A dry Methodist town for over one hundred years, Pitman, New Jersey finally allowed its first brewery to operate in 2016 (and closed 2023). KELLY GREEN BREWING CO. originally opened a block away from its current downtown location in a small tasting room. Now residing at a tan two-room storefront pub (with green hop nugget emblem) near the railroad tracks, Kelly Green was formed by three local homebrewers, Justin and Jeannette Fleming and pal Dave Domanski, as a part-time venture.
A cozy li’l nano crafting a slew of recurring and one-off brews that usually skirt simple stylistic boundaries, Kelly Green’s gray-floored interior features a ten-draught bar with white tiled back wall, exquisite wood furnishings, noirish black ceiling tiles and a few TV’s.
Classic easygoing German pale lager, Chicko’s, offered musky wet-grained leathering to herbal Halltertau hop soiling and corn-dried malt liquor remnant.
Salty lemon-limed tartness greeted floral hibiscus tang for Lemon Hibiscus, a spritzy kettle-soured ale.
Re-creating a Gummy Bear with flare, lactose-aided sour ale,Festivus Jelly, combined oaken cherry tartness, green grape esters and tannic vanilla above Graham Cracker honeyed wheat base.
Zestful herbal-cologned lemon juicing and mild mandarin orange tang admitted white-peppered sage, basil and tarragon seasoning to spice up lactic NEIPA, Standing On The Shoulders of Giants, a formidably hybridized elixir with grape-stemmed floral citrus Idaho 7 hops nudging mild mineral graining.
Coffee-sugared milk chocolate sweetenedThe Teets Milk Stout, leaving ancillary Kahlua, espresso, cappuccino and vanilla illusions in its rich mocha wake.
Formerly housing the Bus Stop Cafe, Pitman-based HUMAN VILLAGE BREWING COMPANY kept a lot of the nifty walled motifs when they opened up in November 2016 (closed 2024). Sundry vinyl albums dot the walls of this boutique downtown nanobrewery with the intimate feel of a cozy public house hosting live speaking events and musical acts.
Head brewer Rich Myers served easygoing, approachable and soft-toned brews at the rear serving station while my wife and I grabbed a small table at the unfinished pergo vinyl-floored venue. However, we missed out on flagship Harlem Shake Singel, inspired by the creamily oats-sugared Belgian-styled Haarlem Bock, which was one of Myers’ earliest inspirations.
Maize-dried moderation, Walking On Sunshine Cream Ale, picked up green peppered lemon spicing and mildly smoked pale malting.
Easygoing Belgian pale ale,Beers & The Bees, brought raw-honeyed Scotch licks to spritzy lemon drop tartness and green grape esters.
That same raw-honeyed graining showed up in Brass Monkey Winter Ale, a mildly spiced white wine-licked moderation with brittle banana-bread base.
Crisply clean Kviek yeast subsumed From The Midnight Sun, a Scandinavian farmhouse ale with barley-smoked toasted breading sopping up dried orange tartness, dehydrated apple musk, juniper-licked hop bittering and soured Vienna lagering.
Perfumed citrus spicing graced Abbey Road IPA, leaving mild juniper-embittered lemony grapefruit zest on its dry plantain bottom.
Sour-nutted chocolate roast nearly hid the lemon-pitted bittering, tart blackberry pucker and rustic leathery bottom scouringBet On Black Saison.
Coffee-burnt chocolate roast guarded tobacco-soured walnut bittering to the brown toast foundation ofBrown Eyed Girl, a middling brown ale.
Brown chocolate-spiced burnt coffee tones gain wood-seared hop char for Cole’s Porter, a lightly roasted moderate-medium body.
Sly chocolate rye malting held oily nut souring in check for Rye Of The Tiger, a slightly vinous stout.
On the bustling corner of New Orleans Street and Coastal Highway, Dewey Beach landmark Gary’s Beach Grill started crafting homemade suds under the latitude/ longitude handle 38-75 BREWING in 2017. Homebrewing owner Gary Cannon has operated this summertime hotspot for thirty years.
A crowded, low-ceilinged, wraparound joint with a cornucopia of cool beer bottles and cans lining the wall (near loads of pop culture memorabilia, beer label stickers, cartoon snippets and surfing regalia), Gary’s also features a covered wooden side deck with multiple neon-lit beer insignias plus a nifty green T-Rex model and aquamarine turtle mural.
An L-shaped railroad tie-sided bar stretches across the front end to the rear where the pale blue walls melt into grey sky walls. Five tables snake around the multi-draught stationed bar and two rear tables offer more seating.
My wife and I with Roscoe the dog grabbed one of those back tables to sample all four available house brews this seasonably warm Saturday in early January ’21. Cannon’s appealing midrange fare went well with my yellowfin tuna sushi. But all the sandwiches, wraps, apps and ‘seafood pasta’ health-oriented dishes looked great.
Three of Gary’s blue collar offerings this mid-afternoon were interconnected by rye wheat. Traditional farmhouse ale, For Your Ryes Only, allowed saison-like herbal lemon zesting to ride above mild rye spicing while Malt-forward ESB, Bucket O’ Parts, let buttered rye breading pickup subtle spiced orange zesting as its whimsical sweet potato adjunct faded.
Grassy citrus-juiced Comet hops fortified the rye-spiced black tea sedation and chocolate-daubed carapils malting of Holly’s Comet, a casual dry-hopped India Pale Ale.
Soaked in Jim Beam for three days, mild Scotch-licked dark chocolate malting delicately paced Cleveland Beamer, an oak-chipped brown ale with nutty toffee spicing and drifting perfume-hopped pekoe tea snips.
Originally occupying a nearby garage, downtown Centreville’s BULL & GOAT BREWERY spent three years at its initial site before residing at its current home in a newly developed Industrial tan and maroon complex since 2019.
Bull & Goat’s humbly intimate Brit pub-like setting features a four-seat penny-engraved wood-lacquered bar, comfy living room furnishings and beautiful local artwork on the walls. Five wood tables and seating along the copper reddish wall fill up the cozy interior. Two draught stations pour a variety of lagers and ales listed on the green board towards the rear.
Raised on blue collar macrobrews such as Miller, Schmidts and Ballantine, co-owning brewer Jeff Putman went west and discovered many diverse beer styles years back. He became a homebrewer with a five-gallon system making “shitty beers” before hooking up with friend, Jacob Heimbuch. Besides operating Bull & Goat’s seven barrel brewroom, they’ve also begun distilling whiskey and bourbon and buying rye barrels to pitch beer – allowing two great choices (craft beer and spirits) to co-exist under one roof.
My wife and I try all available selections this sunny January ’21 afternoon.
Delicate wet-grained musk hovered thru the raw-honeyed tea leafing of Prom Dress Lager, leading maize-dried herbal hops to its recessive biscuit-like carapils base.
Honeyed amber graining fortifiedFrank, a floral-wafted English amber ale with spicy orange-red-yellow fruiting dampened by leafy hop foliage.
Sourdough breaded Vienna malting topped dewy mineral graining and floral-spiced wisps forTest Batch Marzen.
Spritzy Orangina-like pale ale, Orangesicle, obtained more lactose souring than vanilla creaming and mandarin orange tanginess.
Simply affable kolsch,Queen Anne’s Revenge, let mild lactic acidity saturate lemon-rotted Saaz hop herbage and dewy wet grains for a slightly sour take on the champagne-snipped German style.
Easygoing kettle-soured Berliner Weiss, SpecialOccasion, allowed tart raspberry compote to pervade limey blueberry tanginess and mild lemon-salted cherry rhubarb piquancy.
Musky earthen pine resin saturated dry-bodied67 IPA, leaving zesty grapefruit, pineapple and orange spicing in the dust.
Brisk Double IPA,Baba Yaga, seeped mild cologne-perfumed citric hop bittering into spruce-tipped juniper nips and coniferous fern pining.
Sweet floral-spiced pineapple, orange and grapefruit tanginess and zesty lemon snazz pervaded Tooshie, a briskly fruited New England IPA.
Dry mocha-doused full body, Front Street Porter, coalesced dark chocolate malting with burnt coffee bittering over mildly charred hops.
Tootsie Roll-like Babushka Imperial Stout, the perfect chocolate dessert treat, let sugary toffee spicing increase the sweet mocha intensity.
For an interesting cider turnabout, off-drySparkling Pear brought lactose-soured champagne spritz to sugary cotton-candied marshmallow sweetness.
At a sprawling shopping mall in the Kent Island-bound town of Stevensville (fifteen minutes east of Annapolis), CULT CLASSIC BREWERY & TAPROOM opened in 2018. A glass-windowed closed-in front patio with black metal furnishings leads to the movie-themed taproom (a former grocery store).
Inside, the family friendly pub run by head brewers Jesse and Brooks Mc New offers a popular assortment of stylish brews to go alongside wings-pizza-burgers. Running a home brew shop for twenty years before Cult Classic culminated, the Mc New’s sought to offer a live venue for local music artists as well.
The cement-floored, gray-walled interior features a small stage area fronting the Edison-lighted elongated bar. Colorful framed pictures of glitzy Hollywood theatre stars jazz up the snazzy place.
A large brew room windowing the spacious 12-plus draught bar contains an array of silver stainless steel tanks and its bulky size allows for imminent expansion. Special Cult-tails such as mules, White Russians, vodka crushes and Margaritas are also available.
My wife and I grab seats at the bar and try eight fine libations.
Summery centrist flagship, Attack Of The Strawberry Blonde!, allowed candied strawberry tartness to fade softly above delicate hop astringency to its wispy white wheat base.
Lemony banana-coriander sweetness and mandarin orange snips caressed honeyed wheat for summery light-bodied Witbier.
Raw-grained sour mash swept across herbal Noble hops for Kolsch, an easygoing straw-cleared moderation.
Soft-tongued sour ale, Proof Of Life – Pink Guava/Blueberry, plied subtle pink guava salting to mild blueberry tartness and pleasant passionfruit whims.
Pureed blood orange moderation, Equals Beer, a variant IPA, let spritzy grapefruit-tangerine zesting tickle its amber-grained biscuit base.
Enthusiastic New England-styled The IPA When the Earth Stood Still brought tropical grapefruit, orange, pineapple, peach, mango and nectarine sunshine to its sugary pale malt retreat.
Pine-dried grapefruit, orange and tangerine bittering burst forth for Zappa IPA, a briskly clean, less authentic New England-styled version.
Robust English-styled Porterlet dark-roasted mocha nuttiness top toffee-spiced dried fruiting contrasting scant hop char.
On the way back home from Schenectady one Saturday afternoon in December ’20, visited newly opened Delmar watering hole, WARBLER BREWERY, a friendly cafe-styled pub just outside Albany.
Along Route 443 off the New York Thruway, Warbler’s spot-on recipes gained appreciation as I imbibed each winning elixir at the small freestanding brick bar. Its wood tables and picnic benches front the pale green-walled interior of this cozy lounge. The beautiful wood floors reach the red-green tiled midsection where the green slate-topped bar featured nine glass-backed tap handles. Framed photos of namesake warbler birds line the walls as the Jets choke to the Raiders on the big-screen TV above my head at one of the picnic tables.
Local entrepreneurial brewer, Chris Schell, a highly experienced craftsman, previously worked at Cooperstown, Butternut and Robin Hood breweries. Since Schell’s shop’s only been open a few days, there are only four homemade beers readied, but each had its own steadied personality and crisp foundation.
Smoothly effervescent dry pale-malted flagship, Pale Ale, retained mildly spiced lemony orange tanginess with grassy hop astringency contrasting delicate floral whims in a stylishly moderate setting.
Another winning flagship, New England-styled IPA, Dissimulation, placated its yogurt-soured lemondrop souring with slightly bitter orange rind, grapefruit peel and pineapple tartness over dry pale malts.
Brisk Imperial IPA, Wolfjaw, let mild lemon zest brighten its tangy grapefruit, orange and pineapple tropicalia above oated wheat-flaked malts.
Madagascar vanilla beans received bittersweet coffee-burnt cocoa tones for Flurpy, a dark chocolate-y pastry stout.
Future Flurpy offshoots were promised as I depart – specifically a Peanut Butter & Jelly version as well as a S’mores knockoff.
Inside a detached garage at a rural residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Bethlehem lies fledging Lehigh Valley nanobrewery CAVE BREWING COMPANY. Taking a temporary step back from its original 3,400 square-foot South Mall locale (opened November 2018), Cave decided to scale down in the interim due to the Covid-19 epidemic.
An “underground under radar” small batch brewery created by Jeff Bonner, Cave’s future success will be guaranteed thanks to its well-crafted (usually one-off) fare. Inside his crowded two-room garage, a respectable can-bottle collection surrounds the above-head shelving and a beautiful hand-crafted wood top serving station sits in the midst.
I got to try four Cave brews at home afterwards and all were rewarding. Though I missed Blind Eye Barleywine for now, there was a hefeweizen, Imperial IPA, oatmeal stout and strong ale to enjoy during December ’20 football games two days hence.
One step beyond a simply sweet hefeweizen, El Heffe Wheat stayed tart as lemon-rotted plantain, tannic green grape and dry cider illusions relegated its stylish banana-clove sweetness.
Smoothly crystalline New England India Pale Ale, HAF 5.0, a bold dry body, brought vodka-nipped tropical fruiting to juniper-embittered pine resin and mild whiskey-soured lemon juicing, leaving musky alcohol esters upon its ancillary black tea earthiness.
Muskier still, ethanol-grained 9.5% ABV strong ale, Blurred Vision, let bittersweet hard cider tartness and orange-rotted souring whither to peated Scotch-malted sweetness.
Inspired by one of Bonner’s s favorite brews – Bert Grant’s Imperial Stout, Bert’s Imperial Oatmeal Stoutplaced mellow dark chocolate-roasted coffee creaming alongside molasses-sugared oats and fudged toffee to contrast its peaty hop-roasted earthiness, picking up tertiary cola, hazelnut, vanilla and dark cherry snips. Splendid!
Inside a gothic dormer-windowed Victorian homestead, Allentown’s charmingly wood-furnished beer cafe, MC CALL COLLECTIVE BREWING COMPANY, opened August 29, 2020 and soon moved to nearby Breinigsville -see photo above. Family-owned and operated by Kaitlin, Chris and Matthew Mc Call, whose colorfully designed array of beers flow from two 12-tap draught stations, this homey neighborhood street-cornered brewhouse also features fine traditional pub fare, local wines and craft spirits.
Detailing Mc Call Collective’s parlor-like ambience are the standard cafeteria tables, low exposed pipes, steel-framed studio lights, hanging pendant lamps and light Industrial sway. Right side silver brew tanks and a few windowed seats take up the rest of this cozily refined first floor space.
Gathering at the gray L-shaped marble top bar, my wife and I grab eleven brews early in the afternoon during December ’20 at the original site pictured below.
Mild light lager, the spitefully snickering Lyte Done Ryte, offered a devious alternative to superficial Miller-Coors-Bud fodder. Its pleasantly spiced lemon-sugared spritz picked up wispy white wine esters and grassy hop musk over casual oats flaked graining.
Lemon-peeled orange tanginess brightened Collective Contributions Wheat Ale, a brisk Mosaic/ El Dorado-hopped moderation hiding bready biscuit malts.
