SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK
Leaving his Sussex County home in Jersey to start successful Fort Edward-based Oliva Winery northeast of horse racing capitol, Saratoga Springs, entrepreneurial spirits venture, Tony Oliva, decided to brew professionally soon after. After moving his nine year-old winery to Saratoga's outskirts with wife, Debreen, and son, Anthony, in tow, he hooked up with Olde Saratoga brewer, Yuri, and began crafting some of the most interesting brews in the area under the equine moniker,
RACING CITY BREWING COMPANY.
Utilizing a fresh well water base, Oliva's crew offer free-spirited, oft-times hybridized, originals that usually go one step beyond stylish conformity with uncommon herbal-spiced eccentricities.
Open for business since the night before St. Patrick's Day, 2018 (and closed March 2021), Racing City's based in a freestanding 20,000 square foot grey-bricked warehouse. A sportsbar-related microbrewery with excellent light pub fare to go alongside a baker's dozen tapped selections, its warm and friendly interior features a 10-stooled, wood-topped, corrugated sheet metal-sided serving station (with 3 TV's and handsome beer menu) fronted by five community tables, several high-top bar tables and a mid-spaced sofa lounge atop an apoxy concrete-polished floor.
A beautiful 3D fiberglass horse racing mural signed by famed rider Angel Cordero (and previously hung at Saratoga's old city center) graces the front wall.
When Oliva initially opened the joint, the only beer available was light pale ale, Break-In Maiden, a favorite amongst local dart and cornhole leaguers. By my early December 2018 noontime visit, there were fourteen diverse brews readied for draught.
While my wife nibbled on cheesy pretzels, I consumed all but Backyard Harvest, an autumnal Cascade-Centennial-hopped English-styled IPA.
A popular summertime easygoer given year-round status,
Lemon Hop Kid, an adventurous lemon ginger wheat ale, let its lemon-peeled ginger juice soak up dry cologne-spiced lemongrass, basil, fern and lime sentiments.
Similarly off-the-beaten track, mint-leafed
Colt Classic Dark Cream Ale (the base beer for the bourbon-aged Kentucky Classic) brought unexpected wood-toned Chinook-Saaz hop rusticity to the maize-dried Mint Julep furlough, leaving latent chocolatey cola nuttiness upon its busy mix.
Popular centrist libation,
Fishin Lager, stayed crisply clean as its musty maize-flaked earthen grains gained rotted citrus notions and distant herbal musk.
Finely hybridized autumnal moderation,
Punkinhead Pumpkin Lager (with its Fishin Lager base) brought perfumed-hopped wood lacquering to squash-dried pumpkin spicing.
Sessionable pale ale,
Turning Point, kept the hop bittering light and caramel malt sweetness subtle while streamlined apple, peach, orange and grapefruit tanginess may've provoked far-off banana liqueur illusions.
Equally sessionable
Top Choice Hopped Lager, a maize-flaked cream ale blend, allowed buttery honey-dried grain malts to pick up mild floral-spiced tropical fruiting.
Reliably abstruse
LSH Saison boasted 'natural herbs' as primary lemongrass, sumac and hibiscus adjuncts received floral lemon niceties as well as birch-barked fern, lilac and rosewood reminders.
Rounded fruitiness stimulated wholly delectable
JustifIPA, a juicy India Pale Ale submitting perfume-hopped peach, clementine, tangerine and pineapple tanginess to briskly coniferous pining.
Pureed blood orange desiccation saddled
King 7 IPA, a tart dry body with constrained orange peel, tangerine, mandarin orange and clementine sweetness.
A winning collaboration with local brew friends, Taylor & Sons and Northway, vibrant amber-browned
Big Red Double IPA (no doubt inspired by Secretariat) regaled floral-bound orange, pineapple, tangerine, peach and clementine tanginess as well as subtle apple-pear fruiting to creamily cookie-doughed caramelized rye malting (and creamy vanilla snips).
