CROOKED HAMMOCK BREWERY – LEWES
Category Archives: United States Brewpubs
DEWEY BEER COMPANY
DEWEY BEACH, DELAWARE
Nothing like a rustic shack-like saloon to get thirsty beachcombers and surfers happy. Just a few blocks from the Atlantic Ocean and one mile south of Rehoboth Beach, DEWEY BEER COMPANY keeps this tiny beach community rockin' with its well-balanced small batch beers. Opened May '15, this metal and wood furnished pub serves specialized seafood, sandwiches and salads to go alongside its likable liquid fare.
Dewey Beer Company's low ceilings, small open kitchen, cozy cafe-styled seating, long community table and wood-lacquered bar (with silver brew tanks directly behind) provides relief from the summer heat and a much-needed off-season watering hole for the few hundred townsfolk.
My wife and I settled into Chick Pea Hummus and Plantain Nachos (sour-creamed Cuban picadillo beef, jalapeno, tomato and cheese dip scooped up by fried plantains) while downing nine distinctly varied homemade beers.
One of the first beers crafted at Dewey, sessionable American Pale Ale forwarded floral-perfumed sweetness to tangy citrus subtleties and contrasted dry wood tones.
'Crushable' light pilsner, Blonde's Blonde embraced lemon-limed grapefruit zest and light melon hints over clean-watered mineral graining, utilizing tropical Sorachi, Citra and Galaxy hops to increase its easygoing citric nature.
The more pungent Imperial Blonde's Blonde picked up dry piney hop resin to embitter its lemony orange tang and sugar-spiced malts, staying just as crisp and clean as its aforementioned lighter version.
Hybridized Amber Batch 2 balanced pale-malted toasted caramel sweetness with dry-wooded IPA-like fruiting without getting too bitter.
Exhilarating Tripel Belgian strong ale laced candi-sugar sweetness thru lemon-spiced banana esters, zesty orange seltzer spritzing, floral hop resilience and peppery yeast herbage.
Easygoing Brown Ale imbued roasted chocolate sweetness with brown-sugared dried fruiting and wispy spicily-perfumed Cascade hops.
Bringing rye-grained Black patent malts to the fore, Do What's Rye'd (Black IPA) overrode its spicy dried fruiting with coffee-dried dark chocolate tones.
Mocha-bound wintry farmhouse ale, Chocolate Cherry Saison, relied upon spicy French saison yeast to awaken its dry cherry tartness, sweet banana subsidy and chocolate malt backbone.
Cold-infused Sumatra coffee invigorated Mo's Joe Stout, a smoothly subdued mocha-blackened digestif with light cocoa, chocolate and espresso tones settling above its sugary toasted oats spine.
www.deweybeerco.com MISPILLION RIVER BREWING
MILFORD, DELAWARE
At the back of an industrial mall zone in a silver aluminum building, MISPILLION RIVER BREWING came into existence in the autumn of 2013 when married Delaware natives and co-founders Eric and Megan Williams hooked up with a few interested partners and brewmaster Ryan Maloney to spread their passion for well-crafted homemade beer.
Just beyond Milford's quaint downtown, this unadorned (as of April 2016) brewery utilizes a rustic cement-floored tap room with 10 bar seats, wood tables, 2 TV's, Christmas tree lighting, high barn-like ceiling and refrigerator with beer-to-go. Three 15-barrel stainless steel brew tanks are windowed behind the tap room and a few patio tables adorn the adjoining caged yard connected by overhead doors.
Developing over 100 small batch recipes since its inauguration, Mispillion River has continued to beat expectations by keeping the quality of varied suds at a high level. Expect fast expansion for the brewery since its most popular brews (Reach Around IPA, Holy Crap! Imperial Red Ale and Black Tie IPA) have started getting canned on-site and are widely available locally (and reviewed in full at Beer Index).
The lightest draft offerings on my April '16 rendezvous were citric-splashed Space Otter Pale Ale, a tropical delight with lemony orange zest and light guava-melon-apricot illusions sprinkled atop dank piney hop bittering. Then there was spritzy Diddy Kong, a mild hefeweizen with lemony banana-clove sweetness grazing its oaks-flaked white wheat spine.
Nearly as polite, Reach Around IPA stayed stylistically moderate with its lemony grapefruit-orange bittering and Seltzer-like spritz softened by clean mineral-watered crisping.
