Category Archives: BEER PUB

TRITON CRAFT BEER & OYSTER BAR

BEER PUB,

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LONG BEACH ISLAND, NEW JERSEY

Just a few blocks from downtown Beach Haven across the street from well-established Do Me A Flavor ice cream shop, TRITON CRAFT BEER & OYSTER BAR has thrived since opening in 2014. Ably transitioning Long Beach Island (the crown jewel of the Jersey Shore) from a boring Bud-Coors-Miller refuge to a craft beer haven, Triton makes certain its customers experience the best fresh seafood, pizza and brews available.

Serving six types of oysters, middle neck clams, shrimp and lobster alongside wood-fired pizzas, Triton whets the appetite of LBI’s seafaring folks with 13 tapped brews as well as a fair selection of bottled-canned craft beer, fine wines and spirits. Four community tables and a 12-seat bar sidling the left side bar of the milky white interior bedeck the midsize interior.

My wife and I visited Triton thrice during July ’16, enjoying several previously untried draughts while consuming loads of raw clams and oysters. Happy Hour runs from 3 to 6 PM.

On tap during my few stopovers were several excellent overseas selections (such as the sterling Belgian strong pale ale, Delerium Tremens), local Northeast offerings from Pinelands, Sixpoint, Neshaminy Creek, Weyerbacher, Elk Creek, Troegs, Mystic, Southern Tier and Rivertowne, plus nationally acclaimed fare from Anderson Valley, Rogue, Ballast Point, etc.

Perhaps the best beer bar on LBI, Triton’s entrepreneurs also own nearby established eateries like The Marlin and The Ketch.

 

THE OATH CRAFT BEER SANCTUARY

BEER PUB,

TARRYTOWN, NEW YORK

Neatly reproducing prerequisite Medieval antiquity with its plank-wooded chamber door and furnishings, THE OATH CRAFT BEER SANCTUARY sits next door to historic Tarrytown Music Hall and began operations, May 2015. Owned by the same folks as Harrison-based Craftsman Ale House, The Oath boasts 20-plus taps (listed on the flatscreen menu), various limited edition (or hard-to-find) bottle-cans and fine craft spirits. Its clean white-walled interior, silver-tiled tin ceiling, lacquered wood floor, black cross insignia and mild Trappist theme provide a cool Old World feel somewhat reminiscent of Gothic architecture.

My wife, youngest son and I head to the central L-shaped bar (with 13 stools) for dinner during July ’16. Alongside the (mostly) sessionable soft-toned suds swallowed, we dug into the absolutely fascinating Oath Burger (with bacon, fried egg, waffle and maple syrup), bechamel-sauced Croque Monsieur sandwich (with gruyere cheese and toasted ham) and Roqueford Chicken. Several customers stop by for growlers to-go while the dinner crowd starts to gather in droves for 6 PM supper rush hour.

Going from lightest and most sessionable to the darkest and more complex draught offerings, I got to experience eleven previously untried brews (reviewed in Beer Index). Defiant Pearl River Pilsner, Pipeworks War Bird Saison, Nomad Long Trip Saison, Duncan’s Abbey Saison, Empire Strikes Bock and Kelso Spelter Bock were easygoing openers not too much softer or less complex than Broken Bow Old Splitfoot Belgian Golden Strong Ale, Captain Lawrence/ De Cicco’s Double Cousins Imperial IPA, Goose Island Gillian (a wine-barreled raspberry sour), Bacchus Lilith Dark Sour Ale, and the contrasting Ithaca Super Stout (with Gimme! coffee beans).

During dinnertime stopover, October ’16, tried five worthy IPA’s: one each from California, Oregon and Pennsylvania and two from home state, New York. Stone Enjoy By 10-31-16 with Tangerine may’ve bested Ninkasi Beer Run, Pizza Boy Eurotrash Belgian IPA, Barrier Rotational Series Suburb (Glacier Hop) and Alphabet City Alpha Male (reviewed fully in Beer Index).

Chomped down on two rich food items: Bechamel-sauced Croque Monsieur (grilled ham and cheese) and Mac & Cheese with Pulled Pork.

www.theoathny.com

WEST O BOTTLE SHOP & BAR

BEER PUB

OCEAN BEACH, MARYLAND

A few miles off the Ocean City strip on Ocean Gateway lies the 7,000 square-foot WEST O BOTTLE SHOP & BAR, a fabulous craft beer, fine wine and spirits outlet with creatively designed interior wood trellises, central bar with several draught taps and left side lounge.

Selling the finest local bottled and canned beers while offering a few select draughts at the bar, West O has become a staple for local consumers and curious travelers.

