Lively lemony yellow grapefruit tang gains sweet orange peel resonance, spry floral spicing and herbal lemongrass respite, but minor alkaline-like aspirin chalking drifts inside the midst. Tertiary mango, pineapple and tangerine fruiting and polite coriander seasoning brush against doughy white wheat spine.
Satisfactory 2016 version soaks orange-oiled lemon souring and sweet-spiced red cherry undertones into crisp leafy hop setting and minor gourd earthiness.
On tap at Bronx Ale House, mild pinkish red-headed, maroon-bodied wild ale brings dark red wine barrel aging to tart hard-candied fruiting. Vinous Zinfandel-Cabernet sedation guards oaken cherry respite as well as polite lemon-limed cranberry, raspberry and boysenberry flirtation above dewy mineral-watered salting.
Leathery wine-barreled French-styled aperitif places vinous grape tannins alongside sourer brettanomyces funk, rustic rosewood bittering, musty cheesecloth gauzing and lactic yogurt reticence. Oaken cherry tartness, lemon-limed cranberry pucker, raspberry vinaigrette snips and wispy elderberry tones help reinforce delicate white wheat bed.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, delicate citric hop profile gains salty white-peppered carbolic spritz for summery light-bodied Berliner Weiss. Subtle lemon-limed souring absorbs lactic acidity.
‘Elegant’ jet-black dark lager places mildly creamed dark-roast mocha and carafa malts atop molasses-breaded grain toasting and laid-back hop char. Bittersweet dark chocolate, coffee, cocoa and cola nut illusions swirl across the midst. Unlike lesser Bavarian schwarzbiers, there is no nastily plastique black malt astringency to attack its fine mocha setting. Serve to lighter porter-stout thirsts.
Corn-chipped churro aromatics sweeten laid-back cinnamon and vanilla bean adjuncts, lemon sugared tartness, honeyed Graham Cracker spine and light Christmas spicing of unconventional lager. Paired with Otterbein’s sugar cookie, its honeyed fruit spicing increases while the musky hop astringency gets cut back.
Mainstream dry-hopped session lager with clear-yellowed body brings maize-dried grain musk and floral-perfumed grassy hop astringency to bright lemony herbal respite above biscuit-y toasted white bread spine.
Pix stolen from Tap Takeover
MOUNT OLIVE, NEW JERSEY
A large JERSEY GIRL BREWING COMPANY banner welcomes folks to the aluminum-topped white Industrial complex housing this large Mount Olive-based 30-barrel brewpub since April ’16. Owned by homebrewer Michael Bigger and beer enthusiast Charles Aaron, Jersey Girl started out big so expansion would not be necessary.
Taking in multi-faceted head brewer, Jodi Andrews-Stoudt, a nearby Allentown native, the busy team enjoys crafting reliably “good, spot-on” versions of a wide array of styles.
Bigger explains, “What started out as having one too much to drink one night got us deciding to start a brewery. Chuck loved the idea. We made the rounds to Jersey breweries such as Forgotten Boardwalk and Carton. One of my favorites was Kane Brewing. I love Michael Kane’s India Pale Ales and Sunday Brunch Imperial Porter. They all said if they were to do it again, they’d all start out bigger. So we did.”
At the laminated wood bar (featuring Industrial wood-metal furnishings and caged Edison lights) in the Tasting Room early Saturday afternoon, I grab a stool alongside my wife to try ten well-rounded offerings on my November ’16 birthday.
Perhaps the finest, award-winning King Gambrinus Tripel (named after the patron saint of Belgian brewing) maintained a mild crystalline-watered tone as lemony banana-clove-coriander sweetness picked up soft white-peppered herbal hop resin. Lemon meringue, key lime pie, chamomile and hibiscus undertones added depth.
Nearly as fabulous, fruitful Scotch Wee Heavy utilized viscous Wyeast yeast to bring its dry Scotch warmth and dewy moss dampness to juicy red cherry, orange, nectarine, cantaloupe and honeydew sweetness above earthen hop resin.
