BREWERY REVIEW: Newburgh Brewing Company

My search for the best beer in New York continues….

In reviewing New York breweries on this site, I gave myself the unofficial criteria that the brewery had to be based within 90 miles of the city limits. While I love the beers from Ithaca or Sarnac, those breweries can not really be claimed as an NYC brewery. Newburgh Brewing Company, on the other hand, is just over 60 miles from Manhattan. Their beer is a bit tougher to find in the city (as they’re only a year old), but it’s available at some of the most dedicated craft beer bars.

Or you can take a short trip up to Orange County, as we did on a cool Saturday afternoon, to hang out in their very spacious tap room. You can’t get space as large as this facility anywhere in the city, but it’s nice to be able to stretch your legs for once.

The tap room is open Wednesdays through Sundays. They offer 12 distinct beers on tap, along with a decent offering of food (I quite liked the soft pretzel with sweet and spicy mustards) and endless recreational activities.

If drinking beer and socializing isn’t enough for you, they offer tours of the facility on Saturdays (upon request), shelves full of board games, live music, and even a vintage video game or two. I so wanted to waste the day playing Donkey Kong Jr., but we were on our way to do some serious hiking in the Catskills.

We only had time for a quick bite and some beer samples. I was a bit disappointed to learn that they did not offer any sort of flight or sampler. How can I possibly review their beers if I only get to taste one?

Well, the bartender offered to pour me a few samples and then he understood when I took the route I do with ice cream samples and ordered something totally different. At least I’m a paying customer!!

My first choice was their cream ale, a light golden beer that was full of yeast and malty flavors. It was balanced, light, and I could imagine drinking a few of these.

I followed that up with the Paper Box Pale Ale, what they called a “session-able” IPA. This was another easy drinking brew, but I found it a little too mild with very low hop content. Maybe the bitterness would have revealed itself if I had a full pint, but a taste just didn’t do much for me.

Flavor was not a concern with the Chili Lime Stout. Both bartenders warned me that it was very spicy. The lime comes first with a nice bright citrusy note and then on comes the heat. It sneaks up aggressively and lingers for a moment, but then it fades away. The boldness was fun, but it certainly wasn’t the spiciest beer I’ve had before. I’m not sure the flavors made total sense in a stout since I lost many of those nice roasty, chocolaty notes I like with a beer this dark.

My sampling had to come to an end, but I did order two full beers to wash down the food. I was most excited by their sesonal Squashtober Ale (which might not be available any longer by the time of this post). The beautiful amber color gave way to lots of fall flavors. They use real roasted pumpkins and butternut squash in the mash and you can telll the difference in flavor. It had just a hint of sweetness and very little baking spices, which separates it from most traditional pumpkin beers. But it had a bracing effervescence and lots of fresh seasonal flavors.

I also chose a limited-edition seasonal beer that is only available at the tap room. It’s impossible for me to resist a beer that has the word smoke in its name, therefore the Smokey the Beer found its way into my glass. They start with their siganture Brown Ale, but then load it with even more flavor. Unlike most smoked beers, this one uses smoked hops instead of smoked malts. The result is a dark brown brew that smells strongly of smoke and ash, yet has a balanced nutty and consistent hop flavor.

The trip up to Newburgh is totally worth it. If not for the creative and affordable beers, then for the roomy tap room which makes for a comfortable afternoon with more leg room than you’ve seen in the five boroughs.

Is Newburgh Brewing Company the best brewery in NY? It might be the roomiest with lots of activities to pair with your beer. They lose a few points for not offering a sampler of beer, but the beer I did try was pretty creative and a little too drinkable. In total, they earn an 8 out of 10.

Is Newburgh Brewing Company’s Cream Ale the best beer in NY? It gets an 8 out of 10 since it’s a nice light, drinkable quencher that still maintains quite a bit of yeasty and malty flavors.

Is Newburgh Brewing Company’s Paper Box Pale Ale the best beer in NY? I found it a little underwhelming with no extraordinary flavors. It gets a 7 out of 10 for its mildness.

Is Newburgh Brewing Company’s Lime Chili Stout the best beer in NY? This one is definitely interesting, especially if you like spice in your beer. But it gets a 7 out of 10 because the citrus and chili flavors seemed to off-set the roasty chocolate notes of the stout.

Is Newburgh Brewing Company’s Squashtober Ale the best beer in NY? Fresh notes of pumpkin and squash gave it a little sweetness and the strong malt notes made it a great autumn beer. 8 out of 10.

Is Newburgh Brewing Company’s Smokey the Beer the best beer in NY? 9 out of 10 since this is a surprising take on a smoked beer – with nutty flavors and a strong hop quality mingling with the smoke and ash.