A fleeting corn-malted lemon spurt received resinous Nugget hop herbage and spicy floral accents for traditional cream ale,Shucksquehanna.
Spruce-tipped double dry-hopped West Coast Pale Ale, I Voted Today, contrasted its juniper-nipped hop pining with orange cotton-candied sugaring and wafting floral sweetness above gentle wheat wafer flouring.
Knocking off a cinnamon donut pastry, adjunct blonde ale, Cinnablonde, crossed its initial sugary dough spicing with lactose-soured lemon tartness and delicate citric-hopped astringency.
Tart peach goodness soaked up lemon-soured green grape esters for Berliner Weiss, Peach Hittin’ Dingers, leaving wispy apricot, tangerine and lime nips.
Sessionable Little Lehigh India Pale Alestayed smooth as lemony grapefruit briskness and mandarin orange tartness invited modest piney hop astringency.
Juicily tropical-fruited ‘hazy’ NEIPA, Lehigh IPA, stepped forward with its tangy pineapple, mango and orange glaze gaining sweet nectarine and tart plantain illusions to push back the resinous piney hop pungency.
Coffee-roasted amber graining embedded caramelized toffee malts for Roast Malone, an adjunct red ale with red and orange fruiting nipping at the mild mocha influence.
Decadent stroop-waffled cookie wafer knockoff, Stroop Kid Imperial Stroopwafel Stout, added dark chocolate syrup to pastry-sugared cinnamon raisin breading, molasses cookie sweetness and mild vanilla creaming.
Occupying a spacious 8,500 square-foot converted garage, SEVEN SIRENS BREWING COMPANY came to fruition Valentine’s Day 2020. The Bethlehem-based beer hall’s rustic simplicity gets reinforced by its beautiful antique oak-mantled bar (with old fashion subway tiles and 20-plus draught handles), wagon wheel light fixtures, round metal tables, epoxy floor and exposed pipes.
A sturdy blue-stained concrete bar top complements the ocean blue-lit art display at the aquamarine-walled right side (with skeeball game). A few window seats and community tables fill out the front while brew tanks crowd the rear section. The rooftop beergarden adds extra seating and the Sirens Lair above the brewhouse is available for overnight visitors. A mid-floor open space shows off kegs assembled as a Christmas tree for the upcoming holiday.
Head brewer Joshua Divers was a former Sam Adams Longshot Homebrew competitor whose beers range far and wide from hazy IPA’s to a smoked red ale to a nitro stout and lactic sour on my initial perusal.
Though Seven Sirens is out of its best-selling mainstays, Stargazer IPA, and Hands-Free Satchel Milkshake IPA, my wife and I tried a dozen fab elixirs during our two-hour Friday night stay, early December ’20.
Sweet oats sugaring picked up leafy Chinook-hopped oiling for soft-tonedHarvey’s Tale, an autumnal harvest ale with desolate orange fruiting slipping into amber-grained Maris Otter malting.
Another fall seasonal, Where’s My Uggs, a pumpkin-spiced pale ale soaked in rum oak staves, let perfumed ginger cologne upstage cinnamon-nutmeg sweetness and syrupy yam snips.
Cherrywood-smoked maple syruping sweetened alongside bacon-fatty cured meatiness for Liquid Breakfast Smoked Red Ale, a rauchbier-inspired moderation with earthen amber graining and light rye tones.
Wayward wintry-spiced saison, Pardon My French, let candied orange spicing, dry cherry licks and crystal-malted caramelized Scotch licks lay atop biscuit flouring.
Lactic tropical fruit waxing guided Dor Ray Doe, a Session IPA with wafting lemon cologne, delicate white wheated minerality and dry El Dorado/Azacca-hopped sour-candied tartness.
Another sessionable IPA, Smashin’ Passion, spread tart passionfruit goodness all over salted green grape-guava-kiwi tropicalia and grassy pine wisps.
