Breweries between NYC and Syracuse

I hear good things about Beer Tree in Port Crane, up 88 a little bit from Binghamton so a little out of the way but not too much

 

- Catskill Brewing in Livingston Manor. Terrifically well-made lagers and farmhouses there. The IPA's skew more clean/crisp than NE-style but I happen to love that and they do it very well.

- Beer Tree wouldn't be out of the way at all on that route (it's like a mile off 81) and I very much recommend stopping there. Hit up Sam the Beer Man, too, while you're in that area. I just picked up Oxbow and Buried Acorn bottles for $5/piece. They're a year or two old but they're farmhouses so it won't matter at all.

- ONCO Fermentations is a mile off 88 in Tully. Haven't been yet but word looks very positive so far.

 

A third recommendation for Beer Tree - highly recommend stopping there. They normally have cans to go as well.

 

If your intent is to bring home cans then I would make a stop at Now & Later in Syracuse. Last 2 times I was there they had fresh cans of Other Half, Equillibrium and Fiddlehead (as well as a lot of other good stuff). Great taplist too if you want to grab a beer or have a flight there.

 

Seconding Catskill, and the comments. It's not too far from Roscoe, and my group usually does both places on the same day. Catskill has better beer, but I really like the vibe at Roscoe.

 

Rushing Duck. 8 miles from the junction of rte 17 and I-87.

 

Beer Tree's not bad, but (IMO) their kitchen is better than their beer.
Catskill, off of 17, is worth a stop. They make some pretty good pilsners
Going up 81 there aren't a lot of places to worth a special stop.
In Syracuse you'll need to stop off at Middle Ages. I highly recommend their Highlander or Kilt Tilter (whichever is on tap), Dragonslayer or Dark Heart, and Wailing Wench.
I don't think Empire is still open, but I wouldn't recommend it anyway

Re Sam the Beer Man, it's right off 81 and my beer store. If you decide to stop be sure to check the bottling dates before you buy. Except for Wegman's metro Syracuse is a retail beer desert.

 

Gotta say I do NOT agree with stopping at MA. That place is a relic and they've given up on the older styles they used to do pretty well in favor of NEIPAs which they do not. Taproom is a weird vibe too. Much better off going to Talking Cursive if you're in that area -- very solid beer and food.

And Syracuse metro is definitely a beer desert but Now & Later, Branching Out and All Who Wander are all great shops close enough to downtown to warrant stopping by.

 

Thanks. I hadn't heard of Talking Cursive. Given their location I must have driven by a dozen times without ever noticing. I'm heading up to Syracuse in a couple of weeks so I'll stop by.

 

They're pretty new, been open 7-8 months maybe? They do really good work on a good variety of styles though and in a very cozy taproom. I think you'll dig.

Also: Buried Acorn is like a mile or so from there and I highly recommend them too. Killer barrel program with a focus on mixed-ferm stuff but they have a bangin' barleywine as well as quality IPAs and lagers too.

 

I drove by Roscoe Beer when I was camping up in Callicoon last year. I got a sixer of IPA bottles, it was pretty more of an old school IPA style but I enjoyed them. The brewery itself looked pretty cool; kinda wish I had stopped by.

 

Ugh, I’ve seen you post this similar versions of this around BA in various threads and if saddens me every time. Dragonslayer, Wailing Wench, ImPaledAle, ESB, Grail Ale, Druid Fluid. Those were some of the beers I cut my beer teeth on. The fact they’d turn away from those beers is really sad, they were fantastic.

 

I like their brown better than Newburg or Brooklyn's these days, although it's not really the kind of thing you'd go out of your way for. But if you're just hanging out for the afternoon on the couches listening to the music (I usually am there when there's live music for whatever reason ), it's really nice for a few pints. Their red ale is also solidly 'old school', and you don't see too many of them lately.

But newer type stuff is also available, and the Black NEIPA was pretty excellent the last time I was there. Although I couldn't say if it's a regular thing or not.

 

Btw- did you happen to hit up Callicoon Brewing while you were there?

 

A bit off your path, but if you’re up for a minor adventure Endless Brewing. https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29177/.

 

Yeah Swallow Wit and Druid Fluid were literally some of my first craft beers with SNPA, Magic Hat #9 and stuff like that. They still do make the stuff you mentioned but their current taplist has like 12 IPAs/pale ales and only Wench and Druid on from what you mentioned.

I get that it's an IPA-dominated market but if you have 18-20 tap lines you sure as hell don't need to be devoting 65% of them to IPAs.

 

Yeah, I peeped their taplist just to see what the deal is. Going all-in on NEIPA seems like a poor move, especially now that you have OH "only" 1.2 hours away or so and that's not counting all of the hidden gems in between that I'm probably unaware of. British styles seem to be making a little bit of a resurgence as of late, it'd be cool to see them embrace the classic styles again but you gotta go with what pays the bills, I guess.