Christine: I'm Christine Dempsey.
Pete: I'm Peter Zayac
Christine: And this is Hops Along, where Pete and I try out craft brews from the Southern Tier.
Pete: We've got some places we like to visit on a regular basis that are close to our homes, but we're open to your suggestions.
Christine: Recently, we visited the Owego Brewing Company in downtown Owego. This is a fairly new nano brewery.
Pete: A nano brewery is one that produces less than 15,000 barrels a year, so it's still a lot of beer. We went and checked out their rooftop deck. It's partially covered, which is good, because it started raining when we got there, so it was really nice.
Christine: One of the things I really liked about the selection that Owego Brewing Company has is that they all had a low ABV percentage.
Pete: Everything was under 6%
Christine: Lately, I've been leaning towards Wheat Ale, as the weather gets warmer. The first thing on the menu was a Raspberry Wheat, so I had to try that one. First of all, on the nose, you get those raspberries right away. I shoved my glass in front of Pete's nose, like “You’ve got to smell this.” When I poured the beer, I thought there would be a red highlight to it, but there wasn't. It was a darker straw color, and it was unfiltered. There was not an overabundance of sweetness, but you definitely got the raspberry flavor in that. And it came in at 5.2%.
Pete: That was one of the great things with everything being low ABV. I started with the Misty Morning IPA and it came in at 4.8%, which, for an IPA, was great. It was light and refreshing, but still had that hazy look and the punch of hops that you really expect from an IPA. It made me think about days out at the lake, you know, nice warm sun. That's a beer that I would just love to enjoy out on the boat, kind of things on a really good summer day. I really enjoyed that they had a wide range of styles too.
Christine: Owego Brewing Company is located at 187 Main Street in Downtown Owego. They host an Open Air Jam night on the rooftop on Wednesdays, a game night on Thursdays (Pete and I were there on a Thursday, but we did not play). And also a Five Flight night on Fridays, their flights are usually four beers. You can get five on a Friday night, and they are also open on weekends.
Pete: Next time we go, I'm taking you up on Jenga. And don't forget to walk up on the rooftop, even if it's raining. It was a great spot.