Rangy world-traveling Australian-reared vocalist-guitarist Angus Andrew came to America in the ‘90s, settling in New York City to form the Liars with a few aspiring local musicians. Now residing in the Los Angeles area betwixt Venice Beach native, Aaron Hemphill (guitar-synths), and Highland Park resident, Julian Gross (drums), Angus recently moved out of his second floor apartment (atop a medical marijuana dispensary) after a few dangerous crimes informed the Liars latest undertaking, Sisterworld. Yet these post-punk revivalists have always relied…

Originally brewed in collaboration with Italy’s Birra Del Borgo, this busy adjunct pilsner may seem pricey but it’s enticingly original. Immediate candi-sugared yellow-fruited impetus receives herbaceous floridity above grain-roasted spunk. Bitter grapefruit rind tartness lingers through resinous black-peppered juniper slipstream countering honey-glazed peach-nectarine-pineapple tang. Wafting dark floral seduction accentuates herbal fruit-spiced theme.

Seattle’s Pillagers Pub offered satiny fresh-watered beechwood-smoked kiln-malted German-styled moderation. Fizzy hop-pepped lemon twist underscores evaporative salami-smoked cedar-charred maple-cindered soot. But ‘baron’ smoky resilience upended by sudsy soapiness as the bottle drains. Too soft and unassuming, but never offensive. Crisp, clean springtime session beer may be under-whelming for true traditionalists, but eminently approachable to others.

Celebrating sensational microbrewer’s milestone anniversary with bold hoppy pale ale, this voluptuous full body offers luxurious fruited sweetness, buttery caramel creaminess, and expansive floral potpourri. Lemony grapefruit-peeled apple-peach-pear tang usurps earthen herbage and grassy-hopped pining to cereal grained bottom. Crisp clean-fruited finish retains bright zest.

Slow-sipping wine-like Saison brings candi-sugared Belgian-styled fungi yeast funk to sudsy hop-fizzed foaming. Buttery Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc wining overrides cherry-pureed white grape snip and teasing lemon meringue sourness, reaching zesty grapefruit summit.

Robust English-styled Imperial Stout fermented by Belgian chocolate nibs retains dark-fruited cocoa-malted pungency. Creamy chocolate-smoked vanilla sweetness and fig-dried cherry-pureed black grape midst deepened by counteractive deep-grained hop-charred coffee-roasted bittering. Increasingly ascending anise adhesion gains prominence above dry burgundy whir. But sharp alcohol harshness and minor oxidation seeps into the mix, depleting tertiary chocolate bombe, chocolate éclair, espresso, and cola nut splendor.

Luxuriant 10.8% alcohol-lacquered golden-hazed German weiss nearly perfect as strong summer seasonal. Honey-soaked clove-spiced banana liqueur opening picks up bright lemon-candied blueberry perk for prickly floral-hopped white rum sedation and sweet butterscotch-vanilla creaminess. Banana taffy finish and tertiary pineapple-apricot fruiting knock back sharp alcohol whir.

ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

Perched up in the Lehigh Valley just a few miles from older sister brewpub, Bethlehem Brew Works, FEGLEY’S ALLENTOWN BREW WORKS opened 2007 in the center of an old industrial steel town still reeling from hard times but definitely on the rebound. A cavernous upscale midtown restaurant-brewery known for good food and fine beer, this pristine four-story facility features a prominent 16-seat right side bar with large brown-gold trimmed glass mural and two TV’s, several scattered brew tanks…

BERWICK, PENNSYLVANIA

Located on the northwesterly side of the Poconos uphill from the Shenandoah River, BERWICK BREWERY (formerly One Guy Brewing) takes up nearly half the space of an old red brick-warehoused bakery in a sleepy light industrial village.

Bordering a used car dealership, its main attraction is the large wooden pavilion Biergarden overlooking the river and idle railroad line (hosting live entertainment on weekends). Inside, a small tasting room with right side bar served brewer Kyle Kalanick’s beer recipes and…

Brewed in conjunction with established microbrewers Stone and Victory, heady yellow-hazed Saison salutes Simon & Garfunkle’s popular ’66 album with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme herbage. Creamy caramelized rye breading reaches herbaceous black-peppered rosemary summit above lemon-seeded grapefruit-peeled bittering that lingers to caraway-seeded harsh-grained finish. Dry earthen barnyard blanch, dark floral potpourri, and fennel-like respite add depth to everlasting tangerine tang of interesting 2010 sidestep. 2012 tapped version brought lemon-rotted orange peel tang to candi-sugared saffron, oats-dried minerality and grassy-hopped spicing.

Summery moderate-bodied ecru-clouded Belgian-styled white ale accrues sharp-spiced lemongrass-coriander-cardamom peppering above floral-hopped citric pleasantry. Tangy lemon zest and tart mandarin orange gain affluence but light white-breaded spine falters.

Sour lemon-candied moderate-bodied rust-hazed hefeweizen retains strong cider sharpness, dried orange pungency, unripe banana pliancy, and grassy-hopped earthiness. Piquant yellow grape esters and puckered green apple tartness advance mild grassy-hopped citric-soured acidity. Expectant clove spicing lacks.