Hey! Another Upstate NY Ask for Help (Saugerties area)

It’s been awhile since I’ve been there but K&E in New Paltz always had a pretty solid local selection and is probably 20-25 minutes south of Saugerties and right off the Thruway.

If you go to Obercreek, Halftime in Poughkeepsie isn’t too far north. I’ve never been there but it seems as though they have a lot of different beers in there.

Also, Woodstock Brewing is supposed to be pretty good, I wouldn’t know, but looking at their IG page, they have cans to go of multiple styles. That’s gotta be pretty close to Saugerties.

 

Halftime is the largest beer store in area with the benefit of being able to buy singles. Across the river in Highland, Underground Coffee and Ales is a coffee shop/beer bar/restaurant that also has a solid canned beer selection. I've seen Hudson Valley and Heady cans there recently, some stuff that Halftime definitely doesn't get. I believe they update their can list on their website, beermenus or something like that.
I was just recently at West Kill Sunday. It's definitely a drive (40 minutes from TBD Kingston exit) albeit a gorgeous one. The setting is gorgeous, but they only had 3 beers: kaaterskill and earn your keep in cans; fresh snow on draft. If you find cans elsewhere you're not missing much beerwise not going to the brewery.

It really depends what beer you're into.
If you want pilsners, etc. Suarez has curbside but that's it. I've heard good things about Kingston Standard who also specialize in German beers. They might have outdoor seating.

Into hoppy beers then sloop in east fishkill, is excellent for hazy IPAs. It's in an old industrial park, not much for ambience. They widely distributed, but have other stuff at brewery with 8-10 options. Finally, Woodstock brewing is about 3/5 the way between kingston and west kill. Usually 10 beers, pretty varied. Nothing that'll blow your mind but all very solid. Really good tacos especially mango-tamarind pork.

 

This is all assuming you're taking 84 from CT to NY. If you are looking for a variety of stuff, stop at Decicco's in Brewster (right over CT border). It's a grocery store, but has a phenomenal beer selection (both fresh local brews along with some amazing bottles on the shelves). There is a bar in the corner of the store but I am not sure if they are serving beers currently. Aside from checking out breweries this will be better than going to any other "beer store" along the way.

Brewery-wise, Obercreek makes amazing IPAs but as far as I know no cans and only growlers if looking to take some home. Sloop should have a good amount of IPAs and sours in cans and not too far off your route. Industrial Arts recently opened a new location in Beacon and should have a lot of to-go options too. There are others like Equilibrium and Suarez that make great stuff too, but likely an hour+ round trip detour so may be a stretch timing-wise.

 

Best bet shop wise is for sure Beer World in Kingston, which is like 7-8 miles south from Saugerties. Halftime is overpriced and shitty, I would avoid.

As far as breweries, Kingston Standard (at risk of being hyper-obvious also in Kingston) does great work and usually has cans to go. Suarez should be doable as a stop to pick up cans and bottles and they've got a quick and efficient system by which to do so. If you can only make one stop it absolutely needs to be Suarez. But if it's gotta be a bottle shop, go Beer World.