Daily Archives: May 8, 2016

BIG OYSTER BREWERY – REHOBOTH BEACH

United States Brewpubs, ,

Image result for fins big oyster brewery Image result for fins big oyster brewery

REHOBOTH BEACH, DELAWARE

Right along Route 1 Coastal Highway at the mall-bound Rehoboth Beach strip lies BIG OYSTER BREWERY, a collaboration teaming Fins Ale House & Raw Bar with brewer Andrew Harton’s equally worthy pub. Inside a Wild West-styled Main Street re-creation, this seafood-related beer joint brings the best of both worlds since Big Oyster joined the fold June ’15.

Broken up into six sections, Fins controls the left side barroom (with wood-top counters, 20 bar stools, 10 taps, tin ceiling and beer-bottled refrigerator) and beautiful brick-enclosed outdoor deck (with 10 tap lines). Meanwhile, Big Oyster runs the far right gift shop, adjoining dining area and rear silver-tanked brew room.

Customizing wide-ranging beer recipes, Harton got his start after college brewing at three different Iron Hill breweries (West Chester, Wilmington and Voorhees).

Fresh oysters were being shucked when I visited late-morning May 1, 2016.

On the light side, easygoing Kolsch brought zesty lemon, mandarin orange tartness and light herbal nuances to its gentle white-breaded spine. Using freshly-chopped ginger, the herb-enhanced Daywalker Kolsch gained a minty tingle to accent citric-perfumed hops and dainty pale malts.

Juicy fruited Session 5 – Pineapple ably combined its sweet-tart pineapple adjunct with yellow grapefruit pith bittering and steadily mild Mosaic hop tropicalia.

Utilizing Ardennes Belgian yeast to gain its barnyard-dried fruit spicing, Solar Power Belgian Blonde stayed crisply clean, letting coriander-spiced yellow grapefruit, peach and pineapple tones receive a brisk Seltzer-like spritz.

Bitterest selection, Hammerhead IPA, a West Coast-styled dry body, allowed yellow grapefruit, orange rind and pineapple to embitter moderated piney hops and mild herbal snips. Another West Coast-inspired medium body, Resistentialism (Imperial IPA) surrendered intense tropical fruiting for lightly creamed crystal malting, leaving grapefruit, mango, pineapple and sweet orange peel illusions on the tongue.

Creamy Big Oyster Stout conveyed a syrupy oyster-stewed brown chocolate richness and bitter dark-roast coffee streak over dried oats (with wavered black cherry nuances).

Best bet: Classic Belgian Tripel, Noir Et Bleu, a limited edition full body strewn with bittersweet blueberry lacquering, banana liqueur splendor, lemony peach tartness and dried apricot snips residing above its recessive black tea adjunct (and finishing with a fusel vodka-licked 9.2% alcohol whir).

On a windy November ’21 Saturday afternoon, revisited Rehoboth’s Big Oyster to enjoy six new libations at the newly furnished red brick-walled side deck.

Musky orange-oiled lemon souring softly settled into crisp Captain Kolsch, a mildly herbed light body.

Tart ‘coconut lime yeast-raised donuts’ were mashed into Donut Kill My Vibe, a kettle sour with coconut-watered Margarita liming and recessive glazed donut sugaring.

Heavily fruited lactose sour, Soft Serve Cherry Vanilla, brought sweet ‘n sour cherry puree to tart cranberry-strawberry musk in a creamy vanilla marshmallow setting.

Briskly sharp hazy IPA, Craig’s Secret, let tangy grapefruit, orange, mango and peach zesting reach creamy vanilla sugaring to contrast herbaceous pine resin.

Waxy floral fruiting coated double dry-hopped West Coast-styled IPA, Big Oyster Boom!, contrasting lemony passionfruit-gooseberry tartness and zesty yellow grapefruit bittering with peachy tangerine tanginess and candied orange licks as resinous pine seeped inside.

Sourly embittered NEIPA, Nectar From the Stars, provided grape wine tannins for Nelson Sauvin-hopped passionfruit tartness and Galaxy-hopped orange pith/ grapefruit rind bittering above soft wood tones.

www.bigoysterbrewery.com

 

 

CROOKED HAMMOCK BREWERY – LEWES

United States Brewpubs,

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LEWES, DELAWARE

Along Kings Highway in the historic sea village of Lewes lies eclectic beach-themed pub, CROOKED HAMMOCK BREWERY, an adventurously fun-filled facility whose ‘perfectly crooked craft brew’ slogan pokes fun at Dogfish Head’s ‘off-center’ catchphrase. In a spacious barn-like complex, this ever-expanding venue serves as a spiffy beer joint as well as a nifty family dining hole. At its gray-shingled entrance, a sand-duned jeep, wood chairs and a hammock capture the proper easygoing beach atmosphere.

Inside Crooked Hammock, the central 30-seat bar services surrounding tables, a separate family dining space and screened-in porch. Along the duct-lined high ceiling, beach buckets and colored ring toss growlers provide further summertime serenity. At the enclosed left side picnic area, a well-groomed garden, rustic patio furnishings and a band shelter capture the eye.

During April ’16, my wife and I grab a table next to the garage-doored picnic access under a wooden American flag to enjoy the Turkey Wrap with seven dulcet homemade brews.

First up, summery ‘signature beer,’ Hammock Saison, shook salty white pepper all over zesty lemon brightener and leathery barnyard funk. Meanwhile, Shoobie Belgian Blonde draped black and white pepper onto lemon-soured orange and tangerine illusions as well as honeyed pale malting and a dainty floral bouquet.

A few more easy drinkin’ suds were next. Mild summer lager, Active Fishing, meshed toasted grain malts with tangy lemon-dried grapefruit, orange and tangerine briskness. Dry earthen peat guided Drive On ESB as caramelized fig and dark floral nuances faded. 

Sedate Backyard Brown (an English Brown Ale) loaded creamy molasses sugaring atop caramel nuttiness and dark fruiting.

Moving into the medium-bodied selections, delightful flagship India Pale Ale, Mootzy’s Treasure, brought dry lacquered wood tones to floral-perfumed grapefruit peel, orange rind, mango and peach tropicalia.

Amiable Haulin’ Oats Milk Stout maintained a creamy milk chocolate sweetness spread across oats-sugared cocoa, vanilla and cappuccino subtleties.

www.crookedhammockbrewery.com

DEWEY BEER COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

DEWEY BEACH, DELAWARE

Nothing like a rustic shack-like saloon to get thirsty beachcombers and surfers happy. Just a few blocks from the Atlantic Ocean and one mile south of Rehoboth Beach, DEWEY BEER COMPANY keeps this tiny beach community rockin’ with its well-balanced small batch beers. Opened May ’15, this metal and wood furnished pub serves specialized seafood, sandwiches and salads to go alongside its likable liquid fare.

Dewey Beer Company’s low ceilings, small open kitchen, cozy cafe-styled seating, long community table and wood-lacquered bar (with silver brew tanks directly behind) provides relief from the summer heat and a much-needed off-season watering hole for the few hundred townsfolk.

My wife and I settled into Chick Pea Hummus and Plantain Nachos (sour-creamed Cuban picadillo beef, jalapeno, tomato and cheese dip scooped up by fried plantains) while downing nine distinctly varied homemade beers.

One of the first beers crafted at Dewey, sessionable American Pale Ale forwarded floral-perfumed sweetness to tangy citrus subtleties and contrasted dry wood tones.

‘Crushable’ light pilsner, Blonde’s Blonde brought lemon-limed grapefruit zest and light melon hints to clean-watered mineral graining, utilizing tropical Sorachi, Citra and Galaxy hops to increase its easygoing citric nature.

The more pungent Imperial Blonde’s Blonde picked up dry piney hop resin to embitter its lemony orange tang and sugar-spiced malts, staying just as crisp and clean as its aforementioned lighter version.

Hybridized Amber Batch 2 balanced pale-malted toasted caramel sweetness with dry-wooded IPA-like fruiting without getting too bitter.

Exhilarating Tripel Belgian strong ale laced candi-sugar sweetness thru lemon-spiced banana esters, zesty orange seltzer spritzing, floral hop resilience and peppery yeast herbage.

Easygoing Brown Ale imbued roasted chocolate sweetness with brown-sugared dried fruiting and wispy spicily-perfumed Cascade hops.

Bringing rye-grained Black patent malts to the fore, Do What’s Rye’d (Black IPA) overrides its spicy dried fruiting with coffee-dried dark chocolate tones.

Mocha-bound wintry farmhouse ale, Chocolate Cherry Saison, relied upon spicy French saison yeast to awaken its dry cherry tartness, sweet banana subsidy and chocolate malt backbone.

Cold-infused Sumatra coffee invigorates Mo’s Joe Stout, a smoothly subdued mocha-blackened digestif with light cocoa, chocolate and espresso tones settling above its sugary toasted oats spine.

www.deweybeerco.com

MISPILLION RIVER BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for MISPILLION RIVER BREWING Image result for MISPILLION RIVER BREWING

MILFORD, DELAWARE

At the back of an industrial mall zone in a silver aluminum building, MISPILLION RIVER BREWING came into existence in the autumn of 2013 when married Delaware natives and co-founders Eric and Megan Williams hooked up with a few interested partners and brewmaster Ryan Maloney to spread their passion for well-crafted homemade beer.

