Two Buttons Deep Visits Hank

A really fun interview with Taylor and Jack from Two Buttons Deep

Hank Partners Up with Wolf Hollow

You might remember from one of our previous blog posts that we found our inspiration for Hank Hudson through the guys at Wolf Hollow Brewing Company. We’ve had such a great time learning from them about the art of the brew that we decided to collaborate on a new beer together. To celebrate this collaboration, we’ll be hosting an event at our brewery.

Not Your Father’s (Day) Cream Ale Party will celebrate the release of our collaborative brew with Wolf Hollow, a cream ale called Hollow Hank. At this event we’ll have staff from both breweries working and mingling with guests at the event and live music from Mark Pierre and Scott Chamberlin. This family friendly celebration will feature specials and giveaways, the cornhole boards will be out and we will be serving up some delicious food specials.

You’ll be even more stoked to find out that the event will be happening twice! Once at Hank Hudson and again at Wolf Hollow. Here are the details for both events:

Hollow Hank Release Party

Hank Hudson Brewing Company

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

5 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Hank Hollow Release Party

Wolf Hollow Brewing Company

Thursday, June 13, 2019

4 p.m. – 8 p.m.

We’re excited about this local collaboration and we hope to see you at both events! As always, if you have any questions give us a call at (518) 664-1578. Cheers!

Savor the Spring Flavors

We are just as excited as you are about the snow finally melting off the course and for the temperatures to be heating up after what felt like the longest winter on-record. To help put you in the spring mood and get your spirits up, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite spring brews that always go well with some sunshine and maybe a round of golf at the Fairways. Grab your sunglasses and get your golf clubs ready because the outdoor season is upon us and we are ready for some warm weather fun!

• Leggett Lager - this straight forward and enjoyable malt will heighten your spirits and help you unwind after a day in the sun. It’s light and crisp flavor will quench your thirst and make your evening on our patio overlooking the course unforgettable.

• Inside Job Pils - get this one while it lasts! Made with Pilsen, White Wheat and Aromatic Malts, its light flavor will transport you to a relaxed state of mind- kind of like the one we’re in all summer long!

• Red, Wheat and Blue - best enjoyed with an orange slice, this American wheat ale is made with Willamette, cascade and lemondrop hops and remind you to take in every ounce of the warm weather and bask in the sun.

• Wheelhouse Blonde Ale - a brew so light and crisp, we can almost taste the subtle orange undertones now!

• Man From Nantucket- this New England IPA is made with a variety of hops that keep it light and tasteful, always reminding us of the breezy beaches off of New England’s coast.

If this list hasn’t made your mouth water yet, come by the brewery any Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday and experience these brews for yourself, we’re always adding to menu and look forward to adding more summer flavors soon. Stop in and grab a seat on the porch because the outdoor season is upon us and we are ready!

Guiding A Group Through Great Taste

As teachers, we know that one of the best ways to teach someone something is through hands-on experience. As brewers, we want people to learn our craft and understand the passion we have that goes into creating the perfect tasting beer. With both of these in mind, we are introducing a fun, private event for you and group of your colleagues, friends, family- anyone really, to participate in at Hank Hudson.

Our Beer Dinners begin with you and your group being introduced to the equipment (with a full glass of beer in your hand no doubt.) We’ll tell you about what goes into the beer-making process, and then we open the floor up to your group. If you’ve ever had any questions about making beer, now is the time to ask us! We’ll tell you some funny stories we’ve encountered along the way of becoming craft brewers and tell you about our interesting experiences thus far in the industry.

After you learn a little more about the process, we invite you to continue relaxing and enjoy some dinner expertly paired with some Hank Hudson brews. You’ll feel like a genuine beer connoisseur after learning about the beer making process and have a new understanding for why certain beers pair better with certain foods.

If this sounds like something you and a group of your pals would be excited in doing, we are taking reservations now. For any questions you may have about this or to make your group’s reservation, give us a call at (518) 664-1578.

Hank’s Inspiration

They say inspiration comes in many forms, and the inspiration behind our brewery is pretty serendipitous. As some of you may know, we were members of a stock investment club (“beer drinking and chicken wing eating club” according to our wives) that was beginning to lose its luster.  At the same time Scotia-Glenville High School was searching for a new principal.  Little did we know how much our next principal would influence and inspire us.

