Category Archives: United States Brewpubs

WICO STREET BEER CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Wico Street Beer Co. Now Open in Pigtown

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Alongside Checkerspot, M8, Diamondback and Pickett, WICO STREET BREWING CO. is another upstart brewery in close proximity to the Baltimore stadiums. Opened November ’22 in the Industrial red brick section of Pigtown at the vintage Wicomino building, Wico Street’s cement-floored, high ceilinged, 4,200 square-foot pub features spiffy cartooned wall paintings, pinball games and a 10-seat L-shaped bar alongside several round tables and a few wooden benches near the right side tanks.

Experienced brewmaster, Jordan Mc Graw, spent time at nearby Columbia’s Hysteria and Baltimore’s Pratt Street Alehouse and DuClaw after learning the art of brewing at Myrtle Beach’s Liberty Tap Room. Creating a diverse array of stylish brews, Mc Graw (along with his partnered cousin, Mike Richardson) will craft more sour ale variations in the future.

In January ’24, my wife and I toured M8, Diamondback and, in between, Wico Street on a snowy Sunday afternoon.

Labeled ‘yellow fizzy beer,’ Steel American Lager, plied sweet corn and rice to musky Galena hop herbage with a mild whiskey back.

Dewy Extra Special Bitter-like mossing met herbal Hallertau/Tettnanger hops and caramelized Vienna-malted chocolate whims for sessionable helles lager, Hella Steez.

Dry New England pale ale, The Price Is Always Right, let lemony orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess pickup mild guava souring and resinous pine sliver over mild caramel malting.

Sunny lemony grapefruit-sugared orange peel sweetness and peachy pineapple tanginess led pillowy soft-toned Yeah Dude Kinda Hazy IPA, leaving slight herbal pining on the lightly creamed oated wheat spine.

Chameleonic fruited sour ale, But Different, sunk milk sugared white chocolate into tart lemon liming, white peachy grapefruit tanginess, salted guava-lychee spree, redcurrant tartness and strawberry rhubarb licks.

Unique oak foeder-aged Gabriel The Younger, a conditioned Vienna lager, plugged oak-toasted rye and whiskey tones plus wildflower honeyed botanicals into red wined vanilla tannins.

Honey-roasted oats flaking contrasted smoky Blackstrap molasses-embittered dark-roast cocoa beaning for ashen hop-charred Imperial Stout, Game Over, leaving sticky anise remnant.

Interesting 12.5% ABV nightcap, Fatality: Blend 4, got soaked in rye, whiskey and herbal-spiced fernet barrels, retaining luxurious bourbon vanilla sweetness, creamy brown chocolate goodness, caramelized whiskey tones and coffee beaned espresso bittering.

M8 BEER

United States Brewpubs,

M8 BEER - 1399 S Sharp St, Baltimore, Maryland - Breweries - Yelp

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Concentrating on ‘easy to drink’ fare with an exotic Down Under twist, Australian-bred brewer Jeff Osborne opened M8 BEER during September  ’23 at the former Checkerspot location. Within walking distance to the football-baseball stadiums, M8′s mod-designed gray corrugated facility includes a huge sportsbar-like first floor pub, spacious upstairs party room and small sidewalk seating area. Its black and orange signage salutes the local Orioles baseball team.

M8′s cement-floored, black ceilinged main pub space surrounds its left side ten-seat bar with front wood tables and tall black chaired seating. There are several strewn TV’s and a large windowed backspace brewing area. Texas-Aussie BBQ’s on the grill, mates.

My wife and I settle at the lacquer wood top bar on a snowy Sunday at noon in January ’24 to enjoy all eight current brews on draught.

Sunny lemon zesting contrasted sour maize porridging and earthen grain musk of Czech M8 Pilsner, a simply effective Czech-styled bohemian lightweight.

Understated Brumbly Blonde pranced ‘floral lime’ brining, spritzy lemon zest, white grape esters and spiced agave whims atop its blanched white bread base.

Sweet tea-leafed tobacco roast beckoned for dewy Extra Special Bitter, Southern Cross, picking up raw-honeyed vanilla tannins and dried orange tartness.

Dry Extra Pale Ale, Whitsunday XPA, plied lemony cilantro piquancy and dewy ESB-like caraway-wattleseed nuttiness to peaty rye stead, scattering earthen wood tones.

Stylish banana-clove sweetness gained salty herbal lemon twang for sourdough-lined Hammerhead Hefeweizen.

Utilizing New Zealand hops, straightforward hazy IPA, Slim Dusty, placed lemony grapefruit sugaring, sweet orange peel zesting and tart blood orange musk alongside mild herbal spicing and light piney bittering.

Ultra dry Aussie hopped pale ale, Fraser Island Pacific Ale, led its musky tropical fruiting thru wood-parched juniper bittering as floral-spiced grapefruit, pineapple, orange and tangerine coalition remained steadfast.

Bustling coffee-roasted dark chocolate entry and tarry molasses bittering contrasted the maple oats sugaring backing dry Irish stout, Magpie, leaving mossy wood charred residue.

OLIVER BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

OLIVER BREWING COMPANY - 27 Photos & 15 Reviews - 4216 Shannon Dr, Baltimore, Maryland - Breweries - Phone Number - Yelp

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Located at the industrial end of Baltimore’s northerly Clifton Park, OLIVER BREWING COMPANY is an extension of the former Pratt Street Alehouse (specializing in authentic British ales beforehand as Wharf Rat since 1993). Long-time entrepreneurial owner Justin Dvorkin also runs nearby Columbia’s Ale House and Severna’s Park Tavern.

An abstract orange design on the 12,000 square-foot white bricked warehouse pub guides imbibers to Oliver’s cement-floored tasting room. A small 10-stooled wood-based serving station serves nine draughts and surrounding refrigerators provide to-go cans. The high ceilinged production area stages mammoth brew tanks and vessels. A grassy fenced area with wooden benches adds outside seating.

Concentrating more on production brewing than mere brewpub ambience, the rustic hangout is currently (as of 2024) only open to the public on Saturdays.

My wife and I dropped by mid-January ’24 to quaff all eight Oliver-twisted draughts available. I was especially impressed with both nitrogenated dark ales and bourbon whiskey-aged stouts.

Mild Social Pale Lager contrasted honeyed pale malting with dried maize acridity and grassy hop astringency.

Musky dried fruiting spread across nut-caked sweet breading for soft-toned moderation, Chesapeake Bay Dopplebock, relegating fig, raisin and date subtleties.

Lemony grapefruit, pineapple and orange spritzing and peachy tangerine tanginess graced sunshiny Imperial IPA, BMore Hazy, leaving mild floral sweetness to fend wispily pined herbage pungency in its wake. 

Tantalizing New England IPA, Astral Life, let zesty lemon-peeled orange peel bittering and polite grapefruit-soured guava-mango saltiness settle atop frothy oated wheat creaming.

Hot cocoa-inspired nitrogenated Cuffing Season, a dandy cream stout brewed with chocolate, marshmallow and vanilla, gained dry espresso, sweet cappuccino and glazed hazelnut illusions.

The smoothly creamed nitro version of BMore Breakfast Stout plied creamy vanilla-daubed brown chocolate to honeyed Graham Cracker, S’mores candy and sugared coffee pleasantries.

“Festive” Barrel-Aged Gingerbread Latte, a bourbon vanilla-sweetened Imperial Stout, let its gingerbread adjunct soak up wintry cinnamon, anise, allspice and nutmeg seasoning.

If possible, even better Liquid Luxury, an Imperial Stout aged 15 years in whiskey barrels, regaled its brown-sugared bourbon vanilla splendor with whiskeyed brown chocolate sweetness and oaken bark-dried leathering over molasses rye breading.

FORWARD BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND

Packed on a Saturday afternoon mid-January ’24, Annapolis-based FORWARD BREWING resides at the historic ‘rebellious’ Eastport neighborhood and began operations in the summer of ’20. Becoming the first nanobrewery in Annapolis, Forward marches on at its rustic white brick general store-like pub.

A white granite topped serving station delivers the liquid goods from twelve tap handles and the windowed brew tanks are staged in the back. Forward’s clean white-walled interior features cement-floored block wood tables with plastic stools and several decorative barrels.

There’s also a fire-pitted side deck with black pendant Edison lights and a covered front porch as well. An open air kitchen serves snacks, sandwiches, wings and desserts.

