On tap at Ambulance, corn-dried mineral graining seeps into tart lemondrop slot as dark floral daubs and musky hop herbage simmer below alongside doughy salted pretzel base of pre-Prohibition styled pilsner (inspired by German immigrants).
All posts by John Fortunato
14TH STAR WAYFINDER PILS
On tap at Ambulance, soft-tongued Czech-styled golden pilsner lets sweet corn sugaring penetrate delicate herbal lemon musk in mildly creamed nitro-like setting. A bit tame taste-wise, but crisply clean easygoer’s one of the most sessionable pils around.
BURLINGTON BEER LIGHTHOUSE PILSNER
Easygoing pilsner with mild cereal grain sweetness contrasting herbal perfumed Noble hop musk as fizzy lemon spritz tickles the nose to its buttered biscuit base.
FOAM BREWERS
BURLINGTON, VERMONT
Inside a large red brick warehouse across the street from Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont, FOAM BREWERS set up shop April 2016. Run by a few local professionals dedicated to “resourcefully creating imaginative beers for enlightened palates,” Foam’s waterfront pub provides a serene laidback atmosphere perfectly in line with the progressive Green Mountain State.
Co-founder Bob Grim performs head brewing duties, crafting enticingly rounded fare for local minions and delighted travelin’ ‘brewpies.’
A riveted aluminum-sided slate top bar with 20 tiled draught handles services the windowed round tables and large patio deck. Large steel cross bars, sturdy wood columns and the cement floor give Foam an Industrial rusticity while a small stage area welcomes local entertainers.
Left side brew tanks carry the beer load – a constantly changing variety of one-offs, seasonals, IPA’s and dark ales. Some of Foam’s most popular IPA’s borrow indie rock handles such as Built To Spill, Galaxy 500 and Pavement.
The pub menu includes delicious charcuterie, smoke fish and black bean salsa. Foam also recently opened a vineyard for wine making.
On a warm Saturday at noon in November ’22, my wife and I (plus dog) grab a table in the middle of the metal-furnished front deck to nip six delightful home brews. I also brought home a few reviewed in the Beer Index.
Muskily grain-hopped German-styled Share The Present Pilsner retained floral-daubed herbal lemon souring above its toasted biscuit base.
Hazily golden candy-glazed New England-styled pale ale, Electric Splash, scurried grapefruit-juiced lime zest and white grape esters thru lingered wood-dried bittering over gluey wheated oats.
Sea-salted cantaloupe gose, See You Better Now, let limey guava, watermelon rind and gooseberry souring receive cat-pissed acidity as its bittersweet cantaloupe adjunct descended.
Tropical Imperial IPA, Pavement, brought tangy mango, pineapple and peach zesting plus sour guava-passionfruit gumption to dank herbal hops atop dry pale malting.
Creamy medium roast coffee, dark chocolate syruping and silken cappuccino milkiness picked up mild bourbon influence for luxurious Bourbon Stout, leaving bruised cherry tartness and tingly sherry wining on its oats sugared spine.
Sweet milk chocolatey oak-aged Imperial Stout, Day For Night, conditioned on artisanal coffee, cocoa nibs, Madagascar vanilla beans and toasted coconut in Buffalo Trace whiskey barrels, retained toffee-spiced creme brulee sweetness and maple oats sugaring for its cream-sugared coffee finish, picking up latent black cherry, buttered pecan, almond, rye and cumin illusions. A perfect nightcap!
WEIRD WINDOW BREWING
SOUTH BURLINGTON, VERMONT
Close to Burlington International Airport and four miles west of Lake Champlain, WEIRD WINDOW BREWING began operations March 2020. Inside an evergreen aluminum sided warehouse, its angled ‘witch windows’ gave this overhead-doored brewpub its name.
Weird Window’s pristine white-walled cafe splendor extends to the 12-seat Edison-lit black top bar servicing four pendant-lit tables and one barreled post plus four outdoor community tables.
