SOMERSET, NEW JERSEY
Open May 2019,
JERSEY CYCLONE BREWING COMPANY operates a light modern Industrial-furnished 2,500 square foot tasting room in the middle of a professional office mall in Somerset. Local proprietary homebrewers Jan Chwiedosiuk and Brian Teel began working together a few years back and now they specialize in wholly expressive IPA's and stouts plus worthy pilsner-lagers and fruity kettle-soured Uncharted Waters variants.
Jersey Cyclone's brick-based, wood lacquer-topped back bar draws 14-plus brews from the stainless steel draught station. Twisted metal-designed cyclone-webbed tap handles occupy the repurposed fire hydrants (previously used as water fountains) and caged Edison lights hang from the ceiling. Community-tabled benches fill out the pristine interior and an outdoor beer garden provides further space.
I hung out with owner Jan Chwiedosiuk at Plank Pizza one Friday night in early December '21 to down eight proprietary 5-ouncers. Then, a week hence, my wife and I dropped by Jersey Cyclone to down a few more diversified suds.
Soft-toned
Eye Of The Storm, a sunny tropical flagship India Pale Ale, combined lemony grapefruit zesting, brisk orange peel sweetness and spicy peach-mango-tangerine sugaring above crystal-caramel malts - leaving dank pine tones on its candied citrus finish.
Easygoing tropical-fruited IPA,
Microburst, gathered orange-peeled grapefruit zesting, peachy lychee-pineapple-mango tanginess and wax-candied cherry blip to contrast juniper-embittered currant tannins.
Lightly lactic Imperial IPA,
Harbor Of Refuge, contrasted tangy citrus spicing and sweet caramel malts against mild red-peppered jalapeno heat as earthen pine resin and celery-watered herbage scurried below.
Pleasantly fruited kettle sour,
Uncharted Waters Cranberry Orange, plied salted berry-citrus tartness and pithy orange juicing (plus white peach tartness) to lactic acidulated malts.
Toasted amber graining and dewy peat mossing (reminiscent of a red ale) picked up mild dried fruiting and dainty nuttiness over biscuity malts for
Touchdown Lager, an offbeat Dunkelweizen.
Tarry black patent-malted dark chocolate syruping greeted Baltic Porter,
Storm Surge, bringing ancillary coffee-stained maple oats and dark toffee spicing to dewy brown-leafed hop astringency.
Luxuriously detailed Imperial Stout,
Barrel Aged Flood, steeped in rum, rye and bourbon barrels, let creamy dark chocolate and bourbon vanilla richness propel molasses-sapped nuttiness, dainty raisin-plum-prune subtleties and brandied burgundy wining above recessive charcoal hop sear.
Decadent confectionery dessert,
Back For S'More, a bold lactose stout with cocoa nibs, vanilla beans and cinnamon, received chewy marshmallow-honeyed Graham Cracker sugaring and sneaky almond-praline-toffee illusions latently contrasted by a subtle wood-singed hop char. its fudgy brown chocolate overtones and creamy vanilla richness enhanced the fulsome finish.
The above beers were consumed at Plank Pizza, but the suds below got imbibed at Jersey Cyclone early December '21.
Brisk clear golden Czech pilsner,
Clear Skies, combined raw-grained oated wheat with musky floral herbage.
Lively NEIPA,
Pole Reversal, brought orange-peeled peach, pineapple and grapefruit tanginess to salty pine needled hop bittering above sugary pale malts in a stylishly straightforward way.
Lactic kettle-soured fruited gose,
Uncharted Waters Passionfruit, let mildly acidic lemon-limed Himalayan pink salting embitter its dry passionfruit-pureed gooseberry tartness.
A spicier Baltic Porter,
Storm Surge engaged its caramelized dark chocolate base with cinnamon French toast illusions plus spiced coffee, anise and toffee atop molasses-smeared brown breading.
Coffee-stained dark chocolate malting saddled
Flood, a dewy Imperial Stout with soily compost-wafted nuttiness.
Bold lactic vanilla beaned Imperial Coffee Porter,
Snowtoberfest, graced its roasted coffee frontage with holiday-inspired cinnamon-spiced brown chocolate, gingerbread, Amaretto, glazed hazelnut and dark cocoa regalia.
