Hudson Valley Beer Trail

1. Defiant Brewery, Pearl River

Get your base for a day of drinking at Defiant, where the smokehouse turns out plates of barbecue to accompany rich stouts, like Irish-style O’Defiant and sweet Cream of Oat. 

2. Industrial Arts Brewing Company, Garnerville

Jeff O’Neil (Peekskill Brewery) and Mike McManus (Ommegang) set up shop at the Garnerville Arts and Industrial Complex last fall, where they’re brewing eight styles, including their flagship extra-pale ale Tools of the Trade.

3. Newburgh Brewing Company, Newburgh

The open-floor-plan taproom (recently named the best in New York by RateBeer.com) pours pints of some of the 50+ styles Newburgh has produced since 2012. It’s also home to the area’s coolest, artsy cans.

4. Keegan Ales, Kingston

Brewing since 2003, this granddaddy of the Hudson Valley beer scene’s most-sought-after draft has to be Mother’s Milk, named one of the top-10 stouts in North America by the New York Times. Keep an eye out for a bourbon-aged version, slated for bottle-only release this year.

5. Crossroads Brewing, Athens

Ten taps, including the always-popular Outrage IPA, vie for suds-premacy at this TAP New York award-winning brewery housed in a restored 19th-century opera house. 

6. Suarez Family Brewery, Hudson 

Since opening last summer, this mom-and-pop production has earned almost continuous praise — including the No. 10 spot on RateBeer.com’s 2017 Best New Brewers in the World list — for its unfiltered pilsners.

7. Sloop Brewing Co., Elizaville

Recently relocated to a historic barn at Vosburgh Orchards, the lineup of Northeast-style IPAs is full of summer crushers (grab some cans to take home), including the citrus-heavy Juice Bomb. 

8. Plan Bee Farm Brewery, Poughkeepsie

Slated to open its first tasting room this summer, this ground-to-glass brewery makes super-clean beers using only New York State ingredients, including wild yeast cultivated from local honeycomb.  

STAY

Spend the night in Hudson at Rivertown Lodge, a new boutique hotel where everything from the style-forward furniture to the bath products to the 24-hour pantries stocked with craft beers and salty snacks come from local artisans and producers. From $199/night