Anyone have any experience with driving up thru NY via the taconic state parkway. Chat gpt tells me this may be a good route from NYC to Deerfield, but the directions the AI gave seem to be wrong. I’ve tried to map it out but Google makes always tries to re-route to the main interstates, and then if I set it to avoid highways it becomes too extreme in that favor and makes the trip like 7 hours. seems like the taconic would be nice going upstate to Suarez or somewhere more straight up north. Chat gpt did give me a “secret” route to avoid traffic bottleneck coming out of queens so that was pretty cool. Might come in handy actually.
On another note I’m curious to see how green is drinking these days. I’ve had some good galaxy beers recently, including a really good batch of congress street, and an awesome beer from Obercreek. There’s been a flood of galaxy releases so seems to be no shortage of good galaxy. I always wondered of brewers made a pivot for beers that were heavily dependent on galaxy during the bad years. Like maybe throw some Vic secret or some other Aussie hops in there to try to replicate some of that galaxy character. Or something random like sultana or talus to try to prop up that pineapple character. Albeit that would probably be too different.
Taconic to Suarez is a good move, then you can jump onto 9 North and hook up with 90 and head west to Saratoga if you want to go to Tree house there. If you want to get from NYC to Deerfield via Taconic I'd do the same thing, but do: Taconic -> Rt. 90 East until you get to Massachusetts -> Rt. 20/7 North through the Berkshires up to North Adams (and stop at MassMoCA if you have some time) -> Rt. 2 East until you hit Deerfield. Instead of getting on 20/7 you could also get off 90 in New York still, take Rt. 20 east, then take 22 North up through Stephentown all the way up to Petersburgh, then go East on Rt. 2 straight to Deerfield. I don't think it's quite as pretty of a drive though. But you could make a 10 minute detour into Pownal, VT and grab some Heady on this way though. There's also Taconic -> 90 East -> 91 North straight to Deerfield. That's the least scenic route though, and is all highway. Depending on the time of year you're rolling through, Rt. 2 can be an absolutely gorgeous drive. Summer and Fall especially.
The Taconic is fun to drive, a little bit like a roller-coaster sometimes. The West-side of the river is a lot more chill to drive but not as attractive. If you're going up that way, there's a lot you can hit up. There's the Dia in Beacon for some culture. There's Industrial Arts in Poughkeepsie, plus a bunch of good food places, plus Half Time Bev right outside of it. There's Suarez on the way to Hudson, and in Hudson itself there's Hudson Brewing, Union St, among a bunch of others, with Subversive and Return Brewing right across the river in Catskill. As mentioned above, there's Treehouse in Saratoga Springs, and Wayward Lane that's West of Albany (they got NY State Brewery 2025).
Also, if he were to go north on 9 after Suarez he could go up to Kinderhook and hit up Saisonier, which I encourage everyone to do. Fantastic taplist, great bottle selection, and fantastic charcuterie and sandwiches. Great bagel place in town too. There's another really good German style brewery in Valatie, right down the road, Reifenberg Brewing.
thank you! You have saved me. I’m directionally challenged outside of the set routes that the navigation apps feed me. I wish you could create a custom route and have it stay the course. I know you can add some intermediary destinations along the way to coax it in one direction, but i feel like it’s always going by to try to replicate route me to the main interstates.
Wow, I haven't even heard of that one yet. Do they sell to-go/can I find it at a store somewhere, or just tap-room?
That makes no sense. Why not just use google maps? I-95 to I-91, straight shot to Deerfield. Unless you meant to say Saratoga. Then Taconic makes sense if you want to hit Suarez. About 20 minutes quicker (but way less scenic) via 87).
99% sure they’re taproom / growlers only. It’s a real small operation. They mostly do German beers, they said they did a single NEIPA out of obligation, they gave me a sample and it was legitimately great. I will say this was all a few years ago. I checked and they’re still open though.
Yes I was just exploring alternate routes. Your route is about 3 hours on gps with zero traffic. The others will probably be 4.5 hours best case, so it becomes hard to justify. I’ll be driving Easter Monday tho so the main route could be congested.
