Pour Travelin' in NY: COVID-19 diaries - Part II

Saturday started off by calling another audible when we realized that The North, one of our favorite breweries in these parts, was going to be closed for the holiday. The previous week, they'd held a "Sidewalk Saturday" and asked folks to bring their own camping chairs because the city was allowing them to extend service to the sidewalk since their tasting room is so tiny. While I was disappointed we wouldn't be enjoying a few beers there, we regrouped and found a place in nearby Corning that piqued our interest (more on that in a few shakes). 

So I made a few tweaks to our itinerary, and after a quick breakfast at a nearby local eatery, we were off to make an early record store stop, which was on the way to Corning and was scheduled to open for about an hour prior to the first brewery of the day. We arrived a few minutes before 11 a.m., so I waited on the sidewalk in the increasingly warm weather. A young kid also waiting outside helped pass the time with some small talk. After about 15 minutes, the kid left so I decided to walk across the street and join Brewslut at Broad Street Pub, where she was enjoying a beer while I was supposed to have been sifting through some vinyl. When I arrived, she was already a few sips into a delicious beer called Juice Bomb by the NY-based Sloop Brewing Company. I'd heard of them, and after a few swigs of this fine beer, they're now on my radar. No sooner did I take a leak and get situated at the bar when the owner of the record store strolled in across the street and opened for the day... twenty minutes late. Better late than never, I suppose. At any rate, we probably would have just left, but Brewslut was already occupied with a cold one and a book, so I had some time to kill. Lucky for me, I found a really nice copy of the last King Crimson studio album I needed for my collection (Red, in case you're wondering). I also picked up a beautiful new pressing of Pink Floyd's Division Bell album. After about forty minutes of digging - and sweating! - I moseyed back across the street to find Brewslut just about finished with her beer. Perfect timing! And with that, we were off to our first brewery of the day.

Corning's hidden gem: Liquid Shoes Brewing!

As I said earlier, we called an audible once we learned that The North was closed, which lead us to the one and only new-to-us brewery of the day, Liquid Shoes. The name of the brewery struck me as rather peculiar, so I decided to dig deeper. Turns out the brewery is owned by two brothers whose surname is Shoemaker. One handles the brewing side of the operation, while the other attends to the business. The small tasting room opened for business in July 2018 in downtown Corning right on Market Street, and let me tell you, this place was the find of the trip! 

Based on their web site, I was already convinced that I'd made a good decision to visit here... but, then again, you never know. However, I immediately felt comfortable here and knew we'd be in for a treat. Brewslut quickly noticed an abundance of happy gnomes, which populated the entire tasting room. We're both pro-gnome, so that set the mood of our visit. Pleeps was a happy camper, too, and he even made fast friends with one of them. The tap list was small but eclectic, with just six house beers on tap as well as a guest cider. 

Inside Liquid Shoes' tasting room.

I was initially drawn to a beer called Twiggy Things, a chocolate and vanilla pastry stout brewed with roasted malts and milk sugar. This delicious stout was conditioned on cocoa nibs and Madagascar vanilla beans for 10 days to deliver a full-flavored beer with decadent chocolate notes and a hint of vanilla. Meanwhile, Brewslut worked on her pour of Natsu, a slightly hazy summer IPA brewed with a touch of milk sugar and hopped with Citra and Mosaic. While these two beers were exceptional, it was the next two beers that really wowed us beyond our expectations. 

Pleeps getting his first taste of Liquid Shoes!

For round two, we went with a pair of sours we'd been eyeing up since we arrived. The first, Umoja, is a lush sour ale conditioned on a butt-load of blackberries, blueberries and milk sugar. The other, O'Cyrus, is a sour ale is fruited with strawberry, pineapple and dragon fruit. Both of these beers were stellar and among the best of the trip. Umoja featured a blast of sweet-and-tart berry tang with a hint of vanilla and finished smooth thanks to the addition of milk sugar. O'Cyrus might have even been a notch better, with an artfully balanced touch of sweet strawberry amid dank tropical pineapple notes. The addition of dragon fruit, an exotic fruit of the cactus species that looks like a fireball belched up by a red dragon, in the mix lends delicate notes of juicy pear and kiwi. Both of these beers were absolute home runs.

