Category Archives: United States Brewpubs
REAVER BEACH BREWING COMPANY

VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA
Occupying an inconspicuous warehouse with green and white awnings and a hop-driven surfboard logo, REAVER BEACH BREWING COMPANY has gained a tremendous reputation since opening for business in October ’11 – becoming Reaver Beach Brewing along the way and expanding to a second location in Norfolk.
During a muggy July ’13 Saturday afternoon visitation, the front of the place was filled to the gills with young families, post-collegiate brewhounds and several thirsty out-of-town beachcombers enjoying well-rounded beers and BBQ pit food. My wife and kids enjoy barbecue chicken and pork while I go inside the tiny 4-stool tasting room to procure four previously untried brews.
Grabbing a seat along the right side nautical-postered wall at one of the front chairs, I place my sampler tray on the elbow-high shelving and begin to watch a ballgame on the left wall TV while reading beer descriptions from the blackboard Tap List.
A labor of love for married co-owners Justin and Kristin MacDonald, Beach Brewing’s libations are presently kegged for retail and served at several local restaurants. However, room for expansion behind the taproom is in the cards. Though flagship beers Hammerhead IPA and Hoptopus Double IPA are both out upon my initial sojourn, four other distinct offerings make the rounds.
Approachable summer session opener Sandshark Summer Ale brought soft-watered orange, grapefruit, apple and apricot fruiting to a mild hop-spiced slipstream.
Equally buoyant, Riptide Altbier left Noble-hopped wood dryness along its caramelized fig-sugared plum and date pathway. Perhaps a step removed from the specified German-styled realm, the pliable moderation nonetherless suits many occasions.
Better still, tropical The Kracken Triple IPA allowed subtle orange-peeled grapefruit bittering and perky lemon-seeded tartness to infiltrate juicy mango, kiwi, pineapple and passion fruit illusions as well as buttery caramel-malted red apple, grape and cherry undertones, leaving a lingered alcohol burn in its wake.
For dessert, brandy barrel-aged dark ale, Devil’s Take Imperial Stout, worked hop-charred dark chocolate, roasted coffee and cocoa into rye-malted toasted oats, picking up brandy-wined sherry and port boozing. By the mocha finish, Jameson dark whiskey snips reach the surface.
Just a few miles from the hotel-bound Virginia Beach boardwalk, Beach Brewing will impress a goodly number of respectable sun-tanned beer travelers.
As a pleasant sidebar, military-themed microbrewery Veterans Brewing was getting ready to open within walking distance.
TALL TALES BREWING COMPANY

PARSONSBURG, MARYLAND
On my springtime 2013 Ocean City/ Salisbury brewpub tour, rural-bound treasure, TALL TALES BREWING COMPANY, was just getting going and got overlooked. But on my trip back from the Carolinas in July, a convivial two-hour family stopover proved completely worthwhile.
IRON HILL BREWERY – CHESTNUT HILL

CHESTNUT HILL, PENNSYLVANIA
In a quaint cobblestone neighborhood in northwest Philadelphia’s historic Germantown Road, Chestnut Hill’s IRON HILL is its sixth franchise chain. Opened during December 2012, the well designed restaurant-brewery gained quick popularity. A beautifully plush 2-room expanse with high ceilings and a pull-up door offering patio access for the red brick edifice, Iron Hill’s cherry oak furnishings and amiable atmosphere provide luxurious comfort. Behind the waiting area are 12 oak booths for family dining away from the left side bar room (where several more tables reside).
My wife and I grab a seat at the bar for a few pre-noon eye-openers this sunny Memorial Day ’13. Two large TV’s sidling the bar show the Duke-Maryland lacrosse final and the Phillies game. The high ceilings feature overhead fans and mauve corrugated steel. A keg filler centers the pristine oak bar and the Brewing Process list etched into the wall counters the left side-walled Beer Listing.
