Subdued session ale in a can retains dry soft-toned nature. Delicate hop-spiced fruiting stays just beneath helles lager-like honeyed biscuit surface. Effervescent apricot, pink grapefruit, pineapple and orange tang sweetens almond-toasted caramel malting. Metallic twang brings minor astringency to pleasant light body.
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Debatable cherry-soured American Wild Ale with Flemish Red Ale leanings (and labeled a Belgian kriek) lacks efficient carbolic nature but scores points as a brettanomyces-laden Sour Ale. Aged in oak barrels, its tart cherry pucker gets underscored by cork-y cider dryness, vinous green grape tannins, raspberry vinaigrette musk and frisky white-peppered snip. Leathery farmhouse funk saddles oaken cherry theme.
Gruff Eastern European-styled corn-grained malt liquor astringency and burly Dutch-like pungent bitterness softened precipitously by doughy yeast sweetness. Grassy-hopped husked wheat dryness contrasts perfumed citrus mildness and mild floral nuance to biscuit-y bottom. Sessionable lawnmower fodder.
Wayward altbier with ‘crisp German lager’ tendencies and a ‘hoppy pale ale punch’ brings ‘brown ale malt backbone’ to nebulous nutty finish. Acrid phenol astringency overrides any taciturn flavoring. Ashy peanut-shelled oiling negates frail walnut-hazelnut-pecan pinch as mired mocha malting dissipates. Crusty burnt bread reminder seeps into dirty earthen graining.
Everlasting piney-hopped grapefruit rind bittering sticks to spice-malted tongue. Tropical pineapple-mango conflux and apple-peach undertones sweeten resinous hop oils. Wispy floral potpourri serenades citric juicing. A hop-head delight.
Straightforward moderate-bodied English pale ale brings biscuit-y cereal malts, sourdough yeast and toasted almond to orange marmalade midst. Orange-oiled citric undertones contrast helles bock-like bread crusting. Crisply easygoing session beer.
Bettering most in its moderate-bodied class, inviting lawnmower fodder keeps it simple. Silken sourdough yeast frontage is drier than Mayflower’s similarly-styled Pale Ale. Slim citric tease and minimal floral spicing caress buttered baked bread finish. A touch of honeycomb sweetens the delicate wheat spine. Elegant, yet approachable, and worthy of mass appeal.
Ambitious dry stout provides salty oyster-shelled brining to immediate coffee bean roast and lactic cocoa-powdered dark chocolate follow-up. Bittersweet vanilla seeding casually strolls across nutty java efficacy and soft wood-scorched hop char. Tertiary pine tar, charcoal and chewing tobacco undertones simmer beneath creamy mochaccino-espresso dalliance. Initial coffee thrust peters out a tad, but mocha-bound medium-full body stays soothingly robust. On tap at Triton, local Rappahannock oysters brought creamy sedation to medium-roast coffee overtones, dry-hopped cola nuttiness, dark chocolate bittering, dark cherry hints and light Kahlua snips of updated 2016 version.
WAKEFIELD, RHODE ISLAND
Neatly reminiscent of a proper English pub, pine-timbered Country Inn-styled sportsbar, MEWS TAVERN, is rightly claimed southern Rhode Island’s most popular watering hole. Hosting an astounding 69 microbrew taps in its original tree house-like Tavern, this natural wood Colonial-style fort just a few miles west of historic Newport also serves affordable gourmet pizza and juicy burgers.
A well-established mill town hotspot originally making its mark as a gathering place for local fishermen way back in 1947, Mews grew in size after acquiring the property next door. Nowadays, the sylvan Wakefield sanctuary has become the University of Rhode Island’s coolest hangout, appeasing traditionalist-minded locals and Narragansett Bay seafarer as well.
“This whole complex is two different buildings that were constructed then pieced together in ‘98,” trusted controller George Mc Auliffe explains. “The Tavern was the original bar. The stand-alone building next to it was built in the 1800’s and had an outdoor patio. There was a beech tree in the middle of the room that stayed after the roof was put in.”
Christened the Tree Room, the family-friendly main dining space features rustic regalia such as a canoe, kayak, ski lift chair and bicycle amongst its villager decor. When I first visited Mews nearly a decade back, my family sat next to the enclosed beech tree watching TV and enjoying the nacho platter and a few pizzas while some well-chosen local beers were consumed.
On my follow-up April 2012 trip, my wife and I settle in the original Tavern under the bay-windowed booth (where Jagermeister and Knob Creek Bourbon mirrored plaques hang). The side-winding bar (with short ice cream parlor chairs) displays the tap-handled beer assortment and thousands of stapled dollar bills wishing good luck line the walls. One bar-bound TV has a soon-to-be classic Yankees-Red Sox game on (Boston blew a nine-run lead) while the one above our heads is showing Bruins playoff hockey.
As the Kinks’ charmingly melodic “Waterloo Sunset” plays on the jukebox, we dig into Greek Pizza and quaff two previously untried beers. Grey Sail Flagship Ale, a locally crafted cream ale, retains a sugary biscuit malting above wood-toned hop spices and honeyed citrus. Schneider Mein Nelson Sauvin, a hybridized German weizenbock, plies ‘fresh mown grass hops’ to white-peppered gooseberry, grape and passion fruit illusions as well as sweet banana-clove nuances.
“The owners (Danny Rubino and Dave Barns) were commercial fishermen who have now owned Mews since 1990. They became famous for their large tapped beer selection and the rack sampler,” Mc Auliffe boasts.
The 6-ounce, 6-beer sampler can’t be beat. Beer geeks and casual novices could try several semi-popular favorites or take a chance on a few unknown choices. For those into elevated spirits, the mirrored wall shelves hold numerous high-end single malt Scotches, exquisite bourbons and detailed wines.
Upstairs, Mews exquisite mahogany-wooded Celtic Pub brings simple countryside elegance to the fore with its racked wine barrels, private booths and billiard tables.
On March ’13 St. Patrick’s Day sojourn, we got to Mew’s before noon to beat the holiday crowd. I gave newly coined 7-ounce 4-beer sampler a go alongside the pulled pork sandwich, part of my wife’s Greek Pizza and some of my daughter Nicki’s Chicken Taco Salad.
While watching the ACC basketball Championship between Miami and North Carolina and listening to Nirvana, Jane’s Addiction and Soundgarden at the beech tree booth, I consumed four previously untried brews (reviewed in Beer Index). While Third Shift Amber (a Coors-related lager) didn’t suffice and Long Trail Bavarian Smoked Brown Ale got soapy (negating its cherrywood-smoked notion), Cali-based Black Diamond Jagged Edge IPA and Revival Double Black IPA maintained brisk citric-pined bittering and roasted malt stability.
Don’t miss this uniquely antique New England retreat if you’re headed to the Newport mansions, Tennis Hall of Fame, Providence or Cape Cod.
On tap at Mews (and available in cans), polite moderate-bodied cream ale makes for an easygoing, approachable session beer. Dry wood-toned hop spicing creases honeyed citric easement above crowded biscuit malt bottom. Baked bread, wheat toast and baguette illusions provide restrained alacrity.
On tap at Mews, commendable hybridized weizenbock with ‘freshly mown grassy hops’ brings exotic citrus souring to creamy crystal malting. Tart lemon-seeded orange rind bittering reaches buttery vanilla-sweetened banana-clove midst. Floral highlights decorate ancillary white-peppered gooseberry, blueberry, green grape and white pear illusions as well as tropical pineapple, mango, passion fruit, cantaloupe, melon and nectarine effervescence. Uniquely complex and daintily peculiar moderate body will appease white wine dabblers.
Balmy golden-straw kolsch serenades citric hop spicing with creamy honeyed malting and salty herbal surge for well rounded moderation. Basil, thyme and ginger influence floral hibiscus-lotus-dandelion triage and wavering apple-brandied mango-pineapple-nectar-gooseberry fruiting. Serve as an alternative to herbal wine at family dinner.