Proud to be New Jersey’s first non-profit microbrewery, humble barn-housed COLD SPRING BREWERY brings an Old Wild West feel to Cape May. Part of the historic Cold Spring Village (museum, restaurant, creamery), this wood framed ranch featured antique horse harnesses, ancient pistols and large exposed pipes along its columned A-frame interior, providing quaint rusticity for the family-styled village.
Leather-cushioned wood stools and seats get serviced by the tree-barked L-shaped serving station. Six draught lines offer predictably easygoing fare from the rear nano system. Near the side door, there’s a bench-saddled hearth area with overhead TV and several cozy wall booths.
My wife and I grab a few seats at the large fenced-in outdoor area, springtime ’19, where we consume five commonplace brews that’ll definitely please softer blue collar palates.
For openers, grassy pine hops dabbled with lightly embittered grapefruit-peeled orange rind subtleties for dry-bodied moderation, Ishmael Pale Ale.
Tea-like Finley Forge IPAstayed dry as apple-skinned citrus tartness gained dewy pale malt sweetness to contrast its phenol hop tannins, recalling a more moderate Brit-styled IPA.
Mild Poor Sailors Sour Alebrought subtle lactic acidity to tart cider piquancy and vinegary green grape esters with efficient results.
Tart citric-quince-spiced Cold Spring Red Ale retained a crisp barley roast but little else.
Delicately creamedDennisville Inn Porterunderscored its delightful cocoa-chocolate influence and hazelnut-glazed pecan sweetness with ashen walnut bittering.
A cozy café-styled firehouse in the heart of Cape May’s Court House district on Main Street, BUCKET BRIGADE BREWERY opened autumn, 2017 (and closed January 2025). Brotherly firemen Karl and Kurt Hughes teamed up with long-time friend and brewmaster, Mark McPherson, to ‘extinguish your thirst’ with a bucket list of traditional styled beers.
The little engine red joint features a small L-shaped bar made from reclaimed wood with 12-plus fire-handled draught taps and TV’s on opposing sides. Metal chairs with flaming red cushions dot the walls and three small tables fill out the diminutive interior.
I grab a seat at one of the overhead garage door’s cement counters to sample five of the ten available brews this warm Saturday afternoon, April ’19.
As the first beer rushes down my gullet, a cavalcade of Harley bikers pass the Bucket Brigade in style.
Mild lemony grapefruit tang embellished the banana-clove-bubblegum expectancy of Halligan Hefeweizen, sitting softly on the tongue while developing slight vanilla sweetness.
Honey-licked apple and pear spicing contrasted rye-dried black tea pungency for crisply clean moderation, Axe Head Amber Ale.
Rustic English-styled(?) Chiefs IPA brought straw-dried buckwheat, alfalfa and raw wheat minerality to grassy-hopped lemon wedging in a moderate setting.
Dried fruited cocoa powdering and mild chocolate malting provoke Pump Primer Porter.
Peanut-buttered chocolate roast and dry cocoa tones gain oily hop resin at the finish of semi-rich Steam Engine Oatmeal Stout.
The centerpiece of downtown Schenectady’s refurbished and redesigned Mill Artisan District, FROG ALLEY BREWING COMPANY is a behemoth multifaceted pub and eatery established in 2018 and still under construction during my early Saturday afternoon jaunt, March ’19.
Though we quaff suds in a quaint white-walled backspace taproom, by the end of summer Frog Alley will be operating at full capacity. Expected to distribute 14,000 barrels of beer per year, its massive square footage will allow for a 40-draught U-shaped central bar with an overhead door extending its perimeter to a large outside deck when weather’s warm. There will be a viewable brew pit below the gargantuan bar-restaurant area where a beautiful warehoused keg room, canning line, pilot batch room and state-of-the-art quality lab exist.
Reclaimed wood furnishings and several large community tables will decorate the urethane-floored main bar. Plus, five plastic kiosks and a back classroom promote brewing and distilling for interested Schenectady Community College students.
