Page 32 - Dutchess Tourism 2024

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DUTCHESS COUNTY DESTINATION GUIDE
Your Tasting Flight to Dutchess County
A strong relationship with agriculture lets creative craft beverage producers thrive in Dutchess County.
Sloop Brewing Co., East Fishkill
Innovative IPAs
Sloop Brewing Co. (East Fishkill) produces Juice Bomb, a bright, hazy, juicy New England IPA that’s garnered national popularity out of its East Fishkill factory. Single- hop explorations — like Mosaic and Simcoe — tweak the recipe into different “Bombs.”
Industrial Arts Brewing Company (Beacon) builds on their excellent Wrench IPA line with a delicious non- alcoholic version, Safety Glasses IPA, from a taproom overlooking the Hudson Highlands.
Using ingredients from their farm and hopyard, Obercreek Brewing Company (Wappingers Falls) celebrates American hop varietals.
Currant Trends
C.Cassis (Rhinebeck) is an all-natural liqueur made by hand from Dutchess County black currants; it’s excellent on its own or in a cocktail, bringing notes of lemon verbena and honey.
Slate Point Meadery (Poughkeepsie) pairs bold black currants with clover blossom honey and rosemary in a marvelous mead.
Branchwater Farms (Milan) distills a bold brandy from black currants gown by Dutchess farmer Greg Quinn, who helped repeal the century-old ban on currants in New York in 2003.
Pretty and Funky
Hudson Valley Brewery (Beacon), known for their Instagram-worthy colorful Sour IPAs, also makes fruity, bottle-conditioned wines.
Home-grown hot peppers or fresh cucumbers and dill are a few of the unexpected ingredients appearing in Plan Bee Farm Brewery (Poughkeepsie) sours and farmhouse saisons, fermented with native yeast from honey cultivated on-site.
Low-intervention fruited wines and ciders are the focus at Rose Hill Ferments (Red Hook). Pearly Dewdrops invokes plum jerkum, while Prologue uses the Solera system of aging, blending past vintages together each year.
Traditional Takes and
Old-World Wonders
Milea Estate Vineyard (Staatsburg), offers varietals
found only here through its Hudson Valley Heritage Wines project. They produce wines from grape varietals originally bred locally as early as the 1800s.
C.Cassis, Rhinebeck
Tenmile Distillery (Wassaic) is dedicated to crafting whiskey in the traditional Scottish style, resulting in an impeccably smooth sip.
Junmai Daiginjo-only sake at Dassai Blue (Hyde Park) is the highest level of premium sake and the first of its kind made in the U.S., using the gold standard of rice.
Millbrook Vineyards & Winery is the only producer of vinifera Tocai Friulano in the Hudson Valley.
Daring Distillers
Vale Fox Distillery’s (Poughkeepsie) “from the cocktail backward” approach to spirits is a perfect match for Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton’s project MF Libations.
Maid of the Meadow from Denning’s Point Distillery 􏰀􏰁eacon􏰂 makes an impression with 􏰃avors of honey􏰄 wild herbs and raspberry.
Shady Knoll Orchard and Distillery’s (Millbrook) take on pommeau, a French apple brandy, pairs beautifully with sparkling wine in a mix they dub “Pommeau Royale.”
Find out how to save on craft beverage tastings with Taste Finder on pg. 5.
© CHELSIE CRAIG