Y'all know the drill. 1) Hill City Brewing company starting up in Oneonta NY, looks to be a ways out though. 2) Three Girls Brewing looking like a spring opening in Castleton-on-Hudson (bit south of Albany). 3) Wayland Brewing (Orchard Park) opening a second location in Lancaster. 4) Chandler St Breweries (collective of Thin Man, Community Beer Works and Smoldered Society) looking pretty close on that new taproom. 5) Back Barn (Duanesburg) opening a second location in Ballston Spa in the Doubleday House recently vacated by Real McCoy. All I've got at the moment. Obviously new openings are a little more scant this year than the bounty we've been seeing for the past 10-15 years.
We got openings! 1) Chandler St Breweries opened on Thursday last week. 2) Noble Experiment (West Nyack) opening this Friday with six beers on tap. 3) Not quite an opening (yet) but Wheel Works Brewing opening in Shortsville (right off exit 43 on the Thruway if you're going to Canandaigua) slated for a spring opening.
. Ha! Good to know. See article below which I found after reading the above post from @IGaveYouPower. This will make three breweries in Shortsville. AND yet another new one “scheduled to open” is Drumlins just up the road a bit in Palmyra. According to the article, they will be a gluten-free brewery. https://www.drumlinsbrewingcompany.com/ https://locateflx.com/business-jour...unty-pitch-contest-for-plans-to-open-brewery/ https://rochesterbeacon.com/2026/02...-works-brewing-starts-turning-in-shortsville/
Noble Experiment Brewing is a great spot. Small town feel. Even if the place is packed the servers will find you and the owners will make sure to come over and chat. Great cheesesteaks and smash burgers. Out of the first six I really enjoyed the amber lager. Great beer for this time of year, and flawless. The Pilsner on the Lukr faucet was also great. They also do mliko shots and a fun black and tan with a large foam head.
After a venerable 21 years, Pearl River's Defiant will be closing at the end of the month. It's been a slow death, the quality and vibe suffered these past few years, so this is less of a gut punch than Industrial Arts selling their Rockland spot. But they were still one of the OGs in the NY Craft Beer revival. https://www.instagram.com/defiantbrewing/p/DVmIKZUEvs4/ Pearl River, which has a lively bar scene, had 2 active breweries, but Gentle Giant fired their brewer, no longer brewing on location and now Defiant will be closing. Big time reversal back to divey status.
I haven't been there since I moved out of Rockland in 2019, but wasn't the owner the brewer? So they're just a barbeque spot now?
Both Defiant and GG did BBQ, but GG leased (maybe sold) their kitchen to a pizzeria. GG still kegs and cans their own beer, but it is brewed off site (and it is pretty good) The cans say brewed in South Glenn Falls so i'm guessing its contracted to Common Roots. Defiant did do BBQ but I'm pretty sure that was their own food so that will also be no longer. The head brewer who brewed on site at GG is the owner at Noble Experiment - which is doing quite well. They snagged the Growler and Gill crowd.
Sorry, I should have been specific. I was talking about Gentle Giant. I used to live in Rockland back in the 2010s and was following GG's progress as they were in the process of opening. The owner Matt was heavy into the barbeque side of the operation (their smoked wings were really really good) and was also brewing the beer. I remember the beer when they opened being not that great, so it's good to hear that they stepped up in that regard. Are you saying they no longer have a food operation now? Never heard of Noble Experiment, but it's cool to see that nyack got another brewery. Hopefully this one will stick around. It was a shame that marlowe got screwed by their landlord.
They have a pretty good pizzeria in their kitchen space now. Pan and Peel. I believe it is owned separately but they share the taproom space for sit-down dining. Kind of an american leaning neopolitan style.
That's so funny. Pan and Peel used to be up by me in Dutchess county. They closed a few years back because the owner lived in Rockland and wanted to open closer to home. I remember their pizza being really good!
Strong rope in Brooklyn is closing their original location in Gowanus on president street. Strong rope still open in red hook. A home brew shop called forever brewing will be open in the gowanus spot. Not sure if they will be making beer on site also or just selling the equipment.
That's a shame, the Red Hook location is beautiful but such a pain to get to, and I'd be surprised if it stays open in the winter. I figured being right by Threes/Wild East/Finback would get that Gowanus location some good synergy.
Bummer. But the honest truth is that I could spend that time at Wild East. Last time I visited I didn’t want to leave.
Stay Green Brewing, who had been doing the nomadic thing, seems to have found a permanent home on Long Island. Not sure where or when but will post details when I see them.
Grimm will be opening a second location in Brooklyn called "Grimm Tavern". It's posted on their insta with the address.
Just saw a post on Facebook that Oakflower and Autodicact are merging. BIG NEWS!! Let's be honest, y'all. The craft beer industry in the year 2026 is ROUGH. Ingredients are more expensive than ever, real estate is through the roof, and transportation costs eat us up everyday. As a small producer, every little increase can be a killer. That's why we made the hard decision to merge businesses with our good friends @autodidactbeer, putting our resources together to weather the storm. Starting today, Oakflower and Autodidact will officially combine under one banner, continuing to put out the amazing, chart topping suds you all have come to know and love. To commemorate this momentous occasion, we're releasing the first joint beer, Singularity. A 10.6% triple IPA using a combination of both breweries' recipes and hopping tactics, we couldn't think of a better way to kick things off. Juiced up with Nelson, Rakau, NZ Cascade, topped off with absolute boatloads of Citra. We're getting fresh tangerines, poolside margaritas, citrus gummies, with hints of berry and ginger beer. A super complex, tasty treat worthy of its occasion. Available as soon as you can get here.