Two veteran brewmasters were tapped to head Frog Alley’s zymurgy chores. Rich Michaels, a historic figure originally Founders Brewing’s first employee, worked at a Disney World brewery and Saranac before hooking up with Drew Schmidt (formerly of NYC’s defunct Zip City, Baltimore’s Oxford Brewing, and most recently, Van Dyck Lounge’s Mad Jack).
After Mr. Michaels takes me on a tour of the soon-completed facility, I get to sample eight prized jewels as the place fills up with local brethren.
For openers, stylishly robust Kikkey German Pilsner let lemondrop hops and oaty pilsner malts pick up mild herbal restraint at its lemon-candied finish.
Another Bavarian brew, tidy pre-Prohibition-styled1903 Vienna Lager took raw-honeyed fig and apricot desiccation to leafy hop astringency, dewy fungi musk and sweet Vienna malting.
Honeyed caramel spicing and roasted chocolate malts lingered for Mc Carthy’s Red Tag Ale, leaving tingly orange-red fruit spicing on the tongue.
Engagingly sweet-tart cherry lusciousness gained grenadine syruping, floral niceties and sour lemon piquancy for cheerily fruitful Cherry Hweat, a sugary springtime sensation.
Straightforward Refresh IPAlet lemony grapefruit-orange tanginess glide above piney hop earthiness, fennel herbage and juniper bittering.
Cedar-like Chinook hop dryness crowded FINA West Coast IPA alongside orange-peeled tangerine tang and earthen compost soiling, resulting in a bitter citrus-pined finish.
Juicy grapefruit tang brightened Mohop #5 – Mosaic New England IPA, leaving dry wood tones upon sweet peach-mango-orange subsidy.
Named after the ancient local Frog Alley baseball team captain, Captain Ellis Porter aligned black-malted dark chocolate bittering with Blackstrap molasses and day-old coffee tones.
Upon December ’19 noon time revisit, sat at wide L-shaped front bar (with three TV’s, beer menu and gas-piped tap system) to consume four new brews.
Sessionable IPA, Calico Frog, a collaboration with local Margareteville’s Faith American Brewing, lavished mild grapefruit-peeled lemon musk with dry-wooded hops and black peppered herbs.
DewyF in A West Coast IPAretained the woody citric appeal and crystal malt sugaring of a Northwest US version to contrast the mild herbal hop musk and dry earthen graining of an English-styled IPA.
Sparkling champagne fizz dottedBrut Frog IPA, a bold dry body with a slight rye twist, hard cider kick and candied lemon licks.
Fudgy dark chocolate faded over light hop charred bittering and sour nuttiness for Charley Brown, a maple molasses-dripped brown ale.
In the heart of rural Middleburgh thru a welcoming side entrance lies one of Upstate New York’s friendliest l’il pubs, GREEN WOLF BREWING COMPANY. A one-room red brick side lot with laminated wood furnishings, timba-framed tiki bar and Edison lights, Green Wolf opened down the block in 2014, but during January ’19 expanded to its current centralized site (while leaving the brewing operations at the former space for now).
“A taste of Brooklyn in upstate New York,” explains brewmaster Justin Behan, whose soft-toned elixirs stay gentle on my mind. Indeed, Green Wolf’s airy studio groove, stark lighting atmosphere and front-walled comfy chairs are reminiscent of the artsy NYC borough.
The 12-seat U-shaped bar centers the dining room furnishings. An overhead door leads to a slate-floored covered patio with several benches. Neon-lit microbrew signs (Rolling Rock, Bud Dry, Fosters, Genesee and Miller) adorn the walls and a large blackboard lists today’s available brews.
On our Sunday afternoon March ’19 excursion, my wife and I sank seven brews and one fine ginger ale.
First up, best selling flagship beer,Schoharie Pale Ale, proved completely accessible for easygoing minions. Its French bread crusting combined with melanoidin-kilned barley malting and picked up a sedate floral lemon twist as well as a desolate apple-peach-tangerine cluster.
Next, soft-toned Disenchanterale Belgian Pale Ale brought candi-sugared dried fruiting to herbal fungi earthiness and wispy green grape esters.