Silkily smooth English-styled Oatmeal Stout,
Dark Horse, allowed oats-sugared black chocolate syruping to ride above earthen dewiness, charred hops and subdued nuttiness.
Nutty coffee tones reminiscent of Guinness Stout silkily pervaded
Black Beauty Nitro Black Lager, a dark-roasted Irish stout with casual espresso, cappuccino and Bakers chocolate asides.
Impressive black-lagered
Short Stack with Maple and Hazelnut let elegant chocolate-chipped bourbon vanilla sweetness lift its Kahlua-creamed pancake battering to decadent dessert heights. It proved to be an excellent Sunday afternoon sendoff.
As a certified farm brewery (utilizing local grains and hops), Racing City is also licensed to serve distilled New York spirits for refreshingly brisk cocktails. They'll take on distribution in January '19.
racingcitybrewing.com
EDISON, NEW JERSEY
Despite its small, demure serving station area, CYPRESS BREWING COMPANY has the warehouse capacity for enormous growth. Open since 2015, its large silver tanks prove expansion doesn't have to take place off-site anytime soon. Residing at a tucked away tan-bricked Industrial Park just off the Garden State Parkway near the Raritan River, Cypress currently specializes in a few recurring draughts, some canned fare (such as the popular cranberry-pureed Thanksgiving offering, Miigwetch Pale Ale) and sundry tapped one-offs.
A beautiful back wall-painted Cypress banner salutes patrons to the left side hunter green-walled, blacktop-slated, stone-laid serving station (with eight taps, two TV's and blackboard beer listing). Its porcelain grain wood floor tile, three rounded black-hued Industrial tables and inlaid cypress tree mural on the opposing wall bring a sterling feel to the pristine bantam space.
My wife and daughter join me on New Year's Eve 2018 as I down five worthy afternoon draughts - four of which leaned to the dark side.
First up, vivacious dry-hopped medium body, Insane In The Grain IPA, brought sharp yellow grapefruit tanginess and sweet orange peel zest to the fore as resinous piney hops subsumed the backend (where wispy mango, peach and pineapple tropicalia snuck in). A true counterpoint to the following darkies.
Dry Northern English Nut Brown contrasted its walnut-seared hop char with less enthusiastic glazed hazelnut sweetness and soap-stoned peanut shelling.
Ample nuttiness also welcomed Alva Imperial Porter, leaving molasses chocolate-sugared dried fruiting on the tongue alongside serene walnut, Brazil nut and charred chestnut licks.
Fully realized dessert treat, Nice Imperial Lactose Stout, let cocoa-beaned milk chocolate richness gain cinnamon-spiced ginger leaf minting.
Its more aggressive chili-peppered version, Naughty, allowed its fudgier cocoa persuasion to retain tidy brown-sugared cinnamon coffee tones.
cypressbrewing.com 
NORWICH, CONNECTICUT
Inside the large brick-walled expanse of an old printing press, EPICURE BREWING took hold June 8, 2017. Its high ceilings, cement floor, exposed pipes, metal-wood furnishings and old mill setting offer the perfect "lofty Industrial vibe" for brewers Ken Thiffeault and Jim Bojarski to craft their fine stylistically standard fare.
The 12-stool L-shaped bar features twelve-plus taps, a white Epicure banner and several mugs-growlers. Eight high-chair tables sit across the bar while several wooden pews and silver brew tanks don the rear. A vintage 1950 Sunbeam motorcycle hangs bear the front wall.
As I settle in on a cold December '18 evening before dinner at neighboring These Guys, there are seven elixirs to consume.
Lovely light-bodied Kolsch, Cool Side Of Beautiful, stayed crisply clean as spritzy yellow fruit spicing, herbal hop astringency and straw-dried graining reached a pleasant pilsner-malted biscuit base.
