Italian lemon ice effervescence of traditional tart kettle-soured gose gains briny lime-juiced guava insistence, salted Margarita sashay and minty stint above lactic white wheat base. Moderate citrus acidity lingers.
STEUBEN BREWING COMPANY
HAMMONDSPORT, NEW YORK
Overlooking beautiful Keuka Lake in a tan aluminum farmhouse with large back deck and picnic-tabled lawn, STEUBEN BREWING COMPANY is one of at least three Hammondsport brewpubs. Opened in 2014, Steuben seems to specialize in Bavarian pilsners and American IPA’s.
The main pub features a plank wood serving station, a few three-seated round tables, a green-walled blackboard beer listing, pendant lights and snazzy blue-stained concrete floor. Brewtanks are to the left behind the serving station and a TV, to-go refrigerator and shelved glassware fill out the space. Several local wines and ciders were available.
We grab a few seats at the cement-floored right side windowed room where several community tables crowd up on a cloudy Sunday afternoon, early December ’23.
Enjoyed all four German-styled pilsners upon entry. A zesty lemon spritz, pretzel-salted barley roast and musky herbal nip guided Cascade-hopped light body, The N.Y. Pils. Fizzy lemon sprayed the other yellow-cleared Bavarian, Premier Pilsner.
Softer, dryer, spicier Pederson Pilsner, retained doughy biscuit buttering. Dry lagered N.Y. Curtis Cyclocross snagged orange pekoe tea musk and wispy floral tangerine snips.
As for the IPA’s, tangy ‘clementine and peach’ brightened pine-salted Hopyard IPA, as did orange-peeled grapefruit zesting.
Sunshiny orange-peeled lemon rind bittering and salted green grape esters prodded the piney lupulin oiling of Harmonyville IPA, leaving floral daubs on its citric-spiced finish.
Tropical fruited New England IPA, Trail Town, plied peachy orange tanginess and lemony pineapple-grapefruit zesting to light evergreen pining.
Nutty dark chocolatey Hometown English Brown relegated its maple-glazed chestnut and walnut roast.
Dazzling bourbon-barreled Imperial Stout dangled bourbon vanilla pleasantries alongside fudgy brown chocolate richness, picking up sweet vanilla spicing, almond marzipan sugaring and chewy toffee nip.
WEBE BREWING COMPANY
GENEVA, NEW YORK
The 14th Ontario County brewery to open since the Craft Beer Revolution started ’round 1998, WeBe BREWING COMPANY initially tapped its draughts on March 31, 2018, in the Seneca Lake town of Geneva. Entrepreneurial brewing enthusiasts, Colleen and Daniel Lieberg, have crafted a wide array of stylistically balanced suds in small batches for WeBe.
At an off-white concrete and brick warehouse with two overhead doors, large grassy backyard and windowed brew tanks, WeBe decorates its wood-metal tabled interior with a cool paint-chipped epoxy floor and Edison lights hanging from the rustic ceiling. There are three TV’s at front, back and center.
I grab a spot at the 20-seat, lacquered bark-topped bar to draw some liquids from the dozen draught handles (skipping all three fine ciders) while my wife chomps on spinach artichoke pizza during my December ’23 Finger Lakes adventure.
First up, a German-styled light pilsner. Fizzy lemon sugaring reached honeyed pilsner malts for Bills’ner, leaving herbal whims in the distance.
Vanilla-creamed banana sweetness and light clove spicing welcomed The Golden Peel Hefeweizen, lathering its honeyed wheat base.
Orange-peeled coriander spicing and banana chip sweetness coddled witbier, At My Wit’s End, posting dry rum sentiments at the durable citric-plantain finish.
‘Silky smooth’ S.O.S. Scotch Ale gathered dewy peat moss for milked coffee, dark cocoa and caramelized toffee riffs.
Tart mango juicing joined stylish sea-salted coriander spicing for Man-Gogh, a variant gose with wavered guava-gooseberry souring.
Tropical NEIPA, Yard Games, plied navel orange, lemon verbena and tangerine marmalade to buttery saffron spicing and lightly salted oated wheat.