My wife and I spend a few days in the Berkshires once or twice a year. We like to drive through Great Barrington into New York. Super easy, beautiful drive. Takes us about 45 minutes from GB. Couldn’t tell you the route numbers, but I’m guessing you know them. We are looking forward to trying Hilltown Hot Pies. No question we will stop at Barrington Brewing. The beer, to me, is the best in the Berkshires. Place may not look sexy but the beers are all balanced and flavorful. But as to Sasioner: Is it close to Suarez? I am just planning for the likely objections I might face from Mrs. Stormfield the next time we hit Suarez if I try to extend the day to another place. And Reifenberg sounds interesting. Would be a cool day to hit all three NY stops: Suarez, Saisoner, and Reifenberg. Will be out there in April for three days. I think we are staying GB this time. I never want t leave the Berkshires. My favorite parts of the state are the Berkshires and the Pioneer Valley. Of course, this is the Treehouse thread, so I’ll mention the Deerfield Treehouse location is great. Probably my favorite Treehouse location. It’s minutes up Rt. 91 from Northampton. And right down the street from Berkshire Brewing Co., which is worth a stop.
Here's Google Maps for Suarez -> Saisonnier -> Reifenberg -- It's about 24 miles all-in, but it's legitimately a straight shot. Saisonnier is worth it. If your wife isn't into beer but likes wine, Saisonnier has a great selection of wine too. Limited, but curated. I also love Barrington Brewing. I'm a sucker for a good British style beer, and they do those and other classic styles REALLY well. Usually having a cask going will always keep me coming back too. The food is significantly above solid too. If you're staying in GB, but plan on heading to North County, stop at Hot Plate Brewing in Pittsfield on your way. They're a bit more modern than Barrington Brewing, but they still do a pretty wide variety of styles. Usually there's only one NEIPA on tap and one pale ale. The other beers are a mix of some more traditional styles. They sometimes have a pub ale on nitro, which is delicious. There's also a great Brazillian place a couple of doors down which I highly recommend. The Olde Forge in Lanesborough has similar food to Barrington but they have a truly weird taplist. It's about 15 - 20 years behind every other restaurant, and I mean that in a good way. They usually have a bunch of Belgian stuff on. Chimay Blue is ALWAYS on tap. Last time I was there I got a quad from some Belgian brewery and then a pour of Arrogant Bastard. It was fantastic. I'm out in Pittsfield, feel free to drop me a DM when you're out this way if you want to grab a beer somewhere.
I agree. I really like the Deerfield location. That is vs the other one I’ve been to - the main campus in charlton. Oh and CT farm if that counts. I like them all don’t get me wrong but I’ve away enjoyed Deerfield thr most. The can wall entrance is epic and always gets you pumped up.
Hit up Tewks on Sun for all the Green glory. Should have worn my masters jacket and Shrek mask but tried to stay low. Infinite Green was amazing, it brought me back to my first DDH Congress st.
Good to see galaxy back this year. If all these green releases aren’t evidence of that I don’t know what is. I’d love to see more cool stuff coming out of Australia as far as hops go. New Zealand has just really surpassed them by a long shot. Would be cool to see a resurgence of some Australian stuff coming to prominence. side-note: I’m seeing less and less of mosaic these days. Is it just me or anyone else noticing that trend? I’ll take a mosaic forward beer over a Citra beer all day. That being said I know Citra is a great backdrop to build upon for hazies. I just never really loved it solo. Hence why alter ego might be my favorite classic treehouse beer.
FWIW Riwaka all the ways is an amazing expression of the hop. Doesn't even compare to Hill's Riwaka. It's like Nelson's hippie brother.
A bunch of new—or new to me—single IPAs. They all look good. Anybody try any of them and would care to comment? I’m talking about: Needles Hello, Saratoga (which was obviously introduced last year) Mud Season Murphy’s Driving Range Tipping Point Card Break (it’s labeled an IPA, but it’s 5.5% ABV) Tangy I’d want to buy a four pack one of them, just not sure which one. Hate to buy something that will likely be good, but not as good as something I know I already love but didn’t buy.