Former Black Flag head brewer Warren Hendrickson mans the 7-barrel system and canning lines. My wife and I swallow five rounded beers on our one-hour sojourn before heading to Charm City.

Herbal honeyed banana and clove entry picked up lemon-candied respite for Alpengeist, a Solero-hopped hefeweizen.

Sweet nectarine surged thru peachy pineapple and mango tang and dainty floral spicing to contrast piney bittering of Nectaris, a New England IPA with mildly creamed oated wheat base.

Sweet potato pureed pumpkin pie spicing and molasses-sugared cinnamon toasting gave starchy lactose autumnal treat, This American Pie, its savory yam-gourd resolve.

Buckwheat-honeyed chestnut, pecan and hazelnut gathered for Happy Buzz Honey Brown, leaving minor hop astringency upon its oily mocha perfuming.

Dry buckwheat honeyed molasses oats draped the coffee-burnt dark chocolate bittering and mild toffee sweetness consuming Dark Arts Oatmeal Stout.

TEN EYCK BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Beer Drinkers Find Community at Ten Eyck Brewing Company | Edible Delmarva

QUEENSTOWN, MARYLAND

On a dank overcast Saturday at noon in mid-January ’24, visited Eastern Shore’s tiny town of Queenstown to grab some beers at TEN EYCK BREWING COMPANY. A female-driven veteran owned pub translated in Dutch as “at the oak,” Ten Eyck opened in the summer of 2019. A tight community of craftswomen whose recipes run the gamut from light lagers to pastry sours, each brings a certain specialty to the entire brewing project.

Its right side brown paneled section serves as the main pub while the aluminum topped high-ceilinged warehouse holds the large windowed brew tanks and an overhead door leads to the backyard sail cloth-covered pergula biergarten.

The red brick-fronted, stained concrete-floored taproom recalls an upscale cabin with its bracketed exposed pipes, nautical light fixtures and slab wood designed back wall. The bark-topped rectangular bar has twelve taps and several TV’s and wood tabled chairs fill out the warm interior.

My wife and I settled in to try a dozen varied elixirs. Many retained a softly ensconced minerality.

Dry aluminum-cleared lightweight, Taco Cat Mexican Lager, spread corn-floured flaked maize atop salty citric neutrality and phenol hop astringency.

Fermented in oak, ‘delicate’ bronze-hued moderation, Chesapeake Lager, placed salty orange spicing and dry straw-grained rusticity inside a fizzy capsule.

“Extremely quaffable” Shorebilly Kolsch allowed mild IPA-like orange peeled grapefruit bittering to penetrate musky Noble-hopped herbage and candied lemondrop tartness over saltine crackered pilsner base.

Lemony banana-clove-bubblegum frontage let mild herbage spread into A Great Day For Hay, a less sourdough breaded hefeweizen.

Zesty lemon, candy-coated orange and pomelo-tangelo snips sidled the mild evergreen conclave of (410) Maryland Cold IPA, a crisply tropical Citra/Strata-hopped sunshine daydream.

Rummy pineapple-coconut Pina Colada sweetness countered lemon-limed Margarita brining placated tart fruited sour, Beach Juice Pina Colada, a highly acidic eye squinter.

An interestingly offbeat hybrid, Side Dish Imperial Brown Ale, brewed with roasted sweet potato given maple-glazed vanilla sweetness, embraced marshmallow-creamed sugaring and mounting Aunt Jemima syruping on the nose (plus black cherry, hazelnut and chestnut wisps).

The nutty coffee-stained dark chocolate entry of dry Tuckahoe Stout received molasses-sapped flaked oats backup.

Fermented with cardamom, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon to contrast its pink Himalayan salted black peppercorn seasoning, dry-spiced Marrakash Imperial Coffee Stout zoomed forth with a loud mocha boom of dark-roast coffee and dark cocoa powdering.

Smoothly sweet fruited stout, CAKE: Chocolate Razz, plies brown chocolate sweetness to tart raspberry adjunct, picking up tertiary blackberry, boysenberry and mulberry illusions.

A spiced variant, CAKE: Cin City, reached cinnamon coffee territory, acquiring delicate star anise and blackcurrant licks.

Another approachably smooth-watered dark ale, Heaven Sent, a sublime Imperial Stout aged in Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels, gained vanilla-honeyed caramel sweetness, tidy cola-walnut-hazelnut conflux and black cherry snips.

