On tap at Seven Lakes Station, spritzy lemon-candied orange soda sugaring picks up wafting floral bouquet as mild hop astringency settles above honeyed red wheat malting for traditional cream ale labeled a blonde.
All posts by John Fortunato
ICARUS BLAST MASTER PILSNER
On tap at Beef Trust, dry muskily grained Saaz hop herbage guards sourly lemon bruised fizzing of pliable pale golden-hued light body collab with Chatham-based Twin Elephant.
SCHILLING PALMOVKA 12′ CZECH STYLE PILSNER
On tap at Ambulance, dry Czech-styled pilsner ties maize-dried grain toasting to doughy baked breading as mild celery-watered lemon limed herbal musk provides amiable pivot. Almost perfect.
ATHLETIC CERVEZA ATLETICA
Dry barley roast brings bread crusted brown breading and tea-like earthiness to mild hop astringency for Connecticut-based non-alcoholic ‘Light Copper’ Mexican lager. Sort of a blander Vienna lager due to lack of caramelized pale malt sugaring.
JACKASS BREWING
LEWISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA
Occupying a stately gray bricked Industrial building with aluminum-sided large windows atop a small hill on Route 45 in Lewisburg (home of Bucknell University), JACKASS BREWING opened March 2020. Started by two homebrewers inspired by the Portland Ale Fest, Skip Kratzer and Larry Winans, craft well-designed straightforwardly stylized suds.
A beautifully landscaped property with metal-furnished tiled patio leading to the metal-and-wood factory-like pub, Jackass Brewing’s high ceilinged fans and exposed pipes add proper industrial details to the 4,000 square-foot space. The 25-seat red brick-backed bar features twelve-plus jackass-handled draughts connected to the windowed brew tank room via large red engine room piping.
My wife and I and dog, Roscoe, grab seats on the turf-floored, umbrella-tabled back deck to down nine proprietary brews alongside delectable pub fare, June ’22. Signature cocktails were also available.
Polite light-bodied German pilsner, First Voyage, brought lemon-soured herbage to raw-grained maize dryness and grassy hop astringency contrasting sweet corn pop and mild coriander jot.
Smoothly fruited IPA, Orphan Annie, left floral-herbed citrus traces upon caramelized pale malts, as modest lemony grapefruit-peeled orange pith bittering and zippy tangerine tanginess maintained casual summertime appeal.
Easygoing ‘pine-forward’ IPA, Random Walking Nun, held steadfast with mild grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and modest passionfruit tartness riding atop delicate crystal malt sugaring.
Laidback limey grapefruit, orange and mango zesting paced easygoing Citra-hopped NEIPA, Foggy Doo, contrasting light pine resin with spicy pale malts underneath.
Zestful NEIPA, Juicy(er) Ass, placated lemony grapefruit-pineapple tanginess and orange-oiled tangerine tartness with buttery pale malts.
Candi sugared dried fruiting ensconced Belgian IPA, Rakau Me Amadeus, bringing Rakau-hopped apricot, plum, pear and plantain illusions to spicily white peppered fungi phenols.
Sweetly tart candi-sugared banana puree, lemon meringue and orange marmalade bluster fronted Wonkey Donkey Tripel, picking up wispy white-peppered clove and coriander spicing.
Soft-toned breakfast stout, Bfasst, an Imperial Porter despite its descriptive moniker, placed cream-sugared medium roast coffee alongside dry espresso, milk chocolate and cocoa nibs resilience.
Dry Irish stout, Kizma Irish Ass, saddled barley roasted caramel malts with mild hop-charred coffee, espresso, dark chocolate and cola illusions.
RIEPSTINE’S PUB & BREWERY
WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA
Terrific family-owned English pub-styled alehouse, RIEPSTINE’S PUB & BREWERY, opened by Bart & Tess Ripple in 2015, creates an expansive range of beer recipes complemented by ‘traditional comfort food.’
Located on the westside in the Newbury section of Williamsport, this white concrete-fronted brewery (with red brick foundation) features a brown aluminum-topped Riepstine’s Pub insignia above the front door.
Inside, Riepstine’s small penny-encased wood lacquer bar (with eight seats, sixteen draught handles and many walled mugs) services four right side wood booths plus one next to the bar and front wood dining seats. An outside cement-floored patio with aluminum-topped canopy sidles a plastic beach-chaired open firepit spot.
My wife and I visit on a muggy Saturday evening, May ’22, to down thirteen efficiently rounded and well differentiated brews leaning on the heavy and/or dark side.
Easygoing yellow-cleared light body, Lycoming Lager, stayed off-dry as mild lemon-oiled corn souring and buttery raw-honeyed pale malts coalesce.
Dry German schwarzbier, Pitch Black Lager, brought dark-roast cocoa malts to bitterly hop-charred tobacco chaw, tannic vanilla astringency and charcoal latte whims.
Riepstine’s Summer Ale received an herbal kick for offshoot Thyme Out Rosemary, placing rosemary and thyme alongside its cologned lemon lime zesting.
Brisk orange-peeled grapefruit rind bittering picked up herbal-tinged floral daubs and soft pine tones for flagship Imperial IPA, Alpha Deuce, leaving slithers of tangy peach, pineapple and tangerine on the caramelized backend.
Candi-sugared orange marmalade, lemon meringue and banana puree fruiting picked up buttery Chardonnay wining to engage the briny herbage securing farmhouse ale, 7th Ward Saison.
Beautifully designed Belgian quadrupel, Quadmire 2018, laced caramelized fig, raisin and prune sweetness with whiskey-soaked toffee spicing over dark crystal candi-sugared malts.
Muted coffee roasted nuttiness permeated Jaysburg Porter, draping black chocolate syrup on earthen black peppered hops.
Cold brewed coffee alkalinity settles across creamy vanilla sugaring for Buzzsaw Coffee Kolsch, plying black peppered herbage to lemon rind bittering underneath.
Dry cocoa powdered molasses oats surged forth for KRS Oat Stout, leaving latent black cherry, blackberry and date nut illusions.
Dryer Lumber Jack Imperial Stout, let mossy wood char seep into dark chocolate malts and black cherry snips.
Decadent Madagascar vanilla bean-imbued Vanilla Bourbon Stout sent creamy vanilla bourbon sweetness on a rich black chocolate journey, serenading mild burgundy, brandy and port snips.
Another luxurious dark ale, Society’s Reserve: Bourbon-aged Imperial Milk Stout, unleashed milk chocolate fudging upon light buttercream-frosted bourbon vanilla sweetness and molasses oats.
Even more luscious, Chocolate Cherry Bourbon Stout caressed soft-tongued chocolate caking with bourbon vanilla-daubed bruised cherry tartness, subtle blackberry-boysenberry-blueberry serenity and mild coffee tones.
BOOM CITY BREWING COMPANY
WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA
A family-friendly cafe-styled gastropub with its logo sprawled along a wide green awning above the glass door entrance in the center of Williamsport, BOOM CITY BREWING CO. opened up in autumn 2016. Making use of rough-cut timber, co-owners William Fredo and Mark Lorson designed their small pub-eatery to recall a cozy dining hall. Its metal-framed overhead door frontage has an antique dime store appeal.
A centralized seven-seat wood top bar with eight draught handles services three front-windowed steel-chaired wood tables and three bark-backed booths. Signature steaks, thin crust pizza, pasta and sandwiches bedeck a fine locally sourced food menu.
Wine, cordials and top shelf liquor are available alongside Boom City’s approachable stylistic beers. My wife and I spent a few hours prior to Saturday dinner in May ’22 to consume seven homemade suds.
Mild Cascade-hopped lemon zesting perked up the musky milled graining of Pine Street Pilsner, sliding trusty rye-pumpernickel breading into the backdrop.
Leathery horse-blanketed straw wheat acridity sidled tart lemon-dropped grapefruit oiling draping rustic moderation, Wheat Pale Ale, picking up celery watered vegetalia.
A tad washed-out, pinkish amber-cleared Raspberry Wheat spread chalky floral-perfumed raspberry tartness atop fragile white wheat bottom, picking up wispy watermelon and lychee illusions.
Creamed coffee sedation gained dry hop-charred black peppering and oaken vanilla tannins for Coffee Cream Ale, a fair breakfast companion.
West Coast-styled Boom Rat Pale Ale brought IPA-like grapefruit-peeled pine lacquering to resinous cannabis-oiled fungi mustiness.
Soft-tongued West Coast-styled IPA, Log Jam, took salty grapefruit rind and lemon pith bittering plus spritzy orange-peeled pineapple zing to tobacco-leafed pale malt crisping.
Espresso-dried dark cocoa resonance saddled Muddy River Porter, guiding day-old coffee souring into hop-charred earthen musk at the finish.
NEW TRAIL BREWING COMPANY
WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA
On the southside of Williamsport, NEW TRAIL BREWING COMPANY opened its doors April 2018. Crafting a ‘plethora of beer’ styles, the rustic red brick warehouse pub initially offered a traditional pilsner, India Pale Ale and their first beer ever, Trail Amber Ale.
Large silver brewtanks gathered on the left side have increased volume from 3,000 barrels annually to an astounding 8,000 barrels in four years. The flagship beer, Broken Heels Hazy IPA (reviewed in Beer Index), consumes an overwhelming 50% of total production.
Inside the high-ceilinged cement floor pub, a 12-seat slate top bar features a white-tiled draught station and eight community tables front the bar. Overhead doors open up to a patio with slate walkway curling thru a covered deck area, picnic tabled space and a fire pit spot with oversized beach wood furnishings.
My wife and I took a seat outside near the firepit while downing a few New Trails.
Placid light-bodied German-styled pils, Lazy River, caressed laidback lemony orange tanginess with subtle floral perfumed herbal musk and mild maize-dried astringency.
Aluminum clear-hued dry-hopped Japanese rice lager, Forgotten Stream, retained rice-dried lemon liming and relegated perfumed hop musk.
Wildflower-honeyed amber ale, Trail Ale, attached floral red and orange fruited hop dollops to toasty cereal-grained granola nuttiness.
Dryer than most witbier, New Trail White let zestful lemony mandarin orange spicing and sweet banana licks pick up herbal earthiness above wheat-flaked pilsner malts.
Approachable Simcoe-Amarillo-hopped IPA, Gear Head, brought dry lemon, grapefruit and pineapple salting plus spicy orange, tangerine and clementine tang to its oated wheat bottom.
Peaty tea-like fungi wavered thru orange-oiled candied lemon for Indigo Skies, a ‘modern’ West Coast IPA.
Dry moderate-bodied hazy IPA, Lightning Bug, parlayed mild grapefruit-peeled mandarin orange tanginess to light hop pining and celery-watered crisping.
Another dry IPA, Double Broken Heels, placed spicy grapefruit and orange sedation up against coniferous pine resin and mossy hop dewiness, picking up latent perfumed guava-pineapple tropicalia.
Fudgy ice cream-inspired milk stout, Elk Tracks, brought heavy lactic influence to creamy peanut buttered Madagascar vanilla stead, mocha latte caramelization and hazelnut-glazed cola daubs, placing dry truffle-like earthiness next to its chocolate pudding crusted molasses oats base.
UPSTATE BIG NERD’S BLUEBERRY COFFEE STOUT
On tap at Kimball’s Pub, rewardingly rich breakfast stout brings sharp blueberry pureeing and black peppered hop sear to mild Big Nerd coffee roast. Sweet-tart blueberry fruiting gains tertiary dark cherry-bruised raspberry/blackberry jam snap and candied toffee spicing to complement its dark chocolate-malted cappuccino, macchiato and brown-sugared latte serenity.
KIMBALL’S PUB
WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA
A glorified hole in the wall diner at an unassuming gray barn house just south of the heart of Williamsport, KIMBALL’S PUB proudly features 20-plus draughts and the finest top shelf liquor with fine light pub fare. Hanging fans at the high V-shaped ceiling light the 14-seat L-shaped aluminum-sided bar as well as four chopping block-topped wood tables, one community table, a front pew and a billiard table.
Offering wonderful local craft beer from its middle taps and the two sideling refrigerators, Kimball’s draws a colorful array of neighborhood denizens and traveling beer enthusiasts. A rear kitchen serves food.
During my one-hour stopover in May ’22, discovered two fabulously rich dark ales, Shiner Candied Pecan and Upstate Big Nerd’s Coffee Blueberry Stout.
AURORA CHOCOLATE COCONUT CINNAMON COFFEE CAKE CAKE CAKE PASTRY STOUT
On tap at Ambulance, enhanced stout reveals cinnamon streusel, toasted coconut and Tahitian/Ecuadorian coffee bean adjuncts above richly creamed chocolate decadence. Black Forest cake, ginger molasses cookie and coconut-cinnamon-infused pudding illusions pick up dried star anise reminder underneath the bustling mocha-intensified surface.
GOOD NATURE EXTRA IRISH STOUT
On tap at Ambulance, dry Irish stout lets lemon pith-rimmed day-old coffee souring pick up mildly bitter dark-roast hop nuttiness. Serve to sour stout snobs.