On my June ’16 stopover, there were five previously untried Maryland brews on tap (reviewed in full at Beer Index). Burley Oak High Whhheat Hibiscus brought floral hibiscus and lavender adjuncts to buttery Chardonnay tones and subtle citric notions while Union Country Boy Citric Wit dried out its lemony banana-clove-coriander sweetness with sharp hop astringency. Heavy Seas/ Troegs Hoppelbock, a doppelbock collaboration, doused sweet tropical fruiting with floral-spiced hops and caramel malts.

Onward, Rubber Soul High Wheel IPA had a soft-toned approachability dangling floral pineapple-peach-orange-mango fruiting above its soft wheat spine. RAR Habanero Nectar layered peppery habanero heat inside subtle IPA tropicalia.

www.west-o.net

THE COPPER PENNY

BEER PUB,

WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

A uniquely casual Philadelphia sportsbar in the heart of Wilmington, THE COPPER PENNY is arguably the finest beer pub in the city. Up the road from the waterfront on Chestnut Street, The Copper Penny boasts multiple draught taps, sundry Philly sports paraphernalia and wooden furnishings in a cozily clustered saloon setting.

Packed to the hilt on a Saturday in June ’16, my wife and I congregate at the 30-seat L-shaped right side bar. A backside open kitchen serves sandwiches, burgers and other pub fare to go alongside a cornucopia of local and national tapped beers and assorted liquors. TV’s are scattered across the walls with framed photos, banners and historic nostalgia. Besides the Phillies, Flyers, Eagles and 76ers memorabilia, there are Sylvester Stallone’s stalwart Rocky pix and several craft beer signposts crowded together.

On my one-hour visit, I quaffed Coronado Berry the Hatchet Fruit-Infused Wheat Ale and Natty Greene’s Smoked Peach IPA, a few previously untried hybrids reviewed in full in Beer Index.

All Wilmington-bound beer enthusiasts are encouraged to give the The Copper Penny a spin.

copperpennync.com

RIVER OF BEER

BEER PUB, ,

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BLOOMINGDALE, NEW JERSEY

Coming into existence during the fall of 2015, Bloomingdale’s RIVER OF BEER proved to be a fabulous family affair on my initial May ’16 sojourn. Owned by Fred Soule (whose wife runs the antique shop next door) and featuring his son Dave’s fine craft beer selection (served on this rainy afternoon by Fred’s niece), this friendly neighborhood joint is only three miles from Route 287 on Hamburg Turnpike’s Main Street corrider.

Inside an antique brown Victorian house, River Of Beer’s reminiscent of an Old World Parlor with its vintage front door, custom-designed warmth and cozy pub-styled L-shape bar (with 14 seats, 4 TV’s, well-stocked bottled-canned beer refrigerator, top-shelf liquor, decorative overhead tap handles and small back kitchen). Its delightful upstairs bar matches the first floor’s homey rusticity with its beautiful recycled wood furnishings, barnstable-pitched ceiling, tongue-in-groove pine arches, front corner recliner and love seat (plus the exquisite four tabled widow’s peak).

My wife and I quaff several previously untried brews at the back deck, which is adorned by an awning-covered patio table, a leather-seated wood barrel table, red brick fire pit, porch furniture and beer-bannered wood fence.

As for today’s elixirs, I grab four reliable Jersey suds, a rye-barreled double bock and one choice Milwaukee offering (reviewed fully in Beer Index). Just up the road, Butler’s Ramstein Pale Ale brought lemony spiced hops to the fore. Meanwhile, Little Ferry’s Brix City Gloria Belgian Blonde trickled citrus spritz onto white-peppered hops and candi-sugared malts; Roselle Park’s Climax 20th Anniversary Barleywine retained a soft-toned fig-sugared cherry tang and fruity hop astringency; Atlantic Highland’s Carton Eden Saison, a simple table beer, provided jasmine-flowered grains of paradise tropicalia and herbal lemon tones. Wisconsin’s Lakefront Hop Jockey Double IPA gathered pine-needled grapefruit and mandarin orange juicing to override the crystal-sugared caramel malting.

But today’s finest brew was a specially-made Ramstein Winter Wheat Doppelbock soaked in Dad’s Hat Rye barrels. A true godsend, its smooth rye-dried frontage picked up a large rum-spiced bourbon contingent to elevate the molasses-sugared brown chocolate sweetness, cherry jubilee liqueuring and red grape tang.

Not to be outdone, River Of Beer’s entrepreneurial home brewer, Dave Soule, showed off his brewing prowess with a richly creamed doppelbock (?) full of sugared fig, stewed prune and ripe raisin overtones placed directly above dewy peat earthiness.