Sharp piney fruiting ignited New England-styled Rake Breaker IPA, a tropical delight gathering lemony orange, tangerine and clementine succulence for its spicy oat-sugared spine and dryly bitter wood tones.
Approachable Sun-Kissed Citra gave its expressive Citra-hopped briskness a dank hop-dried pine needling to contrast the candy-coated orange, tangerine and lemon tang. Crisply clean Blonde Ale sufficed as its candied citrus tang relegated the bready pale malt spine. Peachy apricot and tangy orange inundated wood-dried, soft-toned Pale Ale.
A large hard-candied tangerine contingent surfaced for dry-hopped IPA (featuring Mandarina Bavaria), a sharp medium body contrasting sweet citrus vigor with moderate pine oiling.
Marzen-styled Golden Lager spread sweet n’ sour lemon-rotted orange tartness across leafy hop earthiness and pale malt breading.
Dark-roasted nuttiness and caramelized black chocolate malts secured Nut Brown Ale, a traditional English ale combining peanut-shelled walnut overtones with less prominent hazelnut coffee notions.
For dessert, mocha-bound Chocolate Coffee Porter brought mild black chocolate creaming to its dry-roasted walnut char contrasting the lightly sweet hazelnut glaze.
In early January ’26 on a blue skied Saturday afternoon prior to Sunday’s two-feet of snow, my wife and I settled into Jersey Girl at the wood top bar across from co-owner Charles Aaron before heading to one of the narrow wood-metal community tables to watch college hoops.
I re-tried two updated Jersey Girl classics (Elder and Smell the Coffee) while discovering six more.
Vanilla-daubed banana and clove sweetness embraced flagship, El Hefe, picking up lemon meringue tartness, fried plantain starching and herbal lemongrass respite.
Year-round classic variant, Elder Magic: Elderberry & Lemon Hefe, spread sugared elderberry tartness and floral-daubed lemon liming across stylish banana-clove sweetness, leaving a summery shandy-like spritz crackling atop its honeyed wheat base.
Another effervescent fruited hefe, Love Potion #9, let rummy pineapple zest brighten powder-sugared lemon tartness and navel orange sweetness beside bubblegummy banana-clove expectancy.
Sweetly sour lemon bruised orange compote wavered alongside rustic peat soiling of briny gose, Alligator Bite, finishing like cheap vodka?
Vibrant New England IPA, Guava Gulp, amassed tart guava juicing for light resinous pine contrasting pilsner-like cereal oats, bringing crayon-waxed yellow grapefruit, passionfruit, mango and tangerine to its zestful floral-bound guava tropicalia.
A fruited bouquet welcomed NEIPA, Hop To It, gathering lemony grapefruit bittering, peachy pineapple tanginess and salty guava-mango licks for lightly creamed oats while lacquered pine secured waxy fruited finish.
Another tropical IPA, Rake Breaker, allowed tropical fruited Mosaic-hopped zesting and Amarillo-hopped fresh-cut grassiness merge as lemony orange-peeled grapefruit sunshine plus tangy peach, pineapple, mango and clementine sweetness surge above creamy oated wheat.
Amazingly, Jersey Girl’s popular winter seasonal stout, Wake Up & Smell The Coffee, utilized an all-grain bill instead of relying on coffee-chocolate adjuncts as Midnight Wheat, Maris Otter and Chocolate malts combined to embrace dark chocolate syruping, dark-roast coffee, nutty espresso and sweet cappuccino illusions given burnt wood tones.
www.jerseygirlbrewing.com
HACKETTSTOWN, NEW JERSEY
Within walking distance of Hackettstown’s Centenary College on a rolling hillside in an antiquated red brick repair shop, CZIG MEISTER BREWING COMPANY’s Old World-styled tasting room, patio-benched biergarten and 15-barrel brew system filled up quickly during my Saturday afternoon November ’16 perusal.
