On tap at The Local Taphouse of Nyack. Intense 2018 barrel-aged version of brewers’ well-respected Expedition lets rich bourbon chocolate sweetness scintillate chewy molasses-draped cinnamon coffee ascension. In the backdrop, medicinal cherry, anise, fig and raisin illusions survive.
All posts by John Fortunato
TIN BARN PINEAPPLE DOWNSIDE-UP CAKE FRUITED SOUR
On tap at The Local Taphouse of Nyack. Soft serve vanilla ice creaming sweetens tangy pineapple zing of zestfully fruited sour dessert treat. Ripe pineapple flurry picks up friendly lemon meringue, mandarin orange and tangerine illusions over floury Graham Cracker pie crust.
INDUSTRIAL ARTS PARTY FLAVORS MANGO-BLUEBERRY IPA
On tap at The Local Taphouse of Nyack. Zestful mango juicing and less specific blueberry jam sweetness pickup unexpected watermelon Jolly Rancher tartness and lightly salted New England IPA-like guava-gooseberry-passionfruit conflux. Light piney hop pungency persists below the fruited mix.
ROUND TABLE ENCUENTRO
On tap at The Local Taphouse of Nyack, unspecific soft-toned Argentinian lager with palest clear yellow hue hides peppery herbs, floral daubs and delicate spicing beneath Scotch-tinged barley base. Might better average Mexican lagers.
SCHILLING KVET 12
On tap at The Local Taphouse of Nyack. Stylishly richer ‘Czech amber lager’ tosses raw-honeyed cracked barley at lightly cherrywood-smoked pumpernickel, rye and wattleseed midst as leafy hop astringency penetrates dried cocoa bottom.
KILLS BORO KILLSNER
On tap at The Local Taphouse of Nyack, musky raw-grained pilsner malting and herbal Tettnang-Perle hops embed traditional German styled moderation. But addition of dry Hallertau Blanc hops provides mild tannic green grape esters at the musty barnyard finish.
THE LOCAL TAPHOUSE OF NYACK
NYACK, NEW YORK
Just across the Tappan Zee Bridge in the hilly village of Nyack, THE LOCAL TAPHOUSE OF NYACK has been pouring local craft beer and fine spirits for a decade. Visited June ’25 on a hot, sticky Friday at noon, entrepreneurial owner Travis is running the cozy bronze tile-ceilinged Prohibition-styled saloon.
A 12-seat oak top bar with centralized liquor station and 10-plus tap handles saddle the left side pub while a front window booth, a few tabled chairs and backroom tables fill out the small interior. A right-side patio with a few benches provides outside seating. There are hot dogs onsite but outside food’s also welcome.
Quality bourbons and whiskeys are featured alongside the ten draughts available during my initial two-hour perusal. I found five untried New York suds (reviewed in Beer Index): Kills Boro Killsner German Pilsner; Schilling Kvet 12 Czech Amber Lager; Round Table Encuentro Argentinian Lager; Industrial Arts Party Flavors NEIPA (with mango-blueberry); Tin Barn Pineapple Downside Up Cake Sour Ale.
SOUTHERN TIER CARAMEL COOKIE BAR IMPERIAL STOUT
Fudgy dark chocolatey confectionery stout resembles a sweet mocha-drenched cookie as impressionable maple-sapped treacle, Sugar Daddy candy, creme brulee sugaring, bourbon chocolate syruping, Black forest cake richness and tingly anise spicing consume full-bodied dessert. Oreo cookie crust finish maintains aggression while slight raspberry-cherry fruitiness contrasts latent dark roast-hopped espresso in way back.
DRUERY IRISH BY BEER
Dark roast walnut coffee entry gains tarry hop char as black chocolate bittering and Blackstrap molasses fortify fine dry Irish stout.
BEER TREE SNICKERS PORTER
Confectionery Snickers candy bar entry picks up peanut-laced toffee sweetness (and slight cedar fragrance) to contrast overdone astringent hop phenols. Nutty caramelized milk chocolate sweetness barely has time to register before charred hops sear its whimsical sugar smack.
BERKSHIRE DEAN’S BEANS COFFEEHOUSE PORTER
Marvelous Drayman’s Porter spinoff utilizing Dean’s Beans burrows medium roast chicory coffee indulgence thru caramel-burnt dark chocolate, blackened nut char and tarry Blackstrap molasses residue. Try in lieu of black coffee in bed. Recommended.
FOUR QUARTERS BERNIE’S SMITTEN MITTENS MAPLE S’MORES STOUT
Despite milk-sugared maple syruping and chocolate-chipped cocoa, graham cracker, and marshmallow adjuncts, Bernie Sanders sendoff wreaked by weedy prune-soured cellar musk. Day-old coffee remnant and bitter anisette smidge don’t help.