Well I'm not so impressed by my fellow Yelpers and beer drinkers right now. How is it possible a…read morenew brewery goes unreviewed this long? Yeah I know we're still living in the Covid times, but grab that mask, squeeze on some sanitizer, and social distance your way over to Tradewinds Brewing in Riverhead. I did just that with my female counterpart a little more than a month ago.
And that's why I'm flabbergasted! Tradewinds still has no posted reviews and that's a shame (because they're a pretty respectable brewery). Maybe it's the fact that many might not even realize that in a short chunk of time, Tradewinds morphed into existence from Crooked Ladder Brewing. It's the same spot and the same look, style, and feel, but don't expect the same beers.
Well, don't expect the same employees either. I say that in a positive manner because when we strolled in the guy behind the bar was amazingly nice. Without asking, he explained everything on tap and even offered to open up a can of something not available via draft. The friendly interaction really set the mood for our brief time there, even if we were seated out on West Main Street at one of the tables setup along the sidewalk.
Okay, beer time. No flights were available from what I gathered (at least at that time) plus I was the driver of the day so I went with just one pint. A few IPAs, a light lager, a hefeweizen, smoked maple stout, and one other (we'll get to him in a second) made up the menu. From the aforementioned employee's description of the beers, I went for HopShip, a New England style IPA with just enough subtle hoppy bite to work well on the palate and hit the proverbial spot on a warm September day.
Honestly I might've skipped the review (perhaps like others?) if I had stopped at just this pint, but I did actually come with other drinkable thoughts in mind...that last beer I left out was actually Tradewinds' own pumpkin ale by the name of Incarnation. Instead of trying it there, I took the chance (which I don't normally don't) and bout a reasonably-priced four pack of this brew. Cans to go is always a plus, by the way. The next night, despite my own chagrin of saying I wouldn't drink anything pumpkin related until after Labor Day (it was two days prior), I popped a can and poured one out into a glass. Maybe my expectations were super high, but Incarnation didn't entirely hold the embodiment (pun intended) of a pumpkin beer I hoped for. Better than many basic ones, but not of the upper gourd echelon. I still have a few cans remaining to see if that changes. Time will tell.
Overall, if I take the Untapped scores of the two beers I tried and average them out, I'd get a total that's close to four, and so that seems about right for Tradewinds on star total. I mean they have a lot of promise to be something spectacular. With a great location in the heart of Riverhead, super friendly staff, and a handful of beers that seem like they're trending in a decent direction, I'd say five stars is certainly (eventually) possible. Hopefully the word gets out (at least after this review) because I want to see someone else type up their opinion. Let's go Yelp fam. Drink up!