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,

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.