Soft-toned, double dry-hopped Full Battle Rattle IPA brought perfumed citrus alacrity to earthen pine resin that seeped into pilsner-malted white wheat.
Mellow New England IPA, Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy, permitted yellow Pez-candied tartness to saturate mandarin orange, dry gin and herbal licks in a grassy hop setting.
Smoothly creamed lactose sugaring guarded beige yellow-hazed double dry-hopped NEIPA, Please Scroll Up, allowing juniper-embittered grapefruit juicing to mingle with sour lemon liming and modest peppery spicing.
Yet another hazy NEIPA, Not So Silent Night, a tartly sour ale conditioned on banana, passionfruit and strawberry, put limey pomegranate acidity into its celery-watered herbage while its three adjunct fruits meandered.
Sweet-tart Zangerine Sour, a lactose-aided ale conditioned on tangerine-peeled cranberry, gained lightly salted citrus acidity and Pez-like powder-candied tartness.
Fascinating Irish Car Bomb knockoff,Cormac’s Revenge Nitro Stout, brought fudgy brown and white chocolate creaminess to the fore as caramelized vanilla, dry cocoa, caffe latte, chocolate eclair, creme brulee and black cherry notions circulated.
Inside an elongated red brick Speakeasy built during 1849, BRU DADDY’S BREWING CO. opened for biz November ’19. Its antique art deco tin ceiling, chalky brick-walled interior and authentic Italian-tiled pizza oven provide perfect Prohibition Era relics while the gated right side beer garden with black metal trellis adds picnic-tabled seating.
Entrepreneurial owner Kevin Ryan, whose high school research project concerned beer fermentation, became a home brewer before handling the large-scale operation at this regal downtown Allentown spot (one block from Fegley’s Brew Works).
Recently, Ryan handed head brewing duties to Todd Reinhart, who’d worked at Free Will and Two Rivers breweries. Using Oxford, Ohio’s Steinkeller Bavarian Bier Hall as its interior design model, Bru Daddy’s liquid fare runs the gamut from German styled creations (a marzen and schwarzbier during this stopover) to Americanized IPA’s, a Belgian quad, porter, nitro cream ale, wheat ale and sour ale.
As I sit at the white marbled bar early December ’20, there are 30-plus tap handles (at two separate stations), a big blackboard beer listing and several TV’s. Near the front window are a few tables and down a narrow hall past the kitchen is the silver tank-laden, cement-floored brew room. A metal staircase leads to the loft dining space.
My wife and I loved the Rocket Root Prosciutto Pizza while consuming eleven delightful elixirs.
Silken nitrogenated moderation, Oh Jenny Jenny Cream Ale, let muted maize-dried oats pick up sour lemon rot, tart rhubarb and earthen root veg notions.
Traditional German marzen, Vaterfest, stayed subtle as sweet peat mossing, leafy hop foliage and tart orange-rotted fig placate mild vegetal fungi earthiness over Blackstrap molasses-dipped Vienna malting.
Stylishly hybridized wheat ale, American Harmony, lent lime-salted bittering to musky honey blossom perfuming, sweet clover honey mildness and dark floral notions atop wild oats flouring.
‘Beautifully complex’ Odd Quad of Todd, a candi-sugared Belgian dark ale conditioned on Iraqi date syrup, brought crystal malt-spiced raisin, plum and fig to caramelized date in a soothingly dried fruited glaze.
Tropical fruited New England Pale Ale, Soldiers & Sailors, unloaded orange-juiced mango, guava and pineapple tanginess all over grassy hop astringency.
Flagship double dry-hopped NEIPA, Haze Daddy, retained a mellow grapefruit-juiced orange rind bittering, pine-licked grassy hop astringency and spicy crystal malt tingle.
Zestful Imperial IPA, Grandaddy Haze: 2nd Edition, let candied orange, salted mango and tangy pineapple reach tropical effervescence above its gentle wheated oats base.
