Hudson Valley advice

I thought since I originally posted this that I'd follow up with some notes on my trip so that people searching for Hudson, NY can get some more info.

My wife and I left Philly early and hit a place called Razza Pizza in Jersey City, NJ on the way up - excellent place with great pizza and meatballs. By the time we got to our hotel in Danbury, CT, the Ethan Allen, I was a bit tired so we didn't try to hit any local beer places.

Saturday morning we headed up to Hudson, NY arriving around 11 am to hit the Antique Warehouse, and then wandered Warren Street (the main drag) for a while. There are some nice antique stores, an ice cream shop, and a bookstore called The Spotted Dog that had 12 taps, most of which were beers, and all of which were good. It's an interesting place, and I had an enjoyable pint of Lawson's IPA. Most of the other beers were local except for one from Bells and one from Dogfish Head.

From there we stopped at The Beer Store (40 Green Street) which had a very good selection but seemed a bit overpriced and definitely had some old beer on the shelves - I found something that had "expired" in 2016. Rather than look closely at the bottles I simply bought two that I thought would have held up well.

The next stop was back at the same building that houses the Antique Warehouse and a few other places, the Hudson Brewing Company. I wasn't impressed by their beers but I did enjoy their coffee stout. As an aside, which will return, we were joined by a group of about 10 guys who were on a bachelor party pub crawl.

The next stop was the Governor's Tavern back in the center of town for lunch. 12 beers on tap, some locals, some "foreign" (Mikkeller), a cider or two, and Miller Lite (I think). The food was not worth the money and I felt the stop was a waste although the ambiance was good.

Heading out of town and a bit of the way down the road we stopped at Old Klaverack, an interesting brewery that's seemingly set up on the family property. I guess that's not odd in Germany, but it's a little odd here in the U.S. sitting outside between the family house and the shed that houses the brewery and tap room. The beer was OK and I enjoyed the cherry wheat as it wasn't too cherry, there was just a touch to it, and extra note if you will. I didn't think the beers were that great but I was surprised by the amount of dirty returned kegs they had sitting outside so they must be selling a fair amount to eternal accounts.

Returning towards Danbury we stopped at Suarez Family Brewing, about 20 minutes down the road, and I was impressed with the beers but the tasting room was fairly warm and humid. We should have gone to the back to the Beer Garden but it seemed empty when we'd arrived and I wasn't even sure it was open.

The next stop where we ran back into the bachelor party was Sloop. They had a few nice beers on tap, NE IPA type stuff, and I enjoyed them although they were fairly similar. The drunken bachelor party caused a bit of a ruckus, and although the staff tried to tone them down that just made them angry. It all settled down with the bachelor party crew helping the now completely drunken and barely able to walk groom out to the limo - he literally almost fell down three or four times within a 25 foot walk to the door. Moments later, however, they returned to use the rest room - nothing like almost getting kicked out and then coming right back in, right? We talked to one of the guys about where they'd been and he told us they hated Suarez and loved Hudson - of course they did! They eventually go their boy out of the bathroom (I think he passed out in there for a bit - it was at least 15 minutes) and when the dust settled I grabbed some local cheese and wurst (excellent stuff at a good price!) from their cooler and we headed on our way.

Plan Bee Farm Brewery way the next stop and it did not disappoint. Nestled in a nook far off the beaten track it's an old, refurbished building that's did open and offers you plenty of wide open space to wander and sit and enjoy your beer. There seemed to be only one non-sour beer, although I'm not even sure about that, and the beers that I had were all interesting (most were herbal and funky), and enjoyable. It was a very relaxing and comfortable hang after a long day.

Blue Collar Brewery in Poughkeepsie was next, and our intended last stop for dinner and a beer before heading home but that didn't work out. The beer was OK (I liked their schwarzbier and IPA) but the food seemed very basic "family restaurant" type stuff and we moved on after a beer flight.

That took us to the Millhouse Brewery not far away, which turned out to be a gem. The food was good and the beer was much better. Someone spent a lot of money on the decor, and it was a very enjoyable stop. I'd gladly go back which isn't something I'd say of most brewpubs.

The following day was more about flea markets and antiques although I did get to stop at DeCicco & Sons in Brewster, NY which was fantastic. Not only did they have plenty of beers from NE breweries that I'd never had a chance to try, they also had a bunch of foreign beers I'd never seen. I had a very hard time deciding what to buy but kept it under $150, and that includes some fancy Balsamic vinegar and cheese that my wife bought. It's a little like a Whole Foods but not quite as pricey. Worth a stop, and there are several locations.

That's all I've got. I wish I'd been able to do more but you can only drink so much on one day while keeping your senses, and I pushed that limit on Saturday. I hope someone can chime in on what they've thought about the places I visited to round things out.