A welcome hybrid, winter-spiced Sentman Apple Pie Apple doused its cinnamon apple piquancy with a lightly minted grapefruit-pineapple-orange tang.
Just a tad stronger, ESD Double IPA delivered floral-spiced citrus crisping to pungent pine needling, becoming sugarier as tangy lemon, grapefruit, orange, mango and clementine illusions ascend.
Maybe the finest offering, holiday-seasoned Miss Betty, an easygoing brown-sugared spice ale, gathered subtle vanilla bean, maple syrup and candied pecan adjuncts as well as wispy sweet potato hints.
Made for breakfast, Rise Or Shine Coffee Stout brought coffee-creamed espresso pungency and black-malted dark chocolate bittering to its sugary oats-flaked spine.
For dessert, milk chocolate-y Poundtown Imperial Porter sweetened over time as barley-flaked black malts drifted away to expose the delicious caramel nougat center.
Becoming the first onsite customers at Mispillion River since Covid-19 closed down the state for a few months, my noontime June '20 venture with wife and dog would lead us to sunny Rehoboth Beach afterwards. But not before trying eight more sassy homemade suds at the rustic covered side deck (with stringed party lights, nautical metal art sculpture and salvaged furnishings).
Dry corn-buttered pale malts, raw-grained wheat straw rusticity and mild barnyard acridity ushered in pungently earthen Yard Bird, a Euro-styled light lager with hints of musky dried floral herbage.
Briskly floral rosé lager, Ladybug, a quirky hybrid enjoining mild raspberry-pureed rose hips to lemony sparkling champagne spritz, maintained its confectionery sweet-tart snap.
Sweet 'n sour strawberry zing received hard-candied citric souring and lactic vanilla milkshake creaming for frosty cellar-funked Strawberry Jacuzzi Wild Ale.
A dryer take on a Belgian tripel, Deathly Hallows relegated candi-sugared banana-clove sweetness and peachy quince snips for black-white peppered herbage and musty Belgian yeast funk.
Sharp floral-tinged grapefruit rind bittering and zesty orange peel perfuming rubbed against pungently resinous piney hops for Z-J, a creamy crystal-malted Imperial India Pale Ale hopheads will devour.
Lemon-wedged coffee roast gained creamy vanilla spicing for Seven Swords, an amber-cleared white stout with latent dark-roast hop char crowding cocoa-nibbed dark chocolate malting.
A tad dryer stylistically, Hagrid Imperial Stout let milk-sugared coffee tones infiltrate dark chocolate, espresso and anise whims over maple-sapped oats.
Tarry Blackstrap molasses deepened the dark chocolate, medium-roast coffee and black licorice montage guiding oats-sugared Wonka Bar, a decadent milk stout evoking the toffee-nutted mocha candy bar its named after.
www.mispillionriverbrewing.com 3RD WAVE BREWING CO.
BLUE EARL BREWING
SMYRNA, DELAWARE
Inside a beige aluminum industrial warehouse close to a large Walmart distribution center in the American Revolution-formed village of Smyrna, praiseworthy BLUE EARL BREWING was established during 2014 and opened for business May '15 (closing September '23), becoming Delaware's seventh brewery. Entrepreneurial guiding light, Ron Price, a former home brewer, runs this huge 11,000 square foot operation (with plenty of room for expansion).
Combining Price's love for (mostly) strong ales and the Blues, his pristine sienna and pale blue-walled tasting room features a pink guitar and other instruments strewn across the duct-exposed, high-ceiling interior. Three community benches and several wall-countered stools sit across from the 10-seat wood-laminated bar.
On my May '16 one-hour stopover, I got to sample eight exquisite elixirs, though missing out on what may become Blue Earl's flagship beer, tropical citric-pined medium body, Walking Blues IPA.
Starting with three fine Belgian-styled offerings, the lightest one, Honeysuckle Rose (Belgian Blonde Ale), brought lemon pepper-glazed honeysuckle sweetness to lemony orange zest, peated malt dewiness, dry Hallertau hops and green grape snips.
Intricate Heavenly Joy (Dubbel) layered candi-sugared yeast with toasted caramel malts, subtle citrus hop tones and dried-fruited cherry, plum and raisin illusions. 'Complex' Stardust (Tripel), a deceptive 9.5% ABV medium body, hitched its freshly-squeezed orange and lemon tang to white-peppered sugar spicing and terse fig-raisin nuances.