Meanwhile, dark-honeyedEnchanterale BPA left mushroom-like umami earthiness upon spicy fig-raisin-date conflux and phenol hop vapors.
Buckwheat-honeyed oaken vanilla lent a dry side to Abbey Gargoyle Dubbel, picking up dark cherry, orange and peach illusions latently.
Dank hop-charred wood tones thickened against earthy black grape, fig and date illusions and black licorice plasticity forRavens Black IPA.
Cocoa-dried dark chocolate malting punctuated the dewy earthiness of Farm To Stout, leaving rye-spiced fig snips on the back end.
Best bet: luscious Buffalo Trace bourbon-barreled Dire Wolf Whiskey Porter. Its exquisite bourbon vanilla pleasantries spread across coffee-burnt dark chocolate while dry burgundy, peated whiskey and rye tones gained strength.
For kicks, clover-honeyed Jamaican-styled Ginger Ale (non-alcoholic) retained a freshly-squeezed lemon sugaring to saddle its earthen ginger root appeal.
Just down the slope from Howe Caverns inside a pale-yellowed roadside dive posing as a Wild West outpost in the foothills of Schoharie County, SERIOUS BREWING COMPANY opened up springtime 2016.
A proud farmhouse brewery utilizing local ingredients, Serious has a small covered deck leading to the entrance of the diminutive oak-walled pipe-exposed pub.
Robin Butts BBQ serves food to go alongside the handcrafted suds. Ciders, spirits, wines and original cocktails were also available.
Though I missed out on Merlot-barreled Anniversary 1 (also aged in whiskey barrels) and Anniversary 2, there were six stylishly modeled brews worthy of attention this March ’19 afternoon. Each beer is meant to showcase “New York places and events.”
Caramel-spiced toasted barley malts sprung from Running Coat Red Ale, picking up a small coffee nip at the fruity finish.
Sweet orange peel, grains of paradise and coriander settled atop Schoharie Burning Wheat Ale, leaving gooseberry-soured tartness and herbal fungi Belgian yeast funk upon its fragile white wheat base.
Sulfite-infused experimental beer, Amber Waves Of Grain, let sweet honey-grained mango receive a mild habanero burn, retaining a light pilsner mouthfeel that relegated its peppered mango heat.
Spicy citrus sweetness contrasted herbal-peppered Belgian yeast and ethyl alcohol burn for feisty Bine Of My Existence IPA, serenading juicy grapefruit, orange and tangerine tanginess with sugared pale malting.
Sweet brown chocolate and bitter Madagascar vanilla enriched delightful George The Inventor Winter Porter, allowing coconut, marshmallow and hazelnut illusions to permeate the sugared mocha continuance.
Black chocolate, mild coffee and raw molasses enveloped bittersweetALCO Oatmeal Milk Stout, a smoothly milk-sugared dark ale with musty earthen hop resin.
Inside a pale blue aluminum shed sidling a patio-furnished, bulb-lit gazebo, Glenville’s shanty-like WOLF HOLLOW BREWING COMPANY is tucked into the hilly Mohawk River-bound terrain that provides a perfectly rustic agrarian setting.
Despite its limited interior space, the cavernous ceiling and oak wood elegance give Wolf Hollow a temple-like prominence. Black aluminum furnishings, a wood portico and fire pit mark the slate-floored open air patio. Buzzards Bay Barbeque’s right side open kitchen serves terrific pub fare and a sixteen tap serving station slings suds for the local minions crowding the interior seating this sunny Saturday afternoon, March ’19.
My wife and I set up outside on the patio to sample eleven draughts with Roscoe the dog in tow.
Cereal-grained flaked corn flanked light lager, Nun The Wiser, a bready easy drinker for mass consumption.
Musky straw grass astringency pervaded floral lemon perfuming of Czech-styled Foothills Pils, picking up grassy hemp-oiled hop herbage to close out its dry wet-grained finish.
Sweet orange-peeled coriander tartness regaled light-bodied White’s Wit, leaving herbal fungi salting at the back end to contrast its slowly fading citric-spiced sugaring.
