How does your beer garden bloom?
Billy Joe’s Ribworks in Newburgh is the latest local eatery to get in on the beer garden craze. Opened this week, the cobblestone and grass garden overlooks the Hudson and is decorated with flower planters. The new craft beer menu features eight brews on tap, including the popular Cream Ale from the Newburgh Brewing Company right up the road. Fifteen bottled and canned options are also available.
But this begs the question: what exactly is a beer garden? (Or a biergarten, if you will.) If you have an outdoor seating space and serve beer, do you have a beer garden? Biergartens first originated in southern Germany and traditionally offered local beer and food served at large communal tables. But we’ll take whatever version of these open-air establishments we can find. In our August issue, we’ll profile several of our favorites — check back for the full list.
And if the words “beer garden” make you think about growing beer in the backyard, we’re going to cover that in an upcoming article, too. Yes, we know that beer doesn’t grow on trees (one can only wish), but a lot of local home brewers are growing ingredients to make beer. We’ll visit with some of them.
If you go…
Billy Joe’s Ribworks. 26 Front St., Newburgh. 845-565-1560; www.ribworks.com
Beer garden hours: Mon.-Weds. 5 p.m.-12 a.m., Thurs. 5 p.m.-1 a.m., Fri. 3 p.m.-2 a.m., Sat. 1 p.m.-2 a.m., Sun. 1 p.m.-11 p.m.
