Tag Archives: HUDSON NY

UNION STREET BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

HUDSON, NEW YORK

Entering thru a side entrance and up the stairs to a spacious beergarden across the multi-floored blue grey barn house, Hudson’s UNION STREET BREWING COMPANY, a converted 1930’s warehouse, features a black sillstone-topped bar with dual draught stations, high ceilinged wood beams, exposed rafters and piping, porcelain-styled concrete floors, a few community tables and wall-paneled benches.

Opened for biz July, 2023, Union Street spreads to the lower level, where a couched billiards room opposes a light lounge space. Brewer Keir Hamilton (formerly of Sixpoint/ Alewife) and owners Emma & Paul O’Donnell enjoy crafting ‘hop-forward’ ales alongside pleasantly understated beers (many distinctly Euro styled). Light pub cuisine went well with the approachable suds.

At noontime on a Sunday in November ’24, the black patio-furnished beergarden fills up with local families while my wife and I consume ten tidy treats at the plastic-stooled bar.

Floral lemon spicing received brusque IPA-fruited bittering (grapefruit rind, orange peel, pineapple) for sharper-than-expected German pilsner, Ten Days Of Perfect Tunes, countering its grassy hop astringency with biscuity pale malts.

Stylish banana-clove sweetness embraced the oaken vanilla-dried green grape esters of Weizenfelder, a slightly soured hefeweizen.

Zestful dry-hopped Citra-Mosaic combo powered hazy IPA, Planning An Escape, letting sunshiny lemon brighten salty gooseberry-guava tartness, yellow grapefruit bittering and mandarin orange tang atop creamy oats.

Classic West Coast-styled IPA, Tread Lightly, retained dry citric pined identity as grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering gained candied pineapple-tangerine tartness given waxy perfumed pine needling.

Utilizing Simcoe, Amarillo and Cashmere hops, dryer west Coast IPA, Cancelling Plans, sank dank pine resin into lemon-seeded grapefruit bittering over lightly honeyed malts.

Briny lemon pith bittering circled orange peel sweetness in a musky fungi setting for In The Intern, a lightly meringue-creamed saison.

Oaken white wine-barreled ‘mixed’ saison, The Sun Is Getting Heavy, dispensed buttery Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and honey mead wining for its earthen barnyard-dried pilsner malt rusticity.

Zesty orange peeled coriander spicing and grains of gingery paradise paced boozy (9.3% ABV) tripel, Superbier, spiked by rum-sugared banana, buttery Chardonnay, lemon curry and dried cherry.

Casual dark mild, A Winter’s Moon, a classic Brit session ale, let nutty burnt coffee seep into peat-smoked dark-roast hop char.

Dark-roast chicory coffee and dark cocoa enabled embittered black malts to infiltrate dry coffee stout, The Grind Never Stops, today’s final libation.

RETURN BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

HUDSON, NEW YORK

The story goes a New York-based team of brewing industry veterans came together before the autumn of 2021 and formed RETURN BREWING (initially at the former Crossroads brewery in nearby Catskill). Specializing in Eastern European-styled pilsner-lagers plus mixed fermentation ales, honey meads and barrel-aged fodder (some with foraged sources), local businessmen Mikey Lenane (ex-Sixpoint/ Hudson Valley brewer), long time pal JD Linderman and Jack Liakas share a mutual love for adventurous beer.

Across the railroad tracks from Upper Depot Brewing Company, Return’s current Hudson residency began in 2023. Its tan overhead-doored brick garage houses a 12-seat, L-shaped, yellow wood-topped bar with barrel-seated butcher block tables strewn along the rest of the cement floor. Stringed Edison lights and exposed pipes line the walls. Ciders, wines and cocktails are available as well.

My wife and I consumed a fine kolsch and stout at the crowded bar on a Friday twilight, November ’24.

I brought home Return’s Polished Pilsner, Westwhere IPA and Satin Jacket Czech-style Dark Ale (all reviewed in Beer Index).

Rustic kolsch, Come Back, let grassy-hopped lemon musk spread thru dry champagne-sparkled green apple tartness and white grape esters.

Commodious stout, Shadow Line, combined coffee-milked dark chocolate with dark caramel, bonfire toffee and maple molasses contrasted by hop-roasted oats char.

