BEACON, NEW YORK

Inside a pristine beige stucco industrial building and surrounded by quaint residential housing overlooking the Hudson River at the revitalized city of Beacon, 2 WAY BREWING COMPANY opened its doors in 2014.

A relaxing family-friendly local joint near the train station, 2 Way’s knowledgeable staff kept the bar patrons happy serving seven board-listed tapped selections or samplers to those grabbing growlers-to-go for outside consumption. The easygoing brews matched the relaxing atmosphere.

Convivial head brewer, Michael O’Herron, spent time learning his craft at popular Boulder, Colorado-based brewery, Avery, before moving back to his nearby hometown of Newburgh just in time for New York’s magical craft beer Renaissance. His balanced array of ales lean towards the lighter side on my first trip.

Six patio tables front 2 Way while the comfy single room interior features a 20-seat plywood bar with seven tap handles emanating from a 2 Way road sign plus a large screen TV as well as a few seating tables and sofas. Happily, there’s room for expansion as well.

Recently, the low-key pub started serving limited pub fare and on my April 2017 sojourn I enjoyed the fried chicken with six approachably fine brews.

Soft-toned Whole Hop Pale Ale layered earthen tea-like pale malts with moderate melon rind, grapefruit, passionfruit and apple tones.

Easygoing red, orange and yellow-fruited Revolution Red picked up caramel-toasted Maris Otter sweetness to contrast mildly resinous pine hops.

Sessionable Citra-hopped Forbidden Fruit IPA plied groaty grain malting and tender spicing to mellow yellow grapefruit, clementine, orange marmalade and curacao orange briskness.

Slightly unique saison-styled X-1 IPA soaked black raspberry-bushed yeast with lemony orange tones, soggy groaty oats and lemongrass hints.

Understated Beacon Brown brought cocoa, toffee and caramel sweetness to peat-dried mocha malts as well as frisky praline, walnut and hazelnut whims.

Mocha-dried Nitro Irish Stout saddled dark chocolate, black coffee and cocoa tones with dewy earthiness.

Two weeks later, came back with wife for her fave, Town Of The Lion Hefeweizen, a bittersweet moderation with polite lemon souring contrasted by stylish banana-clove-bubblegum illusions over Graham Cracker-honeyed wheat malts.

Better still, Confusion Farmhouse utilized X-1 IPA’s black raspberry bush yeast for its tangy lemon-dropped pineapple, grapefruit and orange juicing to soak into hay-like mineral grain rusticity and wispy lemongrass herbage.

2waybrewingcompany.com