A diversified round of seven beers crossed my palate during a warm afternoon visit to this IPA-centric pub, November ’22.
Spritzy lemony grapefruit tanginess engaged dry light-bodied blonde ale, Wheat Kings and Pretty Weird Things, bringing lightly embittered herbal-citric hops to its gentle white bread spine.
Soft-tongued jalapeno cream ale, Cersei’s Wildfire, retained a mild peppery burn for its light spiced citrus spritz.
A lively Cascade-hopped NEIPA, Wet Hop Vermont Summer let its streamlined floral-bound citrus tanginess pick up grassy hop astringency, lacquered wood tones and mild herbal whims.
Another smoothly well-rounded NEIPA, Queen Of Chittenden County, brought its crackling honeyed citrus spritz to sugared pale malts, letting white peach, pineapple and melon illusions seep inside its glimmery orange-peeled grapefruit bittering.
Sunny Citra hops freshened up We Named The Dog Citra, yet another worthy NEIPA. Bitter grapefruit zesting, tangy pineapple spicing and sedate mandarin orange sweetness crawl above polite caramel malting.
A danker NEIPA, Pour Decisions, let spiced orange-peeled grapefruit and pineapple tanginess plus sour guava-gooseberry tartness grapple juniper bittering as well as grassy hop pining.
Sweet Vienna malting paced lightly kilned Droppelbock, leaving caramelized brown breading upon subtle raisin-fig sweetness and mild spicy perfuming.
IDLETYME BREWING COMPANY
STOWE, VERMONT
Consuming an entire red clapboarded Colonial-styled Victorian grange, Stowe-based IDLETYME BREWING COMPANY maintains an exquisite downhome appeal from its sylvan wood-furnished pub room to its luxurious Old World dining sections. A large paver deck with metal furnishings sits alongside several ash trees.
Though the historic Shed Restaurant & Brewery closed in 2011, Idletyme began renovations a year after and quickly picked up the slack. A founding brewer of New Hampshire’s Moat Mountain, Will Gilson has been Idletyme’s guiding light ‘concocting brews of all variety since 1995.’
While vacationing in Vermont, November ’22, discovered seven available brews – including two Bavarian pilsners, a Munich-styled lager, two pale ales, an IPA and porter. There were also two sours I missed out on, wild yeast cultured blueberry- Sour Blue and tart Lemondrop-hopped Sourtyme.
‘Mocktails,’ wines, ciders and mixed drinks were also available as were sandwiches, burgers and salads.
Dry Bohemia Pilsner lent wheat-chaffed barnyard acridity and rustic herbal spicing to fleeting powdered fruiting in light-bodied setting.
Musky raw graining and leathery hay dryness tempered the spritzy lemony hop of Munich Pilsner, a straightforward moderation.
Crisp helles lager, Helles Brook, brought sweet honeyed cereal graining to grassy Noble hop herbage, Seltzer-like lemon spritz and wispy sulfuric acidity.
A traditional American-styled pale ale, Pink n’ Pale, let zesty pink grapefruit juicing infiltrate piney hop briskness and a pink peppercorn prickle as ancillary pineapple and guava tropicalia glanced its spicily citric thrust.
Vibrant dry-hopped pale ale, Zog’s, splashed lemony grapefruit zest against pungent cannabis hop dankness and retained a mildly creamed vanilla froth.
Just as creamy on the surface, Imperial IPA, Ideltyme, worked zestful orange-peeled grapefruit bittering and spiced pineapple-peach tanginess into sugary pale malting (leaving vegetal cucumber crisping).
On the dark side, vanilla bean-embittered black chocolate malting, dark-roast hops and charred nuttiness saddled Vanilla Porter, a soft-tongued (nitrogenated?) delight.
REAL MC COY BEER CO. – BALLSTON SPA
BALLSTON SPA, NEW YORK
Established in 2015 at its main brew site in Delmar thirty miles south, the village of Ballston Spa now houses the small secondary satellite taproom of small-batch farmhouse brewery, REAL MC COY BEER CO. Only one mile from Speckled Pig behind a post office in a bright yellow house, this second site came to fruition, November ’20.
