Keystone. It’s the old stalwart around here. It’s the beer that has filled the stomachs of Binghamton students perhaps since the beginning of time. Priced at around 50 cents a can, the justification for its consumption despite its poor taste is obvious. However, lately many Binghamton students have begun to seek a higher quality drinking experience, at least to start the night.

Students have discovered microbrews and craft beers. Unfortunately, beer is a lot like toilet paper in that there is very often a correlation between quality and price. While Keystone is the one-ply cardboard you’ll find in most on-campus bathroom stalls, a beer such as Abita Turbodog is more akin to Charmin Ultra.

The term ‘microbrewer’ originated in Britain, and was used to describe small brewers who made cask ale, which is unfiltered or has not been pasteurized. However nowadays it’s used to describe any brewer who produces less than 15,000 barrels of beer per year. Sometimes microbrews become so popular that they expand outside of that category. They become craft breweries, the largest of which is Samuel Adams.

There are a few places in the Greater Binghamton area where students can find large selections of microbrews and craft beers. The Ale House, located not far from campus on Vestal Parkway, is one such watering hole. According to the Ale House’s proprietor, Diane Sansone, students have been frequenting the Ale House since its opening in 1967.

Sansone, who has owned the Ale House with her husband Tim since 1985, said students come to the Ale House to ‘get one or two good beers before going back to ‘substandard beers’ on many nights.

The Ale House is well known for its ‘passports’: cards on which patrons keep track of all the different microbrew draughts and import bottles they drink. When patrons drink 36 unique draughts they get an ‘Ale’ pint glass. After consuming 60 drinks, including bottles from almost a dozen countries, which is considered the ‘World Tour,’ they receive a sweatshirt and get their name on a plaque on the wall.

Sansone says that through the tour ‘customers learn a lot about beer,’ and more specifically that ‘dark beers can really have more flavor.’

According to Sansone the most popular brews at the Ale House tend to be India Pale Ales (IPAs for short), ales that are most often characterized by high alcohol and hops contents, however she says she still prefers the world’s most famous stout, Guinness.

Industrial engineering major Andrew Jones, 21, a student who recently finished the ‘World Tour,’ said he prefers Pride of Milford Special Ale: a beer that was offered at the Ale House early this year. Cooperstown Brewing, Pride of Milford’s brewers, describe the beer as ‘a very special ale with a tapestry of complex flavors and aromas’. Jones says it was the beer’s ‘malty’ flavor and ‘unusual, almost buttery aftertaste,’ which attracted him to it.

Many larger breweries have gotten into the game as well. Eager to break into the microbrew and craft beer market, breweries such as Anheuser-Busch have been rushing to develop beers that have the look and feel of smaller market beers. Some Anheuser-Busch craft impostors include Stone Mill Pale Ale, Wild Hop Lager and Bare Knuckle Stout (which is actually pretty good).

Trying and comparing new beers can add a fun and exciting element to sitting around with your friends. Whether your downing an ale, a porter, a lager or a stout, faux-craft or the real deal, it always just feels better to wipe with the Cottonelle two-ply with Aloe & E.