Hudson: Craft Beer Destination

In a footnote on page 159 of History of Columbia County, New York (1878), Franklin Ellis reports: 

Brewing was also, and has continued to this day, a successful industry in Hudson. The first brewer here was Benjamin Faulkins, an Englishman, whose establishment was near Titus Morgan's ship-yard. Soon after, there came "David Coope, Brewer of Porter, Ale, and Beer, Brew-House near the Market." Another of the early brewers was Auchmoody, whose establishment was on Cherry alley, between Fourth and Fifth streets.

Through successive ownerships, Benjamin Faulkins' brewery, Hudson's first, established in 1786, eventually became C. H. Evans & Co. in 1878, and so it continued until Prohibition brought about its demise.   

Today, Hudson is fast returning to its glory days of brewing. Hudson Brewing Company, which claims the distinction of being Hudson's first brewery since Prohibition, was founded in 2015. Six years later, three more craft breweries are in various stages of development. Hudson Brewing Company is located down by the waterfront, near Basilica Hudson, in the building now known as The Warehouse. The new breweries will be in what might be called Hudson's "East End." 

Upper Depot Brewing Company, located in the restored Hudson Upper Depot on State Street just above Seventh, a building owned by the Galvan Foundation, after which Galvan has named an entire neighborhood, is expected to open any day now.

In February, Galvan announced that another brewery, Return Brewing, would be opening in the remnant of the Gifford Foundry building at 724 Columbia Street, another building owned by Galvan. It turns out, Return Brewing will only be occupying a portion of that building--the portion right across State Street from Hudson Upper Depot.

The Planning Board began its review of the plans for converting this space into a brewery and restaurant on September 14 and is expected to hold a public hearing on the project on Thursday, October 14. This past Friday, the Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to grant a certificate of appropriateness to the project.

Plans for a third brewery proposed for the building shown below on upper Union Street have been approved by both the Planning Board and the Historic Preservation Commission. 

This brewery is being proposed by the same people who originally intended to establish a brewery at 735 Columbia Street, the former TJ Auto Service Center, but reportedly abandoned the plan because of the extensive remediation that would be required for the adaptive reuse of the former auto garage.

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