KINGSTON, NEW YORK

A casual delight, KINGSTON STANDARD BREWING COMPANY proudly serves ‘simple small batch beer’ alongside downhome pizza. Clean is what brewer Tait Simpson’s shootin’ for with these snazzy sessionable suds. Open six years by May ’25, the Kingston-based nanobrewery resides in a white brick barn house (with high arched ceiling, matching overhead doors and small brew area) next to the coolest grocery store ever.

The cafe-styled pub features a spiffy off-white wood paneled serving station with stainless steel bar top and stainless steel draught taps. Seven community tables and picnic benches crowd the covered front deck. Side picnic tables add further seating.

On my mid-July ’25 early evening sojourn, tried all seven tapped Kingston Standard brews and brought home a few more (reviewed in Beer Index).

My favorite, soft-toned dry-hopped India Pale Lager, El Dorado, let its hard-candied yellow fruiting spread alongside dried pine tones, bitter currant waves and sweet floral riffs, leaving El Dorado-hopped yellow grapefruit, pineapple and lemondrop glisten.

Lively lemon licks and light herbal spicing dotted marzipan-sweet Helles Lager.

Floral-spiced lemon zest and woody hop restraint regaled off-dry Pale Ale.

Busy cold filtered moderation, Kolsch, sprinkled spritzy lemon mist on sweet corn sugaring, polite herbage and mild arugula peppering, retaining fresh-baked French breading.

Dry barnyard crisping and hay-like wild oats desiccated blanched coriander-spiced orange sweetness for white bread-backed Wit, a slightly astringent stylish departure.

Soft-toned Altbier prodded sweet peat moss with musty dried fruiting and dark floral dusting atop black pepper breading.

Needing a tad more oaken cherry tartness, dry Flemish Red, Frida, retained moderate acidity as green grape esters, cider vinegaring and raspberry souring seeped thru.

Unofficial flagship, light roasted black lager, Schwarzbier, coalesced mild dark roast coffee with dehusked barley, debittered chocolate and musky dried fruiting.