Hi, all. we'll be taking a vacation to Legoland area (Goshen and Middletown, NY) the end of this month, and I'm wondering about recomendations for breweries, brewpubs, beer stores plus restaurants, wineries, distilleries and so on. The Kiddo is 8, so most places will need to be relatively friendly to the younguns, though he'll have his Kindle, so he'll be good for a while at a few places. I've been searching around, I see that quite a few seem to be only open weekends. We'll be getting there Monday the 31st, staying at Legoland in Goshen Monday and Tuesday, doing the park on Wednesday and shifting to the Hampton Inn in Middletown that night, planning on seeing stuff around Thursday, then leaving for home Friday right after lunch. We're not going beer crawling every night, so I'll need to be picky about what and where to hit.
If I'm making one recommendation, it's for Drowned Lands (which would have to be Thursday for you). There's a giant outdoor space and it's kid friendly. In my opinion they're the most versatile brewery in that area, nailing a handful of styles with great subtlety and deliciousness. I'm assuming you already know about Equilibrium in Middletown.
Most breweries that I know of are closed M-W. Agreed with @ColdOne about Drowned Lands. Tin Barn is close to DL and also really nice albeit in the hazy IPA/fruited sour space. My son prefers it to Drowned Lands because of their pizza. I moved away from that area in 2019 so it's been a while since I've been there, but Warwick Valley Winery is my favorite winery in that area. Food wise I love Eddies Roadhouse and the Helm. Used to go to both of these all the time for Fathers Day/birthdays. Beverage plus 2 is a nice bottle shop in Warwick. The craft beer cellar is pretty nice too.
Drowned |Lands definitely looks good, as does |TinBarn. I;m also looking at Clemson |Brothers - any reviews there? I'm familiar with |Equilibrium - |I'm more looking for ones that I can't get at home.
Clemson Brothers beer is average at best. They are several steps below all the other breweries already mentioned. I can't comment on the food at the brewery since if I'm in Middletown I'm either eating at Equilibrium or Holy Dog.
Did a similar trip last year and stopped by Rushing Duck Brewing which was close to Legoland. Not sure what days they are open, but was able to have a quick drink and grab a 4-pack for the hotel. Also, the Legoland hotel has a beer brewed just for them (think it was an IPA). Can't remember which brewery made the Legoland beer, but thought it was cool and the beer itself wasn't bad. Have fun!
Thanks for the restaurant tips. My reward for chlepping the mother in law to Monroe was coconut chicken and HF drafts at Eddie’s Roadhouse, then drinks at Drowned Lands.
Glad to reciprocate all the FLX recos you threw at me. Eddie's always had killer taplist. Love that place.
Got back last night from the trip. Didn't get as many places as I'd hoped. We stopped at Target the first day in town, for a couple other supplies - snacks and whatnot and I grabbed a 12-pack of Bronx brewing for the hotel. I had a Newburgh IPA there as well, and later stopped into Beer World and grabbed a 4-pack of that and one of Arrowwood Porch Beer. Both very good. If you're there with the kiddos, we highly recommend Mix & Mac in Middletown for dinner. All kinds of mac & Cheese, with different add ins. reasonably priced too. they're more of a take-out place, though they have a few tables. And the cheese balls are highly recommended as well. We did go to one brewery one evening - Aspire Brewing, in Middletown, like 10 minutes from the park, and basically next door to Beer World they're really new, only open for just under a couple months, but I was really impressed. The beer was very good, they had a wide range of styles, stouts and porters, Dunkle, wheat, ESB & Mild, plus IPAs. Food was very good too, a pretty limited menu, mostly burgers / sandwiches and pizza, plus apps. The wings were great, with garlic parm sauce. The burger was excellent too. they have axe throwing and golf simulator in there, plus a pour-your-own option on the lounge side. On the way back stopped for lunch at BTs in Sturbridge MA, and an obligitory stop at Treehouse.
We have friends from Middletown visiting this weekend and they gave a similar report about Aspire. Will have to check it out next time we get to Orange County.
