Hudson Valley trip suggestions

Not sure how far you want to explore in NY but Peekskill Brewery serves food and has great beer (I've never been there but I've had some of their beers) and Rushing Duck in Chester has excellent beer.

 

Bacchus is definitely worth it. I was there a couple months ago and they had Hill Farmstead and Tired Hands on tap, along with their beers (their sours are very good). I don't believe they had bottles, but I'm pretty sure they do growler fills.

Suarez Family Brewery just opened up and is supposed to be the Next Big Thing. They are near Sloop. Dutch Ale House is on the other side of the river. When I was there a couple months ago, I was lucky enough to get Grimm Afterimage and KBS on tap. If you want to continue further south, Peekskill and Captain Lawrence are worth going to. Most of the other breweries along the way are not. Industrial Arts is supposed to be opening up soon, not sure if in two weeks or not.

Edit: I checked Google Maps and it has the fastest route being I-90 West to NY then Taconic State Parkway down to Plan Bee. Suarez and Sloop are on this path, not the one through CT.

 

Worth mentioning the guys from Brewery at Bacchus have left to start Hudson Valley Brewery. Not sure what is happening with the beer in house at Bacchus now, maybe @cavedave can chime in on that.

Suarez and Sloop are 10 minutes from each other and definitely worth the stop. Lunch at Daughters Fare & Ale is also a good choice as they're not far from there, almost always have some Other Half available, sometimes cans, too.

 

Definitely want to echo Bacchus - worth the visit for sure. Rushing Duck does great work too.

Peekskill is very good and I have a soft spot for Newburgh so I'll recommend them too. If you stop at Newburgh and you're hungry, the rosemary fries are outstanding.

Haven't been to Sloop or Suarez yet but obviously hear great things.

 

Haven't been to Bacchus since "J" and Mike left for Hudson Valley, but I know they have a brewer now who was trained on their system so they still are putting out beer AFAIK. Underground Coffee and Ales in Highland has a good tap list and decent food. Mill House Brewing in Poughkeepsie has tasty beer and top quality food. Rushing Duck is a must visit, but not really that close to Plan Bee. I would skip North River from my limited knowledge of the place. Peekskill Brewery isn't so good as it was under its former brewmaster, but still quality beer, and it's a straight shot south from Plan Bee.

 

Sloop is a must hit. Juice Bomb and Confliction are well worth it.

 

Was at Bacchus about a month ago, beers are still terrific, doesn't seem to be any drop-off in quality from their previous two brewers to the new one. At least not in the two beers I tried. No bottles, haven't had any in a bit. Not sure on growlers.

You absolutely need to go to Suarez Family. The 2-3 beers I've had from them, though simple, have been outstanding. Think they had 4-5 different things on tap last weekend and their growler fills seemed real cheap -- $10 for 750s and that's including the price of an empty growler.

If you end up in Poughkeepsie proper, stop at Millhouse. Really great food (though a tad on the expensive side for a brewpub) and they do crowlers of their stuff.

 

Newburgh is worth a stop, good food, great beer and an awesome brewery setup

 

Co-sign here. GORGEOUS brewery, like 20 taps, some cans/bottles to take home and solid food.

 

2 way brewing in Beacon was pretty solid when I went there a while ago. Also a good craft bar in town is called The Hop, good food, and it's where I bought my first Grimm bottle.

 

Need to stop at 2 way. Read the owner worked for Avery in Colorado. HV brewing looks like in it's in a good location.You can catch some nice fish by the lower dam.

 

It looks like folks have given pretty complete answers -- but I wanted to add that if you really want to maximize spots you hit take 90 and the Taconic in one direction (and hit Suarez and Sloop), and 84 in the other direction (you would only have about a half hour detour to Newburgh, and could hit the Beacon locations mentioned). Somebody already mentioned The Hop in Beacon -- they tend to have a large selection of mostly relatively local beers; there is also Draught Industries, which is basically just a bar but tends to have a selection of more extreme beers.

Bacchus is solid, and fills growlers, but in my experience only has 2 or 3 of their own beers on tap so may or may not be worth the extra travel time; given that you won't be able to hit everyplace listed I would recommend trying to check tap lists ahead of time and use that to help decide where to go.

The only other place mentioned briefly that I can add anything on is North River -- IF you happen to be driving down Route 9 you will literally be within one minute of it so it might be worth stopping. They're small, but at any given time seem to have 8-10 beers on tap, one or two of which are usually pretty unique and interesting. Their glasses and shirts are also awesome looking.

 

Funny I also scored my first grimm can at the hop, they just redid it over the spring, didn't see finished result but sure it came out awesome

 

If you're going to be in Poughkeepsie for Plan Bee, check the beermenus.com for Underground across the river in Highland (https://www.beermenus.com/places/27679-underground-coffee-ales) , the list can be hit or miss and the food is decent or better even though small menu , but they seem to always get most of the hyped shit these days.

 

Suarez is worth hitting. I have been able to try 2 of their beers thus far and they were fantastic. He used to be the assistant brewer at Hill Farmstead. Totally worth it.

 

Great information here, and timely as well. Wife and I are heading up to the Woodstock area for a few days at the end of the month. It looks like everything I need to know is all here.
Thanks.

 

No mention of stores or bottle shops above, anyplace stand out above the rest as far as quality/price/selection?

 

The obvious one is Halftime in Poughkeepsie -- I'm guessing a 15 minute drive from Evan & Emily? MASSIVE selection, prices are probably a little on the high side but not excessively so given the selection. And one huge plus is you can break up six packs of anything -- so if there are a bunch of beers you were considering but didn't know if you wanted to get a six pack of, you can get 2 each of 12 different beers and fill a case. They also have maybe 8-10 beers on tap, which are listed on beermenus.com ; the bottles (and cans) aren't.

Depending on your route up to the Farm there may be other options as well.

 

If you are in Woodstock your best and closest bottle shop is Beer World in kingston. It has a massive selection, although a bit expensive, and they do growler fills of all sizes and they also do crowlers. While in Kingston you should hit The Anchor. 20 lines of craft beer and generally the best tap list in the county. Catskill Mountain Pizza in Woodstock also has a good list of rotating handles.