Location: 20
Saint James St
Kingston,
NY 12401-4534
United
States
Phone:
(845) 331-2739
Cost: $10
six packs
Visit
Date: 01/29/2011,
05/07/2007
Beers:
Mother's Milk
Hurricane
Kitty
Nearby:
The
Catskills
Notes:
This
time around we just stopped in to pick something up to bring back to
our hotel room. We were broken, wet, and hungry from a long snowshoe
in the catskills. So much has changed about this place in the
past couple of years.
The
last time we were here was in May of 2007, we stopped in while in the
Catskills Camping at the North South Lake campground on George's
birthday weekend. I don't remember if we drove down Saturday
Night to pick up beer or if we stopped in on our way home Sunday, but
it was the most depressing sight I have ever seen. I hope it
was the Sunday scene. We walked in to a mostly empty bar.
There was a guitarist in one corner, and a woman swaying back
and forth. There was a guy slumped over the bar and a friendly
bar tender chatting with a customer who looked to be a good friend.
It seemed like the saddest place in the saddest city in New
York. The bar tender was nice however, and gave us a generous
free sample of each of the 3 beers they had on tap (the third, Old
Capital, I don't list above because I don't remember much about it).
We picked up a growler of Mother's Milk and left. Mother's Milk
was a delicious creamy stout with added (unfermentable) Lactose to
give milky flavors. A real winner, but I don't think we could
bear to sit in the bar here.
Judging
by this trip, Kingston has been flourishing in the economy that's
hurting the rest of the country. Or maybe people are just
drinking more. Either way Keegan's was packed with a much
hipper crowd than before. Business seemed to be booming this
Saturday evening. We picked up a Six Pack of the Hurricane Kitty IPA
and the Mother's Milk to bring back to the hotel and recover with.
The atmosphere isn't the only thing that's changed about
Keegans. The recipe for Mother's Milk has changed, it's a lot smokier
now, and not as Milky. It's still decent but I wouldn't go out
of my way for it like I would have before.
It
also looks like something has changed about the ownership or
investorship since they've dropped the "and Sons" from
their name and their bottles (they only had growlers previously) say
Saratoga Springs, NY. I doubt they ship the beer up in a truck
to bottle, if I had to guess I'd say they are contracting through
Olde
Saratoga
nowadays. They did and do have a brewery onsite, so if they're
like other breweries they probably send their recipes up and get
bottles in return and make everything else onsite. Next time
I'll have to get a growler and see if it's the new recipe or the old
recipe. The differences may be in who is brewing it or where
the hops and grains are sourced (and I can hold out hope that
delicious stout of years past is still brewed somewhere). If
it's getting shipped down has it been pasteurized? This could
also change the flavor.
I'm
glad they're doing well, and that it wasn't such a depressing sight
this time around (we struggled to find parking) but disappointed that
the beer has changed. We'll see if a growler is any better next
time around. If not, well, we'll see if there's another next
time. It's likely, only because of convenience, we plan on
heading up to the Catskills a lot more this winter.
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