Lactic Imperial IPA, Center Square “State Of Mind”, engaged yogurt-milked souring with low-key peach and mango pureed adjuncts, gaining citrus-juiced piney hop resin at the brisk finish.
Tart oaken cherry-pureed cranberry juicing graced mildly lactic Sour Senorita: Cran-Cherry, an effervescent sour-candied sucker with hard cider hints.
Dark-lagered bittersweet chocolate malts and roasted hop char combined with withered dried fruiting for satisfying schwarzbier, Black Sheep, leaving day-old coffee tones upon the chalky mocha backend.
S’mores-like lactose porter,Camp Sandwich, conditioned on Madagascar vanilla and cocoa nibs, wedged marshmallow-toasted chocolate sweetness into its honeyed Graham Cracker base for a decadent vanilla mocha dessert treat.
Occupying an unfinished white brick-walled warehouse in the Central Jersey Borough of Kenilworth, TWO TON BREWING originally came aboard as gypsy brewers in 2014 (utilizing Climax and High Point), opening its current taproom facility during 2018.
Two Ton’s raw one-room space features a 12-plus draught board at the bark-sided mahogany serving station, a few wood tables, several silver brew tanks, an overhead back door (leading to the makeshift beer garden) and exposed ceiling ducts.
Owned and operated by brothers Matt and Jim and their Cubs-rooting father, Mario “Doc” Barbiere, Two Ton’s family trio crafts enjoyable one-offs and some recurring brews, leaning heavily on crisply clean IPA’s.
At the patio-furnished beer garden, I quaffed all available tapped fare, picking up a bottle of the fabulous lactic-aided Field Artillery Russian Imperial Stout (reviewed separately in the Beer Index) during Sunday afternoon pre-Halloween ’20.
Nifty autumnal seasonals included dewy cereal grain-spiced Octbroberfest, a sedately appealing marzen with maple oats sweetness contrasting its leafy hop herbage. Also, dry Booing Pumpkin gathered gourdy ginger-spiced pleasantries, meshing mild brown-sugared nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice seasoning with sweet potato, acorn squash and buttercup pumpkin illusions.
Elegantly smooth Wrought Gold Blondutilized fruity English ale yeast to secure its polite lemony blood orange tartness and dry hop spicing above sweet doughy pilsner malts.
Liberated Lispering Gardens Saison spread floral cologne-perfumed bruised lemon tartness across pine-lacquered lavender oiling atop earthen barnyard leathering.
Soft-tongued Citra/Loral-hopped Robot Insurance New England IPA retained a juicily dry tropical fruiting above delicate crystal malts, mildly astringent grassy hop herbage, mikld pine tones and wafting floral nuances, bursting forth with tangy lemon-peeled grapefruit, navel orange, pineapple, mango, honeydew, peach and tangerine regalia.
Zestfully sharp Diamond Star Halo NEIPA let lemony grapefruit and orange rind bittering deepen its dry frontage, picking up peachy tangerine illusions above its pale malt spicing.
Another New England-styled IPA, The Fiffer, allowed limey coconut-milked grapefruit and orange rind bittering to accrue pine lacquered juniper musk.
Rummy coconut toasting sweetened confectionary nitro smoothie,Identity Crisis Coconut Brown Ale, a delicious dessert treat.
Creamily rich Extra Special Chocolate Vanilla Stout crammed Madagascar vanilla bean sugaring into Dutch cocoa splendor, bulking up its dry dark chocolate rummage with cedar-burnt cumin spicing and cayenne peppered coconut snips in fine dessert fashion.
Ancient Blues music was playing on the loud speakers when my wife and I revisited Two Ton, February ’21 to try a few more worthy suds.
Maize-dried herbal perfumed hops and mild lemon spicing dotted mild grain-husked muskiness for Crispy Boi, a moderate German-styled pale lager.
