Albany area

If you do end up staying in Albany, The Beer Belly is an absolute must hit. Possibly the best beer I've ever been to, and they have had both Kent Falls, Sloop, and Rushing Duck on in the past. Oliver's and Westmere are great for bottles. Sloop is not in Albany, it's in Elizaville, about an hour south of Albany in the Hudson Valley, but you should be able to find their stuff on draft in Albany, I'd guess.

Other than Beer Belly, bars well worth a stop are Madison Pourhouse and City Beer Hall, or The Bier Abbey if you want to venture towards Schenectady, or the Ruck, if you want to venture towards Troy.

 

I don't think bottles from any of those breweries have ever been seen in Albany, but I could be wrong. Peekskill doesn't bottle, and I don't think bottles of any of the other places get distributed to Albany. However, all of them have been seen on draft by me personally when visiting Albany, so the chances are good you'll find something from them, but maybe not all of those breweries you mention at the same time. The Beer Belly is the best chance to find something from any of those breweries. The last draft update I see from them on FB shows beers from Bacchus/Sloop, Rushing Duck, and Kent Falls.

On rare occasions, you will find Hill Farmstead on draft in Albany, but don't expect it. The bars I mentioned above will the best chance to find that.

Another brewery to look out for, on draft, is The Brewery at Bacchus. Great sours coming out of that place. You might be able to find some stuff from Carton in Albany too, if that brewery floats your boat. Also don't miss out on Singlecut or Grimm if you happen to see it.

 

If you venture 30 minutes north to Saratoga Springs, there is a bar called "Henry Street Tap Room" that VERY frequently has Hill Farmstead on tap, as well as Maine Beer. The City Tavern has a huge selection as well. Just check out Henry Street's FB page.

 

You're liable to find HF at any of the good spots (Beer Belly, Bier Abbey, Ruck, Henry St, Madison Pourhouse, City Beer Hall) at any given time at this point. Since they tripled production we get markedly more of it than 5-6 months ago. It's fantastic.

As far as bottled beers for the breweries mentioned: Olivers (and maybe Westmere) has bottles of Kent Falls Famer's Table and Field Beer Saison. There was bottles of Rushing Duck Ded Moroz around recently but I'd imagine they're gone. Sloop cans of Peach Sauer and Black Razz are still around some spots. In addition to Westmere and Oliver's, Hoosick Beverage in Troy, Latham Beverage in Latham and Savemore Beverage in Clifton Park usually have good selections.

Breweries, not a ton in Albany. Rare Form in Troy is terrific, as is Common Roots in South Glens Falls but that's an hour north of Albany. On your way out towards Cooperstown, though, I recommend stopping at Wolf Hollow. It's literally on the way, and close to 90/Thruway so it's an easy detour. Great, great beer AND they have a BBQ place inside.

Any other questions, let me know, I'd be happy to help!

 

Also, it's a German Beer Bar and I don't know if that's your thing, but the Biergarten right in downtown Albany is a killer spot. Great food, too.

 

This man speaks the truth - all 3 places mentioned are top notch; Common Roots probably my personal fave, with Rare Form right behind.
Also of note in the greater Albany area is Crossroads. It's about 45min south and kind of in the middle of nowhere, but the beer is awesome. Their stout and barleywine have won awards.

 

I'll also recommend the beer belly. Having been to most of the craft beer bars in albany, that one seems to be my favorite in terms of tap lists, location, and atmosphere. If you end up going to olivers, or westmere for bottles/ cans you will most likely find sloop "sauer peach" cans and bottles of rushing duck "dead moroz" i saw both there on friday, and they seemed to have a good bit of both. I have also seen Kent falls bottles at olivers but cant tell you if they are still there. Beer belly should also have some kent falls bottles and the previous beers i mentioned as well.

 

You'll have to get there at the right time to see Grimm -- though, their sours and stouts last much longer on shelves than the IPAs -- but we get a TON of Singlecut. We're also starting to get Finback, who makes some great hoppy beers, so be on the lookout for those as well.

 

If you want to venture just 15 minutes north, definitely head over to Rare Form Brewing in Troy and walk around the corner to The Ruck, which is one of the best beer bars in the area.

 

Should be fun; last event was over a year ago before HVB, and Suarez had official openings + The Beer Belly transition: