On tap at Plank Pizza, soft-tongued moderation stays sturdy as sour lemon musk infiltrates grassy meadow and dried maize stead, picking up slight herbage. An above average New Jersey Devils inspired brew.
All posts by John Fortunato
TOMS RIVER SWEET CHAI O MINE CREAM ALE
On tap at Plank Pizza, interestingly integrating sweet chai honey with vanilla, sugary cream ale picks up delicate ginger-cinnamon spicing, cotton-candied silkiness and toasted coconut dusting. A winning combo.
UNTIED CLACKING COCONUTS CREAM ALE
On tap at Plank Pizza, mild cotton-candied coconut toasting, dried cocoa nibs and light lemon liming reach lightly creamed vanilla-sugared sourdough base. Some unwanted soapiness seeps thru cacao/coconut latte-finishing confection.
CARTON ST. KITTS COFFEE IMPERIAL CREAM ALE
Another superfine Regular coffee variant. Creamy milk-sugared coffee sweetness invites coconut rum spicing to the party as mild molasses brandy licks enter the serene coffee fray. Caramel latte, coconut coffee, cappuccino and oak-toasted bourbon vanilla illusions intensify rich java-sugared finish.
CHARLES TOWNE RALF ZWICKELBIER
On tap at Ambulance, mild aluminum-cleared German-style zwickel retains stylishly crisp pilsner malted white breading and slight floral-spiced lemon salting, picking up sparkling champagne quip and gentle herbage for fizzy seltzer-like sessionability.
ALTERNATE ENDING STAVRO VIENNA LAGER
On tap at Taphouse 15, mossy fungi dewiness counters toffee-spiced sweetness as musky grain dampness, orange oiled tartness and mild cardboard gluiness reach moldy breading.
ROGUE DREAMLAND AMERICAN LAGER
Simple, thin, cumulous headed, clear straw lightweight stays crisply silken as unassuming lemony white-wined champagne fizzing fades at the corn-flaked pilsner malt spine.
ICARUS I LIFE LIME LAGER
On tap at Plank Pizza, easygoing lime cologned zesting embellished by domestic corn dryness, hay-like barnyard acridity and mineralized pilsner malting.
(ROCK WALL) SNIKI-TIKI SCORPION STYLE COCKTAIL
Disturbingly cloy rum-punched orange and pineapple-juiced malt beverage will only suit sweet-toothed grenadine martini bimbos. A dollop of strawberry ripeness invades the tart pineapple-orange conflux of tedious Scorpion-like cocktail.
ROCK WALL HEMPTAILS CITRUS GOLD
Slick blood orange tang and mild hemp-oiled hop resin scrape surface of undecided ginger ale-derived malt liquor. Soda-like hard seltzer fizzing snaps back at vodka-licked Orange Fanta midst of hemp-seeded, flat-headed, aluminum-cleared derivation.
DOCKSIDE BREWERY
MILFORD, CONNECTICUT
DOCKSIDE BREWERY & WATERFRONT BIERGARTEN is an expansive white colonial barnhouse gastropub spreading far and wide along the Housatonic riverbanks of Milford, Connecticut. Featuring a pristine 40-tap main barroom, multi-level plastic-seated deck, community-tabled picnic area, several uniquely furnished riverfront pods, sandy benches and a game area, this mammoth brewery also serves as a fabulous local sportsbar with TV’s at every angle.
Opened May 2020 during Covid fever, Dockside’s neon signage leads Route 95 traffic, marina-bound fishermen and local sailors to its grand 4,200 square-foot location. A major part of the village of Devon’s riverfront revitalization, Dockside’s proved to be what co-owner Bob Chicoine calls “a gateway to Milford.”
I chowed on New England clam chowder and my wife had Dockside fig and pig pizza while consuming eight delightfully rounded home brews, February ’23. Several guest draughts were also available.
Crisply dry aluminum cleared Mexican pale lager, El Capitan, let dry maize-husked fungi, Tettnang hop herbage and celery watering sidle corn flaked biscuit buttering as soapy lemon cologne surfaced.
Peculiar helles lager, Driftwood Oak, saddled its delicate oaken bark dryness with floral-perfumed citrus fruiting and tarragon-sage herbage atop grainy pilsner malting.
Dry Imperial IPA, Destructo, brought mild lemon-peeled white grapefruit bittering to sugary oats malting as juniper-licked peach, guava and cherry illusions wavered.
Mellow lemony orange-peeled grapefruit bittering perked up piney dry-hopped West Coast IPA, Califragilistic, a crystal malt sugared medium body.
Salted lemony grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering grew incrementally alongside lactic milk sugaring of Feelin’ Juicy NEIPA, placing tertiary coconut-mango-papaya tropicalia alongside oats-flaked pilsner malting.
Another nifty NEIPA, Squooshy, retained a briny soft-tongued fruitiness and yogurt-soured milk sugaring as scurried grapefruit, blueberry, passionfruit and tangerine tanginess plus zesty lemon bittering rose above its oated flaked wheat base.
Sour-candied Let ‘Em Eat Cake #3 splendidly knocked off a strawberry banana pastry with its dry lemon-puckered saltiness contrasting sweet banana and tart strawberry.
Lovely confectionery nightcap, Something Sinister Pastry Stout unleashed caramel-salted coconut cheesecake creaminess upon honeyed Graham Cracker sweetness to its milk chocolatey hazelnut coffee finish.
TRIBUS BEER CO.
MILFORD, CONNECTICUT
TRIBUS BEER CO. opened during springtime 2018 inside a 15,000 square-foot warehouse five miles from busy Route 95 in the seafaring town of Milford. Specializing in a wide range of India Pale Ales, its enclosed community-tabled beer garden connects four overhead doors to the high aluminum ceilinged brewpub. A bulb-lit MILFORD sign and hop vine-designed ‘three friends’ symbol adorn the left tiled wall.
A wraparound oak-topped bar with twenty tap handles sidewinds its way around the cement-floored interior. Several wood-topped aluminum-stooled tables and a few community tables at the right side beer tanks fill out the Industrial space.
A wall-flowered gaming backroom with cushioned couches, community tables and decorative barrels adds room for parties and social gatherings.
After visiting nearby Dockside Brewing, my wife and I spent an hour imbibing six Tribus numbers midafternoon, February ’23.
Perennial flagship NEIPA, Benji, combined Citra, Mosaic and Eldorado hops for its sunny lemon-pledged orange rind, white grapefruit and apricot briskness while salty yogurt-soured guava and gooseberry souring coated oats flaked creaming.
Mellow yellow grapefruit, zesty orange peel, tangy pineapple and salted lemon caressed dry Imperial IPA, Body Pillows, leaving grassy astringency on its oats-flaked red wheat base.
Juicy vodka-nipped orange peeled grapefruit tanginess consumed Refresh, picking up ancillary pineapple, peach and honeydew sweetness to contrast mild pine resin above honeyed pale malting.
Roasted dark chocolate nuttiness and dark coffee bittering saddled Called Quest Robust Porter, sashaying thru sweet milk chocolate creaming.
Rich (10.5% ABV) Imperial Stout, Mocha Night Night, snuck dark chocolatey cocoa nibs and milked coffee thru smoked Blackstrap molasses continuance, gaining walnut charred hop sear as sinewy maple sap dripped off the dry mocha finish.
Bourbon-soaked oak chips permeated the molasses-smoked chocolate center of Brass Roots Barleywine, a plush burgundy-licked elixir with black cherry, dried prune, purple grape and plum illusions.