On tap at Triton – Long Beach Island, spry lemon spritz picks up mild floral herbage, mossy grain musk and delicate sourdough breading for fine balanced Czech-styled pilsner. In the can, maize-dried grassy hop astringency wedged musky herbage and parched wood over slightly creamed raw-honeyed pilsner graining.
ELIZABETH CITY, NORTH CAROLINA
Occupying a faded gray aluminum garden house in a dainty mini mall, Country Inn-styled ADVET BREWING COMPANY is the pride of the Coast Guardian husband and wife team of Mark and Jennifer Napolitano. Opened during May ’22, the cozy nanobrewery became Elizabeth City’s third ‘suds factory.’
Entering thru the Kenyon Bailey Garden Center and taking a right inside Advet’s wooden entrance, my wife and I grab a few aviator themed brews emanating from the rear tanks on a hot July ’23 noon swoon before heading to the nearby Outer Banx for body surfing.
Black and metal four-seat tables surround the marbled concrete-topped serving station of the old wood-floored interior and a gated red brick-paved deck with black metal furnishings provides outside seating for today’s expanding crowd. Two opposing TV’s stare out from the gray front wall.
Stylishly delightful British pale ale, Distant Early Warning, plied dewy tobacco roasted crisping to caraway-seeded pumpernickel rye breading.
Soft-toned fruit ale, Could Not Duplicate Blueberry Ale, let tart blueberry puree ride atop herbal hop astringency and a pallid white wheat bed.
Snazzy orange Creamsickle-sugared fruited sour, First Light Search, pasted marshmallow-fluffed lemon custard, orange meringue and tangelo to its orange soda-like pizzazz.
Zesty lemon fizz bubbled up against banana-clove sweetness for sourdough-sugared Heavy Maintenance Hefeweizen, leaving mild herbage on its honeyed wheat tail.
Spritzy orange-peeled coriander sweetness enjoined sparkling lemon licks for Three Down And Locked Witbier, cloaking its mild lemongrass herbage above delicate white wheating.
Sour cranberry tartness countered mild cinnamon spicing in the briny lime setting of wheat-soured Holiday Routine Cinnamon-Cranberry Gose.
Dry pine tones secured the bitter yellow grapefruit stead and mild perfumed spicing of Considering The Circumstances, a medium-bodied West Coast-styled IPA.
Grapefruit-embittered orange rind and pineapple tang received a perfume-spiced pine lacquering for Giant Killer Double IPA, relegating its honeyed pale malting.
Candied orange, pineapple and mango sugaring contrasted salty yellow grapefruit bittering then picked up recessive herbal perfuming to tease Restrictive Visibility Hazy IPA.
Lightly tarred cocoa dryness penetrated mild black licorice, raw tobacco and chocolate truffle illusions for Area Of Responsibility Brown Ale.
FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY
During December ’22, ARTIS BREWERY became Freehold’s first operational brewpub. Located at bustling South Street in the town where musical legend Bruce Springsteen grew up, Artis has been described by Asbury Park Press as an ‘Industrial chic’ pub. Jersey-bred homebrewer, Tim Bubser, educated at Vermont’s American Brewers Guild, spent time in Tampa Bay learning his craft, then worked at one of the Garden State’s best breweries, Kane, before hopping aboard Artis.
A beautifully marbled epoxy floor adds splendor to Artis’ uniquely cushion-seated L-shaped bar. Several seat-cushioned tables also surround the front space while the bar’s centralized tiled draught handles get sidled by two TV’s and a blackboarded beer menu. A spacious furnished balcony area adds extra seating. The white back-walled area stages the brew tanks.
Utilizing a soft water source especially benefits Artis’ worthy India Pale Ales and lagers. There’s a certain clean sparkle to each of their in-house brews.
My wife and I gathered at the back porch to down all seven available homemade suds during June ’23.
Musky grained American lager, Party Of 9, seeped dried orange and Saaz-hopped herbage into pilsner-malted flaked rice for a moderation.
Dewier Dark Horse Lager let peaty earthiness surround Saaz-hopped herbage, dried fruitiness and light chocolate.
