Jeff O'Neil, Chief, leaving Peekskill Brewery

Hudson valley location and canning.........best news I've heard in a long time. Come on up to Orange county Chief, I'll be waiting.

 

that would be awesome. i liked gilded otter quite a bit, but this would make it a destination.

 

You know, Hudson would be a great place for a brewery....with Sloop relocating nearby, and Dan Suarez trying to get going in Germantown, we'd have a pretty nice thing going in my neck of the woods.

 

But, probably a bit too far north for what Chief is looking for

 

Dan Suarez is opening something in Germantown? That's promising! Do you have a link or any more info?

 

Jeff will be at Blind Tiger today for a Tap Takeover.

https://www.facebook.com/events/864429960287476/

 

I wonder if Jeff even brewed any of these beers lol, I had heard that he's been on the outs with PB for a while. And if you've tasted PB beers in the past year than you probably already realize the quality is dropped drastically. I can't even touch Eastern Standard anymore and that used to be a go-to for sure. Amazeballs recently isn't even CLOSE to what it was 2 years ago.

 

Bummer to see first Benz and now Chief go. No more old Ithaca friends to visit when I swing through.

Onward!

 

What's the pale ale they mention was Matt Levy's first Peekskill beer?

 

I think I enjoy the food as much as the beer at Peekskill, it's really an essential place to visit. I like Hop Common and Maltballs the best. I just wish they distributed a bit more to the 5 boroughs.

 

Dang. If that's the case then they really are in good hands.

 

This place gives the vibe of, "at one point we were hitting it on all cylinders food and beer-wise and now we're slacking and cashing in". Beers were all solid but nothing really noteworthy. Food was at a lower level than the beer. I have to admit, given the hype on BA, I was pretty disappointed. Eastern/Higher Standard were both OK but nothing exceptional. I actually enjoyed the Occult saison the most of the beers I sampled.

 

I made my first visit to Peekskill a little over a month ago and agree with you on all points. The beers were solid and both Eastern and Higher Standard were ok but nothing exceptional. Have to say that I was disappointed too after reading all the reviews.

 

It's a shame really. The owners are nice people but could not be worse at running a brewery. They consistently make decisions that leave you scratching your head. The food and beer have gone downhill fast in the past year or so and it's entirely their doing. They spend multi-millions renovating a beautiful space that they only use half of and they don't have the capacity to be anything more than a brew pub that distributes a couple of their flagships locally... It's mind boggling how these people have managed to mess up such a good thing. I used to be a regular there but I just go right up the road to Birdsall now instead. I don't blame Chief for leaving at all, can't wait to see what he's got going on at this new place!

 

For what it's worth, the food has never been that great. Menu sounds fantastic, all the right ingredients, presentation is solid - but for some reason nothing ever tastes great. Sometimes food is overcooked, other times under-seasoned, etc. I always walk to Birdsall House for food.

However, the beer has been consistently awesome for the last few years. I haven't had any since Jeff left (not intentionally avoiding, just haven't been out drinking as much), and would be extremely bummed to hear that the quality has fallen off.