Located at the birthplace of Abner Doubleday, a high ranking 19th century military officer best known as the inventor of baseball, Real Mc Coy’s casual coffeehouse-like atmosphere spreads to its cozy eight-seat wood bar, orange plastic furnishings, interesting wall maps, small fireplace and pantry. Two small tables near the front and eight-seat community tables fill out this quaint beer cafe.
My wife and I consumed three fine proprietary beers on site while visiting November ’22 and I sank another three two months hence on New Years Eve at an antique side table in the cozy side lounge.
Crisp German-styled light pilsner, Schuyler, let spritzy lemon liming and mild herbal musk top maize-dried mineral graining.
Herbal lemondrop tartness tempered the banana-clove sweetness of No Name Hefe, leaving a trace of sourdough breading on the spicy plantain finish.
Spicy grapefruit, orange and pineapple tanginess picked up red apple and Bosc pear crisping for Doubleday IPA, an Imperial styled medium body with dry pine tones drifting thru distant fennel, anise and carrot snips.
Dry bronze-hued Her Majesty’s Malt ESB retained a dewy earthiness, waddle-seeded rye spicing and brown rice over caramelized brown breading.
Better still, English Coffee Infused ESB let pre-roasted coffee tones dominate peaty black tea musk and black tea tannins. Try with a lemon twist.
Lovely soft-toned flagship, Delmartian New England IPA, flung lemony grapefruit zesting at sour gooseberry-guava tartness and dry wooded herbage.
SPECKLED PIG BREWING COMPANY
BALLSTON SPA, NEW YORK
In the quaint village of Ballston Spa, downtown watering hole, SPECKLED PIG BREWING COMPANY, was established in 2022. A friendly neighborhood pub utilizing New York grown ingredients for its beer and food, Speckled Pig (a renovated vacant dress factory) retains a rustic warehouse appeal. A pasty white freestanding building with multiple dark windows, its roomy interior includes a 70-seat taproom with wood-fired pizza ovens, granite top bar, olden wood floors and left side brew tanks.
I sat at the Edison light-strung wood porch in November ’22 with wife and dog to enjoy five diverse brews.
Mexican light lager, The Gringo, brought slightly sour lime-juiced spritz, salty lemon-seeded mandarin orange zip and mild agave spicing to toasted Telera breading.
Brown leafed foliage, honeyed black tea and toffee spicing made up Sweater Weather, a crisply moderate-bodied Oktoberfest.
Dry orange oiling and sedate lemon spicing guarded Sands Souci Pale Ale, leaving herbal hop astringency on its slightly pungent spoiled citrus finish.
Vibrantly brisk NEIPA, Restitution, placed zestful grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering alongside peachy pineapple tanginess plus latent green grape, guava and gooseberry souring above silken flaked oats.
Maple sugared dark chocolate initiated Coffee Planet Triple Chocolate Stout, settling into a lingered black coffee midst before its distant black cherry tartness, sweet anise tease and recessive earthen soy saucing make cameos.
SMILE! IT’S BRIAN WILSON’S GLORIFIED RETURN
FOREWORD: This online interview took place in ’04, when ex-Beach Boys icon, Brian Wilson, was promoting Smile, a long lost album he had never finished in the late ‘60s (due to drug usage and paranoia). It was followed up by ‘08s almost as good That Lucky Old Sun. This article originally appeared in Aquarian Weekly.
After the slow demise of early rockers Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Elvis Presley and the untimely deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper in a plane crash, the Beach Boys picked up the slack for a generation tired of sentimental teen idol drips.
In 1961, Hawthorne, California native Brian Wilson (lead vocals, bass, keys), younger brothers Carl (lead guitar) and Dennis (drums), plus cousin Mike Love (vocals) and local buddy Al Jardine (rhtyhm guitar) jumped to the forefront of the up-and-coming surf rock trend, releasing several wave ridin’ classics highlighting vulnerable angelic vocalizing.
