CALLICOON, NEW YORK

Open year-round since 2012, CALLICOON BREWING COMPANY serves as the local neighborhood watering hole for this tiny mountainside village just down the road a few miles from Bethel – site of ’69s historic Woodstock Festival.

With children playing billiards in the adjacent room and the World Cup keeping customers satisfied at the pub on a sunny July morning, my wife and I (and dog, Roscoe) take a seat at one of the four frontside patios to try three homemade bovine-named craft brews.

At the Classical red-windowed wood-toned entrance of this friendly barn-styled dive bar, a Betty Boop mannequin welcomes patrons to the rustic interior. A large liquor selection and about a dozen draughts inform the 10-seat mahogany bar. Atop the bar loft are a sled, stuffed pheasant and plastic cow while a bear carcass, longhorn steer skeleton and an American flag displayed at the right side wall match the splendor of this patriotic hunting community. A small kitchen serves pub fare.

The town of Callicoon closely resembles an old Wild West outpost and this pre-prohibition-styled Callicoon Brewing, a rustic oasis, fits the bill perfectly.

Each of the three brews available on this date proved to be straightforward and easily consumed, taking no chances beyond the stylistic norm.

Middling Cowpail Ale brought mild honeyed pale malts to the fore as gentle citrus-spiced tones emerged over time.

Slick No Bull IPA combined subtle grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering with lightly pined citric hops above sugared pale malts.

On the dark side, Brown Cow Porter draped sweet maple sugar atop murky fudged chocolate and roasted coffee tones.