Bruised banana, brown pear and apple rot dotted Dunkel On My Mind, a moderate caramel-spiced dunkelweizen with a tartly sweet ‘n sour split.
Syrupy pineapple-juiced orange peel and lemon zest guided District 6 West Coast IPA, allowing lightly pined hop resin and mild floral-spiced nuances to penetrate the tropical surface.
German-styled Lenten seasonal, Look Bock And Laugh, provided spicy sour fruiting for mossy dewiness and caramelized chocolate malting.
Sweet candi-sugared Belgian dubbel,Prior’s Conviction, brought banana bubblegum, green raisin, fig and spiciness to the fore.
Dry cocoa-powdered black malts injected robustLock 9 Porter, maintaining a bitter ashen nuttiness and chewing tobacco snip.
Coffee and vanilla adjuncts redirect its fine offshoot, Lock 9 AM Porter, where smoky black peppering seems to subsume the dark-roast coffee, vanilla bean and cocoa influences.
Mildly creamed dark chocolatey black malting fortifies Campout Dry Irish Stout, a spunky dark ale with coffee-stained bittering and earthen hop char.
At 10.4% ABV, sensationalDavid’s Goliath Imperial Saisongave a rum-soaked ethyl alcohol burn to sweet cantaloupe, melon and orange fruiting as well as musky cologne perfumed citrus conviction.
A fifth generation agrarian, multifaceted entrepreneurial brewer, Matt Sanford, takes pride utilizing sustainable agricultural methods and local ingredients to craft traditional homemade fare under the familial handle, S & S FARM BREWERY. Open since spring 2016, the affable barnyard tap house deep in the rural Rensselaer County woods features a large umbrella-lined patio with two grain silos for extra seating.
Inside the cement-floored country store outpost, its wood-beamed lanterns and a few small café-styled community tables lead to the small serving station. Party lights line the entire wall.
On this pleasant Friday evening in March ’19, a tight folk-blues acoustic duo plays while my wife and I sample nine tapped beers.
Sour lemondrop-candied raspberry tartness saddled charmingly light-bodied Raspberry Wheat, picking up raw grained rusticity and dry citrus licks for extra kicks.
A tidy Irish Red Ale, Rhode Island Redprovided stylish caramelized barley roast, mild fruit spicing and iced tea-like splendor, leaving polite rye, toffee and bruised apple imprints upon the dainty finish.
Dewy Old 82, an ESB-like pre-Prohibition-styled golden ale, brought leafy hop moisture and crisp barley-roasted malts to the fore as dried fig nuances wavered.
Sly sour saison,S & S Farmhouse Ale, sneaks in pear, banana and quince tones as well as wispy clove spicing to counter the more pronounced straw-dried acidulated lactose malting.
Spackled red-orange-yellow fruits adorned Luna Red IPA, a modest rye-spiced, leafy-hopped welterweight.
Dry wood tones deepened the sharp grapefruit bittering and bright lemony orange sunshine of Lame Llama Imperial IPA, receiving a floral-herbed juniper nip to heighten its citric-pined hop pungency.
A light nut char came thru for blackened malt-induced Brown Chicken Brown Ale, contrasting its seared walnut thrash with molasses-sapped pecan, hazelnut and almond sweetener.
Treacly maple molasses draped toffee-sweet Maple Stout, contrasting its earthy hop-oiled nuttiness.
Inside a small mini-mall, savvy craft brewer, Roger Savoy, creates a goodly amount of finely attuned Brit Isle-styled brews for Rensselaer’s EMPORIUM FARM BREWERY. A small nano operation soon able to expand within its mall-bound confines, Emporium started as a homebrewing and winemaking store.
Featuring three windowed tables and a pristinely yellow-pined 20-stool L-shaped serving station, the low-ceilinged one room setting resembles a family kitchen more than a genuinely reliable brewpub.
Opened August ’18, the casually intimate farm brewery endears its local community with low key elegance. On my Friday evening visit in late March ’19, I sampled eight well-defined brews.
