-The Country Inn (www.krumville.com; 1380 County Road 2, Krumville; 845-657-8956): With a way-out-of-the-way location, an unassuming building, a decent jukebox, 12 beers on tap, and about 500 different bottled beers to choose from, this hideaway is often referred to as "beer camp." "You go in thinking there would be a lot of [ordinary beer], but everybody in there is drinking something interesting," says de Piro. "If you get lost going there, as I did, just stop at somebody's driveway, as I did, and say, 'Hey, where's the Country Inn?' "

Will all of these spots make the Empire State Brewery Trail list? They had better. If not, Governor Pataki and company have some explaining to do.

FOR THE RECORD,
wine recently surpassed beer as America's alcoholic drink of choice, and sales of the country's big beer brands (Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Coors) have been flat for years. The one brewing bright spot and growing segment of the market has been the craft brewery: The United States boasts 800 microbreweries, brewpubs, and regional specialty breweries; in 1976, there were only a few. Craft brewers account for less than nine percent of the beer market, but this segment has grown every year for the last 35 years, according to the Brewers Association.

"For people who know beer, America is probably the best beer country in the world right now because of the variety of people brewing and the amount of styles being brewed well," says Mike Saxton, founder and president of beertrips.com, a travel company that organizes outings for small groups. "We're not the big, yellow brewers we've always been." Saxton cites New York's breweries in particular as stereotype busters and predicts the day will come when his beer travels will include many of them on the itinerary. "Someday there will be a New York State beer bus, or something like that, and we'll follow the tourist route and stay in cool little towns," he says.