NORTH STONINGTON, CONNECTICUT
Inside a historic maroon-shingled Colonial edifice above North Stonington's riverside rapids, SHUNOCK RIVER BREWERY & VILLAGE CAFE is stationed at an inconspicuous intersection merging residential neighborhoods.
Opening its doors November 29, 2019, Shunock Brewery added a wood-fired pizza oven a year hence. A cozy nanobrewery with small left side brew tank section across the diminutive six draught bar, its windowed frontage features several barrel-top tables while the waterside covered deck provides Edison-lit wood benches for further capacity.
An old hardware store converted into a friendly local cafe, SRB offers casual rustic Americana. Vintage mushroom boarding consumes the chestnut-columned interior and olden wood cabinets adorn the bar.
During my March '22 one-hour journey, ate green peppered onion-topped pizza with wife while imbibing six approachable suds.
Dry citrus-spiced Eldorado Pale Ale let subtle lemon rind and yellow grapefruit bittering contrast tangy tangerine and mandarin orange misting above musky wood-toned herbage.
Utilizing local pumpkins, moderately maple syrupy North Stonington Pumpkin Ale picked up daintily autumnal cinnamon-sugared nutmeg seasoning for its brown-sugared pumpkin pie dalliance.
Easygoing IPA, River Monster Bitch, brought mild Mosaic-hopped lemony yellow grapefruit bittering to lightly pined Simcoe hops and dry pale malting.
Lactose-laden milkshake IPA confection, Orange Creamsickle, hid its vanilla-creamed orange tartness and lemon meringue piquancy behind dry hop astringency.
Local honey paraded thru lightly maple molasses-sapped Honey Maple Brown Ale, leaving nutty mocha remnants.
Dark chocolate glazed dewy English-styled Cocoa Nib Stout, picking up faded maple walnut coffee tones and sweet hazelnut snips. 
GREEN LANE, PENNSYLVANIA
Renegade spousal-owned multifaceted nanobrewery, PERKIOMEN VALLEY BREWERY, honors the local pre-prohibition brewhouse that served 20,000 yearly barrels at its 1919 peak while celebrating the antique artifacts PVB's former drive-thru bank left behind. A comfortable family-friendly tap room embracing individuals with mobility and sensory issues, owners Kelly and Tom Weiss have raised two autistic sons who now ably assist this idiosyncratic community haven.
Opened June 21, 2019, the Weiss family's already crafted 115 sundry brews since inception as of my one-hour visit, early February '22. An experienced gardener, Kelly's specialty is foraging for natural ingredients and harvesting botanical herbage for the uniquely eccentric homemade brews emulating from the basement fermentation tanks and the original pilot system situated in the main pub area.
Inspired by John Troegner (Troegs Brewing founder) while on an exploratory brewpub journey, PVB also took inspiration from Illinois' fabulous farmhouse brewery, Scratch. Two of their best selling flagships include Sadie's Dandelion Amber Ale and Honeysuckle Golden Ale - both way more offbeat, involving and creative than their staid amber-golden stylistic design.
Wanting an exterior feel, there are LED lights on the blue-grey ceiling, a patio-like porcelain tile floor, sensory room kiosk and fireplace dotting the eight-seat bar. My wife and I conversed with Kelly at one of the cozy outdoor tables while downing nine diversified offerings.
Foraged hickory bark toasting and brown-sugared molasses sweetness paced Shagbark Old English Ale, an interestingly offbeat and stylistically advanced Extra Special Bitter with toffee-spiced marshmallow snips lacing dewy Marris Otter malts.
Another distinctively divergent ESB, Bees Knees, a lactic 'bee-balm' botanical brew, saddled English tea earthiness with frankincense, sandalwood and cinnamon bark enticement.
Honey-perfumed dandelion sweetness subtly serenaded the juniper-berried citrus zing of Sadie's Dandelion, a uniquely foraged amber ale with dry Chinook hop wood tones.
Finnish-styled farmhouse hybrid, Sahti To Me, utilized Kveik yeast to promote orange-oiled pekoe tea, dried fig, bergamot and papaya fruiting in a raw-grained barnyard setting.
Dryly tannic Sequoia-tipped amber grains and mild peated whiskey tones steadied Sequoia Pale Ale, leaving lemon-oiled orange fruiting on the back end.
