Partners Egon Linzenberg and Dan Scott founded the Ramapo Valley Brewery in 2000. It opened in Suffern, NY, at the site of the defunct Mountain Valley Brewery, who produced the erstwhile Ruffian brand of beers.

After three years as a brewpub and entertainment venue, the partners moved the brewing operations to a far more spacious facility a mile up the road in Hillburn, NY. The expansion allows them to scale up production from their former potential of approximately 1000 bbls to 3700 bbls annually.

Head brewer John Calen, and assistant brewer Jeff Findley both come from technical backgrounds (as so many in this industry do). Calen, who trained under Dr. Keith Thomas at Brewlab in England, has brewed professionally since 1996 and has been with RVB since 2003. Findley is a modern renaissance man, tackling jobs as diverse as brewing, plumbing and operating a forklift. He joined the team in 2004.

The brewery's gluten-free beer has been especially popular. Orders come in from all over the USA. As sales increase, Ramapo is poised to become a major regional brewery in the not-so-distant future.

I picked up a bottle of their Trail Quencer IPA at a local beer emporium and found it to be quite tasty. This is a strong, dark, hoppy, kosher IPA with subtle hints of overripe plumb and citrus with, perhaps, caramel or brown sugar that downplay the often alcoholic overtones of IPAs.

The label on the bottle suggests a small, enthusiast brewery. However, the website betrays the image and the taste of the beer with a funky, musical flash website and a photo of a CEO in a suit. It's an odd image for an industry that, as a whole, seeks to brand itself as grassroots and anti-corporate.

Trail Quencher IPA @ RateBeer
Celiacs Guide to Gluten Free Beer
CeliacChicks: Ramapo Valley Brewery