To quote soul legend, Al Green, Take Me To The River (Of Beer, that is)!

FLYING SAUCER DRAUGHT EMPORIUM

BEER PUB,

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ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

It’s hard to find fault with forward-thinking FLYING SAUCER DRAUGHT EMPORIUM, despite the fact such large-scale beer pub endeavors merely scratch the surface promoting local independent brewers’ true obsession crafting off-center hybrids, hard-to-find limited editions, daringly ambitious seasonals and obscure one-offs. While bigger beerpub chains such as Yard House and World Of Beer offer hundreds of great microbrew choices, there’s barely any specialty brews amongst the obvious best-selling fare. Ultimately, this standard predictability led to the future demise of Bud-Coors-Miller, three boring macrobrewers scrambling to find a cool niche while selling watered-down versions of timid mainstream recipes to vapid sycophantic dilettantes.

Originating in Fort Worth, Texas, during 1995, the mighty Flying Saucer now operates 16 locations scattered through Missouri, Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and the Lone Star State as of my April Fools Day 2016 sojourn.

Taking up the entire first floor space and large outdoor deck of a red brick downtown Industrial edifice within walking distance of Busch Stadium (home to the historic St. Louis Cardinals), this vibrant craft beer mecca sports exquisite wood tone elegance, high-ceilinged exposed ducts and prominent recessed columns. The 20-stool central bar services multiple interior tables and the open-air deck. The copper-topped bar matches the acrylic penny-medallion keg taps (featuring 1oo draughts). Silver plates adorn the walls alongside cool Chimay, Petrus, Duvel and 4 Hands souvenir saucers. 100-plus bottled beers and a fine liquor selection also get scattered across an exhausting menu boasting “famous make your own pizzas” and good pub food.

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Stopping by lunchtime on a crisp springtime jaunt thru the Gateway to the West, my friend Dennis and I quaff nine previously untried libations (reviewed fully in Beer Index). From Missouri came Modern Arkham’s Finest Stout, O’Fallon King Louie Toffee Stout and Charleville Down With OGP English Porter. Illinois offered Excel Flash Bang Wheat Ale and Old Bakery Porter. Kansas brought forth Tallgrass Wooden Rooster Tripel and Tallgrass Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat Cream Stout while Colorado kicked in New Belgium Blackberry Barleywine and California tossed off Ballast Point Victory At Sea – Peppermint. This veritable cornucopia of stylistic intrigue cannot, at this time, be matched by Flying Saucer’s larger competitors.

Perfect for local businessmen, die-hard Cardinals fans and curious beer seekers, Flying Saucer seems to have all corners covered as a truly iconic large-scale American beer pub.

www.beerknurd.com/locations/st-louis-flying-saucer

 

 

 

END OF ELM

BEER PUB

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MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY

In a red-bricked, white-windowed corner spot across the street from Morristown’s railway. END OF ELM has operated as a cocktail-lounged gastropub since 2013. Featuring 24-plus brass-handled tap lines while specializing in unique cocktails and upscale food, this quaint one-room tavern brings low key elegance to this mid-Jersey county seat.

On my initial February ’16 stopover, my wife and I grab a seat at the windowed front corner booth to sample four diverse brews, including Magnify Low Visibility IPA, Rodenbach Caractere Rouge, Founders Nitro Rubeaus and Stone Bitter Chocolate Stout (reviewed in Beer Index).

Creative lunch menu brought forth distinctively innovative items such as Grilled Artichoke Bruscetta (with Almond Romesco-sauced fennel), Charred Jersey Beets, Lamb Burger and sticky-riced Sashimi Tuna Pizza.

As for its exquisite architectural design, the sage green interior spotlights a 10-seat copper-topped banquet table, eight 4-seat tables and a few side and back booths. Traditional walnut decor adds a tasteful backdrop to the granite-topped 14-set bar while railroad-tied pillars connect slotted flat scrap wood at the front right side, an artful exhibit complementing the train station.

A comfortable neighborhood pub with a friendly attitude, warm atmosphere and charming ambiance, End Of Elm will impress sophisticated beer snobs as well as casual cocktail enthusiasts and may be the best gastropub Morristown has to offer.

www.endofelm.com

BREW CITY GRILL

BEER PUB

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WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS

In an old brick building on a bustling corner of Worcester’s rustic downtown, BREW CITY GRILL slowly became a local craft beer haven after a decade in business selling macros. Just down the street from Wormtown Brewery, this glorified sportsbar served local families, businessmen and brewhounds alike on my initial January ’16 noon time visit on a cold Sunday.

