On tap at Hoover’s Tavern, doughnut-inspired pastry sour retains floury powdered sugaring underscoring briny lemon limed Margarita tartness. Beneath the lemon lime pie surface, mild whiskey-soured vanilla tannins and green grape esters seep thru acidulated wheat malting.
On tap at Growler & Gill, well integrated ‘pastry style’ provides yogurt-soured oated milk sugaring to moderately acidic concentrated orange juicing and bittersweet pineapple-papaya-guava tropicalia. Cranberry puree, baked apple and tart red cherry whims waver. Brown sugar and vanilla bean adjuncts go askew.
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, dryly soured strawberry lemonade frontage gathers lime-juiced Margarita salting, green grape esters, oaken vanilla tannins and strawberry rhubarb tartness above acidulated pilsner(?) malt base.
On tap at Taphouse Grille – Wayne, extremely dry fruited sour with bitter lemony cranberry pucker, tannic green grape vinegaring and tart guava snip atop acidulated malts.
Dry golden-glowed cumulous-headed Italian-style pilsner offer mild husked maize rusticity and musky herbage to spritzy lemon spicing above French-breaded pilsner malting. Leathery straw hay astringency adds to raw grained earthiness.
On tap at Growler & Gill, whole cone Saaz hops heighten herbal mineral graining of leathery hay-dried Czech pils. Mild orange peel spicing and salty green grape tannins lean towards sessionable NEIPA side.
Easygoing dry-hopped pils is one of the lightest sessionable summertime suds ever. Spritzy lemon liming and tannic green grape esters gain peachy guava tease as well as herbal honeysuckle tea restraint over mild cracker-salted pilsner malting. Smooth, light, breezy, effervescent.
COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK
One of America’s most exquisite breweries, OMMEGANG has hand crafted sterling Belgian styled beers since Belguim’s Duvel Moortgat, Affligem, and Scaldis joined forces with importing entrepreneurs Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield in 1996 to build an authentic Belgian-style farmstead brewery in Cooperstown. On an old 140-acre hop farm in the Susquehanna River valley, Ommegang expanded capacity by 40% during 2008.
One of the earliest and best examples of America’s brewing renaissance, the ambitious farmhouse retreat added a radically renovated 20-draught tap house with enlarged café and kitchen, covered patio and expanded store, during 2018.
Beginning with Abbey Dubbel, then Hennepin Saison and Rare Vos Amber, Ommegang’s Belgian styled beers are amongst the best known and most appreciated inside and outside America.
A front entrance patio and back wood deck surround the upscale stable-like farmstead pub. Its hardwood 10-seat bar (with prominent bar back hutch) services right side pendant-lit chairs and tables as well as a loungey left side cabana area.
During my wintry journey in January 2023, discovered seven more worthy Ommegang suds while seated at the box-lit bar eating snacks and light pub fare. There stylistic range broadened over the years to include New England-styled IPA’s, breakfast stouts, etc.
“Evanescent” NEIPA, Neon Rainbows, retained soft-toned effervescence as tart lemon-dropped grapefruit, sweet orange peel, tangy mango and sour guava subtly sashayed thru musty cellared fungi and slight piney bittering.
Dry-hopped IPA, Hopstate, let lemony grapefruit, orange and pineapple tanginess penetrate musty herb-salted pine resin.
Strong blonde ale, Everything Nice, plied rum-caked powdered sugaring to wintry cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger spicing as well as creamy vanilla for boozy 9% ABV resilience.
For its 25th Anniversary Imperial Amber Ale, coriander-spiced citrus sweetness stayed demure as prune-dried stewed fig and apricot picked up oaken cherry tannins sprinkled with white pepper.
Honeyed ‘granola stout,’ Keep It Crunchy, let sugared pecan, dried cranberry and oats-flaked cocoa adjuncts get happily ambushed by maple syrupy dark chocolate, walnut black coffee and buttery pine nut.
For Imperial Keep It Crunchy, the hardy oatmeal stout picked up deeper Belgian candi-sugared cocoa nibs influence and more pronounced black coffee nuttiness, allowing tertiary bruised black cherry, blackberry, blueberry and anise illusions to sneak by.
