Brusquely herbal Saaz hop musk filters thru earthen mineral grain rusticity and dark floral resin of fair pilsner malted moderation. Spritzy lemon rotted fizziness sits atop pasty cardboard bottom.
All posts by John Fortunato
BIRDSMOUTH MEXICAN LAGER
On tap at Taphouse 15, dry Mexican-styled lager from Jersey. Dry brown tea musk guards wavered rye-dried caraway, waddleseed and fennel caress and dewy brown leaf moisture as spritzy lemon spicing fades quick and sweet agave snips barely register above gluey cardboard Vienna malting.
PO’BOY BREWERY
PORT JEFFERSON, NEW YORK
Founding brewmaster Bob Rodriguez setup shop as PO’BOY BREWERY in Port Jefferson during January 2017. Inside a red brick-fronted 2,200 square-foot Industrial space, its loose New Orleans vibe gets reinforced by all the greenery, gazebos and decorative ephemera complementing the cement-floored nanobrewery. A gorgeous side-walled forest mural adds to the bayou splendor and caged Edison lights hang from the ceiling.
The wooden kiosk-like front bar, recalling a nifty backwoods shack, features a dozen-plus tree-branched tap handles. Silver tanks fill out the backroom brewing section. Most of Po’Boy’s delectable beer fare are one-offs, but a few recurrent brews have scratched the surface of an IPA-heavy lineup.
There were also a host of sour ales from the rear “Experimental Room” I didn’t get to try, including Miss Granny Smith Sour Golden, Sour Mash-Up (a marshmallowed kettle-sour with raspberry, blackberry and blueberry tartness), black tea-based Prickly Pear-Adox Sour Blonde, coconut creamed Coco-Stoutin’ To Impress and cask conditioned Shadow Of A Stout. Hard ciders are also available. A pub menu with pizzas and nachos sufficed.
Sweet millet-grained rice stayed soft for Ricey Business Lager, a pleasant lemon-fizzed light body perfect for casual tastes.
Tropical fruited IPA yeast and delicate hop spicing embraced My Cousin Kelly Blonde Ale, another soft-toned lightweight.
Dewy peat guided the mild raisin-date conflux, sweet autumn spicing and chalky chocolate parch of The Dark Schwartz Rises, a lightly barley-roasted German schwarzbier.
Molasses-draped cinnamon and nutmeg seasoned ‘yammy’ Pumpkin Out, picking up dry gourd earthiness over caramelized crystal malts.
Spiced orange, sweet cider and white peppered herbs nabbed Saison Rollin’ On, leaving a crystalline citric vodka kick.
Dry Irish stout, Shadow Of A Stout, coalesced black chocolate bittering with black licorice sweetness, gaining musty cellar funk along the way.
Easygoing IPA, East Coast State Of Mind, plied sweet navel orange, bitter yellow grapefruit and tangy pineapple to dry pine tones.
Delicate West Coast IPA, Just Peel It, let mildly spiced grapefruit-peeled orange tanginess and wispy pine resin ride atop dry pale malting.
Lightly honey-glazed Let’s IPA And Chill wrangled tangerine tanginess out of the misty tropical fruiting.
Bittersweet orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess allowed mild perfume spicing and dry piney hops to sidle Citrus Squeezebox IPA, another tropical delight.
Crisply clean lager yeast-induced One Hoppy Ending Cold IPA retained lemony grapefruit, orange and peach niceties above sweet white-riced amber graining.
UBERGEEK BREWING COMPANY
RIVERHEAD, NEW YORK
At North Fork Brewing, entrepreneurial brewmaster Rob Raffa began gypsy brewing after a stint at Patchogue’s Brickhouse Brewery and Riverhead’s now defunct Moustache Brewing. When the latter company stopped operations, local Long Island denizen Raffa decided to take up the space his former employers left behind.
Since January 2020, UBERGEEK BREWING COMPANY proudly boasts using “unconventional ingredients” and the “confluence of art and science” to craft “unique beers for newcomers and eccentric misfits.”