Dry Noble-hopped Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Ale let tart strawberry rhubarb buttering sink into biscuity kolsch-like malts, picking up mild cranberry-pomegranate souring.
Spruce-tipped pine musk seeped inside grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and the 'sturdy grain bill' of Spruced Up Double IPA, a 90-minute-hopped beauty anchored by caramelized pale malting.
Toasted coconut draped the dark chocolate bittering of Kelly's Gone Coco-nut, a coffee-nutted porter with latent earthy soiling.
An interpretation of an 'old local dark ale,' PVB Porter leaned on dry black malts to embitter the peaty earthen scorch, wood-burn hop char and soy sauced fig souring reinforcing syrupy dark cocoa richness. 
HATFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA
Taking up 10,000 square feet at a beige brick-fronted Industrial mall in Hatfield (a northwest Philly suburb), versatile independent enterprise, CO-HOPS BREWERY & CANNERY, came into existence during autumn '21 (but closed 2025). Pennsylvania's first full service contract brewing facility opened for public consumption, the proprietary craft beer haven crafts beer for many local startup homebrewers, even creating a few of their own liquid product alongside fine fanfare from Sutton, Radiant, Loso, Bucks County and Langhorne, to name a few.
At Co-Hops, entrepreneurial veteran brewer, Joe Modestine, offers methodological advise, equipment and spirit to the ensuing zymurgic denizens getting readied for regional distribution. His family ran a successful saloon before he began brewing in his garage prior to founding nearby Doylestown Brewing in 2011 .
Modestine prepares kegged and canned suds for on-site/ off-site consumption. The bright blue-floored brewing space backs an inconspicuous serving station inside the beige-walled, high-ceilinged, overhead-doored warehouse. There are tables and benches neatly placed across the ultra-clean cement floor pub. A small left side lounge with small wood tables and couch serves as a dinky private space while a picnic area with firepits provides outside quaffing.
I consumed three original Co-Hops brews and a few days hence some worthy canned 'gypgy' brews by Radiant, Sutton, Steel City, Loso and Like Minds (reviewed in Beer Index) while perusing Co-Hops early February '22.
Brisk lemon-limed Cashmere hops meet floral-herbed Loral hops for Co-Hops Hazy Pig, a sessionable hazy India Pale Ale with lively tangerine tanginess and resinous pine snips above sugared pale malts.
Bright orange, tangerine and grapefruit tanginess guided spritzy Hatfield Haze, a lightly herbed New England IPA gaining mild mango, guava and starfruit tropicalia.
Dark chocolate syrup draped salty peanuts and sweet coconut for Co-Hops Hawaiian Stout, a dewy full body with distant cold-brewed coffee, espresso and spiced toffee illusions. 
HARLEYSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA
At an Industrial Park in tiny suburban village, Harleysville (30 miles northwest of Philly), BLUEPRINT BREWING CO. was designed by the three friends and opened during 2018 (but closed March 31, 2023). Going thru the earthen flat-stoned frontage, Blueprint's rustic cement-floored, picnic-benched barroom features opposing overhead doors, cavernous ceiling and strung Edison lights.
Blueprint's prodigious Philly-themed painted insignia covers the wall across from the Formica-topped, corrugated aluminum-sided serving station. An electronic blackboard lists all available draughts and one TV hangs nearby. Six metal-chaired tables fill out the refurbished wood-laden room.
A lounge area leads patrons from the pub area to the brew tank room.
My wife and I grab a few excellent food truck burgers while settling in to devour a dozen choice homemade brews this Friday night in February '22.
Dry Mexican pale lager, Luchador, let musky grain earthiness reach peppery hop herbage, leaving a mild smoked agave nip.
Dewy amber lager, Pick Me, let tobacco-roasted brown tea crisping contrast caramelized apple sweetness above mild bread crusting.
Flour-sugared vanilla sweetness tingled Cake Cream Ale, an otherwise dry pale malted moderation with spritz cream soda licks.
Lemon-twisted raspberry tartness engaged Raspberry Beret, a dry fruit ale with subtle cranberry and crabapple notions plus cherry rhubarb snip.
Lime-salted guava tartness embittered offshoot blonde ale, Blondeprint Guava, pervading mild white grapefruit, white peach and lemongrass illusions.