Dewy peat malts, earthen leafy hops and truffle-like fungi guided many of these British-styled offerings, especiallyWet-Hopped Harvest Ale, rye-spiced moderation with wispy apricot and fig nuances.
Mossy ESB also stayed dewy-soft and fungi-sidled, bringing a creamy cereal grained malt resilience to the fore.
Light and fluffy 80 Shilling Scottish Ale generated mild wood smoked pleasantries for raw-honeyed rye malts and mossy hop resin.
Dry earthen herbage seeped into properEnglish IPA, inducing a dried-fruited spicing out of the midst.
Going on hiatus from the Brit stylings, easygoing West Coast Session IPA brought desiccated grapefruit, tangerine and orange tones to wet-wooded Chinook hops and vegetal cucumber earthiness.
The other hop-centric Americanized brew, orange-dried Hoppy Amber let resinous hop oils lubricate its dry pale malt graining.
Chalky chocolate malts gained a scorched earth hop char for Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, a dryer black malted take on an oats-sugared dark ale.
My personal favourite, debonair Christmastime nightcap,Holiday Winter Warmer, blended brown-sugared Mexican chocolate with nutmeg holiday seasoning, sweet orange peel zest, fern-like evergreen minting and tingly cinnamon-cumin-clove spicing.
At the foothills of Breckenridge in the quaint tan-hued Quandry Center mini mall, BROKEN COMPASS BREWING COMPANY was founded in 2014. Serving wide-ranging homemade brews with lots of cool flavor designs and profile depth, this unassuming pub will please a varied array of brewhounds.
At the front-windowed TV, several rock videos play while I venture towards the eighteen-seat, L-shaped, white pine bar on a cold March ’19 evening. Railroad tie wood and corrugated aluminum furnish the casual one-room outpost. Four community tables provide extra seating and a colorful black-boarded menu offers today’s selections. Dried hops hang from the wood trellis bar top and a few Broken Compass insignias fill the walls. In the rear, large silver brew tanks provide the sassy suds.
For starters, musky oats-dried lightweight,Czech Pilsner, brought spritzy lemon rot to biscuity pilsner malting.
Lemon-sugared ginger leaf guided Ginger Pale Ale as herbal ginger-rooted black tea dryness countered its sweet frontage.
Dewy peat mustiness seeped into caramel-spiced apple skin and brown pear for stylish moderation, Irish Red Ale. Its lovely barrel-aged version retained subtle bourbon-whiskey sweetness, subdued apple-bruised pear syruping and mild peaty dewiness to infiltrate its brown-sugared caramel spicing.
Mildly rye-spiced Red Hop Rye-Demptionhad a fig-dried granola likeness and tamped-down hop bittering.
Rummy Grand Marnier-likeScottish Wee Heavywent beyond its stylish intentions as bruised orange, caramelized raisin, apricot and cantaloupe cut across its dewy meadow.
Easygoing Azacca Smash IPAplaced mango-skinned lemon zest and mandarin orange tartness alongside grassy hop astringency, relegating its dry pale malt spine.
Evergreen-fresh Snow Blind Double IPAlet pineapple-juiced grapefruit, orange and tangerine tanginess receive honeyed floral sweetness and mild herbal nuances.
Hybridized peach liqueur barrel-aged Belgian Strong Ale received mildly sour green grape acidity to contrast its peachy sweetness.
Though mellow on the tongue, daring Chili Pepper Pale Aleconnected green chili, cerrano, pablano and habanero peppering to dry pale malts, leaving only a light burn.
Dry Tall Ship Foreign Export Stoutlet raw molasses drip into dark chocolate and dark-roast coffee tones above earthen nuttiness.
Mallomar bar-like Coconut Porterbrought chocolate-coated marshmallow sweetness to toasted coconut sugaring, picking up latent almond, pecan and hazelnut illusions.
Aged for one year in bourbon barrels,Imperial Bourbon Brown Ale loaded creamy vanilla sweetness cocoa upon coconut-toasted macadamia, almond and pecan illusions.