Stylistically on the mark and never as deliberately offbeat as advertised, Raffa’s elixirs certainly suit a range of thirsts.
Inside a 6,000 square-foot tan aluminum warehouse with brown awnings, Ubergeek’s tile floored, plastic-seated tasting room features a beautiful mosaic of modern cubist wall art, pendant-lit ten-seat black wood bar and twenty white-tiled draught handles. There’s even a backroom for special events. Angled crossbars along the high wood beam ceiling offer a resounding prominence.
A few front benches and a white picnic tabled side area add more seating.
My wife and I grabbed a seat at the bar to down a dozen delectable suds during September ’23.
Crisply dry Rockets Don’t Fuel Themselves, a mild clear aluminum yellowed bohemian pilsner, let spritzy lemon zest and sweet floral daubs tickle its light mineral graining.
Rustic amber lager, None Of The Things None Of The Time, combined tangerine spicing, dry barnyard acridity buttery Vienna malting and wispy cologne perfuming.
Light beechwood smoked (?) Mexican lager, And Now For Something Completely Different, grazed floral-spiced lemon spritz against delicate pilsner malting.
Dewy fungi, orange pekoe tea and dried fruit scampered thru Only When We Suffer Can We Be Great, a lightly caramelized marzen.
Herbal pumpkin-spiced autumnal moderation, I Have An Issue With The Force, nearly allowed soapiness to hamper its brown-sugared pumpkin pie seasoning.
Sessionable ‘summer IPA,’ I Thought You Liked A Challenge, placed Nelson Sauvin-hopped guava, gooseberry and white grape souring alongside tart lemondropped green mango salting and slight pine resin.
Tropical East Coast IPA, Space Age Times, Stone Age Minds, let orange-peeled pineapple, mango and tangerine tanginess reach sweet pale malt sugaring.
Another East Coast IPA, A Casualty Of Circumstances, retained mild lemony white grapefruit bittering and salty guava souring above lightly acidulated wheat malts.
Eccentric mahogany-browned ‘dark tart,’ Dealing With Dissonance, spread ginger-candied sweetness inside date-like tamarind tartness, tannic red grape esters and dry lime bittering.
A nifty peach sour collaboration with nearby North Fork Brewery, I Thought You Liked To Get Funky, invited lemon peel bittering, mandarin orange tartness, guava souring, mango salting and white grapefruit zesting to the fruitful tropical party.
Plummy dobbelbock, You Call That A Calculator, picked up date, raisin and plum snips above a peaty tobacco-roasted chocolate-y caramel base.
Richly creamed peanut butter porter, All These Quarters, Still No Dollars, caressed its dry nuttiness with dark chocolate and dark-roast coffee, leaving a vanilla-centered ice cream sandwich finish.
NORTH FORK BREWING CO.
RIVERHEAD, NEW YORK
Inside a former firehouse two blocks from Riverhead’s Main Street, NORTH FORK BREWING COMPANY opened for business June 2018. Tucked into a tree-lined residential neighborhood, the white overhead-doored red brick station provides a diverse array of brews utilizing different hops and malts for each stylistically ambitious elixir.
Being a proud local farm brewery, North Fork utilizes many local hops (Nugget and Chinook) and grains to formulate their recipes. In five years, they’ve crafted at least fifty different one-off and recurring brews.
A lovely yellow and white bird/ eyed pyramid insignia near several plastic chairs and tables guards the green cement floored interior and a benched porch area outback adds extra seating. The plain white walls contrast well with the black ceiling. The black wood-topped, white-paneled, U-shaped bar with twelve tap handles distributes the nine available beers (including four divergent India Pale Ales) on my pleasant Friday afternoon journey, September ’23.
Brisk German-styled moderation, Hold Me Closer Tiny Lager, brought musky millet-grained pilsner malting to sharply soured lemondrop misting and dark floral nuances.
Smoothly crisp Ancho Chili Pils remitted a mild ancho pepper burn to lemony grain musk.
Lacquered peach sweetness guided honeyed wheat-fortified Lewin Amber Ale, picking up latent apricot, nectarine and pear illusions.