Casual Eventide Pale Ale placed dainty citrus tanginess above mild oats-flaked creaming.
Best-selling Glory Daze Haze, an indelible NEIPA, brought zesty orange-peeled grapefruit, pineapple and mango tanginess and syrupy peach to lightly creamed oats-flaked wheat malting.
A zestful West Coast-styled IPA, The One, placed sunny Citra-hopped orange rind and grapefruit pith bittering across piney Amarillo-Chinook-Simcoe-hopped herbage atop a wispy crystal-malted wheat base.
Tart Nelson Sauvin-hopped green grape, guava and gooseberry souring stayed perky alongside lightly embittered Vic Secret-hopped yellow grapefruit and pineapple juicing for Cold Break IPA, picking up dry pine tones and minty herbal whims over honeyed pale malting.
Nitro ESB, Covenhoven House, let dewy peat soak into herb-spiced Fuggle hops and roasted caramel, retaining a mild mouthfeel.
Luxurious ’22 holiday stout brings massive nuttiness to fudgy dark chocolate creaming. Sweet bourbon pecan and toasted coconut-marshmallow adjuncts surge alongside chewy cacao nibs resilience. Silken smooth mocha nuttiness gains vanilla creme brulee resonance as well as tertiary hazelnut-pasted maple oats sugaring and teasing black cherry, raisin and prune illusions.
Well integrated 3rd anniversary stout springs ancho chili peppering upon bittersweet dark chocolate and vanilla bean insistence. Alongside the moderate ancho heat, bitter Blackstrap molasses drapes wood-burnt hop char and mild pine tarring enveloping cinnamon-barked mocha stead. Distant Peppermint Patty candy, chocolate-covered cherry and molasses oatmeal cookie illusions waver.
On tap at Taphouse 15, sweet bourbon aging engages Double Stuf’t Oreo cookie knockoff. Fudgy cocoa nibs splendor reaches creamy vanilla center, leaving Devils Food Cake, brownie batter, bourbon vanilla and white chocolate illusions on its whiskeyed 11.5% ABV path. In the can, sweet bourbon-whiskeyed vanilla spicing impact rich cocoa-nibbed Oreos cookie confection, picking up fudgy brown chocolate and fluffy marshmallow sugaring as well as slight gingerbread snip.
Cocoa powdered coconut milkiness compromised by earthen peat murk as smoked maple molasses and musky dried fruiting waver above sour rye breading for underwhelming, stylishly obtuse stout.
Pumpkin-seeded cinnamon bark dryness quickly encounters bustling pumpkin-pied sweetness in rich dark chocolate setting as Cruzan rum aging seeps in. Dazzling cinnamon and nutmeg resilience receives molasses-candied glaze and a spot of black coffee as terpy sandalwood, tarragonish anise and bourbon vanilla licks add to its bountiful luster.
On tap at Ambulance, fulsome bourbon barrel aged stout blends brown chocolate sweetness with less prominent peanut buttering for Reese’s candy bar knockoff. Creamy chocolate resilience gains dry bourbon and sweet whiskey tones, picking up mild black peppering. There’s even a slight chocolate chip cookie nip.
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, rye-like dark wheat influence pervades Scottish heavy yeast fermenting as soily hop-charred peat pervades roasted black chocolate residue securing lightly soured black cherry and black grape tartness plus dry burgundy swerve. Offbeat Imperial Stout for probing dark ale fans.
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, sour ‘second-runnings stout conditioned on spent blackberries’ and cacao nibs retains dry lemon wedged coffee oiling and lightly bitter Bakers chocolate snicker over peaty compost soiling as murky dark cherry/ blackberry tartness and dry bourbon licks linger softly.
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, impressive bourbon-aged Mexican-styled porter utilizes spiced-up chili peppering to complement cacao-nibbed brown chocolate sweetness. Cinnamon coffee continuance picks up gingerbread cookie and maple molasses niceties as well as wintry nutmeg-cumin snips. Recessive bourbon influence stays subtle for hot cocoa alternative.
