ALIAS BREW WORKS

VERNON, NEW JERSEY

Sharing an unwavering love for craft beer, brewmasters Jonathan Fernandez (formerly of Nyack’s Two Villains Brewing) and Tom Troncone (from Franklin, New Jersey’s Muckraker Brewmaker) hooked up to start Alias Brew Works during May 2024. While Fernandez makes what he calls “clean beers,” Troncone specializes in spontaneously fermented sour ales.

Residing at a green shingled garage-doored barnhouse in the Vernon mountainside nestled between upscale Crystal Springs, Mountain Creek and Mineral resorts, Alias’ dual overhead doors lead to a wood top serving station with twenty taps and central TV. Several tables and chairs consume the rest of the cement-floored barroom. Through a side overhead door are the pristinely staged brewtanks.

My wife and I grab bench seats at the wood barreled front deck on a beautiful, seasonally warm All Saints Day, ’24, quaffing all available tapped brews while conversing with Fernandez.

Citric-spiced Cascade hops joined woodsy Simcoe hops for West Coast IPA-styled pale ale, Scooter, meshing orange, pineapple, mango, grapefruit and white peach tanginess with lemony yellow grapefruit bittering as green tea-backed fresh cut grassiness stays mildly astringent.

Soft-toned triple IPA, Beggars Tomb, retained tropical Citra-Mosaic hop sunshine above mild flaked oats cushioning its peachy pineapple tang, subtle yellow grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and light floral daubs.

Similarly vibrant dry-hopped hazy IPA, Its Time, combined New Zealand-hopped guava and green grape souring with Citra-Mosaic-hopped lemony yellow grapefruit bittering and tangy peach, pineapple and orange peel sweetness plus subtle floral perfuming above oated wheat creaming, picking up hard-candied tartness.

Fizzy lemon zest, candied pineapple, tangy peach and white grapefruit settled alongside the light pine needled cannabis resin of briskly tropical, Magical Haze, a heavily oated NEIPA.

Dry “fruited” kolsch, Laughing In The Sun, conditioned on plum, let candied orange-pineapple fruiting and lemon-rotted Noble hop herbage deplete its plum scrum over a delicate wheated pilsner base.

Stylishly richer schwarzbier, Darkness Consumes You (2024), a ‘black kolsch,’ placed fluffily creamed coffee-burnt cocoa powdering alongside debittered black malts and burnt toast remnants, depleting its kolsch-like orange-oiled lemon musk.

Alias’ first so-called ‘wild’ spontaneous saison, Season Of The Devil let dry-hopped Motueka bring salty herbal lemon zesting to lovely lavender, chrysanthemum and daisy florality above bready pilsner malting.

Black chocolate syrup draped toasted coconut sweetness and wintry cinnamon-sticked cardamom, thyme and nutmeg spicing for rich stout, Coconut Days, leaving tertiary anise, toffee and hazelnut snips.

Ceylon cinnamon sticks enhanced the gingerbread theme enlightening Christmastime nightcap, Hostile Gingerbread Takeover, scattering sun-dried clove, nutmeg, and allspice seasoning across dark cherry, sugarplum and fig nuances.

LAST MINUTE BREWING

SCOTT, PENNSYLVANIA

10 minutes from Scranton at the hilly agrarian town of Scott in peaceful Lackawanna County, LAST MINUTE BREWING began operations in 2020. Inside a tan aluminum shed-like garage, the overhead-doored nano pub serves classic contemporary brews from its crystal clean silver kettles.

Last Minute’s porcelain floor leads to the aluminum-sided wood top bar where twelve draught taps are stationed. I tried six proprietary suds during my seasonably warm late October ’24 Northeast Pennsylvania trip.

Crisp New Zealand-hopped pilsner, Painted Window, let its IPA-fruited gooseberry, guava and papaya tropicalia gain spritzy lemony grapefruit salting.

Another NEIPA-inspired moderation, Towering Gaze Haze, a hazy pale ale, placed dry lemony grapefruit bittering across mandarin orange and strawberry rhubarb tartness (utilizing Motueka and Strata hops).

