The clouds appeared in formation on a late spring afternoon at Allied Brewing Company in Altamont. They floated above the adjacent Orchard Creek Golf Course while neighboring groups of clouds cast shadows over the Helderberg Escarpment. Beer lovers sipped on cold pints of a variety of craft beers or hard ciders while taking in the panoramic views.
Parents relaxed in Adirondack chairs, keeping a watchful eye on tots in the recently installed playground, complete with mini rock-climbing wall. Visitors played games of cornhole. Groups of families and friends gathered at picnic tables to visit while sharing some of the brewery’s pub fare. Dogs crunched on biscuits from a jar of complementary treats on the outside bar counter. Speakers played upbeat background music.
This is exactly the environment that Kevin Efaw and his wife, Darci, wanted to create when they opened Allied Brewing Company on Memorial Day 2022. “I’m a family guy,” Efaw said. “I have a couple of kids. We put an emphasis on families and give them more than just a spot to sit down and have a beer. It’s a brewery with a playground and beautiful views.”
Efaw combined his culinary and brewing experience when he opened the brewery. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and worked for 35 years in the restaurant business. He was also a partner in the former Big House Brewing Company in Albany as well as an avid home brewer. Prior to opening Allied, he operated the food service department at Orchard Creek Golf Club for 16 years. When he decided to launch the brewery, he knew he wanted it to be near the golf course. “It has such a gorgeous setting,” he said. “It was too beautiful not to have something here.”
The couple leases part of Altamont Orchards for the brewery, which is adjacent to the Altamont Orchards Farm Market in Altamont owned by the Abbruzzese family.
The Efaws decided to name the brewery “Allied” to honor their grandfathers and Joseph Abbruzzese, Sr. The brewery’s Irish red is named for Efaw’s grandfather, William Finegan, who landed on Omaha Beach just after D-Day in 1944, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and in the Africa and Europe campaigns in World War II. “He was an idol of mine and took a large part in raising me as a young lad in Philadelphia before I moved up to Albany,” Efaw said. “I wanted to do something to memorialize him and all those young gentlemen who fought for us. It’s also an appreciation of all veterans and all active military.” Darci’s grandfather served in the United States Navy in World War I and as a U.S. Army colonel in WWII. Abbruzzese, Sr. also served in WWII and received a purple heart. The brewery makes donations to veterans charities.
Allied carries the military theme throughout the brewery. Its logo is a hoppy camouflage version of the star used by the U.S. Allied Forces in WWII. Various military memorabilia hang on the wall in the small taproom that seats about 20. The list of beers on tap is presented in the stenciled block style military lettering. Tap handles on the outside bar are shell casings. A tank near the restrooms is painted to look like an old submarine. Flags from the various military branches hang from the ceiling of a repurposed greenhouse that serves as the beer garden and exhibits a Quonset hut-type look.
The theme is also evident in the names of the 20 beers that Allied has developed so far, of which it keeps about 15 on tap at a time. There are a host of traditional styles as well as seasonal varieties. The “Eastern Front NEIPA” is a hazy, floral beer dry hopped with Citra and Amarillo. The double dry hopped session hazy IPA is named “Special Hoperations Session IPA.” A malty red IPA is a nod to “Rosie the Riveter” and the women on the home front who went to work in American factories producing equipment and goods for the war effort in WWII while men were at the front. The wheat beer “USS Slater Summer Ale” is named for Albany’s own museum ship, the destroyer escort USS Slater (DE-766) that people can tour at the Port of Albany.
If you get curious while you’re sipping and want to get your history on, Allied’s website provides detailed and often surprising information behind the beers’ names. For example, the interested would find out that the Belgian dubbel with a hint of orange, “USS Tang,” is named for the most successful submarine in WWII that was sunk off China’s coast by its own malfunctioning torpedo. The Japanese captured and imprisoned the nine men rescued of the crew of 87. “Hells Bells Helles Lager” memorializes the intrepid crews of nine American submarines, the “Hell Cats,” that with the help of new technology navigated a treacherous Japanese mine field and helped to establish U.S. dominance in the Pacific. QR codes on cans direct people to these histories.
A CULINARY APPROACH
As a chef and a brewer, Efaw takes a culinary approach to creating Allied’s beers. “When I’m developing a recipe for something, like the sour, I try to layer the flavors,” Efaw said, referencing the mango coconut habanero sour. The first taste is mango, followed by coconut, and finishing with habanero. “On your palate, you’ll get all three of those flavors layered.”
The fall is a busy time for the brewery due to its proximity to the farm market. The most popular seasonal offering is the cider donut beer, the inspiration taken from the apple orchard. Efaw adds oats, biscuit malts, and some vanilla and cinnamon to give it an apple cider donut flavor. Another crowd favorite is the pumpkin ale, served with a cinnamon sugar rim if requested.
“I look for a rollercoaster through your palate when you’re sipping,” Efaw said, giving the Ms. Cherry Bomb Wheat beer made with New York cherries as an example. “You’re getting that kind of tartness and that nice cherry flavor with that sweet kind of finish that comes with a little bit of dark cherry. You get a couple of different experiences sipping that beer on your palate.”
Efaw takes the same approach with the hard ciders that Allied offers under the brand “Crispin Lane.” The couple purchased part of the orchard and built a house there. Allied crafts all the hard ciders using apples from their own property sweetened with fruit juice, no sugar added. Efaw flavors the tropical mimosa hard cider with orange passion fruit and coconut, and he layers mango and peach for another hard cider offering.
Accompanying the beer and cider is a robust menu of shareable plates with a decidedly ethnic twist including Buffalo chicken tacos, Bavarian pretzel sticks, popcorn chicken served over popcorn—a favorite with the kids, chicken-lemongrass potstickers, and three varieties of flatbreads. The Korean sticky ribs are a customer favorite, Efaw said.
Allied hosts some special events, such as the sell-out Father’s Day BBQ with meat that Efaw smokes on site. On September 13 to 15, the brewery is hosting its “Half Way to St. Patrick’s Day Event with a specialty menu of Irish food and green beer. Three bands: Orphans of Wally, Irish Don Kelly, and Hair of the Dog will play that weekend. The following weekend, Allied puts on “Rocktoberfest,” featuring German cuisine and live music from Muscle Shoals, Tommy V Live and Shades of Grey.
The brewery presents “fire pit Fridays” as well as live music on some Sundays in the summer. Musicians perform on a stage in the beer garden. In the fall, Allied’s busiest season, there is live music on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
When the mercury drops at the end of November, Allied extends its season with PVC igloos furnished with electric fireplaces. At the end of December, the brewery closes until the end of April when it reopens for another season.
Jon Holden of Callicoon, Sullivan County, New York rode in on his Ducati Monster on that late spring day for a beer and a bite to eat. He uses the Capital Craft Beverage Trail passport and the New York State Craft Beer app as a way of exploring the state. “Beer and bikes—it’s always fun!” he said, noting that the trip took him about two hours. “Their beer selection is varied, but each beer in its type is very good,” said Holden, who had visited one previous time. “And you can’t beat the scenery and the backdrop here.” He also enjoys Allied’s beer garden, friendly staff and pro-military bent. “That’s a cool thing nowadays.”
Check out the brews and views at Allied Brewing Company, 6654 Dunnsville Rd., Altamont, www.alliedbrewingcompany.com, @alliedbrewing