Juicy double dry-hopped NEIPA, Serenity Now! merged tangy pineapple sweetness and melon-cantaloupe snips with lemon-limed gooseberry souring, gaining dry wood tones to contrast mild oated wheat creaming.
Sour double dry-hopped NEIPA, Sour Squeeze Play, conditioned with blood orange and tangerine puree, received moderate lemon salted acidity contrasted by its delicate oats-flaked creaming.
Decadent lactic milk stout, Grammy’s Candies, draped caramelized brown chocolate syrup atop oats-flaked sugaring. Lovely Buche de Noel, chocolate chip cookie, creme brulee, Graham Cracker and cappuccino illusions add to the luscious sweet-toothed glory.
BREWERY ARDENNES
GENEVA, NEW YORK
Inhabiting a refurbished stone-and-slate dairy barn turned into a turret-roofed manor in the rural western Seneca Lake town of Geneva, BREWERY ARDENNES TAPROOM & KITCHEN is a pristine Belgian-inspired brewhouse entrepreneurial owners Derek & Stacey Erdinger created after attending nearby Cornell University. A former sheep farm, Ardennes now recalls a serene Euro-styled high-end winery. Tapping for the public began May ’21.
At the grand side entrance on the left side are the varied windowed brewtanks. On the opposing side, a brown-couched lounge area leads to the exquisite main pub. A U-shaped bar with black granite sandstone top stages two tap stations with six draught handles each plus a separate three tap station. Across the bar, tidy wood tables and chairs gather atop the rust concrete floor.
A small kitchen serves upscale gourmet dishes paired with certain house beers. Upcoming Events include Monday Burger & Pint night and Sunday Brunch at the Barn.
My wife and I grab seats at the bar ’round noon on a Friday early December ’23 to try four elegant Belgian-styled farmhouse ales, taking home a few more reviewed in Beer Index.
Expressive Belgian-styled Blonde Ale backed its white-peppered orange salting, saison-like barnyard musk, mild Chardonnay buttering, sweet clove snip and cellared herbal fungi with crusty baked breading.
Stylish orange-peeled coriander spicing lingered softly for Belgian-styled Wheat, letting lemon-candied banana breading counter its salty peppercorn notion and musty cellared mossing over a wispy white wheat base.
Tidy Belgian-styled Session IPA slid dry yellow grapefruit and orange rind bittering onto white peppered herbage above buttery caramel malting.
Tropical fruited Belgian Hazy IPA may’ve lacked the haze, but this clear yellowed medium body let lightly embittered orange rind, grapefruit pith and pineapple tanginess gain grassy hopped pine resin and peppery herbal restraint atop honeyed pale malts.
ARDENNES GRAND CRU BELGIAN STOUT
Creamy maple molasses-smoked dark roast chocolate entry picks up rum-sugared coffee serenade and sweet candied dried fruiting for ‘bold’ Belgian stout.
ARDENNES GRAND CRU QUAD
Boozy 10% ABV of turbid deep brown quad established by dry burgundy-port insistence and sweet brandy rip as sharp-spiced dried fruiting caresses chewy caramel creaminess reinforcing brown chocolate resin. At the finish, green raisin, purple grape and fig illusions ascend alongside mocha-induced red wining.
ARDENNES GRAND CRU INSPIRED TRIPEL
Complex tripel crams lemon meringue tartness, orange marmalade tanginess, buttery Chardonnay wining and rummy banana-clove sugaring into salty white peppered herbal musk before landing at the musty cellared bottom.
ARDENNES WINTER FARM ALE
Tantalizing dried fruit spicing reaches caramelized pale malt base as ‘rustic’ barnyard acridity surfaces to contrast Scotch-tinged roasted barley crisping.
ARDENNES SPECIALE BELGE PALE ALE
Easygoing Belgian pale ale stays smoothly crisp as spiced fig-date sweetness gains lemon meringue piquancy, white peppered herbage and honeyed tea remnant above candied caramel malting.
