NEWARK, DELAWARE
In the new Industrial outskirts of Newark, Delaware,
MIDNIGHT OIL BREWING COMPANY came to fruition at Pencader Business Park during February 2018. Its prominent black insignia hangs from the tan brick edifice that encompasses this huge 15,000 square-foot high-ceilinged cement-floored brewing warehouse.
A 14-seat serving station features nine draught handles and a cool purplish blue chalked Midnight Oil painting at the bar's frontage. Ten surrounding tables and some window seating are also available plus the elegant left side lounge area has two couches and a TV. A wood paneled beer list centers the bar.
I took a seat at the side of the bar to try four interestingly disparate brews during a half-hour July '19 afternoon stopover.
Basic, mild and approachable flagship brew,
Neutrino Blonde Ale, brought spicy mandarin orange subtleties and a lemony spritz to dewy earthen moisture above its gentle white bread spine.
Juicier
Serenity Mandarin (an orange offshoot which also includes peach, strawberry, mango and pineapple versions) let dainty mandarin orange tanginess pick up lemony grapefruit, tangerine and clementine snips above a sugared pale malt base with easygoing splendor.
Lactic raspberry pureeing soaked into vanilla-beaned blonde ale,
Your Mom, leaving sour melon rind, tart watermelon and juicy pineapple illusions on the tail end of its bittersweet raspberry rhapsody.
Dark-roast coffee and black chocolate bittering consumed
Reilly Irish Stout, an oats-charred full body with dewy earthen mossing and slight anise spicing that gains a nutty remnant.
There were five more beers on draught but I had limited time so I returned a year-and-a-half later.
I revisited Midnight Oil to consume eight more brews New Years Eve, 2021.
Dry German light body,
Slingshot Pils, let herbal lemon whims reach raw-honeyed spelt and oats in an easygoing manner.
Crisply dry kolsch,
Neutrino, retained easygoing crisping as straw-dried barnyard astringency and salted herbage grazed lemon-dropped tartness to its French bread bottom.
Tartly dry
Your Mom, a mild blonde ale with raspberry, vanilla beans and lactose, let lemon-soured strawberry tartness sit upon the fluffily creamed tongue as oaken vanilla phenols buttressed celery-watered rhubarb pie piquancy.
Mildly vinous plum-dried gose variant,
Plum Pulse, blended Amarillo-hopped piney citrus-daubed Impulse IPA with lemony coriander-salted green grape esters.
Mellow floral-daubed yellow grapefruit zing, zesty orange peel sweetness and tangy pineapple slither combine with dehydrated lemon licks for dry-hopped India Pale Ale,
Subspace Anomaly, leaving mild pine needling on the dainty citrus-spiced finish.
Candi-sugared dried fruiting glazed dewy
Temptress Quad, leaving sugarplum, red cherry, date and wintry spices in its wake.
Ashen mocha nuttiness and Blackstrap molasses draped
Midnight Porter, mingling walnut-charred coffee tones with dark cocoa bittering.
Semi-sweet dark chocolate bittering gained sour coffee-stained edge and ashen nutty hop char for
Insomnia, a lactic-soured mocha stout with cacao nibs powdering outpacing cherry-stewed Tahitian vanilla beaning.
midnightbrewing.com
FREEVILLE, NEW YORK
A few miles northeast from Ithaca in an agrarian pale green vinyl-sided farmhouse, family-owned HOPSHIRE FARM & BREWERY opened in 2013. One of New York's first farm breweries, Hopshire's roadside hop bines lead to its front-doored central bar. Co-owners Randy Lacey and Diane Gerhart also grow their own barley and make honey on the orchard-laden land.
The L-shaped serving station features twelve draught handles and the left-side brew tanks mingle with bench seating. A green and white right-side tent offers splendid pastoral outside seating.