LIQUID HERO BREWERY
YORK, PENNSYLVANIA
Next to pristine Sovereign Bank Stadium on the outskirts of York’s industrial center lies LIQUID HERO BREWERY, an enticing red-bricked microbrew pub opened in 2012. Co-owners Matt De Prato, Christian Quinlivan and Josh Hoke, all present on my initial May 2013 sojourn to this Lancaster County hotspot, present a fabulous array of stylistically diversified ales.
In the maroon-walled tasting room are six wood tables and a seven-seat bar (where a large TV, blackboard beer list, tap handles and several collectible bottles reside). Rustic wood crossbars, exposed ceiling ducts and gray concrete floors give the elevated backroom brew tank area an ole factory feel. Local Pennsylvania wines (listed on a sign near the Dogfish Head insignia) are available at the brass top bar as well as appetizers, salads and entrees (Fish & Chips, Cuban Pretzel Melt, Bacon Cheeseburger and Triple Decker Sandwich).
Settling at the middle of the bar next to Quinlivan, and soon after, De Prato and Hoke, the gracious bartender serves nine samples in beautiful six-ounce goblets. My wife is totally pleased by the awesome wheat beer triumvirate available this Saturday afternoon.
First, we share soft-toned Hero Weizen, a mildly creamed banana-clove-centered delight with lemony orange brightener and wispy white wheat sedation. Then comes Schweet, a fruitful strawberry wheat ale caressed by cranberry-raspberry-blueberry tartness to its Graham Cracker spine.
Blending the Schweet with Hero Weizen, The Mix brings candi-sugared crystal malting and sharper hop astringency to sweet ‘n sour strawberry-raspberry fruiting and ancillary banana-clove-bubblegum nuances (while arguably bettering the two original brews).
Liquid Hero’s flagship offering, American Hero Amber Ale, goes beyond mainstream sessionability with its coarsened hop-spiced bittering and toasted caramel malting receiving a mosy earthen dewing.
Brand new Pale Ale sharpened its citra-hopped bite with juniper berry bittering and mildly perfumed orange-lemon-grapefruit serenity.
Even more pungently engaging, Irregardless Citra-Hopped IPA coated its hop-oiled peach-pineapple-mango tropicalia with a serious ethanol kick.
Collaborating with nearby Bube’s, dry-bodied Black IPA brought black licorice illusions to chalky dark cocoa and chocolate ascendance, leaving a trail of dried fruited resonance.
Smooth nitro-injected Imperial Stout placed nutty chocolate sweetness next to hop-embittered cherryskin, cola and cocoa illusions. Just as worthy, Adam’s Stout loaded molasses-tarred vanilla fudge richness onto dark chocolate, coconut and cocoa nibs undertones and hop-charred coffee bittering.
Combining the talents of three experimental homebrewers with humble beginnings, Liquid Hero has become an instant staple in this factory town known as White Rose City.
BENNY BREWING COMPANY (MARTY’S BLUE ROOM)

NANTICOKE, PENNSYLVANIA
Talk about your successful traditional family-run neighborhood joint! Serving agrarian mining villagers, local businessmen and familial denizens living inside the inconspicuous uphill Sheatown section of Nanticoke with authentic Cajun food since 1984, MARTY’S BLUE ROOM expanded its red brick-fronted, white clapboard-sided residential boundaries under the guidance of convivial husband-wife Jim and Joanie Schonfeld. By 2010, Schonfeld’s son began brewing operations under his own name as BENNY BREWING COMPANY, utilizing a single-barrel Sabo system with four fermenters.
Formerly one-room saloon, Roman’s Cafe, Marty’s rustic country comfort proves to be therapeutic. Entering the diner-styled homestead for a two-hour jaunt, May ’13, my wife and I grab a table across the left side 14-seat bar where twelve taps pour Benny’s current four libations (fermented in the windowed brew tanks) plus Bud, Labatts, Yuengling and Hofbrau for the macro-brew masses.
