ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

After making the rounds in Tennessee for a few days, returned to Asheville, visiting an old school brewery and two new ones, August ’08.

Hidden in the warehouse-laden River Arts District at an old brick building down stairs, THE WEDGE may look dank and rustic, but its beers are exquisitely crafted. Opened June ’08, this small tasting room with eight brew tanks and an outdoor porch served six different libations this evening.

I tried the buttery orange-peeled, lemon-candied, coriander-spiced, chamomile-tinged, floral-hopped, tartly-embittered…

LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK

Perched between Black Forest Brew Haus (a half-hour east) and Southampton Publick House (an hour west) in the mall-filled village of Lake Grove, JOHN HARVARD’S BREW HOUSE is an affiliate Northeast brewpub with same-named locations in Connecticut and Massachusetts (plus Providence, Rhode Island’s Union Station Brewery). Originally opened 1997, this spacious freestanding Smith Haven Mall bar-restaurant (with flashy maroon awnings) greets customers at its bright yellow-painted middle entrance.

Visited August ’09, the commodious interior featured formal…

Simple pale-bodied session beer that’ll satisfy poorer American blue collar tastes. Sour corn-oiled turn-off picks up dry phenol hop bittering fortifying fragile barley-roasted wheat-cracked spine to minimal soapy finish. Oily diacetyl mouthfeel, putrid Scotch malting, green apple souring, and cooked vegetable tinge beat down satisfactory rice adjunct.

Famous San Francisco brewpub gets Cold Spring, Minnesota brewery to can its finest offering. Busy piney spruce swagger informs up-front pineapple-nectar sweetness, subsidiary apricot-peach-tangerine tang and tertiary cantaloupe-watermelon juiciness to creamy malt chocolate-y backdrop. Bitter grassy-hopped orange-peeled lemony grapefruit influence penetrates sly currant sway. Reserved hop profile may preclude hard-headed hop-heads, but the loss is truly theirs. Well integrated fruited malting and minor matchstick head nuance not far removed from Samuel Adams Boston Lager.

Dank-grained medium-bodied Czech pils with lemony hop fizz and floral-spiced Orange Blossom honey drift falls way short. Vacant crystal malt sweetness and inferior vegetal spill (asparagus-maize-carrot) sink it further into stylistic oblivion.

Worthy amber-hazed full body brings resinous piney-hopped grapefruit-orange rind bittering to sticky caramel malt sweetness swaying huge marzipan-almond imprint. Rum cake, pine nut, dark spice and floral illusions fill out rounded dry-fruited finish. A hop-head lover’s delight.

Resinous piney grapefruit opening counters resolute mocha malt sweetness, cinnamon-sugared apple-pear confluence, and peachy pineapple-melon tang. Peppery hop-spiced tingle allows floral rose pedal, jasmine, and daisy illusions to blossom alongside almond-pasted clove-allspice nuances.

Closer to a fruitful (less wood-dried) India Pale Ale, unpasteurized Zwickel-styled lager reaches beyond its meekly balanced German, Czech, and Polish pilsner confluence. Tongue-tingled hop-glistened piney citrus frontage picks up herbal hop-oiled bittering to engage lemony grapefruit-peeled sourness and unobtrusive apricot-apple-pear sweetness. Recessive tobacco, hay, and barnyard acridity inform grassy bottom.

Palest straw-hazed pearly-headed moderate body (bottled by nearby High Point Brewery) is supposed ‘twisted Belgian-styled wheat beer.’ Soft yellow-fruited summer appeal buttressed by musty lemongrass souring overriding earthen grassy-hopped barnyard, horse-blanket, and hay acridity. Raw-honeyed lemon pith midst lightly embitters peppery floral murk succumbed by lackluster white-breaded wheat spine.

Effective strawberry jam-like fruit ale (brewed by Melbourne Brothers and blended at Sam Smith’s mill) picks up extensive lemony watermelon tartness to candy apple-glazed finish. Sugary strawberry bubblegum mouthfeel reinforces sweet cantaloupe, apricot, and raspberry nuances, becoming slightly cloy as faintest oxidized acidity fades.

Excellent amber-cleared pink-highlighted fruit ale brewed at Melbourne Brothers (whose fine Apricot, Strawberry, and Cherry ales uniquely counter swanky grain-based British beers), then blended and bottled by Sam Smith. Less filling and alcoholic than ambitious kriek-styled New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red, its cherry pie pertinacity secures subsidiary candied apple, white grape and cranberry tartness. Cherry coughdrop, Jolly Rancher, Dr. Pepper and cherry syrup nuances fade in and out, providing a persuasive sweet ‘n sour lambic-like delectability.

Boozy (9.5% alcohol) toffee-hazed Scotch Ale brewed with maple syrup makes fine dessert beer. Smoky maple-glazed brown-sugared butterscotch center appropriates creamy caramel-chocolate malting for alcohol-burnt banana liqueur, burgundy, and brandy whir. Recessive cocoa-buttered raisin-plum illusions linger politely below.