Led by biochemistry-majored homebrewing enthusiast Matthew Czigler, this family-run pub succinctly re-creates “traditional old world classic standards,” emulating European styles with ambition, passion and creativity.
In a capacious space with exposed black pipes, wood-barreled tables and overhead garage door, Czig Meister’s tasting room features a dozen community tables plus a leathery living room setup. The salvaged wood bar top with bolted foot rail piping sits above a red brick base.
Grabbing a stool at the bar, I quaff eight diverse brews over a memorable two-hour session. Since opening in early ’16, Czigler has hand crafted dozens of sudsy elixirs in a short time frame – many of which are experimental limited edition models.
Up first, corn liquor-smitten Hefeweizen belied its banana-clove stylishness with putrid orange-soured lemon tartness. Next, mossy mainstream seasonal, Octoberfest, brought fall foliage to wavered citric spicing and mildly sugared pale malting.
Approachable pumpernickel-breaded, rye-dried Pumper Dunkelweizen retained overripe banana and juicy citrus tones.
Citric herbal delight, Belgian Dubbelbock, crossed white-peppered Belgian yeast and spry lemon spritz with German doppelbock-inspired raisin, plum and prune overtones in a winning manner.
Candi-sugared Belgian Quad was equally compelling, draping dried fruited plum, date and fig tones atop light hop-spiced caramel malting.
Refreshingly crisp amber-hazed medium body, Summer IPA- Citra, received a dry wood lacquering to protect lemony yellow grapefruit, tangerine and Navel orange illusions above creamy crystal malting.
Convincingly fruitful Barleywine conveyed candied banana, cherry, fig and red grape tones over caramel malt sugaring in a smooth manner.
Before hitting the road, black chocolate-smoked Milk Stout developed a polite dark-roasted coffee nuttiness over time.
At the tent-topped parking lot, my wife and I consumed twelve samplers November ’20 – including five diverse IPA’s, four German-styled offerings, two Belgian elixirs and one barrel aged stout.
Musky raw-grained German pilsner, The Carriagemaker, let lemon-spiced herbal hops caress mild wheat-cracked pilsner malting.
Dry lemon-rotted herbage delicately clasped dry pale malts for The Huntsman, a sessionable moderate-bodied kolsch.
Well integrated hefeweizen hybrid, The Lawman’s Sweet Justice, upstaged its stylish banana-clove sweetness with sharp cinnamon spicing and pureed peach tanginess (as well as spritzy orange zest).
One step removed from a rauchbier with its smoked beechwood-like Band-Aid astringency, Tidal Offerings, a hybridized wee heavy, allowed sweet ‘n dry Scotch tones to enter the fray alongside less obvious orange-fig-date-apricot fruiting.
Mild for its style, Chaos Belgian Dubbel, left subtle fig-raisin dried fruiting upon its gentle caramelized toffee spicing contrasting herbal fungi funk.
Soothingly smooth Shield Oath Belgian Tripel retained buttery Chardonnay wining, rummy banana daquiri sweetness and phenol white-peppered herbage above honey-roasted caramel malting.
Recalling a salt-rimmed Margarita, Citra-Cascade-hopped Imperial IPA, U.S.S. Limon, lavished a resounding lemon lime ice pop likeness upon candied ginger-leafed soda sweetening and slightly bitter grapefruit, pineapple and orange reminder above its wispy sugared oats base.
Acute Imperial IPA, U.S.S. Cassis, permitted yogurt-soured blackcurrant intensity pick up subtle raspberry-blueberry-boysenberry tartness and latent yellow grapefruit bittering.
Reserved Hammerhead Milkshake, a lactose NEIPA (in the Deep Sea Series), embellished its vanilla creamed orange peel sweetness with lemony grapefruit pith bittering and yogurt-soured milking, leaving mild acidity upon the juicy citrus pulse.
Durable pinkish amber, Hydrozoan Milkshake, another lactic NEIPA, placed Madagascar vanilla beans alongside its sweet n’ sour cherry vibe, gaining mango-salted tartness and peachy ambrosia sour creaming above sugary wheated oats.
