PEARL RIVER, NEW YORK
Twenty miles North of Manhattan in a historic industrial warehouse across railroad station lies Pearl River sanctuary, DEFIANT BREWING. Brewer Neill Acer (formerly of defunct Ramapo Valley Brewery and West End Brewery) serves beers straight from large brew tanks behind right side bar.
During November ’06 visit, tried mellow Stephano’s Stout, a light-bodied changeup placing raw chocolate-cocoa sedation atop delicate dried raisin-fig serenity and sedately roasted hop-embittered cereal-oats, plus dewy amber-hazed English pale ale, Little Thumper (with its satiny yellow-fruited subtlety caressing raw-honeyed mineral-grained herbal hops, cannabis-like grassy twig earthiness, and vegetal wildflower-barnyard-horsehide dryness). Best bet: dazzling Christmas Ale, a slow sipping barleywine-like winter celebrator bringing anise abundance to chewy chocolate-molasses creaminess, seasonal nutmeg-allspice tingle, raspberry puree linger, raisin-grape upsurge, and coarse walnut-hazelnut respite seeping through rum-brandy warmth.
December ’07 stopover brought mildly piney citric-embittered herbal-tinged straw-hay-horsehide-dried Farmhouse Ale and twiggy soft-watered dry-hopped cocoa-powdered walnut-pecan-fig-savored Nut Brown Ale. 2007’s Christmas Ale bettered previous version as up-front burgundy-bourbon theme overlaid funky dried fruiting, candied red apple-grape souring, and bruised cherry-banana tartness. Also tried metallic brimstone-wafted pink-headed magenta-bodied Raspberry Wheat, a Belgian yeast-styled peculiarity with sour-candied oaken cherry tartness, sparkling champagne flow, and unripe peach-raspberry tease.March ’08, tried dry-hopped brown chocolate-y wood-charred coffee-quipped maple-sapped walnut-fig-rye-backed Porter and smooth coffee-milked espresso-surged chocolate-malted hop-roasted nut-singed Dry Irish Stout. Sun-dried fig-soured grape-parched oaken-cherry sharp-hopped cider-like Abbey Single stayed clandestinely alcoholic.
On May ’08 stop-by, tried robust Defiant Stout Of War, a lactic dry-bodied bitter merging hop-charred coffee ground souring with powdered cocoa-chocolate malts, hickory-smoked peat-whiskey, plus tertiary bruised cherry, raisin, fig, and anise illusions. Upon visit, bought growler of Defiant Golden Nugget, a woody hop-embittered wheat-husked barnyard-wafted lemony grapefruit rind-centered medium body.
During one-hour August ‘09 afternoon visit, quaffed mildly creamy cereal-grained spiced-hopped moderate body, Defiant Muddy Creek Lager, with its bittersweet red-orange-fruited simmer, tobacco leaf twinge, and biscuit-y spine. Afterwards, enjoyed Da Oaty Oatmeal Stout, a creamy dark chocolate-y coffee bean-embittered medium body placing dark Belgian candi-sugar above anise-smitten maple-sapped fig-soured vegetal-tinged oats char.
Late September ‘09, my wife and I hung out with Acer and Jeff (the bartender) while quaffing moderate-bodied Baron Von Weizen. Its seltzer-like peppery-hopped orange-tangerine tang and ethereal lemon-dropped banana-clove imprint rose above soft white-breaded wheat spine.
Celebrated Octoberfest ’09 with two uniquely different autumnal seasonals. Mild medium-bodied Headless Horseman Pumpkin Ale anchored creamy caramel-malted cocoa subtlety and teasing vegetal whim to opulent cinnamon-spiced pumpkin pie theme. Fruit-spiced grassy-hopped Oktoberfest retained champagne-like fizz, mild orange-tangerine tartness, spare red apple souring, and lime-y brimstone chalking to biscuit-y wheat spine.
On tap, May 2010, Defiant Maibock countered honeycombed orange-bruised apple-pied frontage, creamy Scotch malt sugaring, and biscuit-y bottom with mild grassy-hopped lemony grapefruit bitterness, slightly astringent alcohol burn, and cooked veggie nuance.
My longtime friend, Dennis Flubacher, bought four growlers for our consumption, June 2010. We quaffed these brews at our domiciles while watching Yankees games. Creamy caramel malts and tangy apple-apricot-nectarine sweetness linger above piney-hopped juniper-embittered alcohol astringency of Defiant Medusa IPA. Bittersweet hop-charred cherry-pureed prune-dried black chocolate richness offsets dark coffee roast and dewy peat backdrop consuming Defiant Chocolate Porter.
Lighter in texture and hue than brewers’ less pungent same-styled Muddy Creek Lager, grassy-hopped grapefruit-yellowed lemon rind-embittered Defiant Prohibition Lager guarded earthen mineral-grained corn-dried vegetal musk with herbal Cilantro-sage dusting. Sturdy American Pale Ale placed IPA-like piney orange-peeled grapefruit rind bittering over earthen oats-roasted maize-dried graining in medium-bodied template.
Tried spice-hopped mineral-grained clean-watered San Francisco Lager, with its vegetal fungi earthiness and back-throated orange-peeled grapefruit bittering, July ’10. A week later, buttery Chardonnay-like citric-lacquered white-peppered crystal-malted Defiant Summer Ale brought floral-spiced rosemary-herbed lavender-accented coriander-clove-spicing to lemony orange fruiting.
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