and a tough finding of delivering food to tables. Yes this place has a kitchen and outdoor seating. We ordered the soft pretzels with Porter mustard and beer cheese. I'm super hoping the opening day problems were related to the problem with my beer cheese being hot beer and no cheese. The mustard was good with grains and sinus clearing but not enough to compensate for hot beer with little cheese. The beer however was delicious. They have small pours and 5 beer flights. The porter has coffee and was complex. The proton beer was light and crisp and doesn't need any of the recommended syrup additions. I am hopeful they add more taps to be competitive with the beer place around the corner so that I have the same variety but until then the new place is exciting and has way better seating and parking. read more