Living on an island can be quite amazing. Living on Long Island can be overwhelming. With the city to the west there is always traffic and it seems like time speeds up and there is never enough of it to get anything done. Faster then a New York minute is a saying for a reason.
Heading out East can often feel like you are no longer in New York. Everything gets lets congested (unless your sitting in summer traffic to the Hamptons), everything starts to look like farmland and you cant throw a rock without hitting a stand that sells fresh fruit or veggies.
Thats why on a bright July Sunday My best friend and I headed out East to take in some time for relaxation and a whole lot of beer.
Maybe when you think of Long Island you don’t think of nature, state parks and fresh produce. Maybe you dont think of the vineyards and microbreweries. But, maybe, you should. Long Island can be quite a spectacular place to call home.
Over the not so distant past micro breweries have been popping up all over LI. We have become home to some really great locally brewed beer and the scene just keeps on growing. It was a tough decision when it came down to choosing the few we would spend time at but we chose to drive up the North Fork of LI to Greenport.
A port town at nearly the farthest point on the North Fork is home to Greenport Brewing Co. Located in what looks like a barn is there tasting room. For 8$ you can try each of their beers and you get to keep the glass! I am not a huge fan of IPA’s to me they are too hoppy and taste a bit like drinking pine cones. They had a great stout on draft called Black Duck Porter. It was only slightly hoppy with a great finish of espresso and cocoa! I have gotten more and more into stouts from doing tastings.
When I first started drinking beer I had no idea about the different types. Spending time at breweries and trying out what they have to offer is a great way to figure out what kind of beer suits you.
After we were done with our tastings we decided we needed some coffee and a snack. We found Two and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Shoppe in Orient Point just a 5 minute drive from the brewery. It sold only coffee from Stumptown! The Portland based coffee company I wrote about here. They offered a variety of pies for the day and all were homemade. I chose the Blackbottom pie which had a dark chocolate bottom and a pecan pie filling while my friend went for the Chocolate Silk. It was just what we needed before heading back west to our next stop.
Long Ireland Brewing Company located in Riverhead has a much livelier tasting room. On weekends they have open mics and game nights. The tasting room is larger and they have more taps to choose from. For the same price as Greenport Brewing Co. you get choose from about twelve taps You pay and you get chips to buy your beer with. The stouts were my personal favorites, a breakfast stout and their Hooligan stout.
The tasting room was packed when we walked in and continued to be so as the day wore on. Finally too full from beer and tired from drinking all day we decided to walk to a local restaurant.
Farm Country Kitchen is right off of Main Street in Riverhead. It looks like an old house but when you walk around the barn you see it has been refurbished into a cozy restaurant. You can sit outdoors overlooking the Peconic River which is exactly what we did. It was a great way to end the day before the drive back.
Have you taken time to explore locally?