Dry grassy-hopped Cream Ale seeped lemon rot into skunked lagered malt in fine stylistic fashion.

Mild witbier, Gotta Go Wit It, brought its subtle blood orange puree adjunct to mild Cascade-hopped lemony yellow grapefruit sunshine. In the midst, mild orange and lemon peel bittering contrasts delicate coriander spicing.

Dry NEIPA, Don’t Watch It, let its lemon zest sprinkle salted yellow grapefruit, guava, gooseberry and mandarin orange tropicalia atop lightly acidic oaken vanilla tannins.

Dark-roast coffee frontage and mild dark chocolate backup fortified creamy Pendulum Stout, a cocoa nibs-laden full body with dark-roast hop char.

GROOVE BREWING

SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA

Residing at a white stucco garage catty-cornered into a hilly residential neighborhood, GROOVE BREWING opened its black overhead doors for business January 2023 (after operating out of a former dentist office since 2020). Scranton’s first brewpub, Groove’s smooth nano brews have captivated Northeast Pennsylvania.

Brewmeister Ed Generose crafts delightful one-off batches of stylishly varied suds plus two flagships, Steamtown Gold Lager, and Brooks Drift Wheat Ale. Alongside Generose, co-owners Joe and Shannon Bonacci strive to gain an imprint on Scranton’s redevelopment, prosperity and beer culture.

The red cement-floored, white-walled interior features an eight-seat Formica top bar, several four-seat tables, a couch, black-ceilinged exposed pipes and a spacious staged backroom for private parties. Windowed brew tanks carry the liquid load.

Our first stop sojourning to Scranton late October ’24, my wife and I slurped all available 5-ounce brews and took home a few reviewed in Beer Index.

Dry German-styled pilsner, Garden Party ’24, let dewy honey drip into subtle lemon adjunct and moist orange tartness.

A richer Vienna malted marzen, Groovefest, plied honeyed red-orange fruiting to leafy green hop resin, dark floral mustiness and musky mineral graining. 

Spry kettle-soured Key Lime Pie caressed its pie-crusted key lime tartness with lime-peeled gooseberry, guava and green grape souring as well as lemon meringue piquancy, parched limestone chalking and minty ginger snips over honeyed Graham Cracker base.

Dry pumpkin pureed spicing embedded semi-sweet dark chocolate and confectionery marshmallow fluff for Marshmallow Pumpkin Porter, gaining resonant vanilla bean influence as latent anise spicing coats pumpkin pied cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg aspect.

One of the best American smoked lagers, Chimney Man Rauchbier may lack the brash cured meat goodness of Germany’s Aecht and Bamberger, but its scaled-back smoked salami, bacon fat and pastrami banter retained a sizable Scotch-licked cocoa malting.    

Easygoing java-influenced Belgian blonde, Morning Joe, spread creamy milk-sugared coffee atop cellared Belgian yeast funk as restive lemon zesting fizzled. Supreme breakfast fodder.  

LOADING DOCK BAR & GRILL

DUNMORE, PENNSYLVANIA

In the suburban Lackawanna County borough of Dunmore just outside Scranton off the Harry O’Neill Highway, LOADING DOCK BAR & GRILL truly keeps beer geeks happy serving 25 local craft draughts alongside a superb seafood-heavy menu (with top-notch pretzel melts, sandwiches, salads and entrees) and cordial cocktails. There’s even a backspace refrig with dozens of to-go cans.

A family-friendly sportsbar for serious beer tossers, Loading Dock’s square block interior includes a granite-topped 15-seat halfmoon bar (with Mosaic-tiled frontage), Prohibition-styled bronze-tiled ceiling and elongated pendant lighting – all providing vintage flare for the otherwise conventional setting. Walled sconces lit up the left side wood tables and chairs.

On a crowded Saturday night, October ’24, my wife and I grab bar seats as several college football games blare from the multi-TV’s. The bacon-wrapped scallops and pound of clams went well with my Rusty Rail Pumpkin Swirl, a popular local autumnal ale reviewed in Beer Index).

Competes favorably with Scranton’s Backyard Ale House and Cooper’s Seafood so get yer ass there.