We are looking at the above two for a fall vacation. As a craft beer lover, which one would I like better?
I suppose that depends on two things. What you define as HV and Finger Lakes (that is neither has public transport really so is there spot in either region you're looking at)? What kind of beer styles do you like? Bonus third i guess would be whether quality of wineries or restaurants matter. So technically if you enjoyed NEIPAs, lagers, sours, or pastry stouts, in the HV you could hit Obercreek (NEIPAs), Suarez (pilsners/lagers/mixed ferm), HV brewing (sour IPAs), and EQ (BA and pastry stouts) and likely be satisfied. Technically if you hit Suarez, Fidens is only maybe 45 min more north and makes the most hyped NEIPAs outside Troon in NJ. But these aren't exactly all in a compact area (you'd need a DD or maybe if you were with a group could do a rented van similar to what you might do in a given "wine country"). I know Mortalis and obviously Other Half are very popular in the Finger lakes and the wine, particularly white wines, are superior. The HV also has more "escape from NYC" hyped towns and the bars/restaurants and prices often to match (Hudson, Beacon, Kingston, among others). Lots of great posters on here have explored both areas and I'm sure will give plenty of opinions but definitely give an idea of what craft beer styles and non beer stuff you care about and tolerance for travel/desire to stay in a town v rural etc.
@IGaveYouPower is probably best suited to respond to this question. However, a few others who seem to have extensive experience in both areas might be @jmdrpi , @sulldaddy , maybe @bubseymour. My knowledge of the HV breweries is sadly lacking. Below is a good recent conversation about the Finger Lakes breweries. https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/finger-lakes-2025.680808/ Good luck, and please report back on your experience. My aunt wants us to visit the HV with her, so I have a vested interest in your question.
I will say, if you were a Treehouse fan, whether for NEIPAs or lagers, then Fidens for ipas and suarez for lagers are the best respective spots in NYS or really the whole mid Atlantic (saratoga treehouse not withstanding, I'll leave others to get in a debate about that). Obercreek is more rounded, and have a great french press stout and their Quartet NEIPA series matches anyone's NEIPAs (but they're only released every couple weeks or so). However for to go beer it's mostly crowlers at obercreek except the quartets and the great hazy pale ale i got a few weeks back. Honestly even with CO2 purging I always would want cans if possible especially on a trip/ bigger haul. Tin barn and rushing duck are also good spots. All that said I'll still say for any of the posters to give the best advice the other factors i mentioned apply. I tend to not be into visiting a ton of breweries anymore, and would rather hit a few top tier ones than as many as feasible. My liver can only handle so much and my wife only does gluten free beer and I don't love taking my kids to breweries for all the reasons you'd think, so there's a lot of opportunity costs for every additional stop in a trip or vacation.
Another idea, if you have specific towns in mind, use a map and the PLACES tab to search nearby towns for specific brewery pages on BeerAdvocate. This also has pubs, stores, and restaurants. Each page will list a bunch of beers (by no means all) from each brewery, with ratings and links to reviews. See below link for New York State as a whole. https://www.beeradvocate.com/place/directory/9/US/NY/
Are their particular styles of beer do you generally seek out? Are you a hazy IPA guy or looking for more traditional styles? Some other considerations - if your timing is during peak leaf season, Hudson Valley hotel prices may be crazy. If your timing is late Fall, some Finger Lakes breweries drop down to more limited hours in November after the peak tourism season ends.
