OXFORD, CONNECTICUT

A respected 23-year military combat veteran in the 2^nd armored cavalry regiment, new-sprung brewmeister Michael Mc Creary developed a love for English ales while running a sales force over in Europe. And now he’s importing English barley and hops to create his own crisply approachable British styled elixirs under the banner of CAVALRY BREWING COMPANY.

“My policy is to make Cavalry a veteran-owned and run operation,” Mc Creary informs me as I peruse his 3,000 square foot…

Bland autumnal fare suffers from washed-out gourd spicing and soapy pumpkin-seeded vegetal astringency. Negligible white wheat wallow and listless phenol spicing get in the way of barren brown-sugared cinnamon-nutmeg blip, getting lost in a sea of bubbly hop fizz.

Adequate adjunct brown ale celebrates brewers’ quarter-century mark. Soft-flowing bittersweet vanilla bean entry receives fudge-y milk chocolate embrace above ashen maple-sapped molasses impression. Hop-oiled walnut bittering recedes quickly alongside cocoa dried depletion, caramel-burnt toffee subsidy and wispy bourbon wining, finishing thinner and less creamy than anticipated.

Mainstream Czech-styled session lager remains just a tad stronger than pale-bodied competition. Easygoing hop-toasted bread crusting and dewy rye persistence sedately affected by superfine sugar-glassed sweetness. Caramel nuttiness cannot overcome bland phenol spicing.

Vigorous Stone/ Troegs collaboration brings lusty dark chocolate richness to enthusiastic Scotch whiskey boozing, picking up ashen charcoal astringency for obsidian-hued dry-bodied milk stout. Ascending vanilla and coffee bean bittering overshadows restrained black cherry-pureed blackberry-blueberry-elderberry dried fruiting. Luscious bourbon easement seeps into bold mocha-bound affluence. Tertiary brandy-wined chocolate-caked cherry jubilee illusions float by. But its murky flavor profile crowds too many wandering adjuncts.

Accurately described as a ‘quasi pale ale,’ robust ESB-like dry body maintains approachable medium-bodied drinkability. Reedy molasses rye breading sops up peat-dried pumpernickel nuttiness and light Vienna-styled Munich malting. Clean eight-grain bread finish picks up tertiary sunflower seed, poppy, and whey illusions.

Acute alcohol burn embeds commencing lemon-peeled orange rind bitterness. Tangy mango, peach, pineapple and tangerine tropicalia gains prominence, as does sharply counteractive juniper berry bite. Zesty passion fruit sprinkled through tongue-tingling salt peppered carbolic fizz. Less piney than dryer West Coast-styled India Pale Ales, though some wood remnants underscore fruited frolic.

Exhilarating golden-hazed eggshell-headed pumpkin-spiced autumn seasonal retains creamy meringue frothiness and splendid herbal fruiting. Lemony banana wafer pleasantry soaks up cotton-candied sweetness, orange-oiled peppercorn seasoning, ginger rooted supplement and wet-papered nuance above plasticine clay-hopped density. Medicinal 9% alcohol burn contrasts smooth flow.

Easygoing zip-coded Imperial India Pale Ale brings succulent tropicalia to mildly creamed crystal malting and salt-watered mineral graining. Moderate dry-wooded grapefruit peel bittering seeps into candied pineapple, mango, melon, papaya and peach tang. A subtler take on a usually bitterer style.

Brisk ‘summer salad’ utilizing fresh-chopped herbs maintains fruity regalia. Tropical pineapple, mango, melon and peach tang inundates sharp lemony orange-peeled grapefruit bittering. Earthen dry-wooded oaken pining seeps into tea-bagged thyme-basil retreat. Ascending alcohol burn deepens ultimate complexity of richly balanced step up from usual moderate-bodied golden ale contenders.

On tap at Andy’s Corner Bar, straw-hazed Kolsch-styled summer ale balances sour citric zest with pronounced herbal respite. Dry-wooded lemon-bruised grapefruit bittering leads the way as lemongrass, basil and thyme seasoning decorate supple interior. Lip-smacked lemon rind, lemon peel and lemon pit tartness provides mouth-puckering acerbity. A fuller bodied affluence makes this a better bitterer choice than softer stylish competitors.

Upgraded 10^th anniversary version of ruddy copper autumnal from 2011 stays mild, underscoring caramelized crystal malting and grassy-hopped astringency with wispy gourd spicing. Indifferent orange, apricot and apple fruiting lost alongside fragile oats-toasted breading.