HANK HUDSON BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Hank Hudson Brewing Co. Opens in Halfmoon [PHOTOS] - 518 Bites & Sights

HALFMOON, NEW YORK

Inside a redwood clubhouse chalet at the tiny town of Halfmoon in the southern Saratoga vicinity, HANK HUDSON BREWING CO. opened in the autumn of 2018. Fronting the Fairways of Halfmoon golf course, this popular local sportsbar-related brewpub delivers some of the best well rounded suds in the area.

Hank Hudson’s pristine interior includes a large stone hearth to warm up its high-ceilinged barnhouse splendor. An L-shaped bar made from reclaimed wood features 20 tapped draughts sits across butcher blocked community tables while several overhead-doored rear seats look out at the fairway. Brewtanks are staged to the far right. A spacious front deck offers more seating.

On a snowy January ’23 dinnertime visitation, chowed Cheese’s Christ pizza while downing nine diverse brews. Yummy burgers, subs and wings were also available.       Hank Hudson Brewing Co. — Photo Gallery

Maize-flaked barnyard acridity and raw-honeyed carapils malts anchored Win The Weekend Light Lager, a dry easygoing light body.

Smoothly soft-toned Citra-hopped Wheelhouse Blonde, placed yellow grapefruit-peeled mandarin orange tanginess atop acidulated white wheat malts, leaving a hint of sugared caramel to counter soapy vegetal herbage.

Dry-hopped Pruyn Hill Pale Ale maintained an IPA-like fruitiness as lemony grapefruit-peeled orange rind tanginess stayed brisk over honeyed white wheat.

Cerel grained steam lager, Clifton Common, left raw-honeyed grits buttering upon vegetal earthiness and herbal restraint.

Musky Noble-hopped marzen, Hanktoberfest, brought orange-dried mushroom fungi and mild chestnut-pecan notions to gluey Vienna malting.

Sweetly tart blueberry puree lacquered gluey Two Buttons Deep Blueberry, ushering in treacly stickiness for Maris Otter-malted torrified wheat (and wispy herbal hop astringency).

Tangy tangerine puree saturated juicy Sunshine Girl Tangerine IPA, a fruitful Citra-Eldorado-hopped medium body with oats-flaked carapils malting contrasting mild pine resin.

Dry black-malted stout, My Name Is Chuck, crossed smoky dark chocolate with charred (Band-aid-like) hop astringency and distant seared nuttiness.

Belgian candi sugar sprinkled anise spicing, chocolate minting, cinnamon bark and dried fruiting for wheaty pilsner malted Hap-Hap-Happiest Christmas, a fine wintry digestif.

BYE-I BREWING

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Notes On Napkins:: Cohoes welcomes yet another food-and-drink spot, Bye-i Brewing

COHOES, NEW YORK

Across from the post office at an eloquent lamp-lighted white stone Classical mixed-use building in the heart of Cohoes, BYE-I BREWING was established in 2019 by local homebrewing proprietors Robert Newberry and George Powley. A pristine Industrial neo-mod pub, Bye-I’s tasting room was opened on July 2, 2020.

Reminiscent of a corner cafe with glass-windowed frontage, beautiful lacquered wood floors, several wood-metal seating tables, dual black sofa lounge spot, Edison-pendant lighting and pipe-exposed ceiling, Bye-I provides a certain homey warmth.

Staged to the right are the corrugated aluminum-backed brew tanks and a barn-doored backspace hosts special events.

While visiting Bye-I New Years Eve ’2 in late afternoon, I enjoyed all eight available home brews.

BYE-I BREWING - 20 Photos - 122 Remsen St, Cohoes, NY - Yelp

Sunny Citra-hopped flagship, 131 Pale Ale, brought lemony orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess to waxy pine lacquer over dry pale malt spicing, retaining a mild citrus bittering.

Utilizing the same pale malt base, a resonant red-peppered habanero burn heated up spicier offshoot, 131 Hab Pale Ale - its intensified ascending pepperiness prickled by spritzy lemon zest.

