Industrial Arts’ domed taproom off Route 28 | Photos courtesy of Jeff O’Neil
The Rockland County brewery announces a third location near Kingston and completes development on its Beacon brewing site.
There truly is no place like the Hudson Valley for sipping a cold beer.
Local spots continuously push the envelope for what a brewery can be. Hip gastropubs cook up delicious fare, farm breweries craft ales with local terroir, and home brewers launch new concepts from historic buildings. One Hudson Valley mainstay has landed somewhere decidedly futuristic.
For Industrial Arts Brewery’s third location, it has chosen a striking domed taproom in the Catskills. A stroke of perfect synergy between branding and architecture, the Route 28 structure matches the geometric patterns found on every Wrench series beer.
“Of course we have hexagons in our graphic design, but even more than that for me, there’s now a continuity between all of our sites,” Industrial Arts founder Jeff O’Neil says. “It made sense that our original site is in a 200-year-old factory, our newer site in Beacon is in a modern factory, and then this place sort of came from the future.”
As beer fans travel up and down the Hudson River to each iteration of Industrial Arts, they also travel through time in architectural style. Industrial Arts spreads its reach from its original Garnerville locale all the way up to Kingston’s domed taproom, with all sites approximately 40 minutes apart from one another.
“My family and I spent a month out in the Catskills, and we love it out there and I drove past this site, I don’t know, maybe 40 times. And it finally got to be too obvious to ignore what a great high-visibility high-traffic location that is. It can be a great sort of de facto visitor center for folks heading out into the mountains on Route 28,” O’Neil explains.
These alien-esque domes were originally designed for a garden supply and natural food store. When that fell through, O’Neil discovered the site’s potential as a domed taproom. Firstly, its location is perfect for hikers seeking refreshing sips. Secondly, its layout fosters an engaging experience for visitors. One of the domes is completely enclosed in wood paneling, so Industrial Arts bartenders will serve pours from 12 to 15 beers on this end. Finally, in the glass greenhouse dome, patrons will enjoy a four-season beer garden with tons of natural light.
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O’Neil hopes to open the domed taproom’s doors in time for Industrial Arts’ five-year anniversary this summer. Construction is nearly complete as the team converts the intended retail space into a full-blown bar. In addition, Industrial Arts Kingston will partner with Ulster County businesses for food truck events. Inside, expect meat and cheese boards, fresh pickles, and other small plates.
The domed taproom may eventually host live music and other events that engage the greater community. Above all, this destination is a place to fuel up on pub fare and sample the entire IA lineup. What would surely be George Jetson’s favorite spot for a hazy NEIPA is purely a “fun play” for the team at Industrial Arts. The entire brewing and manufacturing operation will remain in Garnerville and Beacon.
In fact, most of the brewing is shifting to the Beacon location, since three years of work on it culminated in a state-of-the-art German brewhouse. Notably, production of the flagship Wrench IPA moves inside this 70,000 sq ft facility. O’Neil emphasizes the importance of the structure’s reduced carbon footprint and eco-friendly efficiency.
“For example, we’re recapturing heat from the brewing process to keep the building warm. We’re making our own nitrogen onsite and doing a lot of other really cool, sort of passive green engineering,” he says.
At this Dutchess County site, O’Neil’s team will produce five times the capabilities of the original site. Even so, the original Garnerville home for Industrial Arts isn’t going anywhere. Moreover, Beacon’s prominence allows the first site to craft inventive small-batch brews. O’Neil envisions an “R&D” operation of one-off esoteric beers, ciders, and mixed-fermentation brews in Garnerville.
Overall, his ultimate goal is representing the Hudson Valley beer scene. The domed taproom’s four-season approach creates a place to cool down for hikers and a cozy spot to warm up for skiers. Certainly, anyone heading north into the Catskills will spot the one-of-a-kind beer garden. O’Neil hopes this will bring a greater attention to the region’s thriving craft beverage reputation.
“In a lot of great ways we’re really active in the community. We want to be that flagship brand that represents the culture of beer in the Hudson Valley to the world,” O’Neil says.