Three rangy India Pale Ales hit the palate next. Briskly Citra-Mandarina-Eldorado-hopped Good Old Tom, a hazy New England-styled IPA, loaded juicy yellow grapefruit tanginess and navel orange peel sweetness alongside a slightly soured lemon zing, leaving mild wood tomes at the sunny citrus finish.
Stylishly bitterer, Damned Yankee IPA evenly spread grapefruit, orange, tangerine and lemon zest across piney hop resin and light herbal nuances.
Despite its lofty 8.5% ABV, easygoing Little Coat Double IPA will appease less heady pale ale fans with its playful lemony orange-grapefruit spritz, cereal-grained caramel malt roast and mild dry hop astringency.
Sweet 'n sour raspberry puree draped silken brown chocolate malting for Raspberry Chocolate Porter, a dessert-bound dark ale finishing with a lemon-soured berry piquancy that crowds its mocha mightiness.
Dark chocolate bittering and soy-sauced earthen dewiness garnished semi-enigmatic Lightning Struck Twice Oatmeal Stout to its milk-sugared oats base.
Syrupy chocolate overwhelmed the toasted coconut adjunct of Zussamen Chocolate Coconut Stout, leaving subtle burgundy, espresso, marshmallow and dried fruit reminders.
epicurebrewing.com 
GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK
Just across the street from the firmly established Davidson Brothers Brewing in the heart of Glen Falls, three-barrel nanobrewery, MEAN MAX BREW WORKS, came aboard during August 2014. Founding proprietors Matt Barry and Dave Wells craft fine standard fare that retain stylistic intent as well as interestingly robust 'big beers.'
Four patina columns, reclaimed wood furnishings and several international flags don the narrow space. Clustered clear-balled chandeliers hang at the L-shaped serving station (with twelve taps, electric beer menu and refrigerated bottles and cans). The back-spaced brew tanks relinquish many well-designed liquids.
CLIFTON PARK, NEW YORK
Residing at a fairly inconspicuous gray aluminum warehouse with a large grain silo in the rural Industrial town of Clifton Park (ten minutes north of Albany), SHMALTZ BREWING COMPANY has a long history that goes back to the Nineties - before the brewpub craze hit full stride. Led by adventurously nomadic gypsy brewer, Jeremy Cowan, an entrepreneurial San Francisco resident with bi-coastal interests, Shmaltz found a cool niche crafting unorthodox malt-dominant beers celebrating his Judaic heritage.
In 2013, marketing and sales braniac, Cowan, opened this spacious 50 barrel brewhouse. Though most of the site is taken up by gigantic backroom brew tanks, the quaint serving station area looks more like a no-nonsense beer store with its bottles and cans spread all across the smallish venue. A fire-pitted smokers lounge patio leads customers into the wood-furnished pub.
On this rainy Friday evening in early December 2018 (before Singlecut Beersmiths took over operations), I got to quaff a few tap-only delights while buying a few bottles of previously untried fare.
FLEMINGTON, NEW JERSEY
Just down from Flemington's bustling Liberty Village near the railroad station at a gray 5,000 square foot building out in rural western Jersey (fifteen minutes from Princeton), LONE EAGLE BREWING began operations July '16. The brainchild of local homebrewers Todd Becker and Bob King, Lone Eagle gained instant attention by local denizens.
A quaint spot with a fenced-in family-styled patio, its white-walled high ceiling interior features right side silver brew tanks, a wood lacquered central bar and four yellow-wooded community tables. A loft above the serving station hosts private events when not seating patrons.
Along the left wall is a beautiful Brewing Process mural with a TV hanging above.
As my wife and I visit during a rainy Friday, October '18, we sample nearly a dozen homebrews.
Impressive West Coast-styled flagship offering, Maiden Flight IPA, placed juicy yellow grapefruit, tangerine and pineapple tropicalia alongside lightly embittered orange rind as honeyed pale malt sweetness gained attention, leaving fusel 8% alcohol acidity upon its pine-toned black tea musk.