Summery Mexican-styled Cohoes Cerveza Lager let mildly sour lemon-dropped herbage reach its meek Tortilla-chipped sourdough base.

Profuse grapefruit and pineapple tanginess lacquered Imperial IPA, Not Your Breakfast Juice, distancing its gooseberry-guava souring and clean vodka boozing.

Bright tropical fruiting caressed vanilla-creamed NEIPA, Experimental IPA #6, as peachy grapefruit, orange and mango spicing contrasted salty guava-gooseberry souring.

Minty pumpkin pie spicing elevated Lumpkin Pumpkin Ale, allowing brown-sugared nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon to season its delicate gingerbread base.

Day-old coffee and black-malted dark chocolate consumed Taylor Tot Chocolate Coffee Stout, leaving slight Blackstrap molasses bittering on its dry mocha finish.

For an early nightcap, Midnight Veil Pastry Stout let vanilla-spiced marshmallow fluff and Graham Cracker honeying soak up plentiful dark chocolate syrup.

OTHER ONE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Other One Brewing opens brewery and taproom in Halfmoon - Albany Business Review

HALFMOON, NEW YORK

At the Glenpeter Plaza in the suburban town of Halfmoon (halfway between Albany and Saratoga), OTHER ONE BREWING COMPANY began full-time operations April 22, 2022. A friendly mall-bound pub, Other One features a 12-seat bar with aluminum and wood furnishings plus backroom brew tanks.

Drafted by zymurgic mad scientist, Randy Lewis, a former homebrewer with 30 years experience, each small-batch recipe will happily surprise experienced ‘brewpies.’ Oft-times bringing new elements to standard styles, Lewis experiments with Cryo hops, liquid yeast and whatever else motivates him.

Small pizzas and big pretzels complemented a convincing IPA-centric lineup New Years Eve ’22. I also enjoyed two Irish beers (a red ale and nitro stout) plus a dry winter ale and weightier kolsch.

Other One Brewing opens brewery and taproom in Halfmoon - Albany Business Review

Amiably richer amber-hued kolsch, Pajamas In Walmart, meshed caramelized Munich malting with light pilsner graining to anchor its subtle orange, tangerine and red cherry fruiting and dry Saaz-Tettnang hopped woodiness in a dehydrated ‘liquid yeast’ setting.

Dewy peat mossed ESB, Your Mom’s A Rockstar, snuck waddle-seeded pumpernickel toasting into Fuggle-hopped herbage and cellared fungi.

Sweetly peaty Irish Red Ale, Big Daddy O’Lappers, placated musky orange oiling with crisply caramelized barley roast.

An innovative offshoot, milky yellowed NEIPA, Trilogy, let Sauvignon Blanc grape skins flitter alongside lacquered Cryo Pop hops as ‘biotransforming’ Cosmic Punch yeast aided the lemony gooseberry-guava tropicalia and salty white grapefruit tartness.

Equally zestful NEIPA, Silent Dude, merged tangy orange, salted mango, fuzzy peach and tart pineapple over sugared pale malting, leaving soft pine tones on the piquant tropical finish.

Another juicy NEIPA, Sajulus, guided spritzy grapefruit, orange and peach tanginess across salty pine tones and above mild wheated oats.

Dry tropical fruited NEIPA, Sydnie Down Under, combined lemony Galaxy/Nelson-hopped pineapple, guava and mango tartness with limey Wakatu/Enigma-hopped bittering, picking up a clean vodka whim atop its lightly spiced pale malting.

Enthusiastic double dry-hopped (Sabro-Eldorado) Imperial IPA, The Artful Dodger, brought lemony orange, tangerine and clementine tanginess, sour guava-mango conflux and mild spiciness to its creamy oated wheat base.

Wintry English-styled Christmas Ale, Rudolph’s Revenge, placed dewy fungi earthiness inside fig-dried raisin subtleties and seasonal nutmeg-coriander-cinnamon spicing.

