The 5 Beers to Try First at The Hudson River Craft Beer Festival

This year you'll have over 200 beers to choose from at the Hudson River Craft Beer Festival. If you're starting to feel overwhelmed with choices, here are five beers you should start with.

Most of these rare beers being brought to the festival by Ben English and his team at Remarkable Liquids will be available in limited quantities. That means you'll want to try them early in the day before they run out.

Last year we gave you the inside scoop about Evil Twin Imperial Doughnut Break. This highly-rated and hard to find beer was gone within an hour. So if you listened to us and headed straight for it, you were one of the lucky ones to get a taste. If you didn't take our advice, don't make the same mistake this year and head directly to these five beers.

Grimm Pineapple Pop!
Classified as a "Dessert" Sour, this beer is brewed with Vanilla Milk Sugar & Pinneapple. It's sweet and sour at the same time and, if you're an experienced beer drinker, it's something you probably haven't tasted before.

Lough Gill Mac Nutty Brown Ale

This beer is a trophy winner. In the 2017 World Beer Awards Lough Gill was voted the number one Irish Craft Brewery and this beer was named the number one Craft Beer in Ireland. IT's a Brown Ale brewed with Macadamia nuts and it's something that, until now, most people had to travel across the pond for.

Melvin IPA

This is the very first time this highly sought after beer is even available East of the Mississippi. Melvin IPA won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Fest in 2016, earning Melvin the title of "best IPA in America."

Melovino "The Pretender" Hopped Mead

While not technically a beer, this mead is brewed with beer drinkers in mind. The brand new meadery in New Jersey has lots of buzz, and a lot of it is for this mead that is made with lots of hops. If you're unfamiliar with mead, this is a great opportunity to try one out for the first time.

Westbrook/Evil Twin Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break

Now this one is really special. Only 2.5 gallons will be on tap and when it's gone it's gone. This Imperial Stout is a special blend of the best beers from Westbrook and Evil Twin. It's brewed with Caco Nibs, Vanilla Beans, Cinnamon Sticks, Coffee, Chocolate, Almonds, and Jalapeno Peppers. While that seems like a lot to take in, this complex beer simply works. We were lucky enough to get an early sample, and we think it's even better than last year's Imperial Doughnut Break. You'll want to get it early, but make sure to pace yourself. It's got a 10% abv that will creep up on you, so don't sample too much, you've still got 200 beers to try.

If you don't already have your tickets for the HRCBF, they were still available at the time this article was published. You can get yours here.

Filed Under: Hudson River Craft Beer Festival