Hudson Valley Hoppenings October 2017
Erik Bell of Old Klaverack Brewery in Hudson, NY.
By Mark A Marnell
markmarnell@yahoo.com
Special Events
October 6, The Capital Craft Beverage Trail will hold their Drink Albany event at the New York State Museum with samples of all capital district breweries, cideries and distilleries. The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park is hosting a few beer related events in October. October 7, the second annual Brew U Beer Fest takes place in the Egg. It features 15 Hudson Valley breweries as well as some local cideries. There will be plenty of local beer, food stations, CIA chef food demos and seminars that include beer cheese pairings, farmhouse ales and barrel blending. October 12, the 5th annual Hudson Valley Beer, Wine, Spirits & Cider Summit takes place at the Marriott Pavilion, presented by the Hudson Valley Food and Beverage Alliance. It features interactive panels with industry experts and a keynote speech by New York Distilling Co. president and co-founder Tom Potter. November 4, the Second Annual NY Craft Brewers’ Holiday Release Festival takes place in Canandaigua at the NY Wine and Culinary Center, with statewide breweries offering up a myriad of seasonal beers. December 2, the 5th Annual New York Craft Brewers Festival takes place at the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse, with over 55 NY breweries pouring beer and plenty of local restaurants sampling food.
Expansions and Anniversaries
Druthers Brewing has a new CFT bottling line installed at their Albany location. It boasts very low oxygen levels similar to what the massive companies achieve on some of their state of the art lines. All-in IPA and The Dare Gose bottles are out on Capital District store shelves, and Fist of Karma Brown Ale will join them sometime this fall. At both their Albany and Saratoga Springs locations, be on the lookout for exclusive bottles of specialty beers that will be available nowhere else. Newburgh Brewing‘s new canning line is now pumping out year round cans of NanoBoss session IPA and their other flagship beers that are available throughout NY, NJ and CT. They also began offering fresh taproom only special cans so check their social media for can release schedules. Crossroads Brewing is now pumping out production brews at their new Catskill Brewery location, that you can try in the newly finished taproom. Mill House Brewing in Poughkeepsie recently expanded into NYC and Long Island. You can now get cans of “Köld One” and their Cucumber Blessings Cream Ale statewide. The Brewery at Bacchus in New Paltz has a new brewer. Kyle Delaney took over the reins and he aims to greatly expand their sour/wild ale program. Lil Ghost, a wild Farmhouse aged in oak barrels and Warm Light Citra Dry Hopped Farmhouse Pale Ale are now available on tap. Keegan Ales in Kingston turned 14 this fall. They are celebrating with a collection of large bottle offerings. The waxed dipped bottles include October batches of Mother’s Milk aged in Widow Jane bourbon barrels and a new Framboise, made with Oregon raspberries that was cellar aged for well over a year in oak barrels. By Thanksgiving, 2017’s version of 12.5% honey packed Super Kitty English Strong Ale will be out as well as a limited supply of last year’s version aged for a year. Look for gift packs to have various combinations of these beers.
Oktoberfests and Brewery Events!
October 7 and 8, German-centric New Paltz Brewing in Wawarsing is celebrating their one year anniversary with an Oktoberfest and an Oktoberfestbier. The celebration will include eight different in-house German Beers, traditional music under the tent and traditional food that includes Bratwurst, Currywurst; and Knackwurst. October 7, Chatham Brewing will host their annual Oktoberfest, as part of a larger city-wide celebration called Oktoberfeast. There will be closed streets, fresh local food offerings and a chili contest that will be judged, among others, by Food Network’s Nancy Fuller. Chatham Brewing will offer live music and seasonal beers that include: a cask of barrel aged-Dopplebock, their 5.5% Oktoberfest and draft and canned versions of their wet hopped 6.5% Hop Crop Harvest IPA, made with Cascades from their own hopyard as well as from Kinderhook Creek Hop Yard. Honey Hollow Brewery in Earlton is hosting their fall open house, Oct. 8, featuring their latest beer, bbq, their new farm brewery market digs and their new taproom. Indian Ladder Farms Cidery and Brewery in Altamont has collaborated with several breweries using their own fresh hops. The beers include I Love You Hop Pils made with C.H. Evans Brewing Co. in Albany, a Harvest Ale made with Interboro Spirits & Ales in Bushwick, and Forgotten Oats IPA made with Moustache Brewing in Riverhead. More collaboration beers will follow this fall with The Brewery at the CIA in Hyde Park and Kings County Beer Cooperative and Threes Brewing in Brooklyn. These beers join several barrel aged ciders, some of which were aged in brandy barrels, and The Crab, a sour blend of apple and crabapple cider. October 15, they will host a Hawaiian-Style Oktoberfest in their taproom. Old Klaverack Brewery in Hudson has finished up their taproom renovations. The spiffed up digs include new inside seating, a new bar top, seven in-house beer taps, one guest cider tap, small snacks from local bakeries and cocktails featuring locally distilled spirits. Their latest seasonal beer is Psych-O-Jack Pumpkin Ale made with all Hudson Valley Malt, local Martin Farms pumpkins and traditional pie spices. October 28, they will have a Chili Fest that includes all you can eat (till gone) of your choice of hot, mild and vegetarian varieties.