At the foothills of Silverthorne inside a reasonably large freestanding building a mere three miles west of Bakers Brewery, highly respected ANGRY JAMES BREWERY opened for biz January 26, 2018. Residing in the nondescript semi-industrial area just off Route 70, this glorified cafe features modern wood-designed furnishings, a 12-seat concrete-lacquered bar and enclosed side deck with gas fire pit.
The partnered Cultivate Kitchen serves a limited smattering of ‘off beet local eats’ from veggie lovers plates to bison chili dogs to complement the delightful homemade suds crafted by entrepreneurial couple AJ and Darcy Brinckerhoff. Two electronic blackboards list the beers currently on hand and two TV’s keep sports fans at bay.
My wife and I plus long-time friend Dennis take seats at one of the community tables near the side-decked overhead door to consume all ten brews on hand this sunny March ’19 afternoon.
Easygoing sugary pale-malted opener, Jake’s Pils, gained a musky wet-grained herbal hop pungency to contrast its caramelized lager yeast setting.
Just a tad beyond typical German pale ale styling, efficiently light-bodied Bavarian Blonde utilized gooseberry-soured, tangerine-sweetened Mandarina hops to engage its dry cereal-grained bottom.
Candi-sugared Belgian blonde, Pali Wog Pale Ale, stayed dryer than stylistically expected as herbaceous white-peppered spicing saddled lemon meringue tartness, lemon rind bittering and lemon-candied sugaring, gaining tertiary banana, peach and green apple illusions as well as possible sage-thyme passages.
Sour lemon-drop candy draped phenol banana-clove soaping above creamed wheat flouring of moderateAlpen Weisse, a dryer stylistic take on a German-styled hefeweizen.
Dry Imperial Red Ale, The Emperor’s Red Robe, sufficed with its dewy moss sweetness contrasting resinous pine tones alongside sweet orange-spiced grape juicing before mild sarsaparilla bark adds tea-like residue.
Straight-ahead Terrifica Double IPAbrought tangy citrus spicing to mild piney juniper bittering and sticky pine resin.
Briskly vibrant grapefruit-peeled orange juicing enlivened Tricentric IPA, bringing light caramel spicing to the fore as spritzy lemon, tangerine and tangelo undertones flutter.
Sinewy honeyed Scotch malts and dewy rye breading inundatedNorwegian Farmhouse, an offbeat saison with mild green grape esters and orange-lemon liqueur enticement gaining a briny vodka snip.
Creamily soft-toned Two Tone Footer Stout – Nitrolet cinnamon-toasted coconut sweetness and dark chocolate malting rub up against Graham Cracker-like wheat sugaring, changing the complexion of the richer, carbonated, coffee beaned Two Tone Footer.
At nearby competitor Bakers Brewery, sipped serene wheat wine, Gin-U-Wine, a unique ginger-spiced hybrid with mild juniper berry bittering skewing its lemon-peeled grains of paradise tartness and pine-needled lavender and rosehips illusions.
Right off Route 70 at a nondescript maroon-paneled mini-mall in the ski-bound town bearing its name, VAIL BREWING COMPANY opened its doors during 2014. Next door to a marijuana dispensary, this glorified cement-floored barn house features a small metal-furnished patio, garage-like overhead door, and L-shaped laminated wood bar.
Right side brew tanks serve a continuously changing beer selection, including a smattering of one-offs, seasonals, hybrids and wondrous India Pale Ales. Edison lights hover above the bar stools and the left-walled tie rod design adds serene Rocky Mountain rusticity. A sofa and chairs are arranged near the brick hearth and several community tables fill out the expansive one-room space.
After snowmobiling up a fabulous Vail-Breckenridge trail, my wife and I and friend Dennis stopped in for a few samplers. Each brew available this beautiful March ’19 afternoon had a completely accessible, easygoing temperament.
Crisply clean light-bodied opener, Crystal Lite Kolsch, let sour lemon-candied tartness pick up peaty compost moisture, maize-dried pilsner malting and cucumber watered freshness.
Lemony floral-daubed Pete’s Stash Pale Ale caressed dried pale malt spicing with grassy hop astringency with sheer lucidity.
