Modestly enjoyable fizz watered pale lager. Crisp cereal grained barley roast, rice-dried corn flaking and mild rye breading contrast musky herbal hop astringency.
KING’S ROAD PINCH HIT PILS
Streamlined pale golden Czech-styled pilsner with light earthen grain musk, spritzy lemon snag and pithy herbal spicing reaching creamy oats base. Dry-hopped floral citrus vibe adds slight diversion to usual mineral grained bohemian moderation.
STONY POINT BREWING COMPANY
WEST HAVERSTRAW, NEW YORK
Since Memorial Day ’22, STONY POINT BREWING COMPANY at Bricktown Bierhaus has served its thirsty minions well-crafted, highly approachable suds. Inside a red brick right side cornershop in the Hudson River village of West Haverstraw, Stony Point’s brewmeister, Dave Ludwig, a former homebrewer, not only handles the brew tanks, but also mans the short German-inspired pub menu.
A grassy, side-decked, metal-furnished biergarden leads to the side entrance. The faux-wood floored pub features twelve-plus tap handles at the small bar and several small brew tanks in the back sidling the kitchen. There are five tables near the windowed frontage and the black tile ceiling nicely contrasts the white-tiled side walls.
Offering splendid Bavarian-styled food such as bratwurst, knockwurst, frankfurters, potato pancakes, horseradish-cheesed pretzels and Belgian waffles to go alongside Ludwig’s charming liquid fare, this diminutive nanobrewery retains a cozily relaxing neighborhood feel.
During my initial October ’23 visit, I discovered one crisp flagship and five easygoing, recurring beers while chatting with the bustling Ludwig.
Smoothly clean flagship, Tomkins Kolsch, tendered white-breaded lager malting for brisk lemongrass herbage, candied lemondrop tartness, mild green grape esters and salted guava daubs, leaving a fizzy lemon spritz upon the tongue.
Casual traditional marzen, Bricktoberfest, placed brown-leafed herbal hops and mild orange oiling above buttery breaded Vienna/ Munich malting.
Another sessionable moderation, Kanawauke Wheat, let lemony mandarin orange tartness and lightly spiced herbage reach its delicate white wheat base.
A demure collaboration with fellow Rockland County breweries, Gentle Giant and Two Ladders, modest floral-spiced agave herbage, dry lime juicing and raw-honeyed lemon souring gathered for Dos Piedras Gigantes, a slightly eccentric Mexican lager utilizing Modelo yeast and citric-graped Motueka hops.
Pureed apricot picked up lemon-seeded bittering for Beaver Pond Apricot Blonde, a simple grassy-hopped, pale-malted light body.
Dry juniper-perfumed gin spirits soaked the moderate pine-lacquered grapefruit, orange and pineapple bittering of Aye Be You, a boozy West Coast-styled IPA with terse turpentine licks suited for hardcore hop heads.
STONY POINT BOURBON BARREL BULSONTOWN BELGIAN BROWN
Candi-sugared brown chocolate spicing and caramelized vanilla bourbon sweetness usurp cellared Belgian yeast funk as mild almond-chestnut-butternut-hazelnut conflux, distant dried fruiting and zippy mace-nutmeg seasoning underscore molasses-breaded mocha whiskey finish of lovely bourbonized brown ale.
FIRESTONE WALKER 25 (XXV) ANNIVERSARY ALE
On tap at Taphouse 15, luxurious barrel-aged stout blends Brandy Barrel Barleywine, Parabola Autumn Edition, Stickee Monkee Quad, Tequila Barrel Merkin Stout and Whiskey Barrel Wheat Wine for debonair 25th anniversary celebrator. Richly creamed dark chocolate syruping drapes bourbon vanilla sweetness, brandied sherry wining, cedar-burnt almond nuttiness, rummy molasses sugaring, caramel toffee fudging and honey-toasted tequila whims. Leathery oaken dryness sits way back, trying desperately to contrast its sweet sticky brandied mocha interior.
BONESAW CALL ME CHRIS BARREL-AGED IMPERIAL STOUT
Luxurious bourbon vanilla sweetness joins dry whiskey-rye barrel aging in fudgy dark chocolate setting that’s smoother than rich. Wood-burnt hop char bittering secures dewy whiskey bent as tertiary brandy, port and anise illusions flutter.
HOPPIN’ FROG THE FROG ABIDES WHITE STOUT
The Big Lebowski’s favorite beverage, a frothy vanilla-creamed, vodka-induced, coffee liqueur cocktail, gets knocked off in fine fashion. Despite its intense 8% ABV, the luscious mocha-vanilla designed elixir allows brief vanilla-creamed buttered rum, spongy white cake, lemon pineapple cheesecake, Bananas Foster, powdered sugar and marshmallow illusions to ‘abide.’ Fantastic!
VEIL HORNSWOGGLER COCONUT LORD
On tap at Taphouse 15, decadent milk stout conditioned on coconut retains bittersweet wood-burnt dark cocoa prominence, lilting bourbon-burgundy conflux and creamy vanilla resilience that simply outdo any toasted coconut expectancy. Nevertheless, its rich cake-battered chocolate pudding fudging serenades the tongue, picking up tertiary toffee, caramel, hazelnut and buttered pecan sugaring.
SOUTHERN TIER CARAMEL PUMKING IMPERIAL PUMPKIN ALE
On tap at Hoover’s Tavern, gingerbread-honeyed cinnamon and nutmeg seasoning plus brown-sugared vanilla creaming add serious autumnal sweetness to powder-sugared caramel glaze of extraordinary Pumking variant. Pumpkin pie spicing maintains alongside caramel candied confection, picking up slight cream soda, candied yam and nutmeg shortcake snips for extra sweet-toothed goodness.
DREKKER BRAAAAINS PICNIC PUNCH SMOOTHIE SOUR
On tap at Taphouse 15, sweet-tart peach, apricot and raspberry adjuncts pick up lemony sea-salted brining to contrast lactic vanilla-beaned marshmallow sugaring of frothily slushed smoothie.
LONE EAGLE STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKE IPA
On tap at Hoover’s Tavern, upfront sweet-tart strawberry influence seeps into Madagascar vanilla-beaned oated wheat creaming, gaining light milk-sugared marshmallow fluff. But its pureed strawberry adjunct falls off.
BRIDGE AND TUNNEL FUCK THE VIRUS COCONUT NEIPA
Spritzy pale yellowed moderation brings sweet coconut juicing to lemony pineapple zesting, mandarin orange caking and wispy guava-passionfruit souring as mild marshmallow creaming sweetens its finishing ginny vodka whir. A busy adjunct IPA with a chewy soft tone.