Though early Beach Boys albums lacked pizzazz despite several wondrous singles, their ’62 debut, Surfin’ Safari (quickly made with some novelty songs), ’63 follow-ups Surfin’ USA (with its Chuck Berry-esque title track, hot rod classic “Shut Down,” and three instrumentals), Surfer Girl, and Little Deuce Coupe all contained magical moments.
A euphoric mix of George Gershwin’s theatrical whimsy and the Four Freshmen’s clean choir-like multi-harmonies inspired the close-knit quintet. Learning to structure chords from Burt Bacharach, Brian Wilson soon dove headfirst into the drug culture surrounding British Invasion bands and West Coast chart competitors the Mamas & the Papas, creating the thematic orchestral constructions of ’66 treasure Pet Sounds before literally freaking out.
Nevertheless, Pet Sounds’ massive musical conceptualism and state-of-the-art studio design led the Beatles to greater heights and helped innovate the now-dreadful ‘rock opera’ trend defined by The Who’s vintage Tommy and Pretty Things lost-classic SF Sorrow.
While the pioneering Beach Boys legend had already suffered from stage fright, this condition was exacerbated by terrible late ‘60s drug addiction.
After a nervous breakdown on a flight to a Houston show at age 24, Wilson retired from the Beach Boys as a touring member. Drug abuse brought on mental problems and Wilson struggled to complete his most ambitious project, Smile, because he didn’t like “where the music was coming from. We were taking a lot of drugs during that time and got carried away.” Though the unfinished album was shelved, the fascinating ‘pocket symphony’ “Good Vibrations” became a deserved chart topper.
Happily, Wilson returned in ’88 with a cherished eponymous solo record featuring the reverent ballad, “Love And Mercy.” Then in ’95, with old writing partner Van Dyke Parks, he collaborated on the enchanting Orange Crate Art. But no one could have expected what was to come next.
In 2004, Wilson completed the elliptical Smile with Wondermints wunderkind Darian Sahanaja and an expansive orchestra. The result was, as Wilson said, “more progressive, happier, and uplifting.” Over forty years have past since the Beach Boys front man enjoyed his magnanimous glory days, but the twinkle in his eyes still reminds us all how the innocence he once had is not lost. And a world tour has brought lots of attention to Wilson.
Since Wilson is soft-spoken and terse answering questions, I added comments at the end of some of his responses to spice up the dialogue.
Who were some of your teenage influences inspiring the Beach Boys early recordings?
BRIAN WILSON: Rosemary Clooney, Chuck Berry, Phil Spector, and the Four Freshmen.
Where were you when you heard the Beach Boys’ first hit, “Surfin’,” on the radio?
BRIAN: I was in my living room with my family waiting for it to come on the radio. We all screamed in joy when it did.
In ’62, the Beach Boys and Four Seasons ruled the airwaves. What was it like when the British Invasion swept in and the Beatles and Rolling Stones became major competitors?
BRIAN: We were scared because we thought we were going to be eclipsed. So we got on the stick and made some good records.
Editorial remark: The Beach Boys responded with joyous ’64 #1 hit “I Get Around,” somberly mature brood “When I Grow Up (To Be A Man),” sassy #1 smash “Help Me Rhonda,” and sunny carnival-esque ode “California Girls.”
The Beach Boys covered Dick Dale’s “Let’s Go Trippin’.” Was he an influence?
BRIAN: He was an influence on Carl’s guitar playing. Yes, just Carl. He taught him a couple tricks on the guitar.
Dick Dale’s frenetic tremolo fretwork defined the sound of West Coast surf-rock, with its thunderously charging crescendos, wave-like flow, and breezy feel.
Was Duane Eddy’s twangin’ guitar style an influence as well?
BRIAN: No. Not an influence.
Corning, New York native Eddy became rock and roll’s biggest selling instrumentalist, creating “Rebel Rouser” in 1959, before similarly styled surf and hot road music became faddish.
