From opera house to craft brew house: Crossroads Brewing in Athens, New York
CrushBrew Editorial · Beer · 6 min read
Key Takeaways
Location — Crossroads occupies the former Brooks Opera House, built in 1893, in the village of Athens, New York, on the Hudson River north of Catskill.
Owners — Ken Landin and Janine Bennett founded the brewery after spending a year renovating the historic building.
Head Brewer — Hutch Kugeman, the brewery’s founding brewer, oversees production and joined in 2010.
The Taps — Ten rotating taps pour five regular beers and five seasonals, led by the Outrage India Pale Ale.
Food & Setting — Chef Paul Parillo’s kitchen serves farm-fresh Hudson Valley fare, and diners can watch the seven brewing tanks from the restaurant floor.
In This Article
The Brewery
What is Crossroads Brewing in Athens, New York?
Crossroads Brewing is a working microbrewery and brewpub built inside the former Brooks Opera House, a brick landmark from 1893 in the village of Athens, New York. The village sits on the Hudson River just north of Catskill. Ken Landin and Janine Bennett bought the building when it had fallen into disrepair and spent a year restoring it before the first beer was poured.
What started as a seven-barrel brewhouse and a small tasting room grew into a full brewery with an adjoining pub and restaurant. The kitchen serves farm-fresh food sourced from Hudson Valley farms, and the dining room looks straight onto the seven brewing tanks, so a guest can watch a batch in progress over dinner.
Brewpub
A brewpub is a brewery that sells its beer on-site through an attached pub or restaurant. At Crossroads, the seven-barrel brewhouse and the pub that pours its ten taps share one building, so diners can see the brewing tanks while they eat.
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On Tap
What beers are on tap at Crossroads Brewing?
Crossroads keeps ten taps rotating at any time: five regulars that are always pouring and five seasonal beers that change through the year. Head brewer Hutch Kugeman oversees the lineup, and the regular five are built to cover a range of styles, from a hop-forward IPA to a roasted stout.
Always On Tap
| Beer | Style | Tasting Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Outrage India Pale Ale | IPA | The brewery’s most popular ale; assertive hops with citrus, spice, and earthy aromatics. |
| Black Rock Stout | Stout | A balance of roasted barley and chocolate malt. |
| Brady’s Bay Cream Ale | Cream Ale | Creamy, with a touch of sweetness and slight fruitiness. |
| Brick Row Red Ale | Red Ale | Rich malt with notes of nuttiness, caramel, biscuit, and bread. |
| Lighthouse American Wheat | American Wheat | Light-bodied with a crisp finish. |
The seasonal slots are where the brewery experiments. Past rotations have run from a Belgian-style wheat beer to a tropical saison and a lighter, lower-alcohol IPA, and Kugeman brewed a golden ale to mark the village of Athens’ bicentennial.
Seasonal Rotation
| Beer | Style | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Belgian Wit | Witbier | Hints of orange, coriander, and chamomile. |
| Maggie’s Farm Saison | Saison | Bright, tropical ale brewed with Belgian yeast; bronze medal, 2013 Great American Beer Festival. |
| Session IPA | Session IPA | A lighter pour with a lower alcohol content. |
| Bicentennial Golden Ale | Golden Ale | Brewed to mark the village of Athens’ bicentennial. |
Session IPA
A session IPA keeps the hop character of an India pale ale but is brewed at a lower alcohol content, producing a lighter, more drinkable beer than a standard IPA.
Saison
A saison is an ale fermented with Belgian yeast, which gives the beer bright, fruit-forward, and tropical character. Crossroads brews this style as its Maggie’s Farm Saison.
Kugeman brews with hops sourced internationally, drawing on varieties from Australia, Germany, and Belgium. Local hops are a harder story. Between Prohibition and the cold Northeast climate, hop growing in New York State went virtually extinct for decades, though Cornell University has been running trials aimed at bringing the crop back to the state.
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The Brewer
Who is Crossroads head brewer Hutch Kugeman?
Hutch Kugeman came to Crossroads the way a lot of head brewers do, by starting at his own stove. After graduating from the University of Virginia, he headed west to Portland, Oregon, where he turned a hobby into a profession under Brewmaster Darron Welch at The Pelican Pub & Brewery.
His beers started collecting awards within a few months of his arrival in Athens. Kugeman has talked about wanting to run more multi-course beer dinners, where a full menu is built course by course around what he has on tap.
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From The Kitchen
What food does Crossroads Brewing serve?
The kitchen leans on the Hudson Valley. Chef Paul Parillo builds a menu of classic American pub fare around produce, meat, and ingredients sourced from local farms, and he works with Kugeman to pair plates with the beer rather than treat the two as separate menus.
The food menu is seasonal and turns over every three months, with a weekly pairing special that matches a dish to one of the taps. Diners eat in view of the brewhouse, the seven tanks visible from the restaurant floor.
At the time of the original article, the beer traveled only as far as draft accounts across the Hudson Valley, from Albany down to Poughkeepsie, which made the Athens brewpub the one reliable place to drink the whole range.
Frequently Asked Questions About Crossroads Brewing
📋 Crossroads Brewing at a Glance
Key facts about the Athens brewpub, its beer program, and its kitchen.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Location | Village of Athens, New York, on the Hudson River north of Catskill. |
| Building | The former Brooks Opera House, built in 1893. |
| Owners | Ken Landin and Janine Bennett. |
| Head Brewer | Hutch Kugeman, founding brewer (joined 2010). |
| Brewhouse | Seven-barrel system. |
| Taps | Ten rotating taps: five regular, five seasonal. |
| Signature Beer | Outrage India Pale Ale, the brewery’s most popular ale. |
| Kitchen | Chef Paul Parillo; farm-fresh, locally sourced Hudson Valley fare. |
| Menu | Seasonal, changing every three months, with a weekly beer pairing special. |
| Distribution | Draft only, across the Hudson Valley from Albany to Poughkeepsie (at time of original article). |