Tangy tangerine juicing forwarded White Zombie, an adjunct witbier with delicate orange-peeled coriander spicing, wafting floral herbage and dry pale malt sugaring.
Candi-sugared Belgian blonde, Thicc And Sweet, burrowed its banana-clove sweetness into mild cologned herbal salting before gaining subtle yellow grapefruit and mandarin orange zesting.
Spicy orange-peeled grapefruit tang and candied pineapple tartness embraced The Wizard, a fruitful IPA with light piney hop astringency contrasting oated wheat malts.
Lemon-soured orange spicing pervaded the floral pining of dry Imperial IPA, Tribe Mentality, one of Blueprint's finest offerings.
Zestful tropical fruiting brightened fruited sour, Sparkle Bomb, letting persuasive grapefruit-peeled pineapple bittering, peachy mango sweetness and pink guava tartness reach its resinous pine bottom.
Sumptuous peanut-buttered dark chocolate creaminess guarded P'Nuts And Bolts, a thick Imperial Stout with wood-charred hops contrasting nutty mocha insistence.
Toasted coconut sweetness guided finer spinoff, P'Nuts And Coconut, letting rich peanut-buttered dark chocolate and recessive burnt marshmallow whims bolster its confectionery goodness. 
MIDDLETOWN, DELAWARE
Inside a grey aluminum Industrial warehouse with large black-lettered FIRST STATE BREWING insignia, this spacious northern Delaware pub opened for biz, December 2020. Crafting a diverse range of stylishly 'classic' brews, First State concentrates on delivering a host of IPA's alongside several charming one-offs and a few recurring faves.
A pristine high ceilinged watering hole at Middletown, Delaware's Levels Business Park (a few miles from Crooked Hammock), this freestanding brewhouse boasts an elongated 25-seat bar with glass-encased tanks, a stainless steel kitchen (serving fine pub fare) and several metal chaired tables.
There are 20 taps along the tiled backbar while exposed pipes line the walls and white hop coned lamps light the bar. Three TV's show college football bowl games and the electronic beer menu lists today's fare.
A black metal-furnished side deck offers further seating.
On New Years Day, 2022, I imbibed seven sundry suds.
Interesting off-dry Belgian-styled moderate-medium body, Beaming Tripel, brought light black peppering to floral lemon-licked honeysuckle adjunct slightly sweetened by beet-sugared dextrose malts as tart Lemondrop hops glisten for bitter herbal cellar funk.
Stylishly a tad dryer, Quadratic Quadrangle, let candi-sugared plum, fig and cherry tartness seep inside tobacco-roasted cocoa malting.
Penetrative Nicaraguan medium-roast coffee overtones punctuated by tarry walnut-seared dark chocolate bittering and wood-burnt hop char of dry Black Lotus, letting silky lactose creaming envelop its bold java theme. 
ELKTON, MARYLAND
Located at a fork in the road in the rural small town of Elkton, Maryland (20 miles west of Wilmington, Delaware), VALHALLA BREWING CO. inhabits a fire engine red ranch. Opened during 2017, the cafeteria-styled barn house churns out an approachable array of brews as well as meads to go alongside light pub fare.
A horse insignia post leads to the metal-furnished front deck at Valhalla's wood paneled entrance. Its lofty bright red interior features an elongated 20-seat bar with large backroom brew room. There are 12-plus aluminum-backed tap handles - some serving outside brews such as Germany's respected Reissdorf Kolsch and local RAR's Bucktown Brown. Several community tables fill out the gray cement-floored pub and several TV's add a sportsbar angle.
I saddled up to the bar to enjoy four fine suds during New Years Day, 2022.
Splendidly sheening flagship IPA, Hiking Viking, brought candied orange tanginess, yellow grapefruit bittering and peachy tangerine sweetness to the fore alongside mild pine resin above dry pale malting.
Dry Citra-hopped IPA, Citra Smash, let lemony mandarin orange spritz perk up piney herbal licks underscored by crystal malt sugaring.
Spelt-grained rusticity and mild herbage guarded Benediktiner Oktoberfest, leaving oily brown leaf astringency upon its biscuity melanodin malting.
Mild nut-charred dark chocolate gained mossy wet leaf astringency for Friggs Robust Porter, picking up a snip of dry burgundy wining. 
NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT
TOX BREWING COMPANY became New London, Connecticut's first brewpub, April 2019. Run by a few local 'curiosity-filled' beer nerds, Tox crafts many vibrantly sharp IPA's alongside an eclectic array of stylistic offshoots.
Occupying a rustic cabin with community-tabled front patio, the epoxy-floored pub offers a six-chaired L-shaped serving station, several metal-wood Industrial tables and a fabulous Beer Style map on the right wall. The turquoise-daubed copper patina draught stations match the bar frontage while twisted Edison lights provide cool antiquity and a TV at the bar sits atop the mushroom-handled draught taps. The rear brew room has a raw feel.
During my December '21 venture, got to try nine impressive suds.
Dry pilsner-malted kolsch, Crocus, let orange-rotted champagne fizz prickle vinous grape, tart cherry and spicy saffron as well as Noble hop herbage in a mild manner.
Dewy dried fruited spicing anchored Mandrake, a heady 9.5% ABV Scotch Ale with caramelized chestnut, praline and almond nuttiness and light tobacco roast.
Sharp flagship IPA, Amanita, brought floral-spiced tropicalia to the fore as mango-candied grapefruit, orange and tangerine tang contrasted piney hop bittering.
Dry soft-tongued NEIPA, Devil's Trumpet, allowed lemon-candied peach, mango and pineapple tanginess to penetrate mild coniferous pine tones and black pepper whims.
Bright 'n lively IPA, Eft Citra, let zesty lemon and orange-candied mango, papaya and grapefruit spicing pick up waxy crayon grouting and lacquered pine oiling.
Cocktail-inspired sour IPA, Box Jelly Paloma, based on Mexico's national drink, plied sea-salted agave to mild limey grapefruit pith bittering for a nifty tequila knockoff.
Briskly sharp Christmas-spiced fruited sour, Lily Of The Valley - Spiced Cranberry Sauce, a distinct Berliner Weiss variant, backed its salted lemony cranberry tartness with orange-peeled cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger seasoning and vanilla-daubed maple syruping.
Another wintry treat, Holly, Holiday Fruitcake Winter Warmer, hurled gingerbread-bound cinnamon, vanilla and almond sweetness at dried fruited nuttiness for a strong 8.5% ABV confection.
Guatemalan coffee roast pervaded luxurious milk stout, Deadly Nightshade, bringing brown-sugared cinnamon spicing, candied hazelnut glaze, vanilla and espresso illusions into the rich java scheme. 
Classic soul music played as my wife and I enjoyed all ten available brews during our December '21 trip prior to dinner up the street at Schatzi's.
Muskily earthen grained German-styled light-body, Queen City Pilsner, left a dainty floral-spiced lemon spec upon its French-breaded spine.
Dewy Aviator Doppelbock let rye-spiced brown breading, peaty mossing and dried fig combine alongside sugary toffee malts.
Rustic P.F.L. Harvest Lager retained leathery hay dryness, earthen truffle musk and honeyed rye buttering for mild butternut squash adjunct.
Crisp moderate dark lager, Crown & Anchor English Mild, filled its dewy peat meadow with sashayed red-orange fruiting and leafy hop astringency above biscuity cereal malts.
A Mosaic-hopped West Coast pilsner (collaboration with Wayward Lane), Everything For Everyone brought sharp floral-perfumed lemon bittering to mild lacquered pine tones contrasting cereal grained pilsner malting.
Similarly West Coast styled, Cruisin' The One, a bright IPA, let juicily yellow grapefruit-peeled orange tanginess and candied lemon absorb floral-daubed piney hop resin.
Escaping to two East Coast IPA variants, dry Nelson Sauvin-hopped Nelson Road hid sour gooseberry tartness beneath lightly lingered grapefruit and mandarin orange bittering.
Meanwhile, fellow New England IPA, Mall Santa, provided spicier sweetness to its zestful grapefruit, orange, pineapple and peach tang.
Delicate yellow-hazed Imperial IPA, Square Two, retained dry grapefruit-orange zesting, mild pine bittering and floral-herbed snips as subtle apricot-tangerine notions waver.
Easygoing Berliner Weiss, Urban Oasis Italian Plum & Cranberry, allowed sour cranberry and dried plum tartness to gain briny lemon liming without overloading citric acidity.