Semi-sharp Master Of The Seas Tripel IPA let moderately embittered tropical fruiting and sour grape esters override piney hop resin while tripel-like candi-sugared pilsner malting nipped vodka-soaked grapefruit, orange and mango tropicalia.
For an early nightcap, bourbon/ red wine-barreled Imperial Stout, Brontes, did the trick. Sweet ‘n dry bourbon tones regaled brown chocolate-spiced fig, raisin and date as well as milk-sugared coffee tones and sweet coconut-hazelnut nips.
Stopped in once more for the end of February ’25 Stoutfest, finding four stouts and a few previously untried winners.
Polite helles lager, Everitt House 150, let floral-perfumed lemon spicing drift into corn-sugared pilsner malting.
Honeyed plantain and brown-sugared rum raisin softly emerged atop crystal malting of Chieftans Covenant Dubbelbock.
Caramelized plum, fig and black cherry consumed the sugar-syrupy front end of Chaos Belgian Dubbel, picking up mild banana, clove and almond illusions.
Day-old coffee sunk into cocoa powdered nuttiness of black lager, The Miner, a schwarzbier with distant orange oiling.
As for the Stoutfest dark ales, sweet milk stout confection, Almond Joy, spread almond-pasted coconut buttering all over its minty dark chocolate base, picking up oats-charred Black Patent malt bittering.
Another confectionery stout, Gingerbread Cookie, wrapped evergreen minting inside its sticky dark chocolate center.
Creamily brown-sugared yam sweetness seeped thru minty anise-spiced dark chocolate for Sweet Potato Casserole, another surefire sweet stout.
For dessert, nutty dark chocolate-y Imperial Stout, Rocky Road, prodded its marshmallowy vanilla ice cream midst with almond, peanut and hazelnut snips.
www.czigmeisterbrewing.com
HACKETTSTOWN, NEW JERSEY
Inside a pristine red-bricked Peoples National Bank on the corner of Main Street in the sleepy Western Jersey village of Hackettstown, MAN SKIRT BREWING became the area’s first new brewpub (since innovative hillside mainstay Long Valley) in October, 2015. As of my November ’16 one-hour jaunt, entrepreneurial brewing owner, Joe Fisher, manned a small stainless-steeled 7-barrel system that countered the custom penny-laminated tasting room bar set up alongside a few walnut tables.
Unlike its bigger-sized competition at Jersey Girl and Czig Meister, Man Skirt relies on a smaller amount of hand-crafted tap brews. But each of the five offerings available this Sunday afternoon were right on the money and wholly worthwhile.
For starters, dainty moderation, Gold Bar Blonde, retained spicy orange fruiting and sour lemon dryness above crisp barley malts, capturing the natural essence of Cascade-Centennial hops.
Peaty dry-bodied Better Than Pants Best Bitter, a lean English pub ale, brought mossy earthen dew to oily hop resin, biscuity wheat malts and gentle nuttiness.
Also leaning on the Brit side, Hop Jostler Fresh Hop IPA caressed caramelized Maris Otter sugaring with dewy mineral graining and dankly citric hop resin.
Sugared fig battled back sour plum over banana-breaded caramel malts for cherished medium-bodied delight, Badunkeldonk Dunkelweizen.
An earthen-grained coffee and chocolate roast permeated lightly creamed, black-malted dark ale, The Great Porter.
The brewing floodgates have opened for New Jersey’s rustic northwest region and no matter what size or shape they may come in, each has its own distinct suds, charm and rural splendor.
manskirtbrewing.com
On tap at Poor Henry’s, bustling full-bodied dark ale gains dark-roast coffee edge over molasses-dried black chocolate syruping, bittersweet dark-fruited sanctuary and teasing vanilla extraction. Ashen wood char and mild plasticine grouting skew its base while tertiary bourbon, black cherry and blackberry nuances run amok alongside latent cola-hazelnut hints.
