EAST FISHKILL, NEW YORK
Founded in 2011 by local college pals, Adam Watson and Justin Taylor, SLOOP BREWING COMPANY soon became one of the fastest growing regional breweries, tendering a deal with New Hampshire-based Smuttynose in 2021 to expand distribution even further.
Operating out of a garage before moving to a hilly 19th Century Elizaville barnhouse, Sloop began occupying a 25,000 square foot Industrial warehouse at the cavernous East Fishkill IBM facility by 2018. Encompassing a tan-bricked modern Industrial manufacturing building bordering the mountainous Appalachian Trail, Sloop’s aquamarine sailing compass logo (with golden outlay) imbues the two grain silos welcoming beer hounds to its hallway-bound interior.
Known as “The Factory at Sloop,” this spacious, high-ceilinged, pipe-exposed, sportsbar-like pub features lacquered cement floors, sundry four-seat wood tables and a few community tables. Resembling an ice cream parlor, perhaps, a large marquee sign (with black lettering listing available proprietary beer and local wines) and overhead bulb lights shine brightly at the 10-seat bar.
The wood-lacquered bar top regales embossed circuit boards, microchips and other IBM ephemera in a corky display and strategically placed TV’s show sports while kids play arcade games.
I stopped in for a few pints on a breezy afternoon, March 2022.
Traditional gold cleared light body, Classic Pils, placed corn flaked cereal graining next to musky Noble-hopped herbage and sour yellow-orange fruit spicing.
Soft-toned hazy IPA, Grounded Roots, let subtle mandarin orange, yellow grapefruit and peach tanginess and distant passionfruit-gooseberry snips crawl above its mild grassy-hopped oated wheat base.
Tropical-fruited New England-styled IPA, Gentle Whispers, retained a fuzzy vanilla creamed head for the clean Cryo Citra-hopped orange pith, grapefruit, guava, passionfruit and papaya onrush picking up slight pine resin to its grassy hop stead.
Dry West Coast-styled IPA, Low Turbidity, saddled its orange-oiled lemon lollipop tartness and peachy plum whim with dewy clover-honeyed herbal fungi, resembling a muskier English IPA perhaps.