Compare the ‘60s timeless pop music to that of today’s.
BRIAN: The ‘60s were much more creative, nice, and pleasant.
Though the competition was heavier on the charts, there are many Brain Wilson-influenced bands around nowadays that deserve exposure. All are subject to college radio’s limited scope since commercial radio sucks and payola scams rule.How has pop music changed since the ‘60s?
Commercial radio seems to play mostly compromised music presently. There are ridiculously talent-less American Idol crooners, hip-hop sell-outs, and fabricated punks galore.
BRAIN: (Radio) got better in the ‘70s and ‘80s. But it deteriorated in the ‘90s and now it’s nothing.
I’ve continuously argued that mainstream radio’s dismissal of punk a la the Ramones, Sex Pistols, and early Clash in ’77 ruined the kaleidoscopic range of the pop charts. Now, true Country crossovers, instrumentals, and other smaller genre fare never get sprinkled amongst the corporate rock and schlock pop slop.
What was it like to meet the Beatles? What did you discuss with them?
BRIAN: I met Paul and Ringo. Ringo was a funny person with a good sense of humor. Actually, Paul had a sense of humor, too. We talked about each other’s music.
Amazingly, the Beach Boys time-honored ’66 masterpiece, Pet Sounds, influenced the Beatles, the world’s biggest iconoclastic rock band ever, to undertake the technological magnum opus Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Not bad for a couple Cali homeboys.
Many of your songs deal directly or indirectly with God. What is your take on spirituality?
BRIAN: Spirituality is basic to music. You can’t separate the two. Music is spiritual.
I believe John Lennon once claimed “God Only Knows” was the Beach Boys best song. Though it’s a love song, there are hints of spirituality in its sincere, earnest tone. Several album tracks over the years point to Brian’s religiosity.
Was it initially difficult to capture Smile’s songs onstage because of their complexities?
BRIAN: No. The band is so good we duplicated the recordings.
The belatedly recorded and released album struck a chord with fans and critics alike, landing at #2 on the respected Village Voice Pazz & Jop Poll for ’04.
How’d you hook up with co-composer Darian Sahanaja?
BRIAN: I met him in a nightclub in Hollywood in 1997 with his band, the Wondermints. I asked them to be my backing band and the rest was history.
The Wondermints are a delightfully charming pop outfit way out of reach of radio’s clumsy grasp.
I’ve heard you may do an album with Paul Mc Cartney. Is that true?
BRIAN: No. That’s not true.
I shouldn’t believe stupid internet rumors, but there you go…
Tell me about your upcoming Christmas album.
BRIAN: It’s eight standards, two new Brian Wilson songs, and two Beach Boys songs.
One of the Beach Boys tracks is a remake of “Little Saint Nick.” Bernie Taupin (ex-Elton John lyricist) lends “What I Really Want For Christmas” and famed writer Jimmy Webb tosses in a seasonal number.
What new gadgets and gear do you use that modern technology offers?
BRIAN: Pro Tools for sure. And we use some computers.
Luckily, these innovations may make it easier for Brian to compose future songs in the luxury of his own living room.
What ideas could you have explored better in the ‘60s if you had modern gear?
BRIAN: None. Because the records we made were perfect.
I’ll grant Brian that, but isn’t this the same man who’d labor over ideas forever, changing and rearranging chords so much that Smile didn’t see release until four decades hence. Well, maybe the drugs didn’t help.
Is it true it cost $100,000 to make the wand-like sound in the original “Good Vibrations”?
BRIAN: No. $15,000.
History always distorts the truth. But I wonder what English quintet the Tornadoes paid to record the oscillating synthesizer for turbo-charged ’60 instrumental, “Telstar.”
How’d your Live 8 performance in Berlin go? What songs did you perform?
BRIAN: Live 8 was fantastic. Did “God Only Knows,” “Do It Again,” “Don’t Worry Baby,” “California Girls,” and “Good Vibrations.”
