Effervescent purply pink-hued Berliner Weiss hybrid loads kettle-soured lactose and tart pineapple, mango and blackberry adjuncts to stylish salty coriander base. Sour candied fruiting gains mild champagne wining as well as oaken cherry pucker at tart pastry finish.
Vibrant super-hazed yellow amber pale ale hybrid brings lactose and coconut adjuncts to the fore alongside vanilla-sweetened peach, pineapple, strawberry and mango goodness. Toasted coconut sugaring and tropical fruiting contrast mildly lactic yogurt souring to its soft oats-flaked wheat base.
On tap at Ambulance, perfumed cologne oiling saturates mild orange-peeled coriander sweetness and spritzy lemon zesting in a dryer-than-expected witbier setting.
On tap at Hoover’s, waywardly hybridized doppelbock lacks sufficient richness, texture and coconut milking. Mild coconut adjunct lost to faded plum-dried toffee spicing and dewy peat moisture, picking up unusual soured cider sharpness.
On tap at Ambulance, dry helles lager pits dewy pilsner malts against grassy-hopped herbal musk and distant lemon rot.
On tap at River Of Beer, peculiar jasmine rice-based herbal lager connects cologne-perfumed Thai spicing to Citra-hopped Kaffir lime zesting and minty lemongrass as lightly kilned pilsner malts provide cushy base. Try in lieu of sake.
On tap at Ambulance, sweet-breaded caramel malting gains lightly spiced dried fruiting and mild chestnut respite over cardboard-bound buttered biscuit base of moderate-bodied marzen.
Musky earthen dryness, wet-grained mossy dewiness, lemony herbal hop perfuming and floral-spiced daubs glide above bready cracker base of mineral-watered Bavarian-styled pilsner.
Candied orange tartness reminiscent of Tang instant powdered drink gains soda-like citric fizz as raspy tangerine fruiting nearly saves cheaply fruited light lager from oblivion.
SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY
Residing at the first floor of a tan brick split-level edifice on the Boulevard two blocks from the ocean in the vibrant beach town of Seaside Heights, HEAVY REEL BREWING COMPANY opened its doors springtime 2018. A simple 3-barrel nanobrewery in the heart of the Jersey Shore, brewer Jeff Greco worked at Neptune City’s Little Dog with Jersey icon, Gretchen Schmidhausler, before venturing off on his own.
A li’l slice of heaven, the small floor-tiled pub contains eight silver-backed tap handles at the serving station, four small round tables, a railroad-tied left wall and some fishing photos.
Greco enjoys going just one small step beyond stylistic convention, giving each beer tried on this August ’19 journey a slightly heightened flavor profile. Heavy metal music plays as I imbibe six worthy brews.
First up, spritzy citrus-shined blonde ale, Undefinable Standards, let brisk lemon-limed Motueka hops and sugared orange spicing gently sail atop dry pale malts.
Soft-toned pinkish amber pleasantry, Follow The Iwa, a salty raspberry-induced Berliner Weisse, let sour lactobacillus acidity affect its tart raspberry luxuriousness, leaving mild green apple, cranberry and oaken cherry illusions on the tail end.
Easygoing ‘blended saison,’ Oblivion, brought tropical Mosaic-hopped lemon, orange and pineapple juicing to sugary malt spicing, briny barnyard graining and warm French breading.
Murkily hazed orange-yellowed New England IPA, Skin//Bones, provided lactic yogurt-milked grapefruit, passionfruit and gooseberry souring and sharp orange rind bittering, picking up puckered lime acidity and light green peppercorn herbage by the finish.
Utilizing chocolate, coconut and macadamia, sweet Imperial Porter, Staring Into Emptiness In My Eyelids will capture the attention of hearty dessert fanatics. Its toasted coconut alacrity rode above brown chocolate spicing, glazed macadamia sugaring and desolate blackberry notions.
Bringing dry oyster-shelled black chocolate to the fore, 34N 74W Barnegat Bay Oyster Stout retained black-malted molasses bittering to contrast less resilient milk-sugared rolled oats.
In July ’24, revisited Heavy Reel on a hazily sunny Friday afternoon following a sweltering beach swim to down six dandy suds.
Brisk lemony grapefruit zesting and grassy hop astringency dotted mild “hoppy” blonde ale, Midway Beach, leaving dry barnyard graining on its mineralized pilsner malt base.
Dewy Irish Red Ale, Lost & Rendered, placed cellared fungi must inside orange pekoe tea and nutty rye illusions over dry wheat-germed mineral graining.
Soft-toned yellow-hazed Imperial IPA, Zombie Clown, scattered lemon-soured yellow grapefruit bittering and tart guava salting alongside peachy pineapple, tangerine and tangelo tanginess atop dry pale malts.
Smoothie sour ale variant with creamy marshmallow-fluffed vanilla sugaring plied to navel orange pulp, Luvv: Orange Creamsicle, picked up pineapple-juiced bergamot marmalade tartness and lemon meringue piquancy.
Nitrogenated dry Irish stout, Good Rats, retained nutty dark-roast coffee overtones and subsidiary dark chocolate bittering.
Luxurious pastry stout, Straight Drizzle, draped caramel atop toasted coconut and bourbon chocolate richness, gaining luscious creme brulee, vanilla fudge cake, molasses cookie and black licorice licks.
NEPTUNE CITY, NEW JERSEY
Named after a basenji painted on the outside left wall, quaint five-barrel pub, LITTLE DOG BREWING COMPANY, is the brainchild of experienced Jersey brewmaster, Gretchen Schmidhausler. Inside a beige-creamed glass-fronted corner warehouse lot (with maroon and yellow apron) at a quiet semi-Industrial neighborhood, Little Dog came into existence during November 2014.
As my wife and I visit in late August ’19, Gretchen’s getting ready to open shop. A well-traveled brewing veteran, she originally worked at Red Bank Brewery starting in ’96, a large brewery that closed down before America’s Craft Beer Renaissance mainly because the “timing wasn’t right.” She settled into Basil T’s thereafter, establishing a fine line of some of Jersey’s finest beer, including award-winning Maxwell’s Dry Stout.
We grab a seat at the wood-lacquered serving station to try six pleasant draughts from the maroon-backed silver tap handles. One community table and three black plastic tables fill out the front room while the back space contains the brew tanks.
Much like long-time Jersey brewer, Dave Hoffman (Climax proprietor in Roselle Park), Gretchen prefers to craft soft-toned ales that flow gentle on my mind. Each delicately textured elixir features a distinct illusionary design made to be influenced by complementary cuisine.
Mildly creamed banana tartness, bubblegum sweetness and clove spicing invited herbal lemondrop minting to caress light-bodied Steinerweiss Hefeweizen.
Classic American pale ale, Duck Boy, brought dewy pale malt spicing to orange pekoe tea-like dryness and light lemon riffs in soft-tongued fashion.
Flagship altbier, Gesundheit!, provided brown tea-like splendor for its lollipop-candied tartness, dried fig stint and baked bread cushion.
Easygoing English-styled IPA, Jasper, let dry pale malting and mossy dew infiltrate grassy hop astringency while retaining mild fruit seduction.
Cologne-perfumed lemony herbage fronted spry blonde ale, Local Girl, a whimsical delight with pithy fennel, ginger and pencil shavings illusions.
Dark chocolate syruping sweetened the milk-sugared coffee flow confronting subtle ground coffee bitterness above charcoal-stained hop oiling for Seafarer Dry Stout, leaving weedy black tea musk upon its mossy bottom.
Returned to Little Dog, July ’25, enjoying six previously untried easygoers and a nifty alt flagship variant.
Sessionable Mexican Lager let lime zest linger into mild green peppered chipotle heat, dainty hibiscus flowering and subtle chamomile sweetness.
Conditioned on lavender, Local Girl With Lavender, a floral-daubed blonde ale variant, retained sedate ginger sweetness over pale malt sugaring.
Smooth Brit-styled Kevin Extra Special Bitter, caressed light toasted breading with sweet peat mossing and honeyed tea herbage.
Dry Karneval Kolsch placed lemondrop tartness and slight herbage into freshly baked French breading.
Soft-toned roggenbier, Rudel Rye, plied peppery rye spicing to desiccated orange musk, leaving wispy pumpernickel-breaded wattleseed nuttiness.
Another softie, Area 141 IPA, seeped tart orange-yellow fruiting into muted pine resin and dry pale malts.
The strong, dry-hopped alt, Gesundheit! Uber, retained an earthy amber grain bottom for its dry bourbon-prune-fig resonance and gentle mulled spicing.
www.littledogbrewing.com
BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA
In the midst of Bethlehem’s South Side at a former garage, corner cafe-styled BONN PLACE BREWING COMPANY came to fruition autumn 2016. Formerly residents of Weehawken, co-owners Sam and Gina Masotto moved to eastern Pennsylvania to set up shop at the beige freestanding building now housing their entrepreneurial business.
An assistant brewer at Newburgh, Chelsea and New Jersey Beer Company, Sam also tended bar for popular Manhattan watering hole, The Pony Bar. Originally learning the art of brewing from a Mr. Beer kit, he became obsessed with cask ales on a European stint and developed a few regal English bitters.
Inside the friendly red brick-walled Bonn Place confines, an L-shaped 10-seat bar with eight tap handles pours a variety of delicious suds from the left side steel tanks and oak foudre. There’s side entrance barrel seating, a windowed front table, industrial pendant lighting and a wooden wheeled chandelier as well as a few cornered tables with olden mirrors to complete the cozy interior.
On my Saturday afternoon August ’19 journey I discovered seven Bonn Place brews.
Softly creamed nitrogenated flagship, Nemo Dark & Mild, gathered mossy brown tea earthiness for subtle dried fruiting and chalky chocolate malts.
In homage to Boddington’s Pub Ale, smoothly eclair-creamed Mooey Ordinary Bitter brought dewy moss sweetness, fertile fungi musk and subtle citrus spritzing to its buttered biscuit base in easygoing fashion. Utilizing the same dewy malt base, lemon soda-like summertime softie, Mooey The Radler, left an herbal-spiced remnant.
Orange-juiced yellow grapefruit brightness fronted Moteuka-hopped pale ale, Don’t Look At Me, a candy-glazed moderation with sugary pale malts.
Dry-bodied hoppy wheat ale, Pretty Cool Dad, connected lemon-dried tartness to tea-like dewy earthiness and raw mineral grain resin.
Wood-smoked dark coffee roast contrasted milder pale-malted yellow fruiting for Some Pig Upon Monocracy, a well-designed mocha-induced pale ale.
Guest brewer: Sweet milk chocolate-y Imperial Stout, Stickman Breakfast For Dummies, retained toffee-sugared cinnamon and curry spicing to entice its milk-sugared brown chocolate frontage.
www.bonnbrewing.com