The blue-tiled ceiling, Harp lager signpost and Blackboard Beer list capture the eye as we settle into the cozy cafe. Though we don’t ‘Go Cajun’ this afternoon, Maryland crab soup and garlic-breaded parmesan-cheesed bruscetta provide excellent fodder for Benny’s appealing fare.
Brisk citric-spiced perfume-hopped spritzer, Summer Ale, opened the session with easygoing splendor.
Centrist-like Amber Lager enticed honeyed malt sweetness with chestnut, pine nut and resin variables.
Gose-like beige-hazed moderation, Wit, brought herbaceous notions (lemongrass, eucalyptus, peppercorn) to sweetly perfumed orange peel, lemon zest, mandarin orange and yellow grapefruit crisping. Its coriander salting and fern-like freshness add further delicate luster.
Hopenstein India Pale Ale layered woody Simcoe hops atop dry grapefruit-peeled juniper berry bittering and juicy tangerine-orange-peach tang.
Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, soft-focus Oatmeal Stout (nitro version) mingled black coffee bittering, creamy cappuccino frothing, chalky cocoa coarsening and wood-burnt chicory.
Coal mining posts, dirt roads and farming mules may be a thing of the past in this rural northeast Pennsylvania hideout, but Marty’s peaceful easy feeling re-creates Concrete City’s abandoned smalltown atmosphere.
CLIMAX BREWING

CLIMAX BREWING’S DAVE HOFFMANN: JERSEY’S FIRST MICROBREWER STILL GOING STRONG
One of my coolest trips to a liquor store happened on a spring day in ’96 when I discovered CLIMAX BREWING COMPANY at Lodi’s Bottle King. This newfangled Jersey brewery sold their first brew, Extra Special Bitter, in half-gallon growlers at a time when the only similarly packaged fare came from Massachusetts-based Ipswich and Connecticut’s Olde Burnside. An earthen, citric-hopped, peat-malted moderation, this inaugural British-styled libation began the Garden State’s craft beer movement. And that fact can never be denied.
In 2012, Roselle Park’s Climax celebrates its 16th anniversary, an achievement few could’ve imagined when the humble craft beer movement got started. Still residing at the same 3,000 square foot residential neighborhood that allowed self-distributing owner-operators Dave Hoffmann, and his father, Kurt, to become the first licensed New Jersey microbrewers plying authentic recipes, Climax seemingly set the national trend for amber, instead of clear, half-gallon growlers.
“I went to Corning Owens Brockway and asked them if it was possible to make amber jugs instead of the clear ones, which get light-stricken,” Hoffmann explains as we sit at the brewery sipping the just-readied Climax India Pale Ale. “I needed to protect my beer.”
For several years, Climax only sold growlers to the public. But their small bottling line soon made it easier to sell standard 12-ounce bottles to a wider audience who were used to purchasing trendier 6-packs. Starting as a 5-tank, 4-barrel operation, the central Jersey brew house now boasts a 15-barrel, 15-tank, stainless-steeled system.
“Growing up, my dad always had good German beer in the refrigerator, like Dinkelacker and Dab,” the entrepreneurial Hoffmann insists. “At age 18, my friends would be drinking piss water from Coors or Anheuser-Busch. Don’t forget – there were only 285 regional or national breweries at the time. 25 years back, Sierra Nevada was an obscure microbrewery gaining momentum. Anchor always made some interesting beers. I thought Tuborg Gold in the brown bottle was fantastic. Paulaner still makes good beer. But I also liked Watney’s Red Barrel, Welch beers from Felinfoel and Minnesota’s Rhino Chasers – they’re all gone now. I tried lots of different beers. That’s what inspired me to start brewing my own.”
As an interesting sidebar, Dave Hoffmann continues to split time brewing at the Gregorakis family’s highly respected Artisan’s Brewery & Italian Grill in Toms River. In fact, he’s the only Jersey brewer running both a successful microbrewery and brewpub.
