The Country Inn

February 5, 2008
This place is amazing. For one, the fact that you never know where to find it, even if you have there before. I mean its so far in the woods that I say to myself, should I turn around, did I miss it? Really cool looking place for home cooked food. The menu changes almost weekly but definitely seasonally. Everything I have tried has been great and the hand cut fries are delicious with the malt vineger. I love the fact that you can get Albany Pump Station Beer here. One of only two contracts that serve it other than CH Evens in Albany. Great tap and bottle selection and the bottle list is on the wall in a really cool format. Old labels or cartons create this wall of beer. Its Rumored that they have some Westy’s hiding too but I would call if you plan on going just for that. You would not be disapointed if you ended up at this place. The staff, owner, and people are all very friendly.

January 9, 2007
This may be the best bar in the world. Warm, dark and cozy, in the no-man’s land between kingston, woodstock and new paltz deep in the woods. There are around 500 beers in bottles, including some belgian classics, and always 11 beers on tap including chimay, and no bud! The food is great, leaning toward steak, duck and cassoulet, with a great burger and at least one vegeterian item daily, cooked by a cia-trained chef. (that’s culinary institue of america). everything is fresh and local. ps: do yourself a favor. Sit at the bar, order a chimay on tap, and ask peter, the owner/bartender, for a shot of the frozen horseradish vodka. Take a sip of each, put a few dollars in the jukebox, play the band, warren zevon and the dead, turn around and look at the fire, and tell me where there’s a better bar.

October 16, 2005
The selection might be a little overrated. I mean, you’d expect they would have the incredible rarities having almost no one visiting them, but I don’t think you will find anything that wasn’t in NY state bottle stores further than 1-2 yr ago. It is still more than remarkable for such a rural, middle of nowhere place, but not necessarily worth making a huge detour for. Just an excellent selection with far beyond average food, good taste of music and an all-around would be very popular anywhere else feeling, but remaining extremely cozy, authentic and intriguing where it is. I’d estimate 250 beers.

October 11, 2005 [ Updated October 12, 2005 ]
This place defines "in the middle of nowhere". In deep country/forest west of New Paltz, NY. A cozy and candle-lit restaurant/bar which happens to have excellent food (rare in the US in my experience) and an incredible beer list which varies in size throughout the year. This list is showcased on the wall in the dining room, a wall you will stare at for many minutes every time you want to order something. We were 5 beer travellers, and we were able to find new beers to discover rather easily, which says a lot about the diversity of the menu. And if we had wanted to stick to classics, we could easily have had Orvals, Rocheforts, De Dolles, Duponts, North Coasts, Brooklyns, etc. A gem lost in the countryside, run by a passionate owner. It is so far off into the woods that one would think it would be impossible to keep this place going at this level of quality, but apparently they pull it off. Incredible. And they had 2 beers from CH Evans Albany Pump Station brewpub on tap, Rogue Chocolate Stout, Chimay Triple, and 8-9 others. Eat there if you can, dinner starts at 4pm, but I don’t recall if there is a food menu available before that. The chef is doing great things here, and it’s not that expensive. A true find.