North River Hops and Brewing in Wappinger Falls just turned three years old. They recently introduced their annual Oktoberfest with other seasonal beers like Berry and Basil Berliner Weiss, Lemon and Dill Pale Ale and a Barrel Aged AJ Nut Brown Ale. This year, Rushing Duck Brewing decided to release their very first Oktoberfest. It comes out in early October along with the return of Pay To Play IPA; made with multinational hops from America, Germany and New Zealand. At the end of October, look for a 16-oz can release of 10.1% Chained to the Dead Imperial Milk Stout. The beer collaboratively takes its name from the NJ metal band with a guitarist that used to intern at the brewery. The Roscoe NY Beer Co. has an Oktoberfest that was released at their third annual Oktoberfest in September. The beer joins other fall seasonals like Nighty Night New England Black IPA and a re-release of Whitetail Pale Ale that is made to celebrate hunters and hunting. CH Evans Brewing in Albany has a 6% Oktoberfest rolling out in early October. It is a traditional Oktoberfest hopped with newer German varietals like Huell Melon and Hallertau Blanc. Their strong HV collaboration tradition continues with beers being tapped at both brewery locations. Available through October, 4.9% Session Jort IPA was crafted with Helderberg Mountain Brewing in East Berne using mostly New York State malt hopped with Galaxy and El Dorado. 5.1% Naughty Farmer Lambic was made with Indian Ladder Farms Cidery & Brewery in Altamont, in much the same way as it would have been in Belgium’s Seine Valley. The turbid mash was made with New York Conlon Malt from Hudson Valley Malt in Germantown and unmalted oats and four year old whole leaf hops from ILF. It was boiled for four hours, inoculated with local microflora by spending a night on the farm in a coolship, fermented for a month and then transferred to barrels with added blueberries that were caramelized over apple wood. Hyde Park Brewing released a brand new 5.9% IPA and they will have their 5.3% Märzen on in time for your Oktoberfest celebrations. Rip Van Winkle Brewing in Catskill has an all New York State 5.8% Oktoberfest made with Hudson Valley Malt in Germantown and Perle hops from Bineyard Hops in Casinovia. Look for it at the brewery and in local surrounding area restaurants along with 5.8% West Coast Porter that is made with Amarillo and Cascade hops and their first 7.8% Kaaterskill Krush DIPA.
It is that time again for Brown’s Brewing to release their Wholly Moses Pumpkin Ale. It is made with 500 pumpkins from the Moses Farm in Eagle Bridge, that is still owned by relatives of Grandma Moses. The pumpkin pie spiced beer will be on tap at both the Troy and Walloomsac taprooms in October. Their new Uncommon Porter is out in 12-packs and is made with vanilla and a blend of three different coffees locally roasted by Iron Coffee. In November, Black Cherry Stout (blend of Oatmeal Stout and Cherry Razz Ale) will be released in 16-oz 4-packs. Sloop Brewing in Elizaville has a new juicy IPA out and the can’s print makes their position on fall pumpkin beers very clear. The name is No Pumpkin IPA and the can specifies that there are no pumpkins or spices in it at all. Glenmere Brewing in Florida brings back their award winning Brown Ale in October. Drink Responsibly!
Cheers, Beers and New Frontiers!
