On tap at Plank Pizza, fair helles lager lets sweet corned oats pick up mild perfume spicing and grassy Noble hop herbage but cheap malt liquor swerve nearly ruins floury grain base.
CARTON THIS TOWN HELLES LAGER
All posts by John Fortunato
ICARUS TWO OUT RALLY PILS
On tap at Plank Pizza, obscurely conditioned on watermelon, its vegetal cucumber watering and honeyed floral daub also fade as musty floor malted dextrin starching takes hold for wayward bohemian variant.
MESSOREM 9 PIEDES XTRM TURBO
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, waxy yellow grapefruit and orange rind bittering plus salted green mango tang gain light pine lacquering as hidden 9% ABV evokes brisk vodka whim of XTRM Turbo version of 9 Piedes Sous Terre. From Messorem, Montreal, Canada, specializing in Imperial India Pale Ales.
MESSOREM CLIVAGE ANATOMIQUE
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, hazy IPA softer and less busy then brewers’ 9 Piedes. Mellow yellow grapefruit bittering, vivacious navel orange tang and polite lemon zesting rise above lightly creamed flaked oats with only a hint of pine resin.
MESSOREM DEPART ABSTRAIT
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, turbidly golden hazed NEIPA stays dry as woody Simcoe hops combine with the floral-daubed yellow fruiting of Citra-Strata hops and tartly tropical tease of Nelson Sauvin hops to lead a spectral lupulin charge. Lemony grapefruit entry glides into scurried pineapple, passionfruit, white grape and strawberry dalliance, picking up slight herbage atop sugary oats base.
WARSTEINER DUNKEL
Soft creaminess coats understated caramelized barley-chestnut roast, dewy peat mossing and mild toffee sweetness leading to blanched fig-dried cocoa stead. Light hop spicing tingles tongue. Fine middle-of-the-roader.
WARSTEINER BREWERS GOLD
“Smooth” unfiltered pilsner-malted amber lager (a.k.a. German-styled kellerbier) retains thin brown breaded crusting. Mild chestnut-roasted honey biscuit sweetness counters tart raw-honeyed orange oiling .
BRIGHT IDEAS BREWING
WESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
Inside a red brick Industrial mall, BRIGHT IDEAS BREWING opened its original canary yellow-walled brewhouse in North Adams during 2016 (with a second taproom in nearby Westfield operating since 2023). A festive pub featuring a snazzy yellow-chaired covered deck that matches its illuminating yellow interior brick walls, the North Adams site at the Mass MoCa campus shines brightly.
Residing at the former Sprague Electrical Plant (closed 1984), Bright Ideas wood-topped 15-seat bar (with a dozen-plus hydrant-piped draught handles) services several Industrial metal-wood tables. Metal crossbars, exposed pipes and a few left-walled pews fill out the spiffy cement-floored beer factory.
My wife and I gathered at one of Bright Ideas pews on a Friday, March ’25, sinking nine while Squeeze’s “Pulling Mussels From The Shell” and other fine ’80s music played on. We even tried sweetish Afternoon T-Light Lavender & Lemon, a butterfly pea flowered hard seltzer.
Mild Czech pilsner, Czechs Out, a clean bohemian lightweight, placed spritzy Saaz-hopped lemon fizz atop rice-sugared pilsner malting.
A navel orange spritz surfaced for sweet amber grained Czech lager, Fortune’s Favor, bringing subtle caramelized fig to its mild tobacco-crisped barley roast.
Dewy peat-mossed extra special bitter, Winter Study, an English-styled pub ale brewed by Williams College students, sported mild cocoa resonance and a slight orange splash.
Another dewy choice, modest Munich-styled dunkel, Weisse Drunkel, sprayed mild orange zest across barren banana-clove sweetness and wispy plum-raisin snips in a light caramel malt setting.
Moderately acidic kettle-soured variant, Sour Splash – Apricot, let salty lemon-limed apricot puree engage light herbal misting and acidulated wheat.
Sunshiny yellow grapefruit and sweet orange-peeled lemon zest awoke splashy New England IPA, Undercast, leaving minty evergreen freshness on its lightly creamed oats base.
Rummy banana puree linked Belgian pale ale, 589, to honeyed green tea, tart mandarin orange, sweet floral spicing and lacquered peach illusions.
