Craft beverage businesses are booming around here. Breweries, cideries, wineries, and meaderies—we’ve got ‘em all. And while you won’t be able to sip outside in the colder seasons, you’d be remiss not to check out these industry leaders.
On a 25-acre farm in Poughkeepsie, Plan Bee Brewery concocts a variety of complex and critically acclaimed sour ales made exclusively with New York ingredients. The beers get their fresh flavors from wild yeast cultivated from beehives on the farm. While Plan Bee has been selling since 2013, their charming tasting room just opened onsite this summer. For colder months, try the Royal Jelly, a wild ale aged in bourbon barrels, or the Tiny Acorn, a roasted squash beer with coriander, lemongrass, and wild carrot seed.
Hetta Glogg is the drink to bring over to your relatives this holiday season. Made in Rhinebeck, it’s an update on the traditional Nordic glogg, a red wine infused with fruits and spices that’s known served at Yuletide gatherings (Hetta has a 21.9-percent alcohol content, so it’s a real ice breakerdeep). Hetta is Swedish for “heat”—the beverage is typically served hot. You can pick up a bottle at over 30 locations in the region, or visit the tasting room in Kingston on weekends.
Gardiner Liquid Mercantile works with local farms to make delicious, fruit-based spirits in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Head to their cozy tasting room on Main Street in Gardiner and try their signature apple brandy. They also serve up scrumptious cocktails like A Clockwork Apple, an apple/pear sour topped with foam and cinnamon, as well as a full food menu.
Another big farm-to-pint brewer, Arrowood Farm Brewery grows six varieties of certified-organic hops on its Accord farm property. You can either visit the farm to taste their range of IPAs, stouts, ciders, ales, porters, lagers, and whatever else they have brewing this season, or pop into their new Outpost in New Paltz. For winter, check out the Nitro Pig, a smooth, hearty stout with a deep, coffee-like taste.
Lastly, should you find yourself in Sullivan County, stop by Catskill Distilling Co. in Bethel for some quality spirits. Tour the distillery, do a tasting, and have a bite at the Dancing Cat Saloon onsite. Located just down the road from the historic site of the Woodstock Festival, the distillery is famous for its Peace Vodka. With affordable prices and excellent, distinctive flavor profiles, it’s worth taking a bottle home.