A new marbleized vinyl-floored right room with A-framed Cathedral-like ceiling and seven cafeteria tables gets used for special events and music specials. On this initial July '19 visitation, we grab a seat in this stately room to try all seven draughts available while our dog, Roscoe, plays with a friendly mutt.
Lemon-wedged banana and clove fortified mild herb-backed Love Inn Ale Hefeweizen, a pleasurable lightweight 'channeling the Summer Of Love' in winsome fashion.
Tart raspberry puree regaled Brambles Raspberry Wheat Ale, leaving mild lingered hop astringency upon the soft wheat bed.
Raw-honeyed astringency mellowly pasted Beehave Honey Ale, a treacly blonde ale with bready barley base.
A sharp yellow grapefruit tang provoked heady beige yellow-hazed New England IPA, Haze In The Hollow, a fizzy spritzer with sunshiny citrus spunk coming from its brisk Citra-Mosaic-Galaxy hop rasp.
Dewy springtime moderation, Shire Scottish Ale, a nutty brown ale hybrid, brought roasted tobacco crisping and mossy peat earthiness to honeyed dark chocolate malting.
Another 'hearty brown ale,' Abbey Normale, utilized dark Belgian candi syrup to sweeten its caramelized raisin tartness and mild licorice tones against sedate peppercorn pungency.
Milk-sugared dark roast coffee serenaded blonde coffee stout, Beautiful Buzz, a Maris Otter malt-sweetened mocha dessert beer with a slight lemon twist. 
ENDICOTT, NEW YORK
Ten miles west of Binghamton, Endicott's THE NORTH BREWERY opened in 2013, one year after Water Street Brewing became the area's first modern brewpub (and closed 2024). Owner Zach Pedley's a serious stout aficionado crafting some 'extreme ales,' winning Best of Tap New York's statewide competition in 2017 with heavenly richly God Complex Cerrano Pepper Mocha Hazelnut Coffee Stout.
A makeshift caged-in black metal-furnished Washington Avenue patio leads into the small two-room pub. Edison lights adorn the concrete slate-topped bar with eight red brick-walled draught handles and the white-tiled floor contrasts the raw wood furnishings and reclaimed palate wood right wall. The bronze tiled ceiling features solid mahogany columns while a few windowed tables and sundry TV's sprawl across the front room. A crazed lunatic and black & white octopus adorn the right side and back wall.
The current 5-barrel brew system and a canning line inundate the back room.
Zach's got the Blues on the radio while I consume six well-designed draught beers slightly stretching the experimental spectrum during July '19.
BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK
Around the corner from Galaxy Brewing in a metal-welded Industrial building with steel-doored storefront, WATER STREET BREWING COMPANY began operations in 2011 - approximately one year before nearby Galaxy and Binghamton breweries opened (and closed 2024). Homebrewing couple John and Michele Bleichert currently run a 7 barrel system spread between glass-encased bronze tanks and a few right side silver tanks.
An intimate bistro-like pub, Water Street's linoleum-floored wood tables are scattered along the front and left side with Edison lights lining the long wooden bar where two tap stations with eight draught handles each disperse the sassy suds. Fine homemade pub fare goes well with the rounded beer selections. I sojourned to Water Street July '19.
Receding banana-clove sweetness confronted lemon-rotted mandarin orange souring and herbal whims above sugary Graham Cracker wheat malts for generic-named moderation, Hefeweizen, a slightly more adventurous stylistic changeup.
Dry English mild ale, Lucky Corbie, brought raw-honeyed grassy hop acridity, horse-blanketed hay astringency and mild herbal perfuming to toasted caramel malting.
Stylishly bold India Pale Ale, Smash And Grab, let brisk Mosaic-hopped grapefruit, orange peel, mango and peach tanginess saturate its moderate grassy pine bittering above caramelized Vienna malts.
Sour gooseberry and white grape tannins plus mild grapefruit rind bittering bumrushed Triple Trouble NEIPA, a lactic juicy fruited medium body with subtle sugar-spiced lemony orange tang.