Since Dave hurt his back in November, he temporarily brewed Artisan’s Winter Ale at Climax instead of onsite at Toms River. So he had to tie up an extra tank that fleetingly slowed down production. Nonetheless, the confident proprietor prepared properly for the oncoming Christmas rush by putting out mixed cases featuring Climax’s premier Extra Special Bitter, and other longstanding staples such as India Pale Ale, Nut Brown Ale and Golden Ale (an updated version of the former Cream Ale).
With a certain unwavering arrogance, reinforced by his all-knowing deep-throated bark, Dave will be the first one to tell you how damn good his beer is. But don’t expect many trend-setting ‘Big Beers’ to emulate from his Roselle Park digs, unless you include Climax Barleywine, a prospering annual celebrator with red-wined brandy, cognac and rosé overtones flourishing above candied apple, bruised orange, medicinal cherry and spiced rum illusions.
Most of Dave’s traditional output features a softer-toned ambience and easier appeal than the current wave of head-wrecking hop-headers, boozy sour ale shredders and other twisted hybrids chic beer geeks tend to gravitate towards. He’d rather imbibe sublime, light-on-the-tongue suds than go overboard. Sure he likes strong barrel aged brews, but there’s a preference towards the warm subtlety of Innis & Gunn’s Rum Cask or the delicately intricate almondine elegance suiting Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale over the robustly molasses-sapped Scotch ale, Founders Backwoods Bastard.
Utilizing a dedicated six-man crew presently, Climax continues to hold its ground despite a massive entourage of local Jersey breweries entering the open market recently. And they valiantly self-distribute all draught beers.
A few days after visiting Dave at Climax, we descend upon Barcade in Brooklyn, where Dave and Kurt will present co-owner Paul Kermizian with a delectable Bavarian Dark (a specialty beer made only for Barcade’s three locations). Its beguiling chocolate, cocoa and toffee flavors emanate from caramel-toasted Munich malts atop soft-hopped earthen peat dewiness. Recessive dried-fruited sherry and port notes affect the amiable mocha finish.
By 11 PM, I’m a little toasted and the Hoffmann’s are tired, so we exit Barcade and head back to Jersey. Dave’s talking up a storm while his dad complains about non-existent Manhattan-to-Holland Tunnel traffic. I’m comfortably numb in the front seat, passing out somewhere in Jersey on the way home. But hey, I got to hang out with two of my earliest favorite local zymurgists.
On tap at Jimmy’s No. 43 in Manhattan, tried Climax Spring Bock (Cask version), a soft-toned treat bringing delicate peated rye graining, earthen minerality and nutty toffee to dried fig-apricot nuances.
EVOLUTION CRAFT BREWING CO.
SALISBURY, MARYLAND
Taking Maryland by storm, EVOLUTION CRAFT BREWING COMPANY quickly became a staple in the Eastern Shore’s biggest city, Salisbury, when it opened for biz during 2012. An aluminum-sided industrial edifice houses the spacious microbrewery, which includes high ceiling restaurant-bar area (with 2 TV’s, booths, tables and exposed ducts), gray-bricked storage room (with oak tables and retired wood barrels), far right tasting room and roomy front deck.
My wife and I grab a seat under one of the deck’s red umbrella-covered tables during a sunshine-filled Sunday afternoon in April ’13. Two guys on acoustic guitar are playing the Grateful Dead’s “Eyes Of The World” as we get ready to order. On top of the incredible in-house tapped choices (crafted in the large silos and silver tanks in the rear), Evolution’s bottled and kegged product has made quite a splash in all local craft beer stores sojourned across the Old Line State.
Alongside French onion soup and crab cakes, I settle into Evolution’s four flagship beers. First up, sessionable Exile ESB spread dry-hopped dark crystal and caramel malts atop honeyed whole grain breading, wispy plum-date spicing and herbaceous floral resin.
Next up, dry-bodied Primal Pale Ale laced wet-papered citrus tones with light mineral-watered pine hops.
More aggressively hopped, piney citrus-spiced Lot #3 India Pale Ale loaded grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering with crystal malt-sugared peach, melon, pineapple, mango, papaya and passion fruit tropicalia.