We were also elated to learn that the gnomes populating the brewery were for sale! It's no secret that Pleeps has dozens of brothers and sisters (if you've ever visited our house, then you know what I'm talking about), but after our visit, we had a new member of the family. Meet Great Grandpa Thoughtweaver!

Pleeps with his new friend, Great Grandpa Thoughtweaver.

Liquid Shoes kicked off the day in style, and it reminded me that new breweries can still come out of the gate swinging and keep pushing the boundaries of what can be done with four basic ingredients and a ton of imagination. This place will definitely be in the running for my Top 10 breweries of 2020! 

Since we were driving right past the town of Horseheads (greatest name for a town ever, by the way), we decided to check to see if Horseheads Brewing was open. Turns out they were, and not only that, but they'd just put a fresh keg of their Pumpkin Ale on tap! That was enough incentive for us to swing by for a pint. When we arrived, we discovered that the tasting area had been completely renovated - for the better. I remember the tasting room being very rectangular and starkly white, with small barrels with glass tabletops and little uncomfortable stools scattered about the space. The transformed area felt much more cozy this time around, with woodgrain tones, hightop tables and sturdy stools with backrests, and a bit more color. 

Tap handles at Horseheads.

But back to the beer. Now, the thought of a pumpkin ale - especially in July - might be enough to make most folks bring up their lunch. However, Horseheads brews a truly world-class pumpkin ale. As a matter of fact, it might be only second to Selin's Grove's amazing pumpkin ale. Brewed with all-natural pumpkin and spices, this is everything a pumpkin ale should be. 

Pleeps is pro-pumpkin!

Meanwhile, Brewslut was chillin' with a pour of Tropical IPA, a tasty IPA brewed with blood oranges and orange peel. We had this during our last visit about three years ago and recalled enjoying it quite a bit, and this time was no different. If you like super citrus-forward IPAs, then you'll love this one. Since this was a quick unplanned, one-and-done stop, we finished up our beers and bid farewell to Horseheads. 

Pleeps' mask also doubles as a Shakespeare scarf.

Up the road in the town of Chemung is Diversion Brewing. We'd first visited back in 2017 during our annual Memorial Day Weekend Trail trip and liked what we encountered. Beer aside, the thing that I remembered most about the place was its use of recycled and re-purposed materials, including barn wood, metal siding, and a number of other things to decorate the tasting room. When we arrived, the outside area was brimming with customers, a food truck was up and running, and an acoustic guitar player was about to begin his set. Somehow, we managed to get a nice little table right inside the door of the tasting room. 

Inside the barn-like tasting room at Diversion.

After reviewing the beer list to find a pair of imperial stouts, I decided to go big. Both of my selections were variants of Diversion's imperial stout, which is called Reroute; an apt name, I suppose, for a mammoth, high ABV stout by a brewery named Diversion. After these two monsters, I was hoping we didn't need to reroute our itinerary back to the hotel for a nap!

The first variant, Reroute Coconut, is aged with toasted coconut and a touch of coconut rum to elicit a subtle island flavor. The other, Reroute Bourbon Barrel Maple, is aged in bourbon barrels with maple syrup. Sadly, I couldn't find any "geek" details about this one, like the type of barrel or brand of maple syrup. I always dig when breweries procure materials and ingredients from local purveoyrs, so I'm hoping this was perhaps the case with this beer (at least the maple syrup). Both of these were quite enjoyable. I'm the kind of beer drinker who can enjoy a big stout on a hot July afternoon. Hell, the last time we went to Great Taste of the Midwest, I think 60% of the beers I drank at the festival were barrel-aged imperial stouts... and it was the most sober I've been for the three times I attended the festival!

Afterward, we headed over to the familiar town of Owego for a visit to Farmhouse Brewery. There's always a ton of styles - everything from hoppy and light, to dark, sour, and just plain weird - represented here. We were able to grab a small table in the back of the tasting room, where only a few scattered patrons were hanging out and enjoying some afternoon suds. We've been here quite a few times in the past, so we've had just about everything they brew regularly. The first time we visited, I believe we shared the full flight of like 18 or 20 beers! So we have some favorites here and know which ones to avoid based on our personal preferences. 