Nitrogenated dry Irish stout, 3 Eyed Raven, stuffed soothingly clean nut-charred dark chocolate bittering thru dark-roast hops and bottoming black malts. 

ACTIVE INGREDIENT BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Local brewery gaining popularity among craft beer scene – Saratogian

MALTA, NEW YORK

One mile from Unified Beerworks in the Saratoga County town of Malta, ACTIVE INGREDIENT BREWING COMPANY opened its doors at the Sitwell Plaza in September ’21. Founding pharmacists Brian Fox and Nate Rogers are the efficient lab scientists crafting a rounded range of both stylistically conservative and slightly offbeat suds.

Active Ingredient’s white-walled cafe-designed interior features wood and metal seating and an elongated bar with bronze draught station and two opposing TV’s. A few couches on the right side consume the right front of the cozy pub. A mossy green logo bedecks the side wall. Brew tanks are off to the right. An outside deck with trellis is to the left. Light pub food is available.

In a one-hour Friday afternoon session, New Years Eve, ’22, I consumed all seven available homemade offerings.

Local brewery gaining popularity among craft beer scene – Saratogian

Lemon rot souring scoured yellow cleared helles lager, Through The Prism, a sourdough bottomed softie.

Crisply clean yellow cleared kolsch, Freudian Sips, let farm fresh honey drip thru salted lemon candied tartness and grassy hop herbage to its rustic sourdough crusting.

Fizzy lemon-soured green grape tannins picked up mild woodruff syruping for white wheat-based Proton Donation, a moderately acidic Berliner Weisse.

Dark roast chocolate and chalky cocoa consumed Munich dunkel, Depth Beyond, leaving hop charred peat and murky dried fruiting on its freeze-dried coffee finish.

Orange-oiled yellow grapefruit spot given vodka-tinged esters and slight tea-like herbage above pasty pale malt gluing of double dry-hopped NEIPA, Moms Genes.

Lightly creamed Citra-Cascade-hopped New England pale ale, Control Group, spiked spritzy lemon fizz thru mild passionfruit-papaya-pineapple tartness over pasty wheated oats.

Hefty cold brew coffee imprint seized Camp Catalyst Porter, picking up creamy dark chocolate cluster, black cherry tartness and black peppered hop char before receding to oily coffee murk.

UNIFIED BEERWORKS

United States Brewpubs,

Unified Beerworks | Malta, NY | Beers | BeerAdvocate

MALTA, NEW YORK

Within walking distance of Active Ingredient, UNIFIED BEERWORKS began operations in Malta during 2018. Owned by former homebrewing husband-wife team, Jeff Mannion and Erika Anderson, the friendly pub serves a closeknit hometown community.

Inside an overhead-doored gray aluminum warehouse, Unified’s marble-topped bar, plank wood bar frontage, metal and wood stools, front-windowed tables, basic cement flooring and exposed pipes (plus olden ceiling-hung lanterns) create a clean Industrial feel.

Centralized white tile-backed stainless steel draught handles contain twelve-plus proprietary suds emanating from the rear brew tanks. A limited pub menu includes tacos, chips and sandwiches.

I stepped up to the bar and grabbed all eight flight size servings including three IPA’s, two lagers, two fruited sours and a New England pale ale during my New Years Eve ’22 visit.

Unified Beerworks (Malta) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

Dry Bavarian-styled light lager, A Glimpse Of Bohemia, let delicate floral-spiced citrus hops settle atop laidback cereal grained sweetness.

Dry chocolate-chalked dark lager, Midnight In Dresden, gained peated coffee and dark toffee illusions in a dark-roast hop setting.

Orange-spiced lemondrop souring and salted guava-mango tartness draped clay-like crayon waxing for hazy New England-styled pale ale, Right Time And Place, picking up tertiary ‘honeydew, tangerine and lychee’ illusions above the toasted pale malt base.