A 15-stool right side bar with front tables and one private booth features decorative street lamps, 40-plus tap handles, fine wines, unique cocktails and several bottled-canned beers. Multiple TV’s fill the bar and left side 20-table dining area (where a brew kettle mural and wallpapered locomotive adorn the walls). The food menu includes reasonable pub fare and my wife and I order bourbon wings, potato skins, hummus (with feta and olives) while watching the Patriots and Jets football games.

Beginning with two cask conditioned ales, Berkshire Mint Chip Drayman’s Porter and Rapscallion Stout, I then quaff terrific Maui Coconut Porter and slyly hybridized Mystic Three Cranes Saison with Cranberry. (All reviewed in Beer Index).

A congenial hotspot in New England’s second largest metropolis, BCG boasts a respectable Massachusetts craft beer selection any outsider would appreciate.

BROADWAY DIVE

BEER PUB

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MANHATTAN, NEW YORK

Re-creating a cozily bohemian Prohibition Era speakeasy, affluent Upper West Side pub, BROADWAY DIVE, is tucked into a busy commercial street just up the hill from midtown Manhattan. Its mauve-marooned exterior and rustic wood interior give this narrow beer-centric tavern a friendly neighborhood feel.

Packed to the hilt with incongruent graffiti and paraphernalia, mounted animals (deer, bear, trout, bass), multiple TV’s, koi fish aquarium and 20-plus tap handles (specializing in respected Belgian ales, local elixirs and national craft beer), its tremendous refrigerated bottle-can selection consumes much of the left wall opposite the 20-seat wooden bar area. And a few marble-topped community tables serve people across the bar.

Part of the “Dive Bar” triumvirate that includes the original Amsterdam Avenue site and Columbus Avenue’s Dive 75, these seminal landmarks are a must for all New York City-bound beer enthusiasts.

My wife and I grab seats at the bar just a few days prior to Christmas, 2015, to consume one high profile sampler tray (Sloop Sauer Peach Berliner Weisse; Barrier’s Uncle Lee’s Christmas Ale; Barrier Lights Out Stout; Evil Twin Christmas Eve In A NYC Hotel Imperial Stout) plus a pint of Thirsty Dog Bourbon-aged Wulver and Ayinger Weiss. We consume chili, hummus and a knish while downing world class brews.

For those requiring privacy, two small loft areas overlooking the bar offer adequate intimacy.

divebarnyc.com

PLANK PIZZA

BEER PUB

SADDLE BROOK, NEW JERSEY

In a pale green-bricked, beige-topped freestanding building just off Market Street in the quaint town of Saddle Brook, PLANK PIZZA BEER PARLOR specializes in thin-crusted sourdough flatbread pizzas while being “purveyors of artisanal ales.” Its classic West Coast brewhouse feel is reinforced by the well-rounded draught selections (listed on a USB-imaged computer screen above the white-tiled tap handles), 300-plus refrigerated beer bottles-cans and roomy interior.

Open July 2015, Plank Pizza’s reclaimed wood and metal furnishings surround a centralized rectangular bar and its high ceilings support keg fixtures, two TV carousels and exposed ducts. A staired mezzanine and cement-floored side deck provide additional seating capacity. During “Hoppy Hour” (3 to 6 PM weekdays) bottled beers for outside consumption are sold at a discount.

The food menu runs the gamut from ricotta-cheesed Bacon White pizza to Alfredo-sauced French Onion And Pepper pizza and mozzarella-cheesed Bacon Clam pizza while appetizers include sourdough pretzel sticks, jalapeno-pickled tater tots, avocado egg rolls and cajun wings.

I found eight previously untried brews on the tap menu (reviewed fully in Beer Index) ranging from local limited edition ales such as Jersey’s Brix City Wet Hop Pale Ale and Kane Deep Rooted Imperial IPA to California’s 21st Amendment He Said Tripel and Hop Concept Lemon & Grassy as well as Washington’s Elysian Punkuccino Coffee Pumpkin Ale. Hybridized West Coast dynamo, Stone Chai Spiced Imperial Stout, Georgia’s  Sweetwater Hash Brown and Missouri’s Schlafly Tasmanian IPA completed the score.

Perfect for beer aficionados, pizza lovers and dining families, Plank’s pristine industrial rusticity provides the perfect casual setting for sundry individuals.

ppcbp.com

ONE MILE HOUSE

BEER PUB,

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK

Named after a historic 19th century Lower East Side granite mile marker in Manhattan’s Bowery, ONE MILE HOUSE (opened for business 2012) serves inventive pub fare and creative cocktails as well as awesome local, national and international craft beer. A Prohibition Era-styled watering hole with custom wood decor, hanging pendant lights, silver tin-tiled ceiling, mauve-walled city portraits and black velvet window curtains, its overall rusticity creates the reliable Old World ambience.

