On tap at Taphouse 15, dry aluminum cleared light body conditioned with viscous wildflower honey lets spritzy lemon zest ride atop flaked corn cereal graining. In the distance, wispy sparkling champagne, eucalyptus and thyme illusions waver.
All posts by John Fortunato
ALTERNATE ENDING AMITY PREMIUM LAGER
On tap at Taphouse 15, dryly clean beige yellow-cleared premium lager stays unassuming as delicate citrus spritz crackles above weak raw grained base. Will please the less critical proletariat.
450 NORTH UNICORN JUICE SWIRL
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, tart orange concentrate penetrates the surface as salted limey mango spritz prickles creamy marshmallow-fluffed vanilla swirl of slushy Berliner Weisse. Lemon pie, banana puree, pineapple juice, orange marmalade and ambrosia salad illusions deepen snazzy confectionery excellence.
450 NORTH SLUSHY XXL BANANA SPLIT
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, gunky marshmallow-fluffed, magenta-purpled fruited sour Smoothie bridges chocolate-dipped banana puree sweetness to orange-juiced pineapple tartness (and mild strawberry and cherry nips), ultimately knocking off a rich vanilla-creamed Banana Split. Perfect sweet-toothed dessert.
450 NORTH SLUSHY XL POPSICLE ROCKET BERLINER WEISSE
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, gunky purple-hazed Berliner Weisse slushy forwards Popsicle Rocket ice flavoring of raspberry, cherry and lemonade to creamy marshmallow fluff above salty sourdough wheat base. Lightly acidic orange juicing and purple grape tang sit back.
450 NORTH SUB-ZERO NUGGETS IPA
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, semi-sharp Nugget-hopped citrus-herbed pine resin reeks of oily cannabis as bitter juniper and tart blackcurrant undertones waver. Earthen pine soaks up dry grapefruit-peeled orange rind musk and brisk pineapple tanginess of briskly aquafied Cryo-hopped IPA.
450 NORTH BOMB POP XL HAWAIIAN JUICE SLUSHY BERLINER WEISSE
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, thick orange-nickeled hue glows for mildly creamed Hawaiian Juice cocktail. Concentrated orange juice pulping picks up advertised apricot, guava, papaya, passionfruit and pineapple tropicalia plus salty pink grapefruit and mango influence. But it’s not as rich, chewy or defined as 450 North’s better Slushy’s, leaving detergent-like acidity on graphite-like pencil shavings near the slick Hawaiian juiced finish.
450 NORTH NIGHT RYEDER
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, dry yellow grapefruit and orange rind bittering consumes piney interior, pumpernickel breaded rye malting and mild dark-roast hop pungency of grainier IPA.
450 NORTH HONEY KOLSCH
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, raw-honeyed champagne-splashed kolsch malting kicks back while sour lemon fizz contrasts sweet doughy breading.
450 NORTH BLOOD MOON WITBIER
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, deviating pale yellow hazed witbier brings tart blood orange adjunct to the fore as sour lemon-dropped green grape esters add mellow white wining that outdoes any stylish orange-peeled coriander sweetness.
SOUTH 40 BREWING COMPANY
EDISON, NEW JERSEY
Inside an old tan warehouse at the end of Raritan Center lies little hidden gem, SOUTH 40 BREWING COMPANY. A bustling 2,000 square foot facility with a small taproom and rustic right side overhead-doored brewing area (with stooled tables, old brown couch, beautiful agrarian proprietary mural and rear brew tanks), South 40 opened up October 2020.
An L-shaped lacquered pine serving station with twelve taps and blackboard beer list consumes the cement-floored taproom. A few sidled TV’s, loungey couches and wood tables fill out the space. A makeshift parking lot patio adds further seating.
Former homebrewing proprietor, Kevin Pacansky, mans South 40’s tanks. Constantly rotating stylistic fare and crafting mostly soft-toned elixirs, Pacansky utilizes different yeast strains for each separate beer. Paying tribute to an old road to Long Beach Island, South 40 has garnered many critical plaudits.
On my initial muggy noontime journey, August ’23, discovered four interesting brown ale variants alongside three locally popular India Pale Ales, a dry pilsner, blood orange pale ale and a fruited sour while chewing the fat with knowledgeable beertender, Dan Scanlon.
Strictly for less discriminating thirsts, but drawing in macrobrew denizens, light aluminum cleared Pilz Lite will please simpler palates with its millet-grained, oats-dried, corny malt liquor musk.
Mild blood orange tartness picked up delicate perfumed spicing and distant tangerine-clementine-cherry snips for honey malted pale wheat ale, One Orange Brain Cell, a nifty orange upside down cake divergence.
Lightly acidic raspberry tartness and sour blueberry rasps guided fruited sour, Blowin’ Raspberries, allowing leathery oaken cherry, white pear and rhubarb pie illusions to latently flow thru its salty acidulated malts.
Unique flagship India Pale Ale, Happily Peared, added subtle pear juicing to sharp citrus bittering, dainty red apple/ prickly pear sweetness and wavered lemony green grape esters, gaining mild herbal spicing over oated wheat flouring. A welcoming IPA changeup.
Easygoing year-rounder 40 Sessions All Day IPA retained frothy oats creaming for smoothly withered grapefruit, orange and pineapple tanginess as well as dry floral-perfumed spicing. Perfect for investigative pale ale lovers jumping over to less hoppy IPA’s.
Another well balanced IPA, Citra Skies, let candied lemon, pineapple and peach plus tangy orange-tangerine snips create a dandy fruit salad with minor bitter pining and a buttery pale malt backdrop.
As for the quartet of brown ales, salted caramel propelled Harvey’s English Style Brown Ale, leaving sweet chocolate hazelnut caking on its lovely confectionery finish.
Off-dry Chuffed Chap Brown Ale combined caraway-seeded rye breading and charred walnut bittering with sweet chestnut-almond-butternut conflux and dark chocolate remnant over a buttered biscuit base.
Toasted coconut sweetness endured for Nui Brown Ale, picking up chestnut, praline and fig niceties over mild chocolate malting.
Arguably the best and most complex of the bunch, Pecan Sky English Brown Ale let candied pecan pie sweetness indulge its fudgy cake-battered chocolate base, gaining hazelnut molasses, burnt caramel, praline and toffee subtleties.
TIMBER ALES BLENDED WITH LUMBER #1 IMPERIAL STOUT
Outstandingly elegant full-bodied stout blended with Elijah Craig bourbon whiskey and conditioned on Ugandan, Mexican and Comoros vanilla beans retains velvety dark chocolate syruping. Bittersweet cocoa nibs influence enriches bourbon vanilla, brandy and burgundy serenity above honeyed Graham Cracker base. Subtle cafe latte, cinnamon coffee, gingerbread coffee, granola and grape nut pleasantries penetrate chocolate-vanilla surface. Highly recommended.