On the dark side, dry Lucky 7 Porter plied dark-roasted chocolate malting to mild peat-smoked coffee, toffee and molasses illusions as well as tertiary black grape, green raisin and dark cherry undertones.
Nearly as popular as the flagship offerings, elite Rise Up Stout draped subtle organic roasted coffee bittering above generous Baker’s chocolate, dark cocoa and espresso notions for a perfectly relaxing after dinner treat.
Another mocha-bound offering, Prelude Black Ale, saddled freeze-dried coffee overtones with molasses-draped dark chocolate and Belgian-malted rye wheat.
I got to try my wife’s red-peppered provolone and fontina grilled cheese sandwich while quaffing two Belgian-styled ales. Witbier-like Incubator #1 splotched orange-peeled coriander spicing across dry grassy hops and white wheat graining.
Better was wildflower honey-spiced Special 608 Belgian Amber, a lemony grapefruit-influenced medium body with perfumed hops and wood-dried mildewing.
Before taking the short 4 PM brew tour, dipped into mild citric-soured maibock-like Summer Session, where wood-oiled floral hops seeped into lemon-rotted orange and grapefruit bittering as well as black-peppered peated rye.
On my second stopover, April 2016, my wife and I grabbed a few seats across from the bar to munch on delicious Evo Dip Sampler & Pretzels (with crab, onion and beer-cheesed dips) alongside five previously untried brews.
Light-bodied springtime blonde ale, Sprung, brought its tangy apple-peach-orange-cherry cluster and floral-perfumed chamomile honeying to leafy hop resin.
Part of Evolution’s Migration Series, well-defined Chardonnay Barrel Belgian Ale caressed its vinous white-wined champagne sourness with acidic lemon pungency, oaken vanilla tannins and acrid barnyard funk, leaving a silken Chardonnay warmth at the mellow finish.
Emphatic pineapple-juiced Pine’hop’le IPA brought tangy grapefruit and orange zest as well as ancillary mango-papaya-passionfruit tropicalia to piney hop dryness (without losing its sharp pineapple overtures).
On the dark side, fantastic Prelude Black nestled dark-roasted mocha malts with molasses-sapped brown chocolate sugaring and mild vanilla sweetness atop mildly spiced dried fruiting.
Before exiting, Cathy (Russian Imperial Stout) jammed brown chocolate creaminess and burnt coffee bittering into burgundy-licked dried fruiting.
Stayed at La Quinta Inn across the street from Evolution to try three more previously untried libations, June ’16. Must admit, the food’s dynamite as well. My wife and I shared a flavorful ricotta-cheesed Kale and Quinoa Grain Salad (with beets and walnuts). And the fresh tuna entree truly delivered.
As for the yellow suds, light-bodied blonde ale, Summer Session, brought lemon-seeded wood tones, mandarin orange zest, sweet barley-oats, dry maize and delicate spicing to its white-breaded bottom.
Equally as sessionable, Czech Pils-styled Delmarva Pure Pils draped floral citrus zest and sugary spices above dank earth tones and dainty pilsner malts.
Bets bet: Special 608 Belgian Amber, a dazzling candi-sugared dark ale, gained a syrupy dried fruiting over mild floral spiced hops, leaving honeyed fig, raisin, banana and overtones to sweeten the finish.
Once again ventured down Delmarva’s Route 13 to grab lunch at Evolution, August ’17. Wife and I enjoyed flat-breaded vegan dip sampler (with hummus, cucumber bruschetta and olive tapenade) alongside three previously untried beers.
An unnamed summer ’17 Belgian Ale hybrid brought raw-honeyed herbal funk and cereal grained grist to sweet ‘n sour orange spicing.
Then, lime-fronted Hops Limon IPA gained a zesty edge as cologne-perfumed grapefruit and orange rind bittering bested grassy-hopped lemongrass herbage.
For dessert, dry Roasty Oats Oatmeal Stout draped milk-sugared black chocolate across musky German hop pungency and raw molasses bittering.