Spritzy spiced squash ale, Butternut The Hutt, allowed hand-roasted butternut squash to influence the mild crystal malt sugared pumpkin pie spicing.
Zesty dry-hopped NEIPA, Run The Juice, let salty yellow grapefruit juicing infiltrate pine needled minting and peppery herbage, gaining light mandarin orange licks.
Conditioned on OG Kush terpines, sticky cannabis-derived Da Can-Abyss NEIPA Version 2 retained a pineapple vodka kick and orange-peeled grapefruit tang to counter its light resinous pine bittering.
Spectral NEIPA, Juicy In The Sky With Paradigm, rushed Pina Colada-like coconut toasting and pineapple zesting thru peachy grapefruit tanginess, white-graped gooseberry souring and perfumed hop musk in a crystalline setting.
Mild lemony orange bittering contrasted peachy pineapple and tangerine tanginess for Shaolin Shadowboxer, an approachable Imperial IPA with humble herbal hops and dry pale malts digging into its tropical fruiting.
Maple syrup-infused Dark Side Of The Maple Porter secured a dry Irish stout template to sidle its molasses-like frontage, leaving dark roast coffee, black chocolate and hop-charred nuttiness in its wake.
TWIN FORK BEER CO.
RIVERHEAD, NEW YORK
Owned by twin brothers, Dan and Pete Chekihian, Riverhead’s TWIN FORK BEER CO. opened October 2020 – six years beyond doing minor contract brewing. Now producing a steady lineup of year-round brews in a spacious gray aluminum facility, the arts-loving duo name each of their consistent beers after music language.
A front-benched glass frontage leads to Twin Fork’s overhead-doored pub area. The sparingly decorated interior includes black and white metal chaired barreled seating, wood tables and community benches – a pristinely embellished warehouse pub further galvanized by its colossal pipe-exposed aluminum ceiling. Stainless steel aluminum tanks tower thru the huge backspace.
Twin Fork’s relaxing outdoor setup includes a well-groomed gravel-stoned deck with Adirondack chairs, wicker furniture and a wooden bench.
The small stooled serving station slung two IPA’s, a pale ale, kolsch, marzen and pils to my wife and I during our sunny Saturday afternoon stopover, September ’23.
Lemony grapefruit zest glanced dry pilsner malting for Prelude, a sessionable pils.
Sharply citrus-spiced pale ale, Chromatic, countered dark-roast hop bittering with crispy amber graining.
Orange-rotted lemon herbage initiated lightly soured kolsch, Sonata, picking up contrastive floral-daubed apple-pear snips desiccated by oats-dried barnyard acridity.
Sessionable Mosaic-hopped IPA, Minuet, allowed tangy orange-peeled grapefruit bittering to contrast reluctant candied peachy mango sweetness over dry pale malts.
Piney citrus sharpness bestowed West Coast-styled IPA, Crescendo, leaving oily pine residue upon orange-peeled grapefruit bittering and reclining peachy pineapple tang.
As for the autumnal seasonal, pumpkin-spiced Harvest Notes let reclining ginger-cinnamon-nutmeg spicing speckle light vanilla creaming.
GREENPORT HARBOR BREWING CO.
PECONIC, NEW YORK
Right in the heart of wine country at Long Island Sound’s North Fork hamlet, GREENPORT HARBOR’S second location (the first’s in nearby Greenport at a dilapidated firehouse opened July ’09) is situated on prime farmland and came to fruition in 2015. Taking up a yellow wood-shingled, brown-trimmed warehouse and overhead doored brewing facility, the expansive brewery includes a large old wood-tabled picnic area and aluminum-tabled side deck.
Inside the epoxy concrete-floored pub, an aluminum-walled back bar with twelve draught handles (and prominent American flag) services the wood top serving station, three plastic-chaired community tables and red bricked hearth seating. A right side wood-furnished blackened cement-floored dining space is also available for fine pub grub.
After dipping our feet in Orient Point, my wife and I head west to grab a picnic table to down five previously untried suds alongside a caprice sandwich on our initial GH trip during a sunny Friday afternoon, September ’23.