 

4 DOGS BREWING CO. & PUB

United States Brewpubs,

See photos

EASTON, MARYLAND

Amongst the upscale boutique shops and galleries crowding Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the small seaside town of Easton, 4 DOGS BREWING CO. & PUB came to fruition during July ’23. Headed by four Haddonfield, New Jersey natives looking to start a chummy microbrewery, 4 Dogs quickly earned local respect with its conventionally spot-on beers.

Inside a freestanding red brick building at Marlboro Plaza, the sportsbar-related brewpub features a lacquer wood topped octagon-shaped bar with corrugated aluminum siding and a few windowed tables strewn across the concrete floor. There are multiple TV’s for enthusiastic sports fans alongside good pub fare, desserts, sodas and coffee. And a multi-chaired outdoor deck adds further seating.

My wife and I visited 4 Dogs on a Friday evening, January ’24, indulging in three IPA’s, a witbier, amber ale, lager and stout.

Dry grained moderation, St. Beernard Lager, let mild hop astringency face off against roasted barley crisping.

Cereal grained caramel malting contrasted mild citrus pining for Labradorchester, an amiable amber ale.

Stylish orange-peeled coriander spicing paced Sittin’ on the Dachshund of the Bay, a winning witbier with white wheated sourdough breading anchoring its ancillary banana-plantain snips and wafting herbal whims.

Briskly dry NEIPA, Hop Tank, plied sunny lemon zesting, orange peel sweetness, candied pineapple tanginess and lightly embittered yellow grapefruit to mildly creamed oated wheat.

Lemon-sugared grapefruit and orange tanginess met salted guava and mango tropicalia for oated wheat-creamed Hair O’ The Dog, a zestful 8% ABV hazy Imperial IPA.

Dry West Coast-styled IPA, Easton Terrier, buttressed its bittersweet orange-peeled grapefruit tang, white peach sweetness and resinous pining with mildly creamed crystal malting.

Smoothly creamed Last But Not Leashed, a bold oatmeal stout, gathered black coffee, espresso and dark chocolate above its milk-sugared molasses oats base.       

 

 

 

EASTERN SHORE BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

Eastern Shore Brewing | Craft Spirits | Casual Dining | Entertainment - St. Michaels Maryland Business Association, MD

ST. MICHAELS, MARYLAND

Moving next door to its original small garage space to a red barn-doored, gable-roofed millhouse, EASTERN SHORE BREWING celebrated its 17th anniversary upon my second trip to romantic St. Michaels. Its old wood floor and plank wood topped bar provide splendid rusticity and sundry small tables and community tables get squeezed closely.

Tightening up its beer lineup with a rounded selection of fine elixirs, I discovered five previously untried brews upon my Friday eve January ’24 stopover.

Dry moderate-bodied flagship, Back Creek Blonde, let spritzy lemon musk soak up mild Columbus/ Chinook-hopped pining and wispy beechwood sear above crackery white wheat base.

Another current year-rounder, Situation Critical IPA, brought ‘copious’ West Coast-styled hops (Cascade, Citra, Centennial, Columbus) to the fore as lemony grapefruit, orange and pineapple tanginess gained subtle floral pining and tart dried currant nip.

An Orange Crush cocktail with bold 10% ABV, Summer Crush let its tangy orange-tangerine sugaring receive icy lemon-limed vodka briskness as well as latent grapefruit rind bittering.

Milkshake-styled New England IPA, Strawberry Shakedown, graced its bittersweet strawberry puree tartness with lactose-sugared oated wheat creaming.

A pleasant dessert-like nightcap, Midnight Eclipse Milk Stout contrasted its milk-sugared coffee creaming and mild maple molasses syruping with dark chocolate bittering.

Image result for eastern shore breewing

ORIGINAL 2009 ARTICLE

Imagine, if you will, a small backstreet Key West brewhouse relocated on Chesapeake Bay’s inner harbor. Upon entering the heart of St. Michaels, a romantic retreat with antique shops, quaint eateries, and Old World charm, resides EASTERN SHORE BREWING, a tiny microbrew opened in ’09.

Along with delicious oysters, quaffed four pleasingly blue collar brews during April ’09 Food & Wine Festival. Head brewer Adrian Moritz and assistant Kurt Longenecker served tap versions of honey-soured, banana-clove-bubblegum-sweetened, lemon seed-embittered, grassy-hopped Magic Hefeweizen, mild lemony orange-embittered, Scotch-honeyed Lighthause Ale, molasses-spiced caramel-malted orange-soured astringency St. Michaels Amber Ale (a year round staple) and drier barnyard-wafted Cascade-hopped grapefruit-embittered wood-toned rye-dabbed Knot So Pale Ale. Bottled versions are better reviewed in Beer Index.

www.easternshorebrewing.com

Within walking distance, Ava’s Pizza had delicious homestyle pizzas, such as Onion Tart, and 100 quality microbrews on tap or in bottle.

CROOKED MOUTH BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

Crooked Mouth Brewery - From $10 - Endicott, NY | Groupon

ENDICOTT, NEW YORK

Endicott’s CROOKED MOUTH BREWING resides at a former ice cream parlor with a newly green-painted exterior brick walled frontage matching its aluminum roof. Owned by former garage brewing partners Josh Olson and Sean Campbell, native Endicott residents, the cafe-like nanobrewery concocts well-balanced traditional beer styles.

Crooked Mouth’s rustic aluminum-sided, bark topped, ten-seat bar features eight stainless steel silver draught taps at the white-gray tiled back wall. Wood-metal tables and three centralized TV’s fill out the cement-floored pub. Black ceiling tiles adds a stark dramatic contrast. A back kitchen serves gourmet sandwiches and fine pub fare.

During my Sunday afternoon trip, early December ’23, while Crooked Mouth celebrated its one-year anniversary, drank all four flagships. Then, slid down the gullet a West Coast IPA, fruited sour and porter. New York ciders and wines were also available.

Clean-watered Kviek yeast gave Casper The Friendly Cream Ale its soothingly creamed smoothness as light lemon-soured green grapes esters and mild herbal musk met honeyed millet-grained corn sugaring.

Easygoing Cousin Kevin Pale Ale gathered tangy tangerine, lightly spiced orange and sugary pale malts alongside grassy hop astringency.

Effervescently soft-tongued Herbert Session IPA contrasted peachy orange tanginess against lightly embittered pineapple zesting and dry pine bark over slim pale malt stipend.

Another flagship offering, Moon Juice NEIPA, let sugary oats sweeten its juicy grapefruit, orange, peach and pineapple tanginess and terse floral spiced respite.

A candy-fruited glaze stuck to West Coast IPA, Equinox, countering sticky piney herbage with mild orange-pineapple-mango spicing.      

Lactose-aided fruited sour, Bermuda Triangle, reached exalted Pina Colada status as toasted coconut and lemon-sugared pineapple tanginess combined to pick up a salty tequila-tinged twist.

Then came a rich autumnal pumpkin-spiced dark ale. Dry-honeyed Bakers chocolate seeped inside pumpkin-pureed cinnamon bark, gingery nutmeg seasoning and caramel-burnt vanilla sugaring of Harvest Moon Porter, picking up roasted chestnut and acorn snips.  

KEUKA BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for keuka brew

HAMMONDSPORT, NEW YORK

Residing at an inconspicuous Industrial styled farmhouse with insulated white roof in the vineyard-lined Steuben County village of Hammondsport, KEUKA BREWING COMPANY opened in 2008. By 2010, Mark Musso took over the brew tanks and began drifting into barrel aging, mixed fermentation and offbeat traditional beer recipes. Many of his limited edition one-offs have become Musso’s most cherished offerings while longstanding faves such as Afterburner Habanero Ale and Ghost of Rita Gose prove both experimental and highly welcoming.

A benched front deck with picnic tables and firepit welcomes patrons to the agrarian hillside pub. The overhead doored, cement-floored tasting room features a ten-seat wood-lacquered bar with wainscoting-paneled aluminum siding, pendant lights and central octagon tiled draught station. Two narrow wood benched community tables with metal pipe fit crossbars and a few barreled tables front the bar. Brew tanks are stored in the rear.

Alongside Keuka’s house beers were Southern Tier vodkas and local wines on my early December ’23 noontime journey. I took home a few brews reviewed in Beer Index.

Dry light lager, Dock Beer, spread spritzy lemon fizz atop salty pretzeled doughy pilsner malts and spicy hop smidge.

Mild habanero peppering glides thru floral-daubed mango salting and tangy pineapple juicing of brisk Tropical Afterburner Light Ale, gaining lemony respite.

Waxy floral fruiting embraced dry Keuka Pale Ale, leaving lemony grapefruit bittering and light gin-tinged juniper botanicals upon its buttered biscuit base.

Powdered sugaring and wispy vanilla maple creaming saddled the cinnamon-nutmeg-allspice autumnal seasoning of Pumpkin Cream Ale, picking up a candied apple glaze.

Bittersweet blueberry caking gains doughy wheat sugared glaze and mildly brisk lemon zesting for lactic vanilla creamed wheat ale, Blueberry Cake Donut, a fruity pastry-like dessert.

Sharply spiced lemony grapefruit spritz picked up mild floral herbage and woody Chinook hop dryness for Polymorphic #27, the latest in a series of mixed hopped NEIPA’s.

Closer to a milkshake IPA, Polymorphic #28 retained vanilla-sugared marshmallow fluff and oated wheat creaming for its zestful lemony grapefruit, orange, tangelo and guava heist.

Ice pop-derived fruited sour, Sticky Drips – Bomb Pop, had its limey cherry and blue raspberry tartness receive dry bourbon wisps, sneaky green grape tannins and lemon-dropped orange snips.

Medium roast coffee bean entry gained milk-sugared vanilla creaming and dark chocolate bittering for Local Mocha Stout, a relaxing full-bodied digestif.

Decadent lactose-aided milk stout, Cookies And Cream, let its chocolate cookie richness rise above creamy vanilla sugaring for blissful luxuriant dessert.

Barrel aged in 4 Roses bourbon for eight months, Fat Stack Maple Pecan Porter stayed smooth as thick maple syruping coats pecan pie sweetness as well as dry vanilla tannins contrasting latent whiskeyed brown chocolate, cola nut, almond and caramel illusions.

STEUBEN BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Steuben Brewing Company

HAMMONDSPORT, NEW YORK

Overlooking beautiful Keuka Lake in a tan aluminum farmhouse with large back deck and picnic-tabled lawn, STEUBEN BREWING COMPANY is one of at least three Hammondsport brewpubs. Opened in 2014, Steuben seems to specialize in Bavarian pilsners and American IPA’s.

The main pub features a plank wood serving station, a few three-seated round tables, a green-walled blackboard beer listing, pendant lights and snazzy blue-stained concrete floor. Brewtanks are to the left behind the serving station and a TV, to-go refrigerator and shelved glassware fill out the space. Several local wines and ciders were available.

We grab a few seats at the cement-floored right side windowed room where several community tables crowd up on a cloudy Sunday afternoon, early December ’23.

Enjoyed all four German-styled pilsners upon entry. A zesty lemon spritz, pretzel-salted barley roast and musky herbal nip guided Cascade-hopped light body, The N.Y. Pils. Fizzy lemon sprayed the other yellow-cleared Bavarian, Premier Pilsner.

Softer, dryer, spicier Pederson Pilsner, retained doughy biscuit buttering. Dry lagered N.Y. Curtis Cyclocross snagged orange pekoe tea musk and wispy floral tangerine snips.

As for the IPA’s, tangy ‘clementine and peach’ brightened pine-salted Hopyard IPA, as did orange-peeled grapefruit zesting.

Sunshiny orange-peeled lemon rind bittering and salted green grape esters prodded the piney lupulin oiling of Harmonyville IPA, leaving floral daubs on its citric-spiced finish.

Tropical fruited New England IPA, Trail Town, plied peachy orange tanginess and lemony pineapple-grapefruit zesting to light evergreen pining.

Nutty dark chocolatey Hometown English Brown relegated its maple-glazed chestnut and walnut roast.

Dazzling bourbon-barreled Imperial Stout dangled bourbon vanilla pleasantries alongside fudgy brown chocolate richness, picking up sweet vanilla spicing, almond marzipan sugaring and chewy toffee nip.

WEBE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

WeBe Brewing Company | Geneva, NY

GENEVA, NEW YORK

The 14th Ontario County brewery to open since the Craft Beer Revolution started ’round 1998, WeBe BREWING COMPANY initially tapped its draughts on March 31, 2018, in the Seneca Lake town of Geneva. Entrepreneurial brewing enthusiasts, Colleen and Daniel Lieberg, have crafted a wide array of stylistically balanced suds in small batches for WeBe.

At an off-white concrete and brick warehouse with two overhead doors, large grassy backyard and windowed brew tanks, WeBe decorates its wood-metal tabled interior with a cool paint-chipped epoxy floor and Edison lights hanging from the rustic ceiling. There are three TV’s at front, back and center.

I grab a spot at the 20-seat, lacquered bark-topped bar to draw some liquids from the dozen draught handles (skipping all three fine ciders) while my wife chomps on spinach artichoke pizza during my December ’23 Finger Lakes adventure.

First up, a German-styled light pilsner. Fizzy lemon sugaring reached honeyed pilsner malts for Bills’ner, leaving herbal whims in the distance.

Vanilla-creamed banana sweetness and light clove spicing welcomed The Golden Peel Hefeweizen, lathering its honeyed wheat base.

Orange-peeled coriander spicing and banana chip sweetness coddled witbier, At My Wit’s End, posting dry rum sentiments at the durable citric-plantain finish.

‘Silky smooth’ S.O.S. Scotch Ale gathered dewy peat moss for milked coffee, dark cocoa and caramelized toffee riffs.

Tart mango juicing joined stylish sea-salted coriander spicing for Man-Gogh, a variant gose with wavered guava-gooseberry souring.

Tropical NEIPA, Yard Games, plied navel orange, lemon verbena and tangerine marmalade to buttery saffron spicing and lightly salted oated wheat.

Juicy double dry-hopped NEIPA, Serenity Now! merged tangy pineapple sweetness and melon-cantaloupe snips with lemon-limed gooseberry souring, gaining dry wood tones to contrast mild oated wheat creaming.

Sour double dry-hopped NEIPA, Sour Squeeze Play, conditioned with blood orange and tangerine puree, received moderate lemon salted acidity contrasted by its delicate oats-flaked creaming.

Decadent lactic milk stout, Grammy’s Candies, draped caramelized brown chocolate syrup atop oats-flaked sugaring. Lovely Buche de Noel, chocolate chip cookie, creme brulee, Graham Cracker and cappuccino illusions add to the luscious sweet-toothed glory.

BREWERY ARDENNES

United States Brewpubs,

Brewery Ardennes Taproom & Kitchen ...

GENEVA, NEW YORK

Inhabiting a refurbished stone-and-slate dairy barn turned into a turret-roofed manor in the rural western Seneca Lake town of Geneva, BREWERY ARDENNES TAPROOM & KITCHEN is a pristine Belgian-inspired brewhouse entrepreneurial owners Derek & Stacey Erdinger created after attending nearby Cornell University. A former sheep farm, Ardennes now recalls a serene Euro-styled high-end winery. Tapping for the public began May ’21.

At the grand side entrance on the left side are the varied windowed brewtanks. On the opposing side, a brown-couched lounge area leads to the exquisite main pub. A U-shaped bar with black granite sandstone top stages two tap stations with six draught handles each plus a separate three tap station. Across the bar, tidy wood tables and chairs gather atop the rust concrete floor.

A small kitchen serves upscale gourmet dishes paired with certain house beers. Upcoming Events include Monday Burger & Pint night and Sunday Brunch at the Barn.

My wife and I grab seats at the bar ’round noon on a Friday early December ’23 to try four elegant Belgian-styled farmhouse ales, taking home a few more reviewed in Beer Index.

Expressive Belgian-styled Blonde Ale backed its white-peppered orange salting, saison-like barnyard musk, mild Chardonnay buttering, sweet clove snip and cellared herbal fungi with crusty baked breading.

Stylish orange-peeled coriander spicing lingered softly for Belgian-styled Wheat, letting lemon-candied banana breading counter its salty peppercorn notion and musty cellared mossing over a wispy white wheat base.

Tidy Belgian-styled Session IPA slid dry yellow grapefruit and orange rind bittering onto white peppered herbage above buttery caramel malting.

Tropical fruited Belgian Hazy IPA may’ve lacked the haze, but this clear yellowed medium body let lightly embittered orange rind, grapefruit pith and pineapple tanginess gain grassy hopped pine resin and peppery herbal restraint atop honeyed pale malts.