YONKERS, NEW YORK
Just past the northern tip of the Bronx along the Hudson River, Yonkers built a new riverwalk promenade a few years back and soon after its first brewery surfaced. Founded in 2013, YONKERS BREWING COMPANY began selling its signature Vienna Lager (named after area code 914) out of Connecticut’s Thomas Hooker Brewing before opening its current location with Chicago-bred brewer, Sharif Taleb.
Local childhood friends Nick Califano and John Rubbo crafted Yonkers Brewing’s initial lager before handing the reins to Taleb, who recently relinquished his head brewership to Paul Alva. Unafraid to expand beyond its pilsner-lager base, YBC also offers its share of IPA’s and seasonals.
Inside the rustic cement-floored pub, a 10-seat L-shaped back bar (with Edison bulb lighting) features twelve aluminum tap handles, top shelf liquors and two electric draught boards. A kitchen serving pub fare and breakfast brunch is situated behind the bar while the brew tanks are to the rear. Cozy front window seating, cocktail bistro tables and pendant lighting fill out the pub.
A beautiful painted mural of downtown Yonkers with a green propellered prop plane over the Hudson dons the right wall.
My wife and I grabbed Saturday brunch late October, 2022, sipping all seven available brews. There are also guest taps for well-respected Jack’s Abby Post Shift Pilsner and Sloop The Sauer on this date.
Crisply clean German-styled Saw Mill Pilsner retained apropos mineral graining, lemon-soured herbage, wet grass astringency and mild spicing.
Summery Mexican-styled lager, Squeezin’ Down The Lime prodded its limey agave minting with talc-like soapstone sudsiness and mild pilsner malt sugaring.
Dewy autumnal moderation, Yonkers Oktoberfest, let its mossy leaf crisping soak up musty red-orange fruit oils.
Sedate raw-honeyed lemon souring and spritzy grapefruit bittering countered milder caramel toasted sugaring for Pass The Mic Pale Ale, trekking Cascade-Citra-hopped floral tropical fruiting thru dry Amarillo-hopped pining.
Zesty lemony grapefruit tanginess and recessive herbal spicing tagged Barricade NEIPA, a hazy medium body coalescing limey Cashmere-Motueka hops with tropical Citra hops.
Starting opulently bitter, Yonkers Pineapple Zappa brought juicy pineapple puree resilience to brisk lemon-seeded lime souring and delayed mango-guava tanginess.
Though there were no dark ales on my premier visitation, murkily gooey crimson-hazed Blood Red stayed fruitful as salty strawberry-raspberry rhubarb tartness gained sweet red wining and oaken cherry whims.