To the dark ales. Soft-tongued Irish nitro stout, Lark And Lion, raised lightly creamed dark chocolate nuttiness above mossy barley roast.
Mildly fudged Imperial milk stout, Aztec Winter, a milk-sugared Mexican hot cocoa derivative, pinned cinnamon-spiced ancho chili peppering to minty dark chocolate, picking up tertiary maple molasses, black cherry and salted caramel swipes.
TIN BRIDGE BREWING COMPANY
WESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
Down an alley path from Westfield’s gigantic beer-centric Super Phipps Liquors lies the rustic professional gray-blue building housing TIN BRIDGE BREWING COMPANY. Opened November 2017 and operated by homebrewing Westfield-bred brothers, Joe and Nick Cocchi, the inconspicuous pub crafts a diverse range of sassy suds such as the creative fruit ales and specialty stouts on hand for my Saturday noon time March ’25 Saturday trip. The expansive recipes are more hit than miss and usually somewhat opulent flavor-wise.
Tin Bridge’s tucked-away, concrete-floored tavern features a tan concrete-topped, 20-seat bar with 12-plus draught handles and slat wood paneled back wall. There are four hardwood community benches across the bar plus several TV’s, arcade games and a shuffleboard table providing a sporty atmosphere. Tin-covered lamps, exposed pipes and electrical wiring hang from the black aluminum ceiling.
Murky dry-bodied lager, Towny, let desiccated lemon, mild floral herbage and slight vegetal whim reach dank raw-grained maize astringency.
A dryer hefeweizen, Stairway To Hefen placed lemony herbal musk above stylish banana-clove sweetness while its cracked wheat spine laid barren.
Mellow hazy New England-styled Session IPA utilized 100% Galaxy hops to let brisk citrus-spiced passionfruit tropicalia to spread above mildly creamed oats base. A the finish, delicate yellow grapefruit and orange rind bittering bubbles up.
Another Galaxy-hopped moderation, spritzy mauve-hazed NEIPA, Blood Orange, regaled sweet orange-peeled tangerine tang and light herbage over dry pale malts.
Hazy fruited pale ale, Peach Jalapeno, soaked peach pureed tartness in mild roasted jalapeno heat, picking up sweet green peppering.
Another ‘fruited tart’ ale, Imperial Peach Cobbler, sprinkled rummy brown-sugared cinnamon atop marshmallow-fluffed peach pureed pie crusting.
Yet another hazy ale, Pineapple Cinnamon Cheesecake, a confectionery liquid dessert, stuffed pineapple pureed cheesecake with sweet cinnamon spicing and lightly perfumed vanilla bean musk.
Tangy raspberry puree gained sour-candied jellybean tartness and lemon verbena herbage for Raspberries n’ Cream, a marshmallow-fluffed, vanilla-beaned fruited sour.
Heady (8.5% ABV) Imperial Stout, Toasted Coconut, draped toasted coconut shavings with bourbon vanilla sweetness.
Just as intoxicating, confectionery pastry stout, Cookies ‘n Cream, invited fudgy Oreo cookie creaming to bittersweet vanilla beaning and unexpected black cherry swipe.
HOT PLATE BREWING CO.
PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
Open during 2023, Pittsfield’s increasingly popular HOT PLATE BREWING COMPANY is owned and operated by Sarah Real and Mike Dell’Aquila, former New York City Latinos (and Penn State grads) now calling western Massachusetts home. Their perfectly snazzy leisure-clubbed pub features an exquisite epoxy floor, Formica bar top, Industrial metal-wood four-seaters, cozily furnished lounge area and rear brew tanks.
A 7-barrel brewhouse with an interesting spectrum of ales, there’s a central TV for entertainment and beers to-go in the nearby refrigerator. Alongside a fine array of brews are red and white wines, hard cider and seltzers plus coffee and tea.
My wife and I visited Hot Plates mid-March ’25 on a sunny ‘n cold Saturday to down eleven diverse offerings.
Rustic pilsner-malted oated wheat cushioned the mild orange-peeled grains of paradise bittering and mild hop peppering of moderate-bodied wheat ale, Beware My Smile, given an effervescent lemon spritz.
Dewy peat moss encountered mild cocoa and toffee tones over biscuit flouring for dry English pub ale, Easy Listening Favourites.
