RETURN BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

HUDSON, NEW YORK

The story goes a New York-based team of brewing industry veterans came together before the autumn of 2021 and formed RETURN BREWING (initially at the former Crossroads brewery in nearby Catskill). Specializing in Eastern European-styled pilsner-lagers plus mixed fermentation ales, honey meads and barrel-aged fodder (some with foraged sources), local businessmen Mikey Lenane (ex-Sixpoint/ Hudson Valley brewer), long time pal JD Linderman and Jack Liakas share a mutual love for adventurous beer.

Across the railroad tracks from Upper Depot Brewing Company, Return’s current Hudson residency began in 2023. Its tan overhead-doored brick garage houses a 12-seat, L-shaped, yellow wood-topped bar with barrel-seated butcher block tables strewn along the rest of the cement floor. Stringed Edison lights and exposed pipes line the walls. Ciders, wines and cocktails are available as well.

My wife and I consumed a fine kolsch and stout at the crowded bar on a Friday twilight, November ’24.

I brought home Return’s Polished Pilsner, Westwhere IPA and Satin Jacket Czech-style Dark Ale (all reviewed in Beer Index).

Rustic kolsch, Come Back, let grassy-hopped lemon musk spread thru dry champagne-sparkled green apple tartness and white grape esters.

Commodious stout, Shadow Line, combined coffee-milked dark chocolate with dark caramel, bonfire toffee and maple molasses contrasted by hop-roasted oats char.

UPPER DEPOT BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

HUDSON, NEW YORK

Directly across the street from Return Brewing, Hudson-based UPPER DEPOT BREWING COMPANY maintains a renovated 19th Century train station. Set in a charmingly V-shape roofed brick railroad depot with a gray wraparound deck, its post-mod Industrial wood-floored, steel-designed interior includes a 12-seat L-shaped bar featuring centralized draught handles (and 4 TV’s) plus several wood tables and a snazzy mezzanine.

Long-time friends Monty Bopp and Aaron Maas combined their love of brewing after getting established in the local culinary industry, opening Upper Depot December 28, 2022.

A Western-clad couple danced to an excellent Country bluegrass band playing along the back wall space.

My wife and I visited Upper Depot after our Return stopover to try six sound suds emanating from the sunken, stage left, wood paneled brew tanks.

Classic German pilsner, 80/20, let honeyed lemon sweetness pick up musky Hallertau hop herbage and mild grassy astringency atop cereal grained pilsner malting.

Dry lemon-peeled grassy hop musk suited flagship kolsch, Common Crossing, a dry malted moderation with slight floral herbage and sly sparkling champagne spritz.

Bitterly dry West Coast IPA, Wandering Ollie, placed zesty grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and tangy pineapple zing across pine lacquered hops over pale malt sugaring.

Juicy-fruited NEIPA, Oakdale, regaled tangy mango-pineapple-guava tropicalia and zestful orange-peeled grapefruit pith bittering seeped in mild pine resin above softly creamed wheated oats.

Brown-sugared maple molasses countered dry black chocolate for maple brown ale, Sugar Shack, a toffee-candied Tootsie Roll.

Maple-glazed dark chocolate syruping coated the dry nutty coffee tones and setback vanilla snips surfacing for sweet stout, Shop The Cooler, a fine nightcap for my post-dusk getaway.

WEST KILL BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

WEST KILL, NEW YORK

Located on a 127-acre historic dairy farm, WEST KILL BREWING utilizes locally grown and foraged ingredients to give many of its proprietary brews a slightly unique nature. Up a rickety unpaved road in the Catskill Mountains at the Devils Path hamlet of West Kill, this cozy porched barnhouse pub (with connected pergo-protected lounge area and separate merchandise/beer-to-go cabana) sits perfectly along hilly rustic tree-lined terrain.

Inside, the casual slate-floored roadhouse features eight elk-racked tap handles at the small eight-seat bar. There are several round and square tables strewn about. Outside, the fire-pitted front deck fills up at noon on a warm Friday in November ’24.

My wife and I sat in the enclosed porch at one of the benches with a friendly Newfoundland pup, quaffing West Kill’s entire mountain-watered liquid entourage.

Utilizing local Iroquois white corn for crisply roughhewn Brookie American Lager, its earthen barnyard graining, raw-honeyed lemon rot and dark floral whims added further musky rusticity to the maize-dried frontage.

Spritzy lemony orange fizziness welcomed mild Perch Golden Ale, a pale malt sugared easygoer.

Dry-hopped Kaaterskill IPA (Citra-Mosiac-Azacca-Columbus) escorted dank pine and cannabis resin to mild citrus bittering underscored by botanical gin-licked peach, tangerine, cantaloupe and honeydew snips.

Breezy floral citrus-bound Hazy IPA, Duck Camp, placed mild orange-peeled yellow grapefruit and pineapple tanginess plus light pining above honeyed pale malting.

An interesting dark mild variant with oak and maple leaves, Leave It To Be (a collab with Maine’s Bunker Brewing) draped maple syrup upon toasted maple and oak bark, picking up subtle cocoa-dried chestnut, almond and cola conflux.

“Velvety” cocoa nibs-aged chocolate porter, Dark Hollow, let its nutty dark chocolate roast and dry coffee tones reach mossy soy-milked dewiness for a pleasant nightcap.

YARD HOUSE – WEST NYACK

BEER PUB, United States Brewpubs,

WEST NYACK, NEW YORK

On the fourth floor of Palisades Center in West Nyack, YARD HOUSE is part of a beer-chained franchise originally founded in Long Beach, California during 1996. Providing six conventional mainstay brews alongside dozens of guest craft beers and fine pub cuisine, Yard House captures the sportsbar crowd, heady beer enthusiasts and families alike.

During November ’24, my wife and I perused the spacious malled pub house.

Classic Golden Pilsner let sour lemon musk and astringent herbage join hay-like barnyard acridity.

Succinct House Lager 125 seeped red-orange fruiting into musky floral hops and dry pale malts.

Yard House’s Honey Blonde seeped orange blossom sweetness into mild grassy hop bittering that lingered into the vanilla-daubed creaming.

Laidback orange-peeled coriander sweetened Belgian White, bringing zesty lemon, mild herbage and light creaming to the surface.

Bronze-hued India Pale Ale placed lightly embittered lemony grapefruit and orange rind bittering across juniper-licked pine and cedar woodiness.

Dry-hopped Hazy IPA, a streamlined yellow-hazed moderation with mellow yellow grapefruit, navel orange, pineapple and peach zesting reached mild oated wheat creaming.

SEAN’S BAR & KITCHEN

BEER PUB,

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK

In the heart of Manhattan within walking distance to Broadway shows and Rockefeller Center, SEAN’S BAR & RESTAURANT opened during September 2016. Offering fine pub cuisine alongside 54 rotating draughts beers and a large booze selection, Sean’s quickly gained an audience with local beer and spirits goblins.

Sean’s long marble top bar features 3 large TV’s for sportsbar enthusiasts and across the way is right side dining. The resilient tile floor, olden wood furnishings and beer paraphernalia secure the black art deco walled NYC pub.

Though Sean’s does not brew on premise, there were five reliably conservative proprietary beers on hand during my October ’24 visit prior to hitting fabulous Broadway show, Hadestown.

Dry pilsner malt graining surfaced near hay-like barnyard astringency and lemony licks of Sean’s Pils, light-bodied German fodder.

Crisp pale wheat-malted Sean’s Lager brought mild IPA-like citrus bittering to the fore.

Dried red and orange fruiting laced Sean’s Irish Red, a standard amber grained moderation with phenol hops.

Summery Sean’s Golden Wheat allowed white wheat breading to reach yellow fruited sunshine in a lightly creamed froth.

Dark chocolate and maple molasses posted gains for milky sweet Sean’s Porter, a casually nutty medium body.

8 WIRED RENDITION OF THE DEVIL GOLDEN STRONG ALE

Beers A-Z, ,

Wonderful New Zealand-crafted Belgian strong blonde ale lets spritzy lemon sparkle prickle rum-spiced banana sweetness, botanical orange musk and buttery Chardonnay wining as fungi yeast herbage spreads thru vanilla creamed ginger, clove and coriander spicing. Dainty on the tongue yet understatedly intense. A perfect Belgian styled rendition from Down Under.