TWISTED ELM VALIDATES MR. ROGERS NEW NEIGHBORHOOD

As America’s craft beer revolution continues to move onward and upward at an increasingly fast pace, many fine neighborhood gastropubs have been popping up all over the Garden State. Being one of the latest beer-centric restaurants operating in northern Jersey, Elmwood Park’s TWISTED ELM TAVERN couldn’t possibly have a better regional location. Right next door to popular hot dog and hamburger joint, River View East, at the bustling side-winding corner of River…

Effective collaboration with Hunger Mountain Coop truly exemplifies dichotomous IPA/stout merger. Sweet chocolate-covered cherry frontage picks up piney hop-charred bittering as tan head diminishes. Black cherry, black grape, pineapple and grapefruit crowd Cordial-liquored vigor above dark-roasted caramel malting. Heavy cocoa powdering reinforces mocha side. Ashen wood splurge deepens bitter conviction.

On tap at Twisted Elm, delightful citric-centered West Coast IPA outstandingly balances the bitter with the sweet. Pungent hop-oiled pining and lemony grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering contrast tropical pineapple-tangerine-mango-papaya-melon panoply to floral potpourri backdrop. Sugary crystal malting elevates sweet fruitiness. Stylishly perfect.

Fruitful yellow-clouded Belgian strong pale ale contrasts musky white-peppered yeast fungi against rock candied sugaring. Sweet banana ripeness takes hold midway, besting spiced apple pie, vanilla wafer, cantaloupe, honeydew, melon and pear illusions. Bulky 8.3% alcohol volume well hidden.

Inconsistent bronze-hazed India Pale Ale hybrid plies mild lemon-peeled orange rind bittering to sharply-spiced apricot juicing and salty-bottomed honey wheat bed. Carbolic Seltzer fizz cuts into woody Cascade-hopped astringency, subtle coriander spicing, tepid blueberry nip and glutinous viscosity. But the stylishly appropos IPA bittering weakens. Perhaps Belgian witbier fanatics will appreciate its slick citric briskness.

Gritty hybridized bronze-hazed helles bock closer to an India Pale Ale with its sweet fruited spicing and bitter piney hop respite. Grapefruit-peeled orange-peach-pineapple tropicalia supercedes honeyed malting. Disclaimer: Pour slowly or risk over-carbonation.

Boozy pale-malted English-styled barleywine with medicinal 10% alcohol burn coalesces cherry coughdrop astringency with bruised orange splurge, mild Cognac warmth and musty stone-fruited aromatics. Prickly carbolic fizz outlasts tertiary apricot, peach and apple spicing, debunking caramelized vanilla sweetness.

On tap at The Office-Ridgewood, robust Belgian-styled brown ale hybrid brings creamy molasses-malted dark chocolate entry to brown-sugared oats flaking and cocoa-chalked vanilla sweetness. Downplayed hop-spiced Belgian yeast adds dewy cellar dankness to large mocha contingency, but gets skewered. Honeyed chestnut midst allows tertiary hazelnut, maple, tobacco and peat illusions to find a foothold.

Nondescript citric-snipped Kolsch styling envelops minor alcohol burn with sour grape, orange and lemon wisps. Coarse carbolic rigidity depletes initial fruiting and honeyed grain malting. Bland spring seasonal stays uninvolving.

Diverting Belgian strong ale stays light and fizzy on the tongue, but bitter and dry on the backend. Despite brown-sugared Belgian yeast influence, molasses tea caking, earthen grain pungency and dessicated fig-date-plum conflux seem closer to dewy English pale ale. Gingerbread, cinnamon and hazelnut make cameos.