The Hudson Valley is enjoying a golden age of craft beverages, with over 100 producers making artisanal alcoholic beverages across the region. It’s hard to imagine that just 20 years ago that few of these businesses existed. The craft beverage boom has created not only tasty beers and cocktails, but also spurred a wave of hospitality-focused makers as well. Here are some of the new craft beverage producers on the scene who are focused on creating on-site experiences.
Foreign Objects | Monroe
Over the past four years, Foreign Objects Beer Company has built an international fan base for their hazy IPAs and crisp German lagers; sleek, abstract can designs; and esoteric beer descriptions with distribution in 13 states, Europe, Asia, and Australia. A nomadic production operation, Foreign Objects has at various times been brewed out of Shmaltz Brewing in Clifton Park; Two Roads in Stratford, Connecticut; Octopi in Wisconsin; and Bolero Snort in New Jersey. After multiple COVID hiccups and pivots, last fall the brand finally opened a taproom in Monroe, dubbed the Nerve Center. The taproom has a whopping 20 taps; about half pour a rotating selection of Foreign Objects brews, and the other half are beers, ciders, and meads from sibling businesses in their beverage group.
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Foreign Objects Beer Company Opens a Taproom in Monroe
Paul Brady Wine | Beacon
Formerly a brand ambassador for the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, Paul Brady took his expertise and opened a chic wine shop and tasting room in Beacon last fall with a focus on New York State wines. Working with Todd Cavallo of Wild Arc Farm and Ben Riccardi of Finger Lakes winery Osmote, among others, Brady has developed his own line of low-intervention wines using hybrid grapes, which will be available in-store. One wine of note is his Fauxjolais, a carbonically macerated De Chaunac made with Cavallo. To nibble, there are charcuterie boards for two available ($45), prepared in collaboration with chef Brian Arnoff of Kitchen Sink.
Catskill Mountain Moonshine | Saugerties
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One of the newest distilleries in the region is Catskill Mountain Moonshine, which distills and serves its spirits at its storefront location in Market Street in Saugerties. Their offerings include vodka, gin, maple-flavored whiskey, honey-flavored whiskey, 100 proof corn whiskey, and 80 proof corn whiskey. The tap room has a deli-cum-roadhouse vibe, and flights are available for tasting as well as specialty cocktails. Catskill Mountain Moonshine serves food, a rotating food menu, what they call a “Menu-ish,” which might include charcuterie ($20/$32), pork carnitas ($12), or fried chicken with baked beans and slaw ($15). Bottles to go are also available for purchase.
West Kill Brewing Satellite Tasting Room | Kingston
In good news for the faint of hike, soon you won’t have to make the trek out to West Kill’s original Spruceton Valley location to throw back a West Kill beer. The brewery is opening a tasting room outpost smack in the middle of Midtown Kingston this summer. The satellite tasting room will be housed in a long, low building at 602 Broadway (across the street from Pakt), which housed a seamstress shop for many years. “The vibe is going to be very much ‘Catskills farmhouse’ or ‘public house,’” Barcone says. “Very woodsy, Catskills fish and game club, turn-of-the-century resort vibe—not Borscht Belt, but the turn-of-the-century boarding houses.” The bar will have 12 tap lines, which will pour a mix of West Kill beers and draft wine and New York State cider.
Subversive Malting & Brewing | Catskill
“Malt is the soul of beer,” says Max Ocean, cofounder and maltster Subversive Malting & Brewing, which makes hyper-local beers with grain malted in-house, procured from local farmers at its West Bridge Street location in Catskill. At the tap house and tasting room, a typical lineup of beers might include two types of IPAs, a pale ale, a copper lager, a couple of farmhouse ales, a Brett saison, and half a dozen others. They’re served in 13-ounce pours, which are $7 or $8 a glass. A small canning line, allows Subversive to sell 16-ounce four-packs for off-site consumption. They also have a limited range of large-format bottles (750-milliliter). Grab a brew and a burger or sandwich from their kitchen and settle in for a relaxed hang in their charming beer garden, with amber-colored twinkle lights overhead, picnic tables, and fire pits.
Lasting Joy Brewery | Tivoli
Soon, every town, village, and unincorporated hamlet in the Hudson Valley will have its own craft brewery. Tivoli need wait no longer, as Lasting Joy Brewery is set to open this month on 32 bucolic acres on Lasher Road. The brewery’s tasting room, featuring wood and walls of glass, can hold 99 guests, and there’s an outdoor patio with seating and fire pits. The brewery features its own beers on tap, in addition to a selection of ciders, wines, and pre-made cocktails from our favorite New York beverage crafters. For food, there will be a selection of snacks, as well as charcuterie and cheese boards available from Baldwin Farms. On select days Lasting Joy will host food trucks offering more substantial fare.
Honey Hollow Brewing Company | Earlton
Tucked in the trees off the main drag of Greene County hamlet of Earlton, Honey Hollow Brewing Company’s quaint tasting room features a slew of brews made with hops grown onsite, while offering a laid-back place for families and friends to come together. For owner and longtime brewer Matty Taormina, creating a welcoming environment was an essential part of the Honey Hollow mission. “We wanted to support local people, and this was a great way of doing it,” says Taormina. Inside the eclectically furnished tasting room, chalkboards list the draft offerings. Honey Hollow has nine beers on tap at all times. During the summer, there’s pizza made in the outdoor wood-fired brick oven and live music from local blues and rock artists. Outside, tables under tents can seat about 45 guests, with more seating tucked away under the trees. Children are welcome at Honey Hollow, which has cornhole, bonfires, and a bocce ball court.
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This article appears in Spring/Summer 2022.