In early August ’15, I grab a seat at the two-roomed wraparound bar to sample eight previously untried brews that range from California’s Telegraph Flotsam Lager to Ireland’s White Hag Black Boar Imperial Stout with New York City-based Third Rail Bodega Pale Ale, Transmitter Golden Ale, Barrier Red Button Imperial Red Ale and Finback Gose finding middle ground alongside Ithaca Cranbretty and East-West collaboration Other Half/ Bunker Boogie Board Stuntz Kolsch (all reviewed in Beer Index).

The exquisite wood-mantled leftside bar houses several hanging silver mugs, select spirits and 20-plus taps. Behind the bar area, a caliginous one-booth backroom counters a cozy dining area while the spacious back porch (with five wood tables and one community table plus beer-related Allagash, Dogfish Head, Green Harbor, Sixpoint and Smuttynose signposts) offers the perfect Big City summertime retreat.

The imaginative culinary experience provided by the David Burke kitchen utilizes locally-sourced ingredients for “burgers and things” like creative hot dogs and flatbreads as well as juicy steaks and crisp salads to fill the one-page pub menu. A few inventive Double Dogs get consumed during my initial visit – The Elvis Dog (with peanut butter and bacon) and Dallas Dog (Texas chili with onions and mustard).

Before heading out to my Central Park High Times Bonghitters softball game versus friendly rivals, Wall Street Journal, the well-rounded beer assortment gets quaffed while Zimmy from dance punk band, Tooth Aches, makes interesting conversation. Several teachers, musicians and craftsmen stop by for a drink as dinnertime rolls around.

A trusty neighborhood tavern with dichotomous old-world charm contrasting quality new-world food and beverages, One Mile House draws local working-class minions from various eclectic downtown communities such as the Bowery, Little Italy, Chinatown and Canal Street.

www.onemilehousenyc.com

EDDIE’S ROADHOUSE

BEER PUB

Eddies Road House (Warwick) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

WARWICK, NEW YORK

Filled with Old World charm and nestled in the hilly rural refuge of Warwick 30 miles northwest of New York City, EDDIE’S ROADHOUSE TAVERN & GRILLE may be a hike for city slickers, but it’s definitely worth the trip. Between town fairs, open-air concerts, cool fishing spots, blueberry fields and the annual Applefest, Warwick’s a busy countryside community with a four-screen drive-in theatre to boot. And when the quaint brown and tan-fronted Roadhouse opened in November, 2010, the diminutive Main Street gastropub quickly became a travel destination.

A rustic hardwood-floored saloon with exposed ceiling ducts and framed black and white portraits (of Willie Nelson, Steven Tyler and Jack Nicholson), its fabulous upscale pub fare (appetizers, burgers, steaks, chicken and ribs) suits the swiftly rotating draught selections. At the red brick-walled left side bar are twenty stools, sixteen tap handles and choice spirits. Two windowed and three right side corian-topped tables comfortably seat lunch and dinner patrons.

During my initial August 2015 jaunt, Eddie’s gets packed by 5:30 on a sunshiny Saturday evening. Along with two newfound brews, my wife and I share the big, beefy Roadhouse Burger (with mushrooms) and On The Flat (a rewarding flat-breaded app with eggplant, hummus and olive tapenade dips).

Owner Eddie Cullari stops by before the crowd rushes in to offer some background.

“I grew up on Ballantine IPA in the ’60s. So i got used to the richer, heavier beers and when that IPA alcohol bite went away, I really got into serious beers,” he shares before adding, “Drinking craft was a no-brainer. Friends would buy a 6-pack for $4 in the past and they couldn’t understand why I’d pay $4 for one swing-topped import.”

Though previously untried Lost Nation Mosaic IPA, Against The Grain Jacque Trappe and Clown Shoes Crasher In The Rye Imperial Stout were gone by my arrival, two fruitful summertime brews got quaffed instead. Soft grapefruit rind-embittered passionfruit-derived Avery Liliko’i Kepolo and briskly citric-hopped Other Half Forever Ever IPA were damn near perfect stylistic representatives (check Beer Index for full reviews).

www.eddiesroadhouse.com

Just down the street from Eddie’s Roadhouse, CRAFT BEER CELLAR opened October 15, 2014. Its earth-toned stone front, brick red interior, exposed pipes, high ceiling, clean shelves and Brooklyn Brewery banner give the place a certain lucidity. Twenty tap handles fill growlers to go and a serious-minded bottle and can selection (of rarities and well-selected American and international fare) will please any beer enthusiast.