As for the dark ales, dry hop-charred walnut bittering lightly counters sweet hazelnut-macadamia-almond triage for Hellcat Brown Ale.
Roasted chocolate and caramelized nuttiness anchored Thousand Year Porter, receiving a dewy peat mustiness at the finish.
Mildly fudged chocolate milk stout, Slugworth's Revenge, gained vanilla, dried cocoa and brownie tones above molasses oats malting.
waterstreetbrewingco.com 
JOHNSON CITY, NEW YORK
Just across the Chenango River from Binghamton, Johnson City's BINGHAMTON BREWING CO. opened for business during 2014. Owners Kristen Lyons and Jason Gardner, beer loving engineers inspired by esteemed Belgian-styled brewery, Ommegang, decided to open a farm brewery using locally grown ingredients and soon hired home brewing anthropologist teacher Kasey Agiser.
Due for imminent expansion, Lyons tells me the current two barrel brewing operation will be "kept as a pilot system" when they expand to 10 or 15 barrels.
A makeshift two-benched entrance patio leads to the diminutive yellow-walled pub space. A left side hearth, a few serving station seats, five small tables and a TV fill out the interior. An electronic draught board lists current homebrews available and beautiful grey-tiled draught handles release the eleven sudsy delights I'll experience this Saturday afternoon in July '19.
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE
Inside a tan brick building at the light Industrial business mall, Branmar Plaza, BELLEFONTE BREWING COMPANY took the name of its north Wilmington section and celebrated its three year anniversary, May '19. Its clean open pub space houses a backroom 4-barrel brewing system crafting a cornucopia of stylishly accomplished elixirs.
A cozy setup with six-seat mahogany bar sporting fourteen tap handles and a large brew-stickered refrigerator, the lacquer cement-floored Bellefonte's cartoon-infested walls add a youthful touch. A semi-permanent right side red-couched TV area brings comfy elegance and two parking lot-bound bench tables under the green canvas awning provide extra seating.
My wife and I grab one of the mid-room barreled tables to enjoy fourteen fine offerings during hot July '19 trip.
Musky rye-oats graining and pleasant fungi earthiness stabilized 4G LTE Four Grain Lager, a pre-Prohibition-styled lightweight that may've bested the fresh-cut grassiness and herbal lemon respite of equally light-bodied Particle Pilsner.
Honeyed banana and clove suited pastry-malted Hefenly Brew, an approachable hefeweizen with floral-wafted herbal nuances. Meanwhile, tarter banana-clove sweetened the orange-peeled coriander niceties of Monkey's Gotta Go, a choice witbier.
Dry spritzy champagne-like Kiamensi Kolsch brought lemon-wedged orange rot souring to Noble-hopped wood mildewing and mineral grained pilsner malting.
Lightly sour Tart Passion Saison let salty passionfruit tartness snag zesty lemon briskness to counter its sweaty cheesecloth musk. Another similarly styled offshoot, Acai Berry Tart Saison shifted the focus to sour-candied blueberry-acai tartness, leaving oaken cherry wisps at the backend.
Pasty-like cream ale, Orange Street Ale, stayed soft-toned as lightly frothed honeysuckle wheat malting picked up a mild orange spritz above mild grassy-hopped astringency.
Meanwhile, honeyed yellow fruiting fronted bold (7.3% ABV) Belgian pale ale, Bellevue Blonde, stays crisply easygoing 'til the alcohol esters consume the candi-sugared Abbey yeast profile.
Straightforward lo-cal moderation, Small Wonder IPA, packed a juicy tropical punch complemented by delicate pine resin and dry pale malts.
Easygoing soft-tongued NEIPA, Oat-face Killah let grassy-hopped grapefruit, peach, mango and orange tropicalia soak into its light white oats malting.