Muskily mineral grained Haus Pils, a moderate German pilsner, took floral-herbed Noble-hop mustiness, fresh-cut grassiness and mild lemon rot to rustic millet-spelt flouring.
Mild coriander-spiced mandarin orange sweetness picked up casual butternut-chestnut illusions, delicate herbal cilantro minting and rummy banana wisps for Sounding #5 Witbier.
Tart “dessert-styled” Pina Colada knockoff, Tiki Paradise Berliner Weiss, regaled tangy pineapple zesting, toasted coconut sweetness, dainty lemondrop souring and peachy orange-tangerine daubs above its milk-sugared oated wheat base.
Meanwhile, saltier lemon acidity anchored Bramble Paradise Berliner Weiss, leaving tart blackberry and raspberry souring to contain mild green grape vinegaring, spritzy pink champagne sudsiness and cranberry rhubarb snips over acidulated wheat malts.
Dryly full-bodied dark ale, Black Duck Porter, placed dark chocolate bittering next to burnt coffee oiling and tarry molasses gunk over peaty hop-charred black patent malts.
PORT JEFF BREWING COMPANY
PORT JEFFERSON, NEW YORK
Taking up the first floor of a white-railed barn house across the street from Port Jefferson Harbor and amongst the sundry boutique shops crowding the pristine Chandler Square harbor front, PORT JEFF BREWING COMPANY was established October 2011. An enclosed outdoor side deck with barrel tables and a wraparound wood-planked covered porch offer plenty of seating for the diminutive pub.
Inside, a small serving station with twelve-plus taps sidles a glass-enclosed brewing area. Unlike most craft breweries, there is only one small table and some nautical decorations in the dinky brick-floored pub so most visitors buy growlers and cans to go.
My wife and I visited Port Jeff on a beautiful Sunday at noon, September ’23, to consume eleven well-rounded, diversified suds. I’d already discovered Port Jeff’s year-round brews such as Schooner Pale Ale, Runaway Ferry Imperial IPA, Porter and Starboard Oatmeal Stout (reviewed in Beer Index).
For a light-bodied starter, sessionable golden ale, Centennial Sunset, spread mild lemon zesting over sugary pale malts, retaining a clean Seltzer-like spritz.
Tartly sweet strawberry and spritzy lemon fizz received light vanilla creaming for amiable fruited blonde ale, Darryl Strawberry, named for the Met-Yankee baseball icon.
Approachable pale ale, Fresh Hop, plied mild lemon-dried Cascade hop bittering to floral spiced herbage and its white breaded base.
Mildly embittered pineapple, grapefruit and orange rind zesting soaked lightly pined IPA, Casa De Roberto, a dry pale malted moderation.
Lightly creamed vanilla froth guarded the lemony grapefruit peel bittering and resinous pine-hopped stickiness of Shiznit IPA, a straw-cleared moderate-medium body.
Lightly salted lemon-limed passionfruit tartness surfaced for fruited sour, Mermaid Tears, picking up white grapefruit and mandarin orange daubs above slightly acidulated wheat malts.
Rummy orange zesting given creamy vanilla froth and banana pureed sugaring to contrast the boozy vodka-induced 10.3% ABV silking, salty green grape esters and hard cider remnant of lusciously rich Orange Dream, a mighty tripel.
Meanwhile, semi-flagship tripel, Trippel H, caressed candied lemony orange tartness and peachy pineapple tanginess plus sweet banana-clove snips and chestnut daubs with soft herbal spicing above buttery pilsner malt sugaring.
Toned down pumpkin spicing, delicate roasted pumpkin salting and mild brown-sugared nutmeg and cinnamon gave seasonal Boo Brew its blanched flavor.
Chocolate syrup draped deep-fried banana chip sweetness for robust Banana Porter, leaving maple-glazed molasses and peanut-hazelnut snips in the dust.
Coffee-oiled black chocolate bittering in a soft tongued setting guided Coffee Porter – Nitro, a wildflower honeyed take on its flagship porter.