Tart light-bodied Raspberry Blonde let washed-out raspberry compost override mild fennel-rhubarb influence and soapy wheat-honeyed base.
Sharp woody hop bittering consumed dry ‘mellow citrus’ moderation, Hot Mess Blonde, leaving vegetal herbage in the distance.
Lemony cranberry, raspberry and blackberry tartness gained vinous green grape tannins forJam Session Sour, where lightly salted oaken cherry dryness aided the mouth-puckering acidic sourness.
As for the amazingly varied IPA’s, brisk champagne yeast-affected Simultaneous Release Hazy Brut IPAbrought Muscat grape tannins and grapefruit rind souring to barley-floured milled graining.
Similarly stylizedMosaic Brut IPA upped the champagne sparkle for its mandarin orange, yellow grapefruit and gooseberry tartness, gaining a slight metallic sheen.
Dry tropical hybrid,Deck Daze Wheat Ale with Passionfruit got infused with white tea herbage, picking up mild floral-perfumed sweetness to contrast its spritzy lemon-soured passionfruit tartness.
Vail’s year-round staple, Gore Creek IPA, pitted yellow grapefruit-peeled orange pith bittering plus bark-dried pine tones against less enthusiastic caramelized pale malt sugaring.
On the dark side, velvety Midnight Romance Porter loaded raspberry puree upon dry dark chocolate malts, musty cocoa powdering and dewy grains.
For midday dessert, local Breckenridge whiskey validated dry bourbon mocha-toned Barrel AgedStout, rallying creamy chocolate resonance past tertiary rum, anise and molasses notions.
Inside a freestanding blue-and-gold brick edifice just off Route 70, Silverthorne’s BAKERS BREWERY opened March 2015 (and closed a decade hence). Formerly the historic Village Inn, Bakers Brewery’s café-styled dining space at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains offers not only a friendly assortment of beers, but also homemade pub-styled dishes, creative cocktails and freshly baked goods.
Doing a fine job creating a ‘contemporary brewpub experience,’ Bakers Brewery centers around its stellar granite-marbled beetle wood bar (with rusted corrugated tin siding). An open kitchen serves the bistro-like tables and chairs sidling the bar while TV’s line all corners. Semi-private back seating’s available near the 15-barrel brewing system and a small outside patio offers further space.
Working at nearby Dillon Dam for 15 years prior, experienced brew master Corey Forster crafts a full range of popular local faves, everchanging one-offs and infused concoctions. During my relaxing two-hour afternoon perusal, March ’19, I sampled eight of Forster’s delightful potions while looking out at the snow-covered Colorado mountain range.
First up, zestful Cotton Mouth Killer Session IPAlaced lemony grapefruit-orange peel bittering with dainty floral herbage above caramelized pale malting.
Next, citrus-spiced dark fruiting engaged Belgian Rebellion Pale Ale, loading fig-apricot-plum niceties alongside lemony orange tanginess and peppery herbal hops atop caramelized rye malting.
Perhaps Bakers’ finest offering, durable Double Diamond Imperial Red Ale brought caramel-spiced honey nut sweetness to tropical citric hop fruiting and tertiary fig-prune notions.
Leathery red wine tannins pervaded Bourbon Barrel Sour Saison, a dry farmhouse ale forwarding vinous bourbon-aged burgundy tones to puckered lemon lime acidity.
Sharply dry Winter Is Coming Imperial Dark Saison placed plum, prune and date illusions beside its spruce-tipped chai tea spicing, picking up caramelized wheat sweetness over time.
Brown-breaded earthen grains consumed spot-on Barking Dog Brown Ale, an English-styled Mild Ale with lightly seared nuttiness and dark cocoa snips pervading brown-sugared molasses malts.
Merrily mocha-infusedTag-Along Sweet Stout allowed rich chocolate, cocoa and coffee tones to engage nutty pecan-almond notions slightly embittered by walnut-charred blackened hop oiling.
Lustrous Sumatra coffee beans detailed lovely French Silk Stout, a creamily mocha-heavy full body with smoky dark chocolate and powdery cocoa undertones gaining mild earth-scorched hop bitterness.