If it's JUST beer you care about, it's the HV. If it's beer AND taproom experience it's the FLX and I don't think it's even really a conversation. And I say that as somebody who has argued that the HV is the premiere beer destination on the East Coast. So to get it out of the way, nowhere in the FLX can match Suarez on lager or farmhouse ales and Suarez's own taproom experience is absolutely stellar. The beer and experience at Hudson Valley Brewing, West Kill, Plan Bee and Drowned Lands are almost impossible to beat. You've got killer beer at Obercreek, Industrial Arts, Return and Deep Fried Beers. Terrific settings at Lasting Joy, Vosburgh among others. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut. But. The Finger Lakes is a preposterous embarrassment of riches. You can get world-class beer at Other Half while you're looking at Canandaigua Lake right across the street or you can get their beer in a gorgeous farm setting 8 minutes up the road. Frequentum in Canandaigua will sling some of the best lagers and fruited sours you'll ever have. Incredible, award-winning beer at Mortalis, Prison City and Strangebird. A New Orleans-style garden brewery at Fleur De Lis. A pastoral escape and killer beers at Ardennes. Go drink on the canal at Aurora or overlooking lakes at Two Goats, Abandon, and Tin Barn. Super under-the-radar but killer spots with Laurentide, Iron Tug and Steuben. Go drink in what feels like a castle dungeon at the Brewery of Broken Dreams. Go drink some banger old English styles on cask at Seneca Lake Brewing. It just doesn't stop. Any style of beer you want, and way you could want to drink it and doing so in picturesque scenery almost every goddamn place you go. The Finger Lakes is the answer.
i just went to look at pics of this place. now i gotta go check all your other recs to see how overblown they are lol
If you thought I was being 100% literal that's on your lack of contextual understanding, but please, by all means spend the rest of your afternoon on Google maps in the pursuit of some weird 'gotcha' over a stranger.
I’ve lived in the Finger Lakes my whole adult life and it’s been amazing to raise my children here. I took a cross country road trip this summer, saw America and was blown away daily, then came home and couldn’t believe how glad I was to see our beautiful, green hills and sparkling lakes. I. Fucking. Love. The. Finger. Lakes. But Hudson Valley has better beer hands down—way more breweries that I’m compelled to revisit and quietly hope my wife will take the keys and let me try just everything.
I should say, I'm from NJ, central more or less, and I can say I can get to TH Saratoga, the furthest of the breweries in HV from me, probably an hour faster than Prison City (I presume people would consider that FL region) and Prison City (best hops in aware of in FL, and that's not a knock) isn't even lakeside. In peak peeping season with added traffic a multi day HV trip, stopping for a couple nights or whatever in beacon (so you have Tin barn, obercreek, EQ, rushing duck, HVB) then moving on to hudson or kingston (Fidens, TH, Suarez are plausibly close) should be a much easier drive (or invert that and make the drive home shorter). I'm sure if towns like those aren't the OPs style (maybe a preference for cabins or more isolated digs) there are options as well. I'd advise @sss08pea25bee69 to certainly let people know, as there are plenty of people that can provide that info, and I know I'm happy to give HV restaurant recs as well. Similar for FL region, lots of good posters will be happy to inundate with great info.
Also obercreek is having an anniversary party oct 12th, ticket only, just an fyi. Would be cool if that lined up, and you were close or had a DD I'm sure. The week before is fidens anniversary week we'd thru sat, daily releases, no online orders if they follow last year's model.
Fair, I should point that out (Albany is the northern reaches of the HV if I'm not mistaken). However my point was more, even going to the most distant beer tour spot plausibly at least in range of a place you'd stay in HV it's still closer than anything in the Finger lakes coming from NJ. My guess is if the OP was being very aggressive in seeing breweries and made it all the way to Fidens, another 40 min drive isn't out of the question.
I'm living in the HV right now (and work as a beer/cheese buyer) and I've enjoyed a ton of beers from local breweries: West Kill Brewing (my overall favorite) Arrowood Farms Drowned Lands Return Brewing Upward Brewing Subversive Union St Brewing Just got some Duncan's Abbey on my wall, since they started canning! HV is also a very exciting region to visit. There's a ton to do, and to see. I used to live in Western NY, and the Finger Lakes region is pretty magical and definitely my favorite place to visit in that part of NY. It's also relatively close to Rochester, so that would be a fun destination (with a lot of great breweries), as well. There's not a lot else going on in that part of NY though, whereas in the Hudson Valley you'd have great options either up or down the river.
I have been to the Finger Lakes numerous times. As for beer, it is an IPA sour paradise. Not many lagers and malty beers are hard to come by. Enjoy the scenery, and the people are magical. One place I can recommend for overall beers is Personal Best in Ithaca. Best beer I've had in America, hands down.