Elegantly detailed Trouble In Mind (Doppelbock) placed crystal malt sugaring and barley-toasted toffee sweetness above reluctant date and fig undertones in a rich, yet understated, manner.
Spicy rye malts inundated Gnarly Red-Eyed Rooster (Imperial Red Rye Ale), a fruity medium body with woody Chinook hops and tropical Cascade-Citra hops illuminated by tangy ruby red grapefruit zest as well as scrappy apple, peach, apricot and tangerine illusions.
Velvety Big Boss Man (Barleywine) allowed tropical fruited sweetness to inundate its chewy caramel-toffee sugaring and cereal-grained malting for a strong 10% ABV uplift.
On the dark side were two well-executed potions. Mightily mocha-smoked Blue On Black (Smoked Porter) retained bold black chocolate-syruped coffee richness above wood-burnt hop char.
But best of all was Top Of The World (Imperial Stout with bourbon vanilla beans). A thick and chewy 9% ABV libation, its prominent bourbon vanilla sweetness gained syrupy brown chocolate licks, roasted caramel sugaring, hazelnut coffee riffs, light espresso dabs and vaporized dried fruiting.
Presently, Gnarly Red-Eyed Rooster is available in 22-ounce bottles while Walking Blues IPA and Honeysuckle Rose are marketed in 6-packs.
blueearlbrewing.com DOGFISH HEAD BREWERY – MILTON
MILTON, DELAWARE
Standing head and shoulders above all their fabulous Delaware competition, DOGFISH HEAD BREWERY is the long-lasting brainchild of highly respected and dutifully diligent brewmeister, Sam Calagione, a worldly zymurgist whose capacious Milton-based complex continually expands to meet international demand for his luxuriously 'off-centered ales for off-centered people.'
In a multifarious art-deco New World designed complex just off the beaten path in rural colonialist Victorian haven, Milton, the incomparable Dogfish Head compound contains a roomy brewpub, bottling plant, red-bricked warehouse and several large grain silos.
A rust metal treehouse sculpture with winding steps guides privileged customers to the laithe wood-fronted tasting room (with several barrel tables, a quartz-countered bar top and large exposed ducts). A food truck serves bratwursts, but will convert to Cuban sandwiches, Curry Chicken Salade, Reuben and chili menu June '16.
On my pleasurable mid-afternoon April '16 venture, I sampled two previously untried elixirs, one enhanced fruit ale and a cask version of one fabulous milk stout.
Firstly, stylistically superior Firefly English Pale Ale delivered oats-sugared Maris Otter barley malting to dewy peat earthiness, grassy hop astringency and floral lemon drops, staying mildly creamy to its mossy finish.
Next, approachable Alternative Takes #1, a sharp piney fruited Imperial IPA, parlayed its tropical pineapple, papaya and passionfruit adjuncts into lemony grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering, leaving a distant apricot tea remnant.
By upgrading Dogfish Head Aprihop with mango and ginger, the resulting apricot-dried Imperial IPA really gains vigor, from its syrupy peach sugaring, honeyed melon sweetness and cantaloupe-juiced mango tang to its mellow herbal-hopped scamper and bitter grapefruit respite.
For dessert, the lactic coffee bean-enhanced cask version of Chicory Stout hit the tongue softly with its lightly creamed dark-roast coffee entry, heavenly milked espresso undertones, roasted chicory influence and peat-smoked innuendo.
During January '20 revisit, consumed four brews available onsite only (as of this date).
Rustic light-bodied pre-Prohibition lager, Corn Stalker, allowed oats-dried maize astringency and cereal-grained barleycorn grist to pervade lemon-rotted hop bittering.
Peculiar sour IPA, Kernel Haslet, let bacterial brettanomyces funk soak into lemony perfumed white grape esters, dry lime zest and tangerine snips over its corn grit adjunct and oats-flaked pilsner malting.
Delightful Medieval Dutch-styled Koffee Koyt utilized pilsner-malted white wheat and lemony Hallertau hop musk to back up its light-roast Guatemalan coffee tumult as well as cocoa-shelled Madagascar vanilla beaning.
Heavenly Knob Creek bourbon brought light oak-charred bourbon vanilla sweetness to dry whiskey tones for Assemblage, a barleywine-stout mix draping dark chocolate syrup upon tertiary maple syrup, burnt caramel, toffee and espresso nuances.