BURLEY OAK BREWING COMPANY
BERLIN, MARYLAND
Just eight miles west of Ocean City in a former cooperage, Berlin’s BURLEY OAK BREWING COMPANY opened late 2011 to much local fanfare. Entrepreneurial brewer Bryan Brushmiller and ‘head beer-ologist’ Zach Newton surely know their craft, splendidly delivering stylistically robust ales as well as atypical hybrids to the craving public.
After hanging out at the beach for three hours, my wife and I venture to this gray-shingled prefab barnyard for a few pops during 3rd annual Bikes At The Beach weekend, April 2013.
A front glass window with Burley Oak lettering and stenciled oak tree insignia welcomes patrons to the blue-walled interior, where a large U-shaped oak bar with 20 stools and several oak barreled tables are situated. Through the windowed glass behind the bar lies rustic silver brew tanks. On the left side TV, the Washington Nationals are playing ball while I begin sampling the goods.
Perfect as a mild opener, well-named Just The Tip Kolsch brought lemon-seeded blood orange, mandarin orange, tangerine and orange rot to soft floral hops. Then came a host of diligently prepared Belgian style brews.
Belgian yeast from a Trappist monastery gave Dirty Blonde Ale a peppery herbal notion to go alongside sweet crystal-malted banana fruiting. The same yeast provided a candi-sugared sweetness to viscous nickel-hued Brunette Belgian Dark Ale, where mild plum, raisin, prune and plantain dried fruiting beat a path to its chocolate-y coal-hazelnut finish.
Citra-hopped Honey Comb Belgian Golden Ale brought white-peppered lemony orange-grapefruit spicing to sweet honey comb sugaring.
Next came the India Pale Ale selections, starting with Pale Ryeder Rye Double IPA, a fruitful brown-sugared medium body with pumpernickel-toasted caraway seeding overriding grapefruit and orange rind bittering as well as ancillary peach, apple and pear illusions. Darker fruited MOB Barley Black IPA loaded piney citric Simcoe hops atop bittersweet dark chocolate and black coffee.
Another rewarding choice, crisp-watered Barreled Brown Ale clustered maple-sapped praline, pecan and almond alongside toffee sugaring.
Engaging dark-roasted chocolate malting guided Bunker C Robust Porter, settling above hop-charred ashen nuttiness, cocoa-powdered vanilla-cappuccino conflux and floral-dried bourbon-burgundy-raisin snip.
As for the barrel aged offering, Lower Class Barleywine (matured in Jack Daniels whiskey) carried cedar-chipped maple sugaring and oaken bourbon illusions to a spicy rum-buttered whiskey soothe.
Down the street one mile west of Burley Oak lies Cheers, a fine liquor store with great independent beers from far and wide.
FIN CITY BREWERY (HOOPER’S CRAB HOUSE)

OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND
Situated just over the bridge from Ocean City on Route 50, FIN CITY BREWERY has been housed in Hooper’s Crab House (a spacious barn-styled seafood haven) since 2012. A freestanding edifice with gray weatherboards, fire engine red roof and giant red crab insignia, my wife and I sojourned this mammoth restaurant-brewery during the 3rd Annual Bikers On The Beach weekend, April ’13.
Entering from a wood-planked deck, we ate dinner at the raised section to the right of the bar. In the middle dining area, several cool antiques appear, including a single propeller aeroplane, chopper motorcycle, Dale Earnhardt’s one-time practice car and scattered nautical ephemera. Ancient copper tanks on the balcony level stored brewer Vince Wright’s sessionable suds.
As our drunken mussels, steamed clams, cream of crab soup and moon rings (fried mozzarella with onion rings) got served, I dug into Fin Light, an easygoing dry-bodied pale ale with grassy Saaz hops tingling buttered popcorn, baked bread and maize illusions.
Next up, polite Sneaky Wheat brought mild orange peel bittering to subtle banana-clove-coriander nuances and carameilzed white wheat breading.