Salty dog knockoff, Cap’n Vic’s Salty Dog Gose, possessed crisply clean limey sea salting and lemon-twisted vodka briskness.
Buttery jasmine rice adjunct and tamped down hop restraint mellowed out juicy-fruitedSuper Saiyan Wild Rice IPA, as grapefruit-peeled mandarin orange and tangerine zesting enjoined candied pineapple tartness.
Lupulin-powdered herbal citrus zesting fronted NEIPA, Brothers From Another Mother, bringing bright grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering to grassy hop astringency.
“Restaurateurs at heart and beer drinkers by liver,” ELICIT BREWING COMPANY began proving that motto November 2019. Inside a spacious red brick warehouse right along the Adams Mill Trail in Manchester, Connecticut’s rural wooded area just outside its small urban center, Elicit pairs brewer Brian Ayers’ wonderful rotating liquid fare and fab one-off concoctions with respectable pub food.
A large front deck and even roomier rear Beergarden (with spiffy Marilyn Monore wall painting, two firepits, patio furnishings and stringed Edison lights) surround the epoxy-floored, high ceilinged millhouse. Combining a beer hall, cocktail bar, lounge and arcade, Elicit offers fifty draught lines (with a bakers dozen home brews plus several local elixirs) at its white marble-topped bar.
A comfy foyer welcomes patrons to the sportsbar-like brew house. Right side community tables and high-back seating are available and to the left are windowed brew tanks and a separate kitchen. The brick walls are decorated by dramatic curved PVC beams. Several games sidle the main space.
My wife and I grab pizza and tacos for dinner while consuming thirteen rangy suds at the Beergarden September ’20. The following day, we took the dog for a walk along the river-bound Adams Mill Trail.
A second Elicit Brewing opened in nearby Fairfield during 2024.
Corn-sugared lemon snips and floral perfumed spicing seeped into musky wet grains and herbal Tettnanger hops for German-styledDas Crisp Boi, a fine pilsner-Vienna malted pale lager.
Lemon-spiced crystal malt sweetness and grassy hop astringency plied Resilience Pale Ale, leaving a trail of guava, gooseberry and green grape tartness.
Spiced red-orange fruiting gained toasted caramel sweetness and a nutty remnant for Speling Bee Champion, a durable misspelled red ale with pithy lemon and tangerine peel illusions.
Stylishly dryer due to Hallertau Blanc-hopped green grape esters, Hefe Lifting brought mild white-peppered herbage to standard hefeweizen banana-clove spicing.
Juicy pineapple puree tartness embittered the lemony banana-clove expectancy of Yodeling Cherubs Pineapple Hefeweizen, a sharply tropical fruited offshoot of Hefe Lifting.
Lemony grapefruit zest brightened its bittersweet peach adjunct for crisply clean Doin’ Just Peachy, a spritzy fruited wheat ale with mild wood lacquering seeping into the honeyed wheat spine.
Lemon-soured green grape esters fronted Little Bo Blanc, an herbal Hallertau Blanc-hopped saison with leathery barnyard acridity countering the sweet wheat base.
Lactic Dueling Libations Pina Colada unleashed creamy vanilla sweetness upon lemony orange zest, pineapple puree and coconut rum nearly as convincingly as its Margarita competition.
Sunny tropical fruiting gained honey-spiced pale malting for Drink This Outdoors, a sessionable IPA with yellow grapefruit, orange, pineapple and peach luster.
Extraordinary Marriage Counseling Double IPA stayed briskly clean as rummy pineapple-coconut tropicalia sweetened its lemony orange zesting and tangy peach reminder above sugary pale malts.
Black-malted dark chocolate dryness embellished Eligible Bachelor, a mildly nutty brown ale with light coffee roast.
Freeze-dried coffee tones led Nostrovia!, a slightly bitterer Imperial Stout with ashen walnut contrasting glazed hazelnut sugaring beneath the java surface.