ARDENNES BELGIAN STYLE PALE LAGER
Mild floral spicing dots pasty caramelized malt sweetness countering dry herbal hop restraint, raw-grained mustiness and sneaky orange oiling of Belgian yeast-bound dry lager.
TWISTED RAIL BREWING – GENEVA
GENEVA, NEW YORK
With four locations in the Finger Lakes, including Canandaigua, Honeyone and Macedon, TWISTED RAIL BREWING’s Geneva pub is inside a historic tan brick movie theatre. Opened in 2019, a red brick walled lobby leads patrons to bistro-tabled, wood-floored main space where a U-shaped bar and leather-couched mezzanine (with old theatre tables) traverse the backspaced windowed brew tanks.
Utilizing reclaimed wood throughout provides a splendid antique design. At the bar, two TV’s surround the centralized tap list and pub food menu. Whiskey, rum and gin are available alongside the twelve proprietary house beers.
During my Saturday afternoon in December ’23 voyage, I quaffed a cherry wheat, rye IPA, barrel aged Scotch ale and three dark ales, picking up a few to-go cans reviewed in Beer Index.
Sweet-tart red cherry fizz greeted powdered sugared wheat base for Cherry Wheat Ale, a mildly hopped summertime spritzer.
Dry rye malting charged the piney orange-grapefruit blur of medium-full-bodied Hunters Rye IPA, retaining sharply citric residual spicing.
Creamy Madagascar vanilla abutted brown chocolate syrup for Vanilla Cream Porter, leaving dewy moss upon tertiary cherry and plum dried fruiting.
Molasses oats sweetness guarded the Black Forest-caked chocolate-cherry mesh of luscious Quaker Express Oatmeal Stout.
Treacly black chocolate syrup draped the creamy vanilla sweetness and mild espresso bittering of Vozkal Russian Imperial Stout, a luxuriously robust mocha java digestif.
A hearty nightcap, Barrel Aged End Of The Line Scotch Ale let dry bourbon warmth seep into chocolate and toffee sweetness plus mild sherry-port wining over toasted oak-chipped vanilla tannins.
LAURENTIDE BEER CO.
PENN YAN, NEW YORK
Residing at a 200-year old yellow carriage house in the heart of Penn Yan since 2020, LAURENTIDE BEER CO. finds married couple Brett and Jackie Driscoll crafting some well rounded sassy suds for local Keuka Lake minions.
Laurentide’s pristine neo-Industrial setting features wood slot flooring, wood and formica topped tables, an above-bar kiosk and dramatic hanging pendant lights. A centralized U-shaped, twelve-seat bar offers a dozen draughts.
A rear kitchen served sandwiches, soup and appetizers. I consumed the parmesan-cheesed chicken wings while downing nine rangy brews one Friday night in November ’23.
A local fave, Penn Yan Light Lager let lightly caramelized amber graining recede to musty lemon rot.
Musky lemon fizz caressed dark floral spicing for dry-hopped Italian Pilsner, a simple light body.
Summery Laurentide Mango Wheat let ripe mango juicing counter dry mango skinned bittering as ancillary orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess and mild cantaloupe nips settle atop wispy white wheat.
Lemon-licked grassy hop astringency gained mild spiced herbage for Kolsch, a pilsner malted moderation.
Laurentide’s most popular beer, lively tropical fruited IPA-like Hazy Pale Ale, allowed waxy lemony yellow grapefruit and navel orange lacquering plus slight guava-gooseberry souring to coalesce beside piney cannabis oiling above pale malt sugaring.
Cleanly dry Wet Hop West Coast IPA prodded mild yellow grapefruit bittering with mild herbal spicing and dextrin crystal malts.
Dewy peat-mossed cocoa powdering faded to sweet toffee for coppery Altbier, depleting its toasted hop crisping.
Dark chocolate syrup draped the oats-flaked barley roast and bitterly nutty hop char of Oatmeal Stout, leaving Blackstrap molasses on its tail.
Caramelized brown buttering induced luscious Barleywine, regaling candy apple-glazed whiskeyed cherry loveliness and mild sherry-cognac wisps for its brown chocolate base.