Classics, every one, spanning his whole ‘60s career.
What new bands do you listen to these days?
BRIAN: I still listen to Paul Mc Cartney and Phil Spector (productions). That’s about it.
He should check out the former Elephant 6 collective. Start with Apples In Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel.
Do you have any regrets?
BRIAN: I would never have taken LSD.
Rumors of Brian playing piano with his feet in a sandbox during the ‘70s ring true!
What artist would you have liked to work with but didn’t get a chance to?
BRIAN: Phil Spector.
…if Phil doesn’t go to jail for the mysterious shooting death of an ex-actress, there still may be time.
YONKERS BREWING COMPANY
YONKERS, NEW YORK
Just past the northern tip of the Bronx along the Hudson River, Yonkers built a new riverwalk promenade a few years back and soon after its first brewery surfaced. Founded in 2013, YONKERS BREWING COMPANY began selling its signature Vienna Lager (named after area code 914) out of Connecticut’s Thomas Hooker Brewing before opening its current location with Chicago-bred brewer, Sharif Taleb.
Local childhood friends Nick Califano and John Rubbo crafted Yonkers Brewing’s initial lager before handing the reins to Taleb, who recently relinquished his head brewership to Paul Alva. Unafraid to expand beyond its pilsner-lager base, YBC also offers its share of IPA’s and seasonals.
Inside the rustic cement-floored pub, a 10-seat L-shaped back bar (with Edison bulb lighting) features twelve aluminum tap handles, top shelf liquors and two electric draught boards. A kitchen serving pub fare and breakfast brunch is situated behind the bar while the brew tanks are to the rear. Cozy front window seating, cocktail bistro tables and pendant lighting fill out the pub.
A beautiful painted mural of downtown Yonkers with a green propellered prop plane over the Hudson dons the right wall.
My wife and I grabbed Saturday brunch late October, 2022, sipping all seven available brews. There are also guest taps for well-respected Jack’s Abby Post Shift Pilsner and Sloop The Sauer on this date.
Crisply clean German-styled Saw Mill Pilsner retained apropos mineral graining, lemon-soured herbage, wet grass astringency and mild spicing.
Summery Mexican-styled lager, Squeezin’ Down The Lime prodded its limey agave minting with talc-like soapstone sudsiness and mild pilsner malt sugaring.
Dewy autumnal moderation, Yonkers Oktoberfest, let its mossy leaf crisping soak up musty red-orange fruit oils.
Sedate raw-honeyed lemon souring and spritzy grapefruit bittering countered milder caramel toasted sugaring for Pass The Mic Pale Ale, trekking Cascade-Citra-hopped floral tropical fruiting thru dry Amarillo-hopped pining.
Zesty lemony grapefruit tanginess and recessive herbal spicing tagged Barricade NEIPA, a hazy medium body coalescing limey Cashmere-Motueka hops with tropical Citra hops.
Starting opulently bitter, Yonkers Pineapple Zappa brought juicy pineapple puree resilience to brisk lemon-seeded lime souring and delayed mango-guava tanginess.
Though there were no dark ales on my premier visitation, murkily gooey crimson-hazed Blood Red stayed fruitful as salty strawberry-raspberry rhubarb tartness gained sweet red wining and oaken cherry whims.
GREAT DIVIDE PEANUT BUTTER YETI IMPERIAL STOUT
Creamy medium-roast peanut buttering picks up plentiful dark chocolate richness contrasted by dark-roast hop char. Spicy cocoa nibs, Dutch cocoa powder and Reese’s Peanut Butter illusions deepen marauding mocha endurance. Chewy goodness all the way thru.
BRANCH & BLADE DOUBLE SINNER WITH MARSHMALLOW
On tap at Pompton Craft House, lovely vanilla-creamed marshmallow onrush cruises thru yellow grapefruit bittering, zesty lemon tartness, orange-peeled peach sweetness, salted mango tang and sour gooseberry-guava tandem. Awesome.