Equally fine yellow-hazed medium body, New England Chowdah India Pale Ale, stayed brightly refreshing as spritzy lemon zest, yellow grapefruit bittering, sour pineapple juicing and white peach tartness glazed citric hop dusting with minimal pale malt intrusion. In the recess, herbal snips, gin whims and phenol astringency reside.
Less complex Spelt Wrong IPA, a hazy New England-styled double dry-hopped brew, suited milder tastes as gentle spelt graining softened tart lemon, sour grapefruit and juicy orange subtleties above mild pine resin (and light alcohol esters).
Straightforward Local Pale Ale brought delicate orange-peach-tangerine tanginess to grassy hop astringency above frisky crystal malts.
Splendid beige-yellow hazed Return Of The Juice let lightly spiced lemondrop tartness dance on the tongue while grassy celery vegetalia provided an earthen backdrop.
Leafy autumnal foliage and sweetly soured fig led dry-spiced Marzen Oktoberfest Lager, retaining dewy Noble-hopped earthiness and navel orange rot above its baked bread bottom.
Subtle nuttiness imbued dewy Hunterdon Wet-Hop Brown Ale, a caramel-malted moderation with roasted tobacco hints and resinous hop bittering.
Sharp ashen hop-charred nuttiness and dark chocolate roast leavened Turkey Trot Porter, as its dry raw molasses bittering upended any sweet hazelnut propensity.
Stylishly thin rum barrel-aged Dowton Abbey Dubbel brought dark Belgian candi sugar to spiced rum, dry bourbon, sparkling champagne and Scotch spirits, drizzling oaken vanilla upon tertiary green grape esters and soured fig nuances.
Aged in rum-soaked oak chips, Belgian Dark Strong Ale relied on candi-sugared toffee sweetness and sweet fig-plum-prune-raisin dried fruiting to contrast its mossy earthiness.
Dryly complex English-styled Bourbon Barrel-aged Wheat Wine left whiskeyed bourbon-burgundy warmth upon gin-soaked raisin, prune and fig as well as caramelized toffee buttering and oaken vanilla sedation.
loneeaglebrewing.com 
NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS
Just 20 miles west of Boston in the bucolic town of South Natick, Belkin Family's LOOKOUT FARM BREWING COMPANY resides at the front building of a historic multifaceted farm. Fruit orchids, gardens, farm animals and a redwood stable selling goods are only some of the highlighted features making this reliable agricultural venue so attractive.
In 2014, the Belkin's opened a cidery that then expanded to include a brewery by 2017. The warm A-frame tasting room (with beautiful coppertop bar and Ford tractor grill tap handles) connects to a spacious family-styled greenhouse.
Brewer Aaron Mateychuk (formerly of defunct Walthan brewery, Watch City) designs stylishly diverse brews listed at the chalkboard along with four ciders. 4-pack cans of each draught selection are also available in the side refrigerator.
After perusing Boston's Freedom Fest the day before, I took Freedom Leaf editor Steve Bloom and his buddy, Tom, to Lookout to enjoy a sunny Sunday afternoon, September '18.
Sweet blue cornmeal positively affected Czex Mex Blue Corn Mexican Lager, a hybridized light body with sweet tangerine contrasting bitter grapefruit.
Salty kettle-soured guava and tangerine tartness permeated limey gose-like So Many Silos, a spritzy Seltzer-like moderation with mild cider and lemon snips.
Wood-toned citrus tones imbued Hold Your Horses Northeast IPA, underpinning its grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering with mild peach sweetness.
Off-dry tropical medium body, Dashboard Double IPA, let grapefruit, orange, pineapple and mango juicing soak up its oily piney hop bittering.
Candi-sugared Back Door Belgian Triple heaped corn syrupy caramel malts upon whiskeyed cherry tones.
Soft-tongued dark-roast coffee and charred walnut dominated First Cut American Stout, a robust full body with ancillary wood-burnt espresso, Blackstrap molasses and dark cocoa illusions.
www.lookoutfarmbrewing.com 
