NEW JERSEY – NORTH
Seton Hall University oasis, GASLIGHT BREWERY, maintains operation as a homebrew supplier, but since 1998 it has also found respect as a cozy brewpub-restaurant visited Memorial weekend, May ’06. Owned by the Soboti family and located in upscale South Orange near the railroad station amongst the gas lantern-lined town square, its green awning welcomes patrons to snug horseshoe bar with tucked-in right side dining. Red brick-walled pub offered great revolving bottled selection (Corsendonk, Westmalle, Sam Smith, Chimay, Schneider, Stone) plus expensive menu (chicken, pasta, sandwiches, pizza). Bottled beer collection, fluorescent beer signs, banners, dartboards, bar trays, and one shuffleboard table were strewn about.
My wife quaffed Belgian’s excellent raspberry soda-like Lindeman’s Framboise Lambic, appreciatively available on tap. Copper brew kettles at entrance and right side tanks served phenol hop-fizzed grassy-grained tobacco-dried Bulldog Blonde, malt-chewy grapefruit-orange-y floral-accented dry-bodied Pinhead Pilsner, mildly orange-grapefruit-embittered cracked wheat-sweetened almond-tinged ESB, soft-tongued dourly-citric Scotch-tinged wheat-backed Kolsch, and subtly citric gently-hopped cereal-grained Pirate Pale Ale, fine for simpler tastes.
Better and stronger were heavily alcoholic honeyed malt-drenched orange-bruised peach-soured fig-pecan-snipped The Eliminator Helles Bock and nitro-injected creamy black chocolate-roasted coffee bean-dried Perfect Stout. Abstruse CC Porter draped dry raspberry puree coarseness and sour grape esters atop ancillary orange rind, green apple, seared walnut, and cocoa-coffee bean illusions to Black Forest Cake finish. Award winning light-hopped corn-sugared grain-toasted Slalom Cream Ale came in growler.
Upon April ’08 visit, discovered mild sweet-corned orange-fruited biscuit-backed soapy-finishing Governator Vienna Lager and two tart dark beers. Big Dog Porter had peat-like coffee-burnt raisin-soured brown chocolate-backed persuasion. Colossus Imperial Stout maintained sourly sun-dried fig-prune-date theme submerging dry cocoa-chocolate respite.
During May ’09 stopover, quaffed astringent coffee-burnt chocolate-soured walnut-bound lemon-orange-spoiled Bison Brown, sedate pinot grigio-dried cider-sharp lemon-soured cask conditioned Pit Bull Bitter, and woody dry-hopped plastic-like apple-orange-fig-draped currant-embittered soft-focused Zum Alt Dorf. Better were oaken bourbon-burgundy-sherry-fronted fig-dried date-sugared 3 Ring IPA and the intensely hopped bark-dried alcohol-burnt grapefruit peel-embittered apricot-apple-tangerine-fruited B.A. Massive.
If you like this, try: