Let’s get right to it, there are nine craft breweries and two cideries in the Sullivan Catskills. There is also an astounding variety of unique dining options for a region of this size and scope. From coffee shops and cafés to food trucks and farm-to-table al fresco, there is something for everyone on the collective Catskills menu.
But let’s forget about the menu for a moment. This is a story about a place full of farmers and fishermen, each an artist in their own right. The kind of people who genuinely care about the land and the hand that feeds them because they know it’s friendship that makes something taste better.
They also know that enjoying food and conversation is as much about the space you’re in as it is about what’s new on the appetizer list. Regardless of where you decide to sate your thirst and hunger, you’ll find that no menu is the same, but you’ll also find a different dining environment every time you step below the welcome sign.
To eat and drink in the Sullivan Catskills is to become a part of the story of the place you choose to pull up a table and the scenic road you take to get there – especially in fall when we all know everything feels and tastes just a little bit better.
Craft Beer Brewed from the Catskill Landscape
If you drive down Winterton Road in Bloomingburg and turn onto the long dirt road when you see a sign for Winterton Farms, you’ll pass lavender fields and rows of bright green hops. It’s the kind of place where the sight alone will trick your brain into smelling the sweet scents, but you’ll roll down your window to take it all in anyway.
At the end of that road is Two Farms Brewing. Owned by Mike and Shana Bruestle and friends Erika Malmgreen and Kent Findley, one or two of whom will likely be pouring a freshly brewed beverage into a Mason Jar as they share a story about what went into making it. There’s often up to 12 small batch brews on tap with names like Barnyard 2 (a Rye IPA), Blueberry Dream (a sour) and Mountain Fog, a popular dry hopped IPA. Each meticulously crafted and cared for like the fields that inspired the recipe.
You’ll find that a lot in the Catskills. Business owners and brewers truly care about how the products they produce connect to and complement the place. It’s exactly why Shrewd Fox Brewery in Eldred uses all-natural, locally grown and non-GMO ingredients in all of its beers, including barrel-aged recipes brewed with New York State barley, hops and Catskills water. There are easier ways to brew, but none that will produce this kind of flavor.
Breweries Built with Catskill Pride
If you haven’t noticed, the people who live in the Catskills are really good at repurposing things. Callicoon Brewing Company is located in the renovated Olympia Hotel, a circa 1880s stick and brick build that’s a story on its own.
Speaking of hook-and-ladder companies, Roscoe Beer Company converted that community’s former firehouse first into a 400 square foot tasting room, then a 1,600-square-foot brewery, gift shop and beer garden. And since it’s the Catskills and Roscoe is known as Trout Town USA, there is a live trout tank in the brewery.
“We’ve encompassed the natural beauty of our surroundings in every way possible when designing the brewery,” says Shannon Feeney, an avid fly fisher, who also runs marketing for Roscoe Beer Co. “That’s something you’ll find anywhere you go. We love being outside so you’ll see a lot of that inside.”
Locals Tip: Roscoe Beer Company hosts free 30-minute tours with the brewer every Saturday at 1 p.m.
A Catskill Twist on the Public House
Like the local library, Catskills craft breweries are community spaces. Meeting places where fall hiking plans are hatched and then celebrated. An equal exchange that creates stories to be shared without judgment or pretense. Each is also a toast of the community and the landscape that makes it special – a mutual respect for nature and the human relationship with it.
Catskill Brewery in Livingston Manor is a LEED-certified building powered by the sun with the simple goal of making great beer and simultaneously protecting the natural environment. It’s also an indoor and outdoor community space that welcomes all, including the furry kind – both dogs and the bearded – for good conversation over honest, hand-crafted beer.
Down the road in Livingston Manor is Upward Brewing Company and yes, you guessed it (you probably didn’t), it’s located on a 120-acre mountain preserve that includes a pond with outdoor fireplaces and a hiking trail. What’s the name of the preserve? Here’s a hint, it rhymes with deer and fountain.
Catskills Culture Served in a Glass
Big Eddy Brewing Company is part of the craft brewing boom in the Sullivan Catskills, but for the community of Narrowsburg it means a lot more. Built in a former bank, Big Eddy has locked itself into the heart of this growing community. Its centerpiece is the giant walk-in safe, which you can in fact, walk in.
Locals Tip: Get the SMOKD BBQ. See Big Eddy’s Google reviews for proof. Arron Andrews and a lot of others say it’s the “real deal.”
For a little NYC/Catskills connection, roll into Bridge and Tunnel Brewery in Liberty. Founded in a one-car garage in Queens, owner Rich Castagna brought his passion project and no BS attitude to the Catskills with a tap room that perfectly reflects the roughly sanded vibe of both places.
And since we’re tawkin’ culture, let’s chat up Russian Mule Brewing in Claryville where St. Petersburg-born Irina Nicoletti figured the banks of the Neversink was a perfect place to create and pour a Pilsner. The community agrees and fills the outdoor patio where live music regularly mixes perfectly with Russian-inspired dishes you simply can’t get anywhere else.
Crisp Air + Fall Flavor in Catskills Cider
If cider is more your thing, then there are two that are hands down the best cideries in Sullivan County. Each is more of a complete experience for all seven senses than you’ll find anywhere in the region.
Locals Tip: Both double as lodging properties. So yeah, you can make it a weekend.
“Honestly, I would drive up and down the road to Seminary Hill just to see the fall color on my days off,” says Tiffany Conklin, who does just that to get to work at the world-class cidery in Callicoon.
Not only does the 12-acre organic orchard generate award-winning, small batch ciders by blending over 60 apple and pear varieties, but it’s also one of the most unique dining experiences in the Catskills.
As the world’s first Passive House certified cidery, the construction team designed The Tasting Room with a cathedral-style ceiling that frames floor-to-ceiling windows with unmatched views of the Delaware River Valley. On a warm fall day, you can soak in the sun and autumn smells from the wraparound patio while experiencing a farm-to-table menu that complements the season.
For an entirely different, but equally as amazing cider experience, Stickett Inn packs a whole lot of loud flavor into Barryville. Founded in 2012 by Johnny Pizzolato, a former punk singer and actor, and Roswell Hamrick, a TV art director and production designer, Stickett Inn brings the dry, hard and beautiful edge to Catskills ciders. Oh, and the tasting room is also a coffee bar and taqueria. So, there’s that, too.
Catskills Atmosphere is Your Tasting Room
The food and beverage industry talks a lot about pairings, but the Catskills have figured out that the most important pairing is atmosphere. Here, everything is designed for good conversation, where the outside is brought into the chat and laughter is a note everyone understands and appreciates.
Craft beer and handmade ciders just happen to be an important part of that conversation. It’s a menu meant to raise a glass and say, “thank you”. Both to the hard-working people who created it and the landscape which provided the inspiration. But also, to those who kick back with a table of friends to celebrate a season of change.
