Photo by Eileen Mellon
Background: At Tabol Brewing, located at 704 Dawn St., wood rules the game: Puncheons and foeders fill the space, while stainless-steel vats are absent. When soccer fans Nic Caudle and Travis Dise started talking over pints while watching a game, the duo realized their commonalities extended beyond sports — both were home brewers. Now they use local yeasts and forage ingredients from their backyards in Battery Park and Fulton to create a lineup of funky, rustic and tart small-batch brews. Side note: When visiting, check out the beautifully designed bathrooms, something I never thought I would say about a brewery.
Notable Sip: The majority of offerings at Tabol, appropriately, are “table beers” — typically around 4 or 5 percent ABV. Using their house base beer, they age it on different fruits to create the refreshing Fructoj series, easy drinkers that are ripe for spring and summertime sips on Tabol’s hefty deck.
Poured and Paired: With a rotating lineup of food trucks making appearances, choices fluctuate. If you’re taking a bottle home, make a pit stop at your local barbecue joint for some ribs or brisket — Tabol’s Fructoj brews are refreshing, light and effervescent palate cleansers to balance out all that ’cue.
