Meetup at the Captain Lawrence Brewery

This weekend I organized a visit to The Captain Lawrence Brewery in Pleasantville, NY with 10 members of the Tristate Beer Lovers Meetup.  My friend Steve and I arrived a little early in order to get a lay of the land before the others got there.  The brewery is set in an industrial park in a non-descript warehouse.  As we walked up to the entrance, we couldn’t help but notice dozens of wine sized empty beer bottles lined up on a picnic table and nearby windowsill.   On closer inspection, I noticed that these were not CL bottles but other great craft beers from all over the country.  There was a bottle of Alaskan beer and others that I recognized as being hard to find, limited releases. 

 Apparently, there was a release of special, oak aged brown ale that morning and the attendees brought some of their own special beers to share with other beer lovers. In order to even get a ticket for the release, people had to show up before midnight the night before and then come back early the next morning to wait on line.  This might sound like a lot of work for a couple of bottles of beer, but the regulars at these events make it into a party by bringing along and sharing some of their best craft beers.   A review of the release and the sharing can be found here.

 Steve and I entered the brewery and were pleasantly surprised to find out that all the beer they were serving was free.  I started off with their standard brown ale that I thought was good but not over whelming.  The smoked porter I tried next was very good though.  It had a nice rich taste but didn’t knock you over with the burnt maltiness. 

I took this beer with me on a tour of the brewery.  Scott, the brew master explained the brewing process and passed around examples of the malts and hops for us to smell.  He explained that this was one of the last tours they would be giving at this facility because they are moving at the end of the month to a bigger location about 5 miles away in Elmsford, NY.   Scott pointed to the huge fermentation vat and said, “We are going to be increasing our capacity five times so we needed more room for the bigger vats.”  They also will be finally producing their beer in 12 ounce bottles. 

After the tour, we went back to the tasting room to continue sampling. I tried a beer called “Family Meal” that was made with cinnamon and ginger and was impressed by its sweetness.  But it was the last beer I had called “Drew’s Brew” that was my favorite.  This one had some of the sweetness of the previous beer but with a nice IPA kick.  After going back for seconds on the Drew’s, I decided to fill up a growler to take home.  At 8.5% ABV I wasn’t going to stand around drinking this one all day long.   At this point I could have used something to eat, but I guess the brewery isn’t allowed to serve food on premises.  I did notice some more experienced tasters who brought baked goods and pretzels.  Note to self: Next time, think of more than just the beer.

Hyde Park Brewing Company

Just north of Poughkeepsie on Route 9D sits the little town of Hyde Park which is best known as the home of former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Not far from there is the Culinary Institute of America which turns out some of the best chefs in the East.  However, right across the street from FDR’s house is a brewery that has made a name for itself with residents of Dutchess County and beyond.  Hyde Park Brewing Company has been in business since 1995, which by craft beer standards is practically ancient. 
According to owner, Joey LoBianco, the key to their success has been providing a quality product to their customers.  “We saw a growth in this industry in the 90’s but it dropped off shortly after that.  Many of the micro-breweries that started when we did are no longer around. “  But they stuck it out and kept on brewing tasty beer and were around to see the “second wave” as Joey puts it. “This wave is bigger than the first and will carry us further.”

Joey and his sister Angela provide their customers with delicious food and beer brewed on site.  On a recent visit, I sampled both and was not disappointed. As usual, I started with a flight of their most popular beers in order to determine which I would have with my meal. 

Brewmaster, John Eccles, brews in the European tradition using only British, German and Belgian malts.  The Big Easy Blonde is the lightest of their ales and a good place to start.  As the name implies, it’s a very smooth and easy drinking beer.  Next was a rye ale that had too much of a sour flavor for me. The red rye, however, had enough bitterness to hide the sourness.  The Winkle pilsner was clean going down and finishing but with more flavor than your typical American Pilsner like Bud or Miller.  The Rough Rider Red Lager had a good combination of the previous two beers and a fine ruby color.  Last, but not least, the black lager had a nice smoky taste reminiscent of a stout without being too filling.  And the winner is  . . . The Winkle, which just happens to be their signature beer.  It had all the right qualities of a good drinking beer without tasting too watered down like the macro pilsners do.