UPPER DEPOT BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

HUDSON, NEW YORK

Directly across the street from Return Brewing, Hudson-based UPPER DEPOT BREWING COMPANY maintains a renovated 19th Century train station. Set in a charmingly V-shape roofed brick railroad depot with a gray wraparound deck, its post-mod Industrial wood-floored, steel-designed interior includes a 12-seat L-shaped bar featuring centralized draught handles (and 4 TV’s) plus several wood tables and a snazzy mezzanine.

Long-time friends Monty Bopp and Aaron Maas combined their love of brewing after getting established in the local culinary industry, opening Upper Depot December 28, 2022.

A Western-clad couple danced to an excellent Country bluegrass band playing along the back wall space.

My wife and I visited Upper Depot after our Return stopover to try six sound suds emanating from the sunken, stage left, wood paneled brew tanks.

Classic German pilsner, 80/20, let honeyed lemon sweetness pick up musky Hallertau hop herbage and mild grassy astringency atop cereal grained pilsner malting.

Dry lemon-peeled grassy hop musk suited flagship kolsch, Common Crossing, a dry malted moderation with slight floral herbage and sly sparkling champagne spritz.

Bitterly dry West Coast IPA, Wandering Ollie, placed zesty grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and tangy pineapple zing across pine lacquered hops over pale malt sugaring.

Juicy-fruited NEIPA, Oakdale, regaled tangy mango-pineapple-guava tropicalia and zestful orange-peeled grapefruit pith bittering seeped in mild pine resin above softly creamed wheated oats.

Brown-sugared maple molasses countered dry black chocolate for maple brown ale, Sugar Shack, a toffee-candied Tootsie Roll.

Maple-glazed dark chocolate syruping coated the dry nutty coffee tones and setback vanilla snips surfacing for sweet stout, Shop The Cooler, a fine nightcap for my post-dusk getaway.

HUDSON BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

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HUDSON, NEW YORK

Inside a rustic cement-floored industrial warehouse, evolving ‘destination farmhouse brewery,’ HUDSON BREWING COMPANY, has helped revitalized this small Columbia county city.

Formerly a well-respected local nanobrewery stationed just across the railroad tracks from its new location, Hudson Brewing moved to its new Front Street digs May, 2017, and continues to craft six staples alongside exciting new recipes for their growing fan base.

Owner PJ Birmingham recently hired 27 year-old brewing guru, Aaron Maas, an acquaintance through several mutual friends.

With a twelve-seat crushed-metal bar at its core, this features twelve draught handles, a wood-boarded beer listing Behind the bar are the windowed brew tanks serving tonight’s fare this brisk December ’17 eve.

Though I miss out on the popular Irish Red Ale, there are eleven different draught beers consumed during my two-hour closing time stint.

Light-bodied staple, Shadie Sadie Cream Ale, caressed dry pale malts and popcorn-like maize rusticity with grassy hop astringency.

Mildly citrus-spiced Wayward Woman Kolsch let grassy hops contrast sweet breaded pale malting.

Dewy ESB brought moderate dried fruit spicing to leafy hop astringency and dainty brown tea illusions.

Tobacco-roasted Altbier benefited from wispy chocolate and rye malting.

Image result for hudson brewing

Called a ‘Sierra Nevada with a burst of flavor,’ approachable Proprietors Pale Ale’s candy-spiced orange, peach, apple and tangerine tang picked up grassy hop resin.

‘Basic’ Widows Walk IPA stayed stylistically prim as gently-spiced grapefruit, pineapple and orange briskness gained subtle piney hop bittering and mild grassy notions.  

Floral-perfumed yellow grapefruit spicing fronted dry rye-malted Rye To Me Rye IPA.

Brisk piney tropical fruiting inundated Beached Whale New England IPA, where grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering picks up lemony hop phenols to contrast sweet peach-mango tang and prickly floral spicing.

Honeyed nuttiness casually affected English Brown Ale, a moderate-to-medium body with drifting molasses, caramel and chocolate truffle dollops.

Dark chocolate malts crested atop Burnt Caramel Porter, letting caramelized molasses contrast its light wood char just beneath the mocha surface.

For dessert, Tainted Senorita Mexican Coffee Stout allowed its cold-brewed coffee tones spread across dark chocolate malts and dark roasted hops, gaining light vanilla, espresso and cacao nibs tones by the finish.

www.hudsonbrew.com