Wondrous winter ale, Bourbon Barrel Adoration, aged in Buffalo Trace bourbon, put rummy burgundy sugaring and dry plum wining inside caramelized raisin-fig-date conflux contrasting leathery oaken vanilla.
Original 1998 Aquarian Weekly article below
It’s worth visiting Baseball’s Hall Of Fame just to stop by peerless Belgian-styled OMMEGANG BREWERY. Not a brewpub per se, but a fully detailed operational brewery with available samples of exquisite ales. Most of Ommegang’s full product line could be found in Beer Index. In November ’98, while vacationing with extended family, I also found a few previously unbeknownst Saranac’s and Woodstock brews that I’d get familiar with over the years to come.
COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK
One mile north of Ommegang in a large wood-sided farmhouse, RED SHED BREWERY expanded beyond its original Cherry Valley taproom to this larger facility in 2017 (and opened a cozy English-styled pub with cask ales in Cherry Valley during 2022).
With three locations, Red Shed’s homemade small batch brews trend towards the conservative side but each conventional offering proved to be a stylistic delight.
A rustic barnyard setting gets reinforced by the reclaimed wood left wall, block wood rafters, black support beams and cement floor. Red Shed’s insignia above the dual draught boards and menu shines like a beacon. The 12-seat lacquered wood bar services two stooled community tables and a few seated tables.
A right side picnic-tabled outdoor beer garden (with bulbed Edison lights) adds further seating. During my January ’23 Friday afternoon trip, I downed all fifteen varied draughts.
Red Shed staple, Otsego Golden Ale, lathered creamed corn sweetness and citric hop spicing atop raw-honeyed pilsner malts.
Dryly barley-hopped marzen, Oktoberfest, brought light cellared fungi to raw-honeyed fig over toasted brown breading.
Orange-oiled lemon tartness gained grassy hop herbage for Kingfischer Kolsch, using dryer pilsner malts than usual.
A bit richer stylistically, Valley Fog Hefeweizen unleashed sweet banana-clove essence, tart apple crisping and confectionery powdered sugaring upon its sturdy honeyed wheat base.
Candi-sugared plum, fig and date sweetened Barn Owl Doppelbock, soaked up by molasses breading.
Probably the most eccentric beer in this sitting, brettanomyces-soured ‘horse-blanketed barnyard funk’ and minty juniper tips gave dry Nordic farmhouse ale, Treebeerd, an offbeat profile endorsed by its tannic green grape, tart green apple and hard cider subsidiaries.
Tidy hazy pale ale, Hop Harvest, retained lightly embittered IPA-derived orange-peeled grapefruit zesting and ripe apple-pear sweetness for floral-spiced pale malting.
Caramelized rye engaged Jessica’s Red Ale, relegating its tobacco-leafed amber graining and subtle red-orange fruiting.
Best-selling Cloudy Girl Hazy NEIPA let lemony mango-papaya zesting and peachy pineapple tanginess spread across buttery pale malts for overall summery tropicalia.
Dry floral perfumed earthiness contrasted biscuity Golden Promise malts for Hay Hooked, a moderate English-styled IPA.
Another English brew, Shepherds Hollow Pub Bitter stayed dry as lightly creamed pale malting and peaty earthiness laid low.
Dark candi-sugared date and fig sweetened Bruin Belgian Brown Ale, leaving glazed hazelnut, molasses and allspice to contrast bark-dried peppercorn dryness.
Traditional English Brown Ale, Geordie Boy, relinquished walnut, chestnut and hazelnut tones plus mild floral herbage for its buttered biscuity bottom.
Cherrywood-smoked dark chocolate regaled Cherry Valley Smoked Porter, leaving lightly creamed coffee tones on the mildly cedar-seared backend.
Nitro-injected Irish dry stout, The Bogside, retained coffee-roasted espresso tones, dark cocoa bittering and pureed black cherry snips.
COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK
Three miles from downtown Cooperstown in a large red barn house, COUNCIL ROCK BREWERY opened during May 2012. Despite its roomy rear dining space, the main front barroom is a cozy low ceilinged cafe-styled bistro with an inlaid random wood bar top and a dozen draught taps. There are ten bar stools, one large front-windowed community table, a four-seat dinner table and small fireplace. Brewtanks are stationed in the back.
