Hudson Valley News 3-17-18
Co-founder Robert Belleard of Table 41 Brewing at the 5th Annual NYSBA Festival in Albany.
By Mark A Marnell
markmarnell@yahoo.com
Nat Collins, brewer and co-founder of Tap New York Craft Beer & Food Festival, and his son Nathan, officially launched their new company Brewmates on March 24. The company partners with craft breweries selling brewery exclusive formulated homebrew recipe kits. The launch kicked off at Keegan Ales in Kingston with the introduction of their California Common kit and of course some pints of the limited edition beer. You can check out their video at https://youtu.be/cJdP4pVhyD4. Look for many more partnerships and kits from other breweries.
Keegan Ales just resurrected Poughkeepsie Porter. It’s a 2-decade-old beer that late brewer and Tap New York co-founder John Calen used to brew at Gentleman Jim’s Restaurant and Bistro in Poughkeepsie. A keg was rolled out at the brewery to celebrate the man and his beer. They will offer you the chance to taste this historic beer for a limited time, at the brewery and at Tap New York April 28-29.
Bill Lenczuk Brewer and Owner of Shrewd Fox Brewing in Eldred, NY.
Since May of 2015, owner and brewer Bill Lenczuk has been operating his 7-bbl Shrewd Fox Brewery in Eldred, NY. Bill has a farm brewery license and he crafts with all the NY state malt and hops that he can get his hands on. His brews run the gamut in styles and include some interesting barrel aged beers. As a nuclear engineer with an emphasis on safety, his job took him to Chernobyl in Ukraine where he became fond of regional porters. That is why you can currently find Kozak Ukrainian Baltic Porter on tap along with a kicked up Woodford Reserve barrel-aged version. You can also find a smoked Laphroaig single malt whisky cask aged Amber Ale and a Lager aged in EJ Distillery apple brandy casks. Rounding out his diverse nine taps is a Ukrainian named Harbooz Ale, a pumpkin beer based largely on George Washington’s Porter recipe. A fitting beer that completes the circle of an American Brewer who once worked in Ukraine, who happens to own a brewery that coincidentally sits in an area of New York with a lot of Ukrainian history.
Jaime Caligure, former brewer at Rare Form Brewing in Troy, recently took over the Head Brewer reins for Helderberg Brewery at the Carey Institute in Rensselaerville. Starting in April, at Fox N Hare Brewing in Port Jervis, Brewer and co-owner Sean Ryan Donnelly will be starting Beer 101 classes on Mondays to prepare for a Certified Cicerone Exam that will be held at the brewpub on June 11. Classes will cover tasting notes, off flavors and aromas, brewing process, Belgian, German, English and American styles as well as beer food pairings. His latest FNH beers to hit the taps include 10.1% Night Shadow Imperial Stout, hopped with 70 IBUs of Centennial and German Northern Brewer hops, 5.6% Shed A Little Light Vienna Lager, hopped with 24 IBUs of German Northern Brewer & US Saaz hops, and the latest in their Hop Forward Single Hop Series IPAs, that clocks in at 7.5% and is hopped up with 110 IBUs of HBC 682 experimental super alpha hops.
CH Evans Brewing in Albany has new April beers like 8% Amarillo, Comet, Simcoe and Kohatu hopped DIPA, a tweaked version of Pump Station Pale Ale and new Simcoe tweaked Kick Ass Brown. Look for a fruit filled kettle sour to be out in time for Tap New York. If you want a ride to the festival, they have a bus. Tickets are 95 bucks and that gets you life saving transportation, festival entry, bus libations, t-shirt and a light breakfast.
At Bull and Barrel Brew Pub in Brewster, there is a new 5.3% Amber Ale and a new 6% Brewsterbrau Munich Helles on tap. In stores, there are 16-oz cans of 6.2% Angel Eyes NEIPA that is double hopped with Amarillo, Chinook, Citra and Galena. It is the latest Heart Of The Devil Hop Series beer and it will be followed by 4.8%, Citra and El Dorado hopped Calculated Risk session NEIPA. 12-oz cans of Coconut Creme Ale will hit stores in mid April. Rushing Duck Brewing in Chester brings back 6% Bauli Saison made with white peppercorns, kaffir lime leaves and coriander.
Brown’s Brewing released a new rotating New England Style IPA series of 16-oz cans this year and first up this month is Citra and Mosaic hopped #SuchTaste IPA. They also released a Wild/Sour Ale bottle series and the first release is Terra. Terra is a blended wild ale that was aged in French Oak with Cabernet Sauvignon grape juice. Each release will entail less than 1000 corked 750 ml bottles. Their Walloomsac canning line is busy pumping out 12 packs of 5.2% Citra hopped Krüsh Golden Lager and they just inked an agreement with Onondaga Beverage for Western New York distribution starting this summer.
Sloop Brewing in Elizaville has a new collaboration beer out now called Porch Bomb made with Peekskill Brewery. March 23, they announced their new distribution partnership with NJ-based Hunterdon Distributing at the Atlantic City Beer Festival. Newburgh Brewing‘s new monthly collaboration beer is 7% thyme tinged ChefBoss IPA, made with the Brewery at the CIA. 3% Checkpoint Charlie Berliner Weisse returns on tap and in cans in April and new 7% Margaritaburgh Gose is set to release in Mid April just in time for Cinco de Mayo. The Margarita-like beer was made, with lime, salt and agave. Great Life Brewing in Kingston is having a release party, April 20 at 5pm, for the first new beer to be released outside of their 4 core beers. It is a juicy IPA hopped with Citra, El Dorado and Mosaic. Pine Island Brewery is celebrating Spring with Amarillo and Hallertau Blanc hopped Charlie’s Pale Ale and Pulaski Highway Session Ale made with Mosaic pellets and lupulin powder.
At Indian Ladder Farms Cidery and Brewery in Altamont, work continues on the new, all NY made 3-bbl Fronhofer Design Brewhouse, some of which they took delivery on in March. Meanwhile, three new beers are available off the old system. Disco Garage is a 5.1% American Stout, made with a blend of their 3Cs and Brewers Gold hops and Convergence Conlon Malt. Scout is their new hybrid NEIPL made with all Hudson Valley Malt, hopped with farm grown Nugget and finished with Australian and New Zealand hops and Farm Bier is made with 100% NY Pilsner malt and NY hops. The Brewery at The Culinary Institute Of America in Hyde Park has two new beers. The latest Class Project beer is a Gose and it is joined by ChefBoss, a Newburgh Brewing collaboration IPA made with thyme. You can find them on campus at the Post Road Brew House Gastro Pub and in the Egg. Table 41 Brewing is set to open their taproom May 3 at Lanthiers Grove in Cohoes with 6-10 beers on tap. Until then, you can catch their beer at Burger 21 on April 12th. Hyde Park Brewing‘s latest seasonal is 5.8% Irish Creme Lager. Argyle Brewing Co. has two beer garden locations, the original one in Greenwich and a taproom in a former train depot in Cambridge where you can find food supplied by Iggy’s Good Eats Food Truck. April 15th, they will host a Fun Run at the Cambridge location that will include their latest new beer, 6.5% Mosaic hopped 5K IPA. Old Klaverack Brewery in Hudson has two new beers, Spookrock NEIPA and 8.4% Roxbury Hollow Double NEIPA. April 7, they will host a Cornhole Tournament.