WEST ISLIP, NEW YORK
Spending many a summer playing ball and ridin' Fire Island waves at the wholesome smalltown Long Island community of West Islip as a kid, I was totally readied to enjoy my sojourn to SECATOGUE BREWING COMPANY. Finally, a well-respected brewpub less than a mile from my grandparents old home on Malts Avenue just 'cross the trax.
Named after the Native American inhabitants of yore, Secatogue landed in a newly built white-columned brick building with Classical high black ceiling expanse, large brew room and pristine pub.
West Islip-raised homebrewing enthusiast, Ken Srubinski, leads the family-backed entrepreneurial business, utilizing experienced assistant brewer, Gabe Calero (formerly of Fort Pierce, Florida's Sailfish Brewing and a local Babylon restaurateur).
Scattered metal-wood tables fill the pub's crystalline white-walled open space. A beautiful white-topped slate bar top with blue-tiled siding adds elegance to the 12-stooled L-shaped serving station (with a café-styled floral-designed wallpaper section bringing springtime aspirations).
Ten blue-tiled draught handles served a splendid array of crisply brisk sedations on my noontime June '19 stopover with cousins, wife and dog in tow. We tried eight superfine suds at the small outdoor patio area.
First up, hazily opaque yellowed light-bodied flirtation, Cosmic Blonde (used as the base for the ever-popular Berry Blast), brought dry-wooded citrus bliss to creamily seduction crystal malts, herbal restraint and grassy hop astringency.
Sessionably fruitful dry-hopped moderation, OOF IPA, gained sharp grapefruit, orange and lemon bittering as well as ethanol-licked herbal daubs to contrast its peachy pineapple tanginess.
Floral-bound hibiscus, salty citrus zesting and strawberry rhubarb tartness overrode dryly resinous pining for pinkish amber rosé-inspired Pink Hibiscus IPA.
Prickly citrus sharpness led double dry-hopped medium body, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy NE IPA, retaining lightly soured mango-guava-gooseberry tropicalia and pasty Maris Otter malting.
Smoothly lupulin-powdered double dry-hopped pleasantry, Lupulin Pillows NE IPA, stayed slightly one-dimensional in good stead as juicy grapefruit peeled orange rind bittering surged over a sugary pale malt setting.
Soft-tongued tropical effervescence guided Lengthy Island Imperial NE IPA, a juicily fruited summertime treat with salt-licked lemony grapefruit zesting riding atop brisk mineral grain crisping.
Arguably the best, most rounded and juicy of the New England-styled India Pale Ale entrants, zesty tropical delight, Screaming Space Cowboy Double IPA, advanced its sunny lemon-peeled grapefruit piquancy and tangy orange-rimmed pineapple sweetness above modestly creamy sugar malts.
Nutty hop-charred black malt bittering countered barley-roasted chocolate sweetness for espresso coffee-finishing Irish Stout, The Darkest One We Have, leaving dry bourbon whiskey snips on the back end.
Below is a link to fabulous article 'bout Secatogue.
https://www.ediblelongisland.com/2019/06/24/secatogue-brewing-co-opens-in-west-islip/ 
BAYSHORE, NEW YORK
Just off Sunrise Highway in Bayshore's Industrial section, DESTINATION UNKNOWN BEER COMPANY opened for business May 2015 (and began DUBCO Acres on a 50-acre farm, May '22, in Warwick, New York). Created by head brewer Chris Candiano and Brad Finn, two local West Islip natives who began as garage-bound zymurgists, DUBCO (as it's affectionately known) proves to be another worthy New York farmhouse brewery.
An overhead door leads to the 10-stooled serving station sparsely decorated with a side-walled Destination Unknown insignia, wooden L-shaped pew and amber-tiled floor. Wood-furnished mezzanine seating is also available at the small 2,000 square foot space. A large projection screen TV is set along the back wall.
A wide variety of ambitious liquids ranging from sundry India Pale Ales to two Belgian-styled ales to a coffee stout and sour ale pour from the tap handles as my cousins and I settle down at one of the three outside patios on a sunny Sunday afternoon in June '19.