For lunch, I had the drunken turkey sandwich which was topped with mayo made with, you guessed it,  Winkle lager.  Executive chef, Michael Connolly, who is a graduate of the Culinary Institute, uses local ingredients in his dishes.  The beef, pork and poultry come from a local farm where the animals are grass fed supplemented with the spent grain from his brewery.  Uphill Farm, which occupies 300 acres in nearby Clinton Corners, uses no antibiotics, steroids or other hormones on their animals.  The care taken in raising and preparing this meal came through in the taste, which was delicious.

The brewing vats are staged above the bar which, for a brewery lover like me, made for perfect dining ambiance.  But for those less inclined, there is a dining room in the back or outdoor seating on nice days.  This brewery is a must see destination when you are driving through the Hudson Valley this fall. Combine some fresh craft beer with your foliage trip this year. (Hey, that rhymes!)

It was FDR who said, "I think this would be a good time for a beer" in 1933. He ended prohibition and put the breweries across America back to work. Joey LoBianco adds, "Our building sits on what was once Roosevelt ground. He was born, raised and buried right across the street and we're damn proud to be his neighbor".

Peekskill is Beerville

This little town, 40 miles north of NYC and just about an hour ride on the Metro North Train, has a couple of the hottest craft beer houses in the metro area.  The Peekskill brewery is across the street from the train station with a view of the Hudson River.  I happened to walk in with a software developer named Ken Johnson, who is developing an iphone app called Brew View that is scheduled to launch in October .  He intends to log all the craft beers made in the North East and superimpose them on a map so beer lovers can find their favorite beer with a tap of the screen.  

Ken ended up joining our group from the Tristate Beer Lovers Meetup .  I had called the owner, Kara Berardi, to arrange for a food pairing for our group.  We settled on a menu of a flight of four beers, one pint of our favorite, an appetizer, entre and desert for $40.  Kara was off, but her husband Keith and waitress Kate met our needs to the fullest.

The most memorable brews of the flight were a vanilla bourbon stout and a Belgian Golden Ale called Rosemary’s Baby.  The stout was delicious and strong, a little too strong for my taste.  The Ale was just right with just a hint of rosemary at the finish.

Our group shared nachos, sliders and a rarity, deviled eggs, for our appetizers.  I had the fish and chips for my entre and was too full to finish it or indulge in desert.  The bar was packed throughout our entire stay and a walk down a long hallway took me to a dining area that was just as busy.

About a mile away on nearby Main Street sits the Birdsall House.  I had read a review that raved about the bacon ice cream and could not stay away.  First the beer:  they have about 20 taps, serving many New York beers.  I ordered a flight of five 5 oz. beers for $12. 

 Working from lightest to heaviest: Sixpoint Brevity Witbier (4.9% ABV) was light in color and taste, Empire Cream Ale (5.2) was creamy and smooth but left me a little flat, Capt. Lawrence Freshchester Pale Ale (5.6) had a citricy start and nice bitter finish, Sixpoint Signal Smoked IPA (6.0) was like tasting a nice smoked cheese, and Stone 15^th Anniversary Black IPA had tons of chocolaty flavor and a whopping  ABV of 10.8.   I like to support the local brews out of principle, but the Freshchester, made about 10 minutes away in Pleasantville, was simply just the best of the bunch.  It’s bitterness held up well to my spicy meal.

I went with the pulled pork nachos which were covered in shaved apple slaw and cream cheese.  The blue corn tortillas stayed crunchy under the mound of BBQ sauce and pork.  The nachos had the same dichotomy of tastes, sweet and spicy that make the Freshchester IPA so compelling.  Bacon and ice cream sounds like a bit of a mismatch but, take my word for it, they mesh well in this desert served over waffles covered with candied Pecans.

The owner, Tim Reinke, sat with me a while and spoke about his long time commitment to the craft beer movement.  He has been part owner of The Blind Tiger, a craft beer mecca in The Village, since 1996.  Tim lives nearby and wanted to open a place closer to his growing family so he chose Peekskill.  He tries to support his neighbors by using local ingredients whenever possible.  My pork came from pigs raised at nearby Hemlock Hills Farms which are fed the spent grain from Capt. Lawrence Brewery.  Talk about closing the loop.  He also tries to keep at least half of his taps occupied by New York brews.  Tim’s long standing relationship with brewers around the country put Birdsall on the short list for hard to find beers like Delaware's Dogfish Head 120 and Bear Republic Mach 10 brewed in Sonoma County, California.

As a Rockland County resident, it’s nice to know that such great craft beers can be found just a stones throw from the Bear Mountain Bridge.  Birdsall House and The Peekskill Brewery are surely putting this little town on the craft beer map.