Pete Bednarek, the lucky applicant to emerge as Principal of SGHS, is the co-founder of Wolf Hollow Brewing Company along with Jordan White, located in West Glenville. As Pete was learning the ropes of how to get a craft brewery off the ground we knew it was something we wanted to pursue as well.  What the heck?  We had all that hard-earned stock club money just sitting around doing nothing!  A brewery sounds like a perfect way to spend it!

Pete and Jordan encouraged us to take the leap and start brewing.  We then went back to school ourselves, enrolled in the inaugural craft brewing class at SUNY Schenectady County Community College, and started to brew right here in the basement of the Fairways of Halfmoon. And now look at us! We have a great deal of respect for the whole team at Wolf Hollow, love the vibe of the brewery and of course love their beer!

Wolf Hollow and Hank Hudson are working hard to make the capital district craft beer scene all that it can be. We are currently featuring some Wolf Hollow brews on our guest taps, so make sure to stop in and give their brews a try.

Hank’s Way of Keeping Warm

New Tap Room Teaser Menu now available!

Even though the temperature outside is getting pretty cold, it’s staying nice and cozy in our taproom with the addition of some great beer bites to our menu! What’s a better way to spend a cold winter night then enjoying a beer and some bites by our toasty fireplace?

These tap room teasers are the warm addition that will pair well with your brew and are easy to share with your friends and family when you stop by to grab a beer. Here at Hank Hudson, we think comfort food starts with one word: CHEESE. And our tap room teaser menu lives up to that. Some of the items on our new menu that are made with the good stuff include:

Fare La Scarpetta Fondue- Pizza cheese broiled in Pomodoro sauce served with delicious garlic bread

Hank’s Tots- Crispy Tater Tots topped with Hanks’ Beer Cheese Sauce with tasty toppings like bacon, scallions and avocado ranch

Warm Giant Pretzel- Served with our warm beer cheese

Make sure to stop in and try out these new additions and be sure let us know which ones are your favorites. In the mood for a full meal? We still got you covered with the Club House menu, still available in the tap room. We are always updating our menus with new bites and brews so make sure to stop in often to see what’s new!  Check out the full Tap Room Teaser menu below.

HANK HUDSON TAP ROOM TEASERS

BEEF EPANADAS WITH CILANTRO LIME SOUR CREAM

MAPLE CANDIED PEPPERED BACON WITH A HORSERADISH CREAM

SEASONAL GRILLED BRUSCHETTA TOPPED WITH STRACCIATELLA CHEESE, CALABRIAN CHILI HONEY, BASIL

WARM GIANT BELGIAN PRETZEL WITH HANK HUDSON BEER CHEESE

SPANISH ALBONDIGAS (MEATBALLS) WITH A SPICY TOMATO SAUCE TOPPED WITH MANCHEGO CHEESE

FARE LA SCARPETTA FONDUE PIZZA CHEESE BROILED IN POMODORO SAUCE SERVED W/ GARLIC BREAD

HANKS TOT’S CRISPY TATER TOTS TOPPED WITH HANK’S BEER CHEESE SAUCE, CHOPPED BACON,

AVOCADO RANCH, SCALLION

CRISPY BREADED PICKLE CHIPS WITH A GREEN GODDESS RANCH DIP

* Menu subject to change

Hoppy Holidays

We know finding the perfect gift for a loved one during the holidays can be challenging, and you can only buy so many pint glasses for the beer-lover in your life. So this holiday season; gift your special someone with something we guarantee they’ll love – a gift card to Hank Hudson.

Our gift cards can be purchased in any amount and can be used for both our brews and for a meal off our amazing menu! If you’re looking for an added bonus to gift your favorite beer-lover, consider buying them a growler that they fill with their favorite Hank Hudson brew.

If a gift card to our brewery wasn’t already a great idea, might we suggest you pair that with a gift card to the Fairways of Halfmoon? With our taproom located on the world-class golf course, we can’t think of a finer experience than a golf outing followed by a few beers and a great meal. We may be several months away from hitting the course but when the snow melts and the temperatures warm up, your loved one will thank you!  

In the meantime, we will be cranking out new brews, great food and fun events all winter long so stop in for your gift card today! And remember, “The best way to spread holiday cheer is at Hank Hudson with lots of beer!”