AUTODIDACT BEER
MORRIS PLAINS, NEW JERSEY
Opened for business, March 2023, AUTODIDACT BEER crafts precision-guided, stylistically efficient brews. Occupying a pristine Morris Plains strip mall in an epoxy floored neo-Industrial middle space, Autodidact is run by long-time friends Ron Scouten and Ron Cassell, whose beer journey started when they utilized stovetop brewkits.
A concrete-topped ten-draught serving station anchors the studio-like black ceilinged pub. There’s a loungey right side area, four metal-chaired left side tables and benched tables. Windowed brew tanks are in the back.
I sojourned to Autodidact one rainy Thursday afternoon in September ’23 to try all eight available brews.
Delicate light-bodied Bavarian-styled Pastel Pilsner allowed nutty millet graining and husked corn dryness to spread thru mildly musky herbal hopped pungency.
Crisply clean dry-bodied West Coast-styled Hexagram Classic Pale Ale retained orange-oiled yellow grapefruit bittering and resinous floral herbage above muskily grained pale malting.
Soft-toned Wash Grisette let herbal botanicals soak into lemon-oiled vodka salting contrasted by honeyed rum florality.
Dry sea-salted liming and mild coriander spicing guided Burn Out The Limelight Gose, leaving lemony cologne musk on key lime pie tartness at the backend.
Easygoing Colder Hearts Cold IPA placed flaked rice sweetness inside its lemony orange-peeled grapefruit spritz, retaining a mildly creamed vanilla froth to contrast its latent grassy astringency.
Peachy pineapple tanginess, orange-peeled grapefruit zest and mildly salted guava-passionfruit enveloped Dualism New England IPA, as dry cannabis-oiled Strata hops and lemony pined Pacific Sunrise hops coalesced above sugary pale malts.
Rye-dried Sign The Bill Phil NEIPA utilized Sabro hops to remit mild coconut toasting, candied lollipop tartness, lemon meringue piquancy, orange marmalade tanginess and sugary spicing.
Oats-charred molasses treacled thru the nutty black chocolate bittering of Hawks And Doves Oatmeal Stout, a dryer stylistic changeup.
On Thanksgiving Eve ’23, sank four new Autodidact creations, including two less creamier and sourer NEIPA’s (with citric-pined West Coast aspirations) plus a dryer witbier and a herbier saison collab. I chatted with co-owning brewer, Ron Cassel, who was manning the tanks this cold afternoon.
Dried orange peel tartness and sour lemon rot dotted the delicate coriander spicing and teasing herbal musk of Tempest Witbier.
An interesting alliance with gypsy brewer, Dekkera, citric herbed barnyard-grained farmhouse ale, Late Bloomers Saison, placed tart lemon meringue, tangy marmalade, sweet banana and key lime piquancy across basil, sage and minty lemongrass seasoning.
Sharp piney citrus bittering embraced NEIPA, Shellstar, lifting bright lemony orange-peeled yellow grapefruit sunshine above mild oats-dried malts.
Dryer than Shellstar, lemon-dropped grapefruit, orange and pineapple zesting fronted Glint, a West Coast hop-influenced NEIPA with mild peachy mango tang and lightly soured redcurrant-gooseberry snips topping buttery oated wheat creaming.
DYCKMAN CHOCOLATE CON LECHE STOUT
Dark cocoa bittering infiltrated by Blackstrap molasses, oily black coffee, milked espresso and anise stickiness as well as tarry hop char. Less creamy, sweet and candied than inspirational chocolate con leche dessert.
GENESEE IMPERIAL STOUT
Bittersweet cacao nibs provide dark chocolate entry rallying past hop-charred nuttiness, Blackstrap molasses bittering and dark toffee scamper. Tertiary black grape tartness, anise spicing and seared wood nuances complete fair ’22-introduced stout.
WEST KILL FRESH COAT OATMEAL STOUT
Bittersweet dark chocolate penetrates milk-sugared coffee tones and molasses oatmeal base. Mild hop char increases tarry mocha bitterness consuming robust stout.