On a clear sunny Monday in November ' 21, revisited mammoth microbrewer to try five newly designed elixirs.
Rustic clear straw Czech-styled pilsner, Blue Hen, brought barley-husked spelt, alfalfa, maize and wild oats to lemon-peppered Saaz hop herbage in a damp earthen manner.
Crisp Bavarian pilsner, So Flo, brewed at Dogfish Head's Miami brewery, placed dainty floral-spiced lemon herbage alongside wet grain musk for light-bodied splendor.
Summery fruit ale, Tango Crush, let briny mango souring and tart tangerine zesting gain lightly embittered lemony grapefruit and orange zesting over silken pilsner malt base.
Centrist hazy IPA, Replicant, gathered ripe grapefruit-seeded orange and pineapple bittering for mild piney hop resin above gentle pale malts.
Cold-brewed milked coffee expanse guided Istanbuldozer, a mocha-laden milk stout with mildly creamed black chocolate, dark cocoa, nutty espresso and spicy toffee illusions.
www.dogfish.com ARGILLA BREWING CO. @ PIETRO’S PIZZA
ALIEN BREW PUB
BOSQUE BREWING
NEXUS BREWERY & RESTAURANT
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
Almost directly across Chama River Brewing off Pan American Freeway, Albuquerque's awesome NEXUS BREWERY & RESTAURANT champions the flavorful ethnic diversity of this Southwestern Rio Grande Riverbed mecca. Since the Craft Beer Revolution gained national prominence, most of its brewmeisters and entrepreneurial investors have been white males. However, dark-skinned Nexus owner, Ken Carson (a former banker), and female head brewer, Kaylynn McKnight, prove there's cresting talent beyond the litany of pale-faced zymorgists.
In a tan stucco building next to Best Western, Nexus provides a delightful pub food change-up by offering hearty New Mexican-styled Southern soul food (such as chicken-fried chicken, red chili-peppered collared greens and gumbo) to go alongside impeccable house brews on my April '16 two-hour lunchtime jaunt.
Since its initial 2011 opening, Nexus has expanded beyond its pristine cocktail-lounged 8-seat grey bar (with glass-encased copper brew tanks, silver spaceship lighting and multiple TV's) to a remodeled cement-floored side dining room with beer-centric murals and small outdoor deck. As my friend, Dennis, and I grab a dining table, we dig into New Mexico Soul Burgers (with red chili-sauced bacon, onion and pepper jack cheese) while quaffing eight beer samplers.
Starting with dry-hopped American Red Ale - a nifty moderate-bodied offering with spiced red and orange fruiting glazing toasted caramel malts over tobacco-roasted barley crisping - the quality and care given each well-balanced stylistic elixir was immediately evidenced.
Rounded flagship, Scottish Ale, had a similar malt-spiced profile as the Red Ale, adding nutty pecan, almond and hazelnut illusions to caramelized molasses sweetness and mild peat-smoked hop astringency.
Amiable Honey Chamomile Wheat brought chamomile tea florality to coriander-salted orange and tangerine tang as well as Bee's honey sinew.
The heightened 9.3% ABV given Imperial Cream Ale (compared to the original version's pre-prohibition-styled 4% volume) provides sweet white-wined nuances to crystal-malted cream soda sugaring and grassy-hopped astringency.
Mellifluous Imperial Pilsner placed crystal-malted mango, guava, nectarine, peach and lychee sweetness and tart pineapple-grapefruit-orange bittering alongside light woody hop dryness (and wispy vodka kick).
Briskly clean-watered IPA layered tangy grapefruit, orange and lemon zest atop sticky pine-needled hop resin, juniper berry bittering and herbal tea nips.
Dry English-styled Chocolate Porter slid chocolate-roasted molasses sweetness across dark-roasted coffee, anise and nut illusions.
Best bet: supple English Barleywine, a boozy 9% ABV dessert treat, plied sweet dried fruiting to caramelized Maris Otter malts, floral perfumed hops and rum-spiced sugaring, picking up tangy bruised orange, tangerine, red cherry, red grape and honeydew notions.
nexusbrewery.com CHAMA RIVER BREWING COMPANY
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
One of New Mexico's first and best microbreweries (active since 2005 but closed August 2017), located in an exquisite sienna-hued terracotta barn house off Pan American Freeway, Albuquerque's silver-roofed CHAMA RIVER BREWING COMPANY serves upscale pub fare (steak, seafood, pasta) to pair with its well-designed traditional brews.