Soft-toned NEIPA, Echoes In Eternity, combined yellow grapefruit, orange and tangerine tanginess with subtle gooseberry-guava souring, tannic white grape musk and fennel-salted lemongrass herbage.

Fruitful flagship NEIPA, All The Juicy Things, evenly displayed fruit salad tropicalia as Valencia orange, navel orange, mandarin, clementine, cara cara, tangerine and tangelo tanginess graced gentle pale malt spicing and slight fungi musk.

Brisk vodka-nipped orange peel sweetness and yellow grapefruit tang penetrated clean Nordic yeast-infused Welcome To Valhalla Imperial IPA, leaving ancillary peach-pineapple-mango-clementine fruiting and dank pine resin on its dry pale malt bottom.

Tart fruited sour variant, Waxing Nostalgia: Black Razz, meshed black raspberry piquancy with mild vanilla bean bittering contrasting lemon sugar cookie sweetness as distant black cherry, boysenberry and blueberry illusions circulated thru candied lollipop finish.

Conditioned on tangerine and strawberry, Feel As One Fruited Sour gained salty lemonade tartness and tannic oaken cherry bitterness to infiltrate its adjunctive citric-berry conflux.

REAL MC COY BEER CO. – DELMAR

United States Brewpubs,

Brewtus Roasting Co. | All Over Albany

DELMAR, NEW YORK

Behind Brewtus coffee roasters in a rustic gray aluminum storage house, the original REAL MC COY BEER CO. (with a second spot in Ballston Spa and a third opening in Albany at an old Huck Finn warehouse in 2023) set up shop at this locale during 2015.

Two overhead garage doors lead to the cement floor interior where eight orange metal seats line the back bar with four stooled tables near the frontage. Real Mc Coy offers twelve draughts emanating from four tap stations.

Brewer Mike Bellini handles the backside brew tanks, crafting small batch beers with mostly locally sourced ingredients.

The Real McCoy Beer Co. - Brewery in Delmar

I watched Alabama play college football while enjoying velvety dry Irish Stout, Saoirse, at noon on New Years Day ’23. Its rich black malted dark chocolate bittering, nutty coffee ascension and Blackstrap molasses stipend settled alongside the hop-charred barley roast.

TRILLIUM / FIDENS HEAVY METAL CUT

Beers A-Z, ,

On tap at Ambulance, admirable NEIPA collab with Albany’s Fidens bursts forth with plentiful fruited luster. Creamy vanilla sweetness absorbs ambrosial orange-peeled yellow grapefruit zesting, sour gooseberry-guava tartness, peach marmalade tang, salted pineapple-mango zing, lemon meringue piquancy and swift nectarine nip above dextrose wheated oats. Desirable fruit salad alternative hides dank pine resin below surface. Highly recommended.

Heavy Mettle Cut - Trillium Brewing Company - Untappd

FIDENS LILAC DOUBLE INDIA PALE ALE

Beers A-Z,

Sunshiny floral citrus zesting peaks thru creamy vanilla froth in glorious fashion. Sharply spiced lemony grapefruit tang, salty pineapple-guava souring and peachy cantaloupe-melon respite reach sugary oated wheat spine. Lemon meringue, orange parfait, lemon marmalade, fruit pastry cake and peach cobbler illusions nip at subtle lilac florality hidden within bold tropical dessert.

Lilac - Fidens Brewing Co | Photos - Untappd

TWIN ELEPHANT S’MORES BORG IMPERIAL STOUT

Beers A-Z,

Chewy marshmallowy coconut S’mores knockoff brings caramelized fudge brownie richness and brown sugared chocolate chip creaminess to the fore. Chocolate pudding skin-like upper layer thickens honeyed Graham Cracker base as tertiary Kahlua coffee liqueur, Mounds candy bar, toasted coconut shavings and chocolate-dipped marshmallow illusions increase luscious luxuriousness of pastry dessert nightcap.

S'mores Borg - Twin Elephant Brewing Company - Untappd