Spicy rye lager, Reciprocal Arrangement, spread light molasses atop peated rye malts.
Corn-sugared pilsner malts guarded moderated-bodied cream ale, Rockin’ The Gold Tooth, leaving pithy grassy hop astringency on the lemon-pitted back end.
Easygoing lactose-injected, chamomile-herbed blonde ale, Capable Of Anything, picked up toasted cinnamon sweetness and wispy floral spicing – a perky offbeat variant.
Another oddball variant, Effervescent Lemongrass Saison, left ‘woody spicing’ and shaving cream perfuming upon its refreshingly cologne-soaked lemongrass herbage.
Amiable pilsner-malted New England IPA, Hop Riot, let Citra-hopped lemony grapefruit juicing stay the course alongside mild pine resin.
Honeyed orange-bruised banana resilience received dainty white peppering for Belgian Golden Strong Ale, Countess Of Flanders, picking up butterscotch toffee whim.
A nutty black chocolate roast gathered for nitro porter, The Interruption Stays, a creamily smooth dark ale with mild coffee swagger.
Bittersweet cacao nibs secured the mild dried habanero heat of chocolate stout, Kardia, a fine digestif possibly bettered by one java-influenced nightcap.
Pervasive dark-roast coffee nuttiness gained creamy dark chocolate smudge for coffee stout, Agent Cooper, sporting a latent hop-charred espresso bittering.
FOOLPROOF BREWING
BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT
FOOLPROOF BREWING’S nifty orange-striped red brick exterior retains a snazzy casual charm contrasting its murky warehouse-bound Industrialized Bridgeport neighborhood just off Route 95. Expanding from its original Pawtucket, Rhode Island brewery, this second Foolproof location began operations in 2021.
The large open space barroom, a dank brick-walled, concrete-floored, black metal-columned brewhouse, features a 30-chaired concrete slab-topped bar with silver tanks along the back wall. There are four-seat tables and booths on the right side. Exposed pipes hang from the high corrugated ceiling adding echo to the music playing. Alongside rounded beer selection are signature mocktails and light food menu.
My wife and I drifted into Foolproof on a Sunday morn, March ’25, to sample a few and take some home for review.
Dry Pilot Kolsch drizzled fizzy lemon-wedged champagne atop its grassy-hopped astringency and blanched white wheat base.
Another dry-bodied German-styled brew, Belsnickel, a pumpernickel bock with caramelized rye breading and dewy cellar mossing, picked up lingered black treacle bittering.
Sunny yellow grapefruit zesting and sweet orange peel briskness gain pine resin for Mansions, a hazy IPA with juicily fruited Citra hop tropicalia sidling lesser dry Centennial hop herbage.
Mildly mocha-creamed milk stout, Black Cab, retained subtle espresso, walnut and dark chocolate tones in a peaty moss setting.
The serenading bourbon chocolate frontage of Barrel-Aged Revery, a smooth Imperial Stout, gained hazelnut coffee, vanilla latte, chocolate cookie and fried Oreo illusions.
ARMADA BREWING
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT
Inside an ole red brick Industrial warehouse formerly housing Bigelow Boiler Company, ARMADA BREWING came to fruition in 2022. At the underdeveloped and previously abandoned Fair Haven section near the Quinnipiac River, the family-owned brewpub is led by head brewer, John Kraszewski.
Armada’s brick-walled, concrete-floored, high ceilinged interior features multiple TV’s, three elongated lacquered wood community tables, overhead doored barrel seating and a couched cove. The back bar’s ghoulish black and blue wall design captures the eye alongside the colorful tomb-like chalkboard beer list while scattered back tanks service the dozen tap handles.
I made the journey to Armada March ’25, quaffing three draughts before bringing home a few more Armada brews reviewed in Beer Index.
Crisp Confirmed Pils prickled musky husked graining and Saaz hop herbage with a spritzy lemon fizz.
Equally as crisp and clean, brisk lemony passionfruit bittering and mild guava-gooseberry tartness engaged Iron Gold Passionfruit Blonde.
Coffee-burnt dark chocolate spunk and dewy moss got draped by light Blackstrap molasses for Lord Chancellor Oatmeal Stout, leaving mild cola-walnut snips on the maple oats spine.