On tap at Ambulance, summery soft-toned witbier “brewed with lemon and orange peel” retains tangy dry-hopped citric appeal above subtle sugar spicing and biscuit-y wheat-honeyed oats spine. Zesty grapefruit-orange-pineapple rasp brings sweet ‘n sour nuances to deepen up-front citric peel bittering.
On tap at Ambulance, easygoing orange blossom-honeyed saison (a collaboration between Florida’s Saint Somewhere and Texas-based Jester King) lets sour lemony grapefruit tartness override subtle floral perfumed hop bittering and dry straw-grained acridity. Wispy peppercorn pungency affects fading honeyed citrus finish.
On tap at Barcade – Jersey City, perplexing oak chip-aged barleywine (circa 2016) stays stylishly moderate as oaken vanilla and honeyed pear adjuncts get lost among whiskeyed grain malting and blearily finishing 10.8% alcohol burn. In the distance, champagne grape, dried cherry and green apple tartness wavers.
On tap at Barcade – Jersey City, lightly creamed dessert-like milk stout subtly soaked in amaretto oak chips places confectionery Marshmallow Fluff sugaring alongside cacao nibs-roasted dark chocolate fudging. Mild vanilla, cookie dough, espresso and coconut illusions add further sweetness to contrast moderate hop char.
On tap at Barcade – Jersey City, fudgy molasses syruping drapes smoky grain-roasted black chocolate prominence, ancillary cocoa-dried coffee contingent and sweet vanilla inflections above nutty pumpernickel bittering. Soy-sauced black tea notions contrast dried-fruited black cherry, raisin and prune illusions beneath the surface.
On tap at Barcade – Jersey City, ‘luscious’ English-styled old ale allows port-soaked oak chips to subtly affect caramel-toasted chocolate malting (of original Old Brown Dog Ale) and vanilla-spiced marzipan piquancy above mild earthen hop resin. Rum-spiced pecan, chestnut and butternut illusions gain syrupy brown-sugared molasses sweetness as well as flickering fig-date passivity.
On tap at Barcade – Jersey City, affluent candi-sugared dark chocolate sweetness inundates plummy black cherry tang above oak-toasted pumpernickel base. Burnt caramel, toffee and coconut illusions contrast earthen barnyard-dried hop char.
On tap at Barcade – Jersey City, thrillingly ‘harmonious’ 2016 Smuttynose/ Barcade collaboration arguably the best saison ever devised. Luscious candi-sugared vanilla bean sweetness uploaded alongside tingly cinnamon spicing and wispy Italian plum adjunct provides beautiful contrast to stylish citric tartness. Tangy grapefruit, orange and tangerine briskness outdo lemon meringue and lime sorbet tartness above crystalline water base.
On tap at Barcade – Jersey City, warm-fermented and dry-hopped San Francisco-styled pale lager (2016 offshoot of earlier Stoneface Brewing collaboration) links caramelized oats sugaring with light floral spicing while contrasting moderate citric-hopped bittering and nutty pine resin. At the finish, lemony grapefruit tartness ascends, bringing crisp closure.
NORWICH, CONNECTICUT
Just off Main Street in the olden harbor-bound merchant town of Norwich, Connecticut (a.k.a. The Rose of New England), THESE GUYS BREWING COMPANY opened August ’15. Tucked into a red-bricked urban setting with a black-framed window frontage and oval hop-designed signpost, this homey establishment has the interior appearance of a Prohibition Era Speakeasy with its stamp-tinned copper tile bar walls, starburst Edison light bulbs and winding exposed pipes.
A sterling red brick-walled beer garden atrium (shown above) adds a greenhouse affect separating the front pub from the backroom brewing area (formerly used as grain storage for a Revolutionary Wartime hotel) where seven stainless steel tanks store brewer Rebecca Alberts’ well-rounded craft beer offerings.
Working under the tutelage of famed Willimantic brewmaster, David Wollner, Alberts (currently Connecticut’s only female head brewer) claims she brews what she likes to drink, adding that “creative people like creative beer.”
Though I didn’t get to sample the food on my initial May ’16 stopover, the varied menu features splendid dishes such as Braised Short Ribs over stout onion risotto, Lobster-stuffed Mac & Cheese, Tuna Tartar and other well-designed main courses.
My wife and I grab seats directly across the central beer draughts at the bar to consume seven diverse homemade elixirs. There are also a few draughts set aside for outside brews such as Outer Light Ninja Trail Green Tea, Relic Flaven Foal Double Dry-Hopped IPA and Black Hog Citra (reviewed in Beer Index).
First up, tartly fruited moderation, Jeanne’s Dream Apricot Wheat, wedded hop-dried apricot puree subtlety to orange-candied red apple, peach and tangerine scurry – like a liquified Fruit Roll-Ups.
Next, brusquely crisp Hop Sense Pale Ale showed lots of IPA-related depth as its lightly pined orange-peeled grapefruit bittering contrasted lightly creamed pale malt sugaring over the buttered biscuit base.
Tantalizingly centrist caramel-spiced Thames River Red will please lighter thirsts as well as bolder palates with its toasted oats sweetness, glazed red fruiting and earthen dewiness.
Brisk West Coast-styled Hop Spring IPA let yellow grapefruit-juiced orange rind bittering receive wood-dried Centennial-Columbus hop resin to contrast floral mango, peach and pineapple tropicalia over clean celery watering.
Tangy Against The Grain IPA competed favorably with its tangerine, clementine and navel orange fruiting picking up lightly embittered grassy hop insistence and sedate pine underbrush.
On the dark side, wonderfully rich Kaiser Willy Imperial Stout draped creamy black chocolate malting and coffee-roasted bittering over ashen hops, gaining ancillary cocoa nibs, espresso, cappuccino and vanilla tones at the bulky mocha finish.
The intriguingly serene cask conditioned Kaiser Willy maintained soft-toned splendor as the coffee-roasted black chocolate creaming gained black cherry illusions and oats-charred sedation.
www.theseguysbrewing.com
On tap at These Guys, briskly clean Citra-hopped India pale ale lets seltzer-fizzed lemony grapefruit-orange tang rise above grassy-hopped pine resin and sweet floral bouquet.
On tap at These Guys, citric dry-hopped India Pale Ale contrasts grassy-hopped lemon seed bittering and setback grain pungency against candi-sugared pilsner malting. Lighter than most stylish ‘Double IPA’s.’