Easy to spot from the freeway due to its large sidled grain silo, Chama River Brewing's interior wood design, foyer-bound water feature (with resin pheasant), stone hearth and tiled front patio provide crystalline elegance. Its copper-clad center bar (with 10 tap handles, several stools and TV) services a private lounge and booth-laden Porter Room. Sterling glass-encased brewtanks store most of the nine proprietary offerings tried during my April 2016 sojourn.
For starters, rounded Class VI Golden Lager regaled German pilsner malts with raw-honeyed sour lemon musk, maize-dried graining and grassy hops.
Then a few moderate-bodied ales sufficed. Rio Chama Amber brought light honey spice to tangy navel orange briskness and toasted carafa malting.
Mild India Pale Ale-like citric fruiting guided Copper John Pale Ale, a floral-perfumed dry libation with zesty grapefruit-pineapple-orange juicing embittered by piney hop resin to contrast sweet sugar-spiced crystal malts.
IPA overtones also embrace soft-toned Vermilion Red Ale, a red and orange fruit-spiced nicety not far removed from Chama River's most popular item, Jackalope IPA. Named after a mythical antlered rabbit, its tangy yellow grapefruit freshness and bitter lemon rind pucker overload the zesty tropical sureshot as pine-lacquered perfume hops contrast crystal-malted mango, pineapple, orange, tangerine and guava sweetness.
Orange blossom-honeyed coriander tweaked Broken Spoke Honey Wheat, a mildly citrus-spiced moderation backed by torrified husked wheat minerality, grassy hop astringency and floral daubs.
A fine collaboration with neighboring Nexus Brewery, nitro-injected The Darker Fare Irish Stout fortified its softly creamed black chocolate fudging with coffee-roasted espresso and charred nuttiness. Nearly as dry and arguably better, Sleeping Dog Oatmeal Stout coalesced sugary molasses oats with coffee-milked black chocolate, walnut, pecan and hazelnut illusions.
chamariverbrewery.com TURTLE MOUNTAIN BREWING COMPANY
RIO RANCHO, NEW MEXICO
Situated inside the tan stuccoed 36th Place Mall in Rio Rancho (a few miles north of Albuquerque), TURTLE MOUNTAIN BREWING COMPANY began operations in 2012 when local Pueblo Indian descendant, Nico Ortiz, decided to join the evolving Craft Beer Revolution. A sizable pub with 12-seat back bar, multiple wooden tables and booths, one slate-topped community table, wall-sprawled beer banners and a banquet room with patio, Turtle Mountain offered wood-fired pizza, burgers, sandwiches and calzones to pair with its dominantly dry beer selections.
With 14 draught lines available on my April '16 afternoon trip, nine were pouring worthy homemade beers while the others had popular local selections from Bosque and La Cumbre.
For openers, light-bodied McDay's Cream Ale offered zesty lemon spritz and spicy citric hops to corn-flaked barley malt crisping (allowing subdued celery, fennel and brown rice wisps to emerge beneath the surface). With a similar profile, Heidelberg Helles brought lemony hop briskness to sweet sugar-spiced pale malts and herbal lemongrass snips. Amiable rye-spiced Oku Amber caressed floral-fruited hops with cereal-grained barley and oats.
A 'fun twist' on an American pale ale, Parasol White Ale layered lemon-soured yellow grapefruit bittering above grassy hops and spiced crystal malts while the bolder West Coast-styled Hopshell IPA seduced its lemon-peeled grapefruit bittering and lacquered wood tones with floral citrus-candied sweetness.
Tart Gose With The Flow took its soft-toned pineapple adjunct to a salty-bottomed lemon-lime pucker. Vinous black grape esters seeped inside Amethyst Brett Double Stout, a brettanomyces-soured dark ale with light wine barrel aging, serene black chocolate overtones, timid burgundy flutter and peated earthiness as well as pithy black cherry, cola nut and roasted tobacco nuances.
Off-dry Snake Driver Irish Stout gathered dark cocoa, black chocolate, charred nuttiness and dark-roasted grains atop its dewy mildewed base.
Newest full-time dark ale, Stauffenberg Oatmeal Stout delegated dark-roast ground coffee overtones to amplify light charred nuttiness over its groaty barley-flaked rolled oats base.
turtlemountainbrewing.com