LIVINGSTON MANOR, N.Y. — The suds are flying as a bitter battle brews between beermakers in this Catskills hamlet.
Livingston Manor has obtained ever-greater hordes of New York City residents over the previous few years — particularly since 2020, as urbanites fled the pandemic.
But the yuppie imbibers have bumbled into an old style, small-town brew-haha, gossiped about on the barber and at bars, full with alleged beer-trayals and backstabbing.
On one facet is Catskill Brewery, which opened in 2014, the place draft beers price simply $5 a pull in a comfortable taproom on Old Route 17, and a taco truck serves grub exterior.
On the opposite is Upward Brewing Co., a shiny new bar and restaurant situated on 120 hillside acres on Main Street simply exterior of town, the place a pint runs $7 and you’ll order $23 Argentinean steak.
Upward was launched in 2018 by two former Catskill Brewery guys: Dana Ball, 53, and David Walton, 63.
Ball mentioned he was lured to work at Catskill after years of expertise at Brooklyn Brewery, on the promise he’d get stock in the business as soon as it took off. But when it did, and he requested for the pledge in writing, Ball claims he obtained tossed like a foul keg. So the duo left.
Their new brewery “was named after the fact that they sh-t on both of us,” Ball advised The Post. “And the name comes from, it’s only ‘upward’ from here.”
The more-established Catskill, whose attain extends to a brand new Manhattan outpost with a branded beer backyard in Chelsea Market and its well-known angry-faced raccoon emblem, downplayed any unhealthy blood.
“We made a decision to go in a different direction,” mentioned Catskills Brewery companion Randy Lewis, 55. He mentioned Ball’s account of the stock spat was “inaccurate, but I don’t feel the need to correct the record.”
Lewis mentioned he and his companions meant for Catskill Brewery to be a “focal point” for vacationers. “Hipsters, millennials — how do we get them up to the Catskills to experience the outdoors?” he mentioned they requested themselves, earlier than selecting the concept of a brewery.
“The Manor” can be a nationally-known fly-fishing mecca, however locals say the youngish newcomers are extra in tying one on than tying a fly.
“More breweries is better than less,” Lewis insisted. “No one gains anything by a public spat in a paper five years after the fact. Dana has spent his life in the beer business … He’s always wanted his own brewery, and that was probably at the core of our disagreement. He has one now, and they’re doing a great job. So are we.”
“Upward and us, we’re different. We’re very much different facilities,” Lewis mentioned.
“We don’t like the comparison thing, either,” Walton mentioned. “We think the fact that we do everything, from designing and constructing the building and property, to brewing the beer, to delivering the beer, and working the taproom puts us on different level than most breweries.”
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