Hudson Valley Hoppenings – August 23, 2017
By Mark A Marnell
Special Events
September 11-16, the fourth annual Troy Craft Beer Week takes place with a schedule packed full of unique suds. Troy based Rare Form Brewing, Brown’s Brewing and The Beer Diviner will be participating, as well as local craft beer bars. It includes the second annual Collar City Invitational that kicks off on the 15th, with local breweries and others pulling out some very rare and unique beers from their cellars. 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 covering topics that include beer cheese pairings, farmhouse ales and barrel blending. One price of $65 includes everything if you purchase by August 30. For details, see – http://www.ciarestaurantgroup.com/events/cia-brew-u-beer-classes-and-food-festival/. October 12, the 5th annual Hudson Valley Beer, Wine, Spirits & Cider Summit is set to take place at the Marriott Pavilion, presented by the Hudson Valley Food and Beverage Alliance. It will feature interactive panels stacked with industry experts and this year’s keynote speaker is New York Distilling Company president and co-founder Tom Potter. The Summit serves both the people currently in the Craft Beverage Industry and those aspiring to enter it. Entry is free but space is limited. Honey Hollow Brewery in Earlton is hosting their fall open house, Oct. 8 from 12-6 featuring their beer, bbq, their new Farm Brewery market and their new taproom.
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 would achieve on some of their state of the art lines. All-in IPA and The Dare Gose bottles are now 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 bottles of special beers that will only be available in their taproom/brewpubs. Newburgh Brewing‘s new canning line is now pumping out year round 16 oz cans of NanoBoss. Cans of the session IPA and their other flagship beers are available throughout NY, NJ and CT. They will also offer fresh taproom only cans starting in September and the first two out of the gate are top selling India Cream Ale and CAFE Sour. Check their social media for can release schedules. Old Klaverack Brewery in Hudson has finished up their taproom renovations. The spiffed up digs include new inside seating, a new bar top, 7 in-house beer taps, one guest cider tap, their popcorn machine, small snacks from local bakeries and special cocktails featuring locally distilled spirits. Crossroads Brewing received their new tanks at their Catskill Brewery location on August 14th and are now pumping out production brews. If all things go as planned they will have their new brewery taproom open by October 1st. Mill House Brewing in Poughkeepsie recently expanded into NYC and Long Island and 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 says his aim is to greatly expand their sour and 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 turns 14 this Fall so be on the lookout for an anniversary party sometime in late September or early October.
Oktoberfests abound!
Sloop Brewing in Elizaville makes a stand on the age old pumpkin beer debate
North River Hops and Brewing in Wappinger Falls turns three years old on August 24th and they will have a series of beer releases through the 28th. They currently have 8 beers on tap including Clermont No. 4! DIPA loaded with Apollo, Azacca, Citra and Simcoe hops. Look for a mid September release of their Oktoberfest with other beers to follow that include Berry and Basil Berliner Weiss, Lemon and Dill Pale Ale and a Barrel Aged AJ Nut Brown Ale. The Roscoe NY Beer Co. will have an Oktoberfest this Fall and it will be joined by Nighty Night New England black IPA and a re-release of Whitetail Pale Ale that they make to celebrate hunters and the hunting season. CH Evans Brewing Co. in Albany has a 6% Oktoberfest rolling out late September/early October. It is a traditional Oktoberfest hopped with newer German varietals like Huell Melon & Hallertau Blanc. Their strong HV collaboration tradition continues with beers being tapped at both brewery locations. Available through September, 4.9% Session Jort IPA was crafted with Helderberg Mountain Brewing in East Berne using mostly NY 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 Belgium’s Seine Valley. The turbid mash was made with NY Conlon Malt from Hudson Valley Malt in Germantown and unmalted oats and 4 year old whole leaf hops from ILF. It was boiled for 4 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 has a brand new 5.9% IPA and will have their 5.3% Märzen on in time for your Oktoberfest celebrations. Drink responsibly!
Cheers, Beers and New Frontiers!
