I was recently in Horseheads to check out Twin Tiers Comic Con and decided that after walking around seeing all the cool art and such, I needed a pint. I made my way to Rekt Brewing Company and Taphouse. While new to the area, opening during Covid, they have established a following that has allowed them to be a recognizable name.
Rekt brews a few of their own beers. I started with one of these, Lucid Dreams, a double dry hopped, all citra IPA that comes in at 6.5% ABV. The choice of all citra hops is interesting to me. They don’t bring out the punch or bitter flavors that I normally favor with an IPA, and a dry hopped one I would expect a bit more up-front hoppiness. Instead you get something almost sweet, the citrus notes coming through so much this could almost be branded a “Candy IPA” (I’ll trademark that now!).
Although Rekt doesn’t brew many beers, they have one of the best guest tap lists I’ve seen in the area, from some of the best breweries around. So many that I struggled to choose my third beer (spoilers, I tried 3).
But before that, my second beer I chose to try the other Rekt offering on the menu, Vanilla Cream Ale (5.1%). I confess I’m not normally a Cream Ale drinke; it took me a while to come around to them. But this is one that I could come around on more often. Pouring light amber and translucent, the vanilla doesn’t come across on the nose but does on the tongue. Well balanced and properly carbonated, maybe I need some more cream ales in my life.
To end, I had to choose from the nicely curated list of guest taps, and while I could choose from some that are outside the WSKG coverage area that I love (Trillium in Boston, Mortalis in Rochester for example) I had to keep it in the region with Aurora Brewing’s Freshest Fresh 2 Death NEIPA (6.8%). I love Aurora brewing and they always impress me and make me want to nerd out on beer. This one is another great brew from them, with a soft mouthfeel, the beer feels pillowy as I drink it (this comes down to water chemistry) and it’s so smooth. More bittering hops than Lucid Dreams, and it’s a great night cap for a hop lover like myself.
Overall, Rekt was a great stop. They have live music often and good food, I recommend it for someone looking to try some great curated beers.