Red and white wines plus burgers, sandwiches, soups and salads are available alongside highly approachable home brews. Though each offering usually never got too far out stylistically, all ten basic libations went down easy.
My wife and I visited Council Rock for dinner Friday evening and mid-afternoon the next day to consume all brews available, January ’23.
Dewy fig-dried orange oiling spread thru Vienna Lager, soaking into its molasses brown breading.
Bittersweet lemon spicing got saddled by the dry grassy hop astringency of Goldenrod Cream Ale.
Dry earthen musk contrasted laidback toffee sweetness for Clinton’s Canyon English Ale, a mild Extra Special Bitter.
Candied mango tartness gained mild wheat pasting for Mango Pale Wheat, a modestly hopped moderation.
Straightforward Pumpkin Ale brought delicate cinnamon-nutmeg spicing to earthen gourd rusticity and pale lager malting.
Dry pale ale, Full Nelson, spotlighted tropical Nelson Sauvin hops, securing tannic gooseberry, guava and green grape tartness.
Steadfast easygoer, All American IPA, let perfumed spicing and white-peppered herbage engage apple-skinned pear crisping.
Tobacco-roasted cereal graining and subtle caramelized nuttiness prodded Sleeping Lion Red Ale, leaving dry hop mustiness upon mild red-orange fruiting.
Candi-sugared apricot, peach and pear fruiting stayed demure for Cripple Creek Tripel, needing deeper complexity and funkier fungi musk.
Semi-rich brown chocolate sweetness anchored Leatherstocking Brown Ale, a slightly nutty, barley-roasted, hop-charred medium body.
CAMBRIDGE, NEW YORK
A red brick railroad depot houses ARGYLE BREWING COMPANY in the village of Cambridge at the southeast edge of the Adirondacks. A New York farm brewery utilizing locally sourced ingredients, Argyle opened its nearby Greenwich location three years before embarking on this second taproom pub in May 2017.
A distinct 2,000 square-foot, gavel roofed main space with uniquely spiraled panel wood walls, hardwood floors and gorgeous chandelier give the railway tavern a cavernous Cathedral-like setting. A covered wood-column beer garden with community benches doubles the capacity of the friendly residential neighborhood watering hole.
The slate-topped bar serves a few proprietary draughts. A lanterned couch area adds a homey feel and the small backstage suits musical entertainment. Heritage-bound photos and pix line the walls.
On a snowy afternoon in January ’23, my wife and I enjoyed two pints while grabbing a few cans for the road to Cooperstown (reviewed in Beer Index).
Mild lemon-spiced Cute Little Blonde picked up salty Williamette-hopped herbage and wispy florality to buttress its spritzy summery sessionability (mix with lemonade to make a mellow shandy).
Bittersweetly tart raspberry-pureed dark cocoa richness commanded Argyle Raspberry Porter, leaving a maple walnut glaze upon its tertiary blackberry, boysenberry and strawberry snips.
ONEONTA, NEW YORK
Cozily quaint cafe-styled brewpub lets its ‘family-friendly atmosphere reflect the relaxed, convivial attitude’ of downtown Oneonta. Though ROOTS BREWING COMPANY only crafts a few homebrews on-site, their eighty-plus bottle and can lineup and handful of guest draughts will please varied thirsts.
A neat li’l homey red brick brewhouse with elongated left side bar, community tables, a few pews, olden wood chairs and five rear brew tanks, Root’s stylishly eclectic antiquity gets reinforced by its lavender-hued columns and scattered abstract paintings. Snacks, pizza and tacos are available alongside snazzy cocktail specials.
There’s only one homebrew on my January ’23 sojourn, but it’s a true delight.
Retaining a rummy dried fruit spicing and dewy fungi musk, Roots Inconceivable Tripel let its mild caramel creaming sweeten its raisin-plum-date conflux, subtle butternut squash nuttiness and wispy floral perfuming as oaken vanilla tannins surfaced latently.