Just beyond Milford’s quaint downtown, this unadorned (as of April 2016) brewery utilizes a rustic cement-floored tap room with 10 bar seats, wood tables, 2 TV’s, Christmas tree lighting, high barn-like ceiling and refrigerator with beer-to-go. Three 15-barrel stainless steel brew tanks are windowed behind the tap room and a few patio tables adorn the adjoining caged yard connected by overhead doors.

Developing over 100 small batch recipes since its inauguration, Mispillion River has continued to beat expectations by keeping the quality of varied suds at a high level. Expect fast expansion for the brewery since its most popular brews (Reach Around IPA, Holy Crap! Imperial Red Ale and Black Tie IPA) have started getting canned on-site and are widely available locally (and reviewed in full at Beer Index).

The lightest draft offerings on my April ’16 rendezvous were citric-splashed Space Otter Pale Ale, a tropical delight with lemony orange zest and light guava-melon-apricot illusions sprinkled atop dank piney hop bittering. Then there was spritzy Diddy Kong, a mild hefeweizen with lemony banana-clove sweetness grazing its oaks-flaked white wheat spine.

Nearly as polite, Reach Around IPA stayed stylistically moderate with its lemony grapefruit-orange bittering and Seltzer-like spritz softened by clean mineral-watered crisping.

A welcome hybrid, winter-spiced Sentman Apple Pie Apple doused its cinnamon apple piquancy with a lightly minted grapefruit-pineapple-orange tang.

Just a tad stronger, ESD Double IPA delivered floral-spiced citrus crisping to pungent pine needling, becoming sugarier as tangy lemon, grapefruit, orange, mango and clementine illusions ascend.

Maybe the finest offering, holiday-seasoned Miss Betty, an easygoing brown-sugared spice ale, gathered subtle vanilla bean, maple syrup and candied pecan adjuncts as well as wispy sweet potato hints.

Made for breakfast, Rise Or Shine Coffee Stout brought coffee-creamed espresso pungency and black-malted dark chocolate bittering to its sugary oats-flaked spine.

For dessert, milk chocolate-y Poundtown Imperial Porter sweetened over time as barley-flaked black malts drifted away to expose the delicious caramel nougat center.

Becoming the first onsite customers at Mispillion River since Covid-19 closed down the state for a few months, my noontime June ’20 venture with wife and dog would lead us to sunny Rehoboth Beach afterwards. But not before trying eight more sassy homemade suds at the rustic covered side deck (with stringed party lights, nautical metal art sculpture and   salvaged furnishings).

Dry corn-buttered pale malts, raw-grained wheat straw rusticity and mild barnyard acridity ushered in pungently earthen Yard Bird, a Euro-styled light lager with hints of musky dried floral herbage.

Briskly floral rosé lager, Ladybug, a quirky hybrid enjoining mild raspberry-pureed rose hips to lemony sparkling champagne spritz, maintained its confectionery sweet-tart snap.

Sweet ‘n sour strawberry zing received hard-candied citric souring and lactic vanilla milkshake creaming for frosty cellar-funked Strawberry Jacuzzi Wild Ale.

A dryer take on a Belgian tripel, Deathly Hallows relegated candi-sugared banana-clove sweetness and peachy quince snips for black-white peppered herbage and musty Belgian yeast funk.

Sharp floral-tinged grapefruit rind bittering and zesty orange peel perfuming rubbed against pungently resinous piney hops for Z-J, a creamy crystal-malted Imperial India Pale Ale hopheads will devour.

Lemon-wedged coffee roast gained creamy vanilla spicing for Seven Swords, an amber-cleared white stout with latent dark-roast hop char crowding cocoa-nibbed dark chocolate malting.

A tad dryer stylistically, Hagrid Imperial Stout let milk-sugared coffee tones infiltrate dark chocolate, espresso and anise whims over maple-sapped oats.

Tarry Blackstrap molasses deepened the dark chocolate, medium-roast coffee and black licorice montage guiding oats-sugared Wonka Bar, a decadent milk stout evoking the toffee-nutted mocha candy bar its named after.

www.mispillionriverbrewing.com

DOGFISH HEAD BEER FOR BREAKFAST STOUT – 2016

Beers A-Z,

On tap at Dogfish Head – Rehoboth Beach, this superior coffee stout takes its name from the Replacements rampaging beer anthem, “Beer For Breakfast,” one of famed brewer Sam Calagione’s favorite tunes. Dousing Dogfish Head’s Chicory Stout in maple syrup thickens its anise-spiced dark roast coffee frontage, bittersweet black chocolate rampage and applewood-smoked barley resonance. In the bottle, rich medium-roast cold press coffee penetrates brown chocolate thickness, leaving recessive cola, hazelnut and walnut illusions as well as anise-spiced black cherry snips in the bitter wood-charred hop wake. Highly recommended.

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