This time around, I opted for a beer I'd had previously, while Brewslut tried something new on for size. My beer, a barrel-aged version of The Barb, is a saison made with local rhubarb, aged in a red wine barrel, and then soured. I'd had this before, but something just didn't sit right with me this time around. I was getting a weird, slightly off-putting pickled red beet finish with origins unbeknownst to me. I just couldn't get past it, unfortunately. However, Brewsluts pour of Forelsket, a new beer neither of us had tried before, fared much better. This tasty Berliner Weisse was fermented with 100% Lactobacillus and aged on blackberries, Aronia berries and vannilla beans. It was quite tasty, at least compared to The Barb. 

It turned out to be a one-and-done stop for us, but not because we weren't compelled to try something else. I think we were just too excited to get to the next brewery. 

Perhaps the brewery we were most excited about visiting again was Port Crane's Beer Tree Brew Co. We stumbled upon this place during last year's Memorial Day Weekend Trail excursion and were smitten. 

Port Crane, NY's Beer Tree Brew Co.

I was immediately drawn to a beer called Trippy Tree, and I quickly realized that this particular variation featured a combination of Cherry, Vanilla & Lemon. It sounded delicious on paper, and couldn't wait to have this in my gullet! A mixed fermentation sour NEIPA brewed with oats, white wheat, wheat flakes, barley and milk sugar, it's also hopped with a generous whirlpool addition of Citra, then double dry-hopped with Citra and Michigan Copper, THEN conditioned on sweet cherries, vanilla and lemons. Hot damn! Let me tell you, this might have been the beer of the trip (or at least tied with the two sours at Liquid Shoes). 

Brewslut started with one of the Slightly Fuzzy variations, this one brewed with Blueberry, Mango & Lime . The Slightly Fuzzy series features a variety of mixed fermentation ales conditioned on various fruit, this one obviously being the aforementioned blueberry, mango, and lime. During our last visit, we enjoyed the Strawberry, Rhubarb & Lime variation quite a bit, and even brought home some cans. While this Slightly Fuzzy variant was indeed enjoyable, I was too busy to full appreciate it because I was mesmerized by the Trippy Tree. 

Outside Beer Tree's spacious tasting room.

Since it was our last stop of the day and only a few minutes from our hotel, we decided to end on a high note... high gravity, that is! We followed up our initial beers with a DIPA called Uber Everywhere and a TIPA (yes, that's TRIPLE IPA) by the name of Leave No Trace. The former is a smooth, refreshing NE-style with notes of juicy citrus fruit, peach and apricot as well as a hint of pine. Creamery with moderate bitterness, this one went down all too easy with minimal alcohol presence. After a few of these, you'd most likely find yourself taking an Uber ride home. The latter beer, a behemoth 10.2% monster, features fresh Equanot, Mosaic, Michigan Copper, and Citra hops. Big, bold and delicious, this one didn't disappoint and held its heft at bay... as well as it could, anyway. 

Last time we visited, we enjoyed the on-site taco truck, so it was only natural that we'd relive that part of the experience as well. We each ordered three chicken tacos and split a large plate of seasoned hoestring fries with a delicious chipolte cream dipping sauce. Can you say "hit the spot"? 

I wanted to stay for another round, but they'd already kicked two beers before we got there due to the holiday weekend, so we decided to call it a day and head back to camp. At the hotel, we cracked open another one of our newly procured cans, this time a pounder of Blueberry Coffee Three Philosophers by Ommegang. The blueberry and coffee notes came through a bit, but the Belgian yeast and fruity esters really dominated the flavor of this one. It's pretty tasty overall, but when there's coffee in my beer, I prefer it to be the dominant flavor. After that, it was time to hit the hay and get some shut-eye before our final day in New York. 

Well, that's all for part 2, folks. Stay tuned for part 3, the conclusion of the COVID-19 diaries, which follows us northbound to Ithaca. Until next time...