The Definition of Drink Local

We love a good brewing session, and it’s made even more special when we get to incorporate great, local ingredients.  We are very excited about our latest partnership that we collaborated with on creating a new brew, Dawson’s Delight Halfmoon IPA. The beer is made with hops from Rockin’ Hops, a farm located just about a mile down the road. The farm, which started back in 2012, has developed from a backyard production in Ballston Lake to adding a large second farm location in Mechanicville. Rockin’ Hops currently produces about a dozen different hop varieties that you can purchase in both pellet and whole leaf form. Dawson’s Delight Halfmoon IPA is currently in Hank’s Tank and will be hitting the taps in early December.

We know how much effort it takes to start a new business and owner of Rockin’ Hops, Eric Linendoll, has worked hard to build his dream, just like our team. Working with local businesses is something engrained in Hank Hudson Brewing’s spirit and we look forward to a great partnership with Rockin’ Hops.  We plan on announcing some more local collaborations in the near future so stay tuned!

Partnering with local businesses feels great, but tastes even better- come check out the Dawson’s Delight Halfmoon IPA when it hits taproom in December!

To learn more about Rockin’ Hops, check out their website.

What Beers to Pair with Your Thanksgiving Dinner, Start to Finish

Forget wine, introduce craft beer as the beverage of choice to pair with your Thanksgiving Day meal. But where do you start? With so many different dishes on the tables and endless craft beer styles and flavors to choose from, pulling together the perfect pairings can be overwhelming. For this food-centric holiday, here are a few of our suggestions to help you navigate a full day of eating and drinking great beer.

Pre-Dinner hors d'oeuvres

When your guests arrive, you want to make sure you are offering them something that won’t overwhelm their pallets. With a marathon day of eating and drinking ahead, you will want to consider offering something on the light in both flavor and alcohol. Consider something refreshing like our Red, Wheat and Blue. This beer is an American Wheat Ale made with Pilsner and Wheat Malt and bright, floral Willamette, Cascade and Lemondrop Hops. At our taproom we serve this pint with an orange slice to bring out the citrus flavor.

Dinner

With a typical Thanksgiving meal including dozens of dishes, it’s not easy to come up with one that will go with such a diverse plate of food. From the Turkey and stuffing to the mash potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce – what flavor is going to pair well with so many different dishes? Our recommendation is to go with a Brown Ale. This beer will give you a more roundness of flavor and the nutty nuances goes well with dishes like turkey and potatoes doused in gravy. Our Jersey Girl Brown Ale is new to the taps, highly drinkable and is made with Amber, Honey and C-120 Malts.

Not a fan of dark beers? A California Common or Steam Beer is also going to work well for the main course. This light, amber lager is a medium body variety with subtle malt flavors – allowing for all the great flavors on your plate to shine. Our Clifton Common brew is a great example of this classic style.

Dessert

As you may have guessed, a good stout is usually the way to go when it goes to dessert pairings. While I’m sure there is no skipping dessert in your mind on a holiday like Thanksgiving, Stouts would make a great standalone for dessert. As for the majority of us who are already looking forward to a nice slice of pumpkin pie, a stout pairs nicely with most sweet treats. Our Menace to Sobriety Stout features subtle chocolate flavors that is sure to pair well with any dessert brought to the table.

Whether you are hosting or visiting someone’s home this Thanksgiving, rather than bring a bottle of wine, opt for some craft brews.

We will soon be offering growler service so finger crossed we will have that available before Thanksgiving! Check back often for updates!

Local Teachers Tap Minds and Beers

Welcome to the Hank Hudson blog! We are Darren Van Heusen and Chris Crounse, Hank’s head brewers. We are educators with strong entrepreneurial spirits recently deciding it was time to tap into a new subject. After watching one of our academic colleagues successfully open and operate a brewery, we decided to take the plunge into making one of our favorite past times – good craft beer. But first, it was back to school for both of us. We were thrilled to enroll in the inaugural craft brewing class at SUNY Schenectady County Community College. Our 30 plus trips to the U.K. certainly helped us when it came to identifying good craft beer.

Before we knew it, we were brewing in the basement of the Fairways of Halfmoon Golf Course, selling our brews to parched golfers. Fast forward three years, and we’re on the brink of opening our new taproom – but don’t worry, we’re still just steps away from the golf course. We couldn’t let our Hank-loving golfers down. We hope that our passion for learning, teaching and relationships is reflected in every square inch of our new space. We want everyone to feel comfortable visiting us and asking questions about the beer-making process – and remember, no question is a bad question when it comes to craft beer. Oh, and we like to joke around, so get ready for some laughs before you step through our doors. We hope to see you soon - cheers!