Well integrated 3rd anniversary stout springs ancho chili peppering upon bittersweet dark chocolate and vanilla bean insistence. Alongside the moderate ancho heat, bitter Blackstrap molasses drapes wood-burnt hop char and mild pine tarring enveloping cinnamon-barked mocha stead. Distant Peppermint Patty candy, chocolate-covered cherry and molasses oatmeal cookie illusions waver.
MOUNT HOLLY, NEW JERSEY
Inside a tan brick warehouse in the close-knit Philadelphia suburb of Mount Holly, SPELLBOUND BREWING opened its doors in 2014. One of Jersey’s finest breweries, its owners are passionate homebrewing geeks crafting “everyday classics” and “extreme boundary pushing recipes.”
An overhead door leads to the small cement bay where several stainless steel brew tanks and some gray benches exist. Reclaimed wood decorates the eight-seat lacquer-topped bar and a few tables fill out the pub. There are a dozen-plus draughts available.
My wife and I went in late April ’23 to check out Spellbound’s expansive beer lineup.
Sweet Mango Pale Ale allowed its tangy mango juicing to embrace lemon Pez tartness and papaya-passionfruit zing fortified by lacquered pine tones.
Toning down its sweet banana-clove stylishness for lemon-rotted lemongrass herbage, dried plantain tartness and green grape esters, Dreamnesia Hefeweizen stayed dryer than expected.
Ginger-dried lemongrass herbage and lemony cologne perfuming consumed unique Arcana Ginger Lemongrass Ale, finishing like a rice-wined sake.
Dewy Vienna malted honey white breading and apple-skinned pear crisping gathered for 8th Anniversary Doppelbock, curtailing its wispy dried fruiting.
Fascinating 5th Anniversary Quad dangled dried cherry, sugar plum and date syrup alongside whiskeyed toffee sweetness and roasted tobacco crisping above chocolate pudding creaming.
Easygoing Peach Major Nelson NEIPA let tangy peach lead the way for spry lemon zesting, bittersweet mango salting and delicate passionfruit-strawberry tartness cruising above mildly creamed flaked oats.
Zesty orange-peeled pineapple and grapefruit tanginess picked up mild piney bittering and some grassy astringency for brisk Phase 7 NEIPA, leaving lightly creamed flaked oats on the bottom.
Soft-toned pale yellow cleared Enlightened IPA serenaded mild yellow grapefruit bittering, lemon peel zesting and floral-spiced mandarin orange sweetness with sugary pale malts countering grassy hop astringency.
Brown-sugared gingerbread cookie knockoff, Gingerbread Brown Ale, gained mild cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice illusions atop its sweet chocolate base.
Luscious bourbon barreled stout, Living The Dream, scurried light bourbon sweetness across dark chocolate syruping, picking up burnt wood bittering plus latent dry burgundy licks.
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, briskly clean NEIPA mingles sweetly soured Nelson Sauvin-hopped gooseberry, mango, guava, passionfruit, pineapple and kiwi tropicalia with grassy Citra-hopped lemony grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and earthy Mosaic-hopped floral pining over soft oats flaked base.
On tap at Hoover’s, weak pumpkin-spiced barleywine lacks descriptive stylistic diversity and becomes arid. Pumpkin pie sweetness and brown-sugared cinnamon toasting lost to sharp gin-licked orange rind bittering. Wispy ginger, nutmeg and allspice reminders need better resonance.
On tap at Taphouse 15, lacquered peach pasting gains boisterous citrus bittering as sharp grapefruit-peeled orange rind spunk reigns over dank piney hop romp, nearly overwhelming initial peach tones and latent mango-nectarine snips.
On tap at Hoover’s, well-balanced oatmeal raisin cookie-defined full body lays on the nutty hop-charred resolve to deepen its cocoa-powdered black malt bittering against cookie dough-sugared oatmeal raisin persuasion. Vanilla-beaned Blackstrap molasses sinew adds to bitter edge, sacrificing some of the oatmeal raisin splendor.
Interesting year round mocha porter aged on incense-like palo santo wood loads mildly creamed dark chocolate syrup upon Madagascar vanilla bean bittering, toasted coconut sweetness, mild espresso milking and minty anise spicing. Slight burnt wood-toned chicory undercurrent laces robust mocha finish.
On tap at Triton – Long Beach Island, milky dark chocolate syrup rides above cocoa nibs, vanilla and walnut illusions while mild hop char provides underscored bitterness. Crisply clean mineral water flow lightens the blackened mocha finish.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead – Hoboken, sweet ‘n sour red cherry juicing gains tart candied banana spicing and honeyed malt sugaring to contrast musky herbal peppering and musty green grape esters.
Fine flagship offering (in a can) will please avid hopheads with its oily hop bittering, resinous pine tarring and brisk juniper berry pungency. Sharp grapefruit-peeled orange rind tang brightens all the musky bitterness. Wispy pineapple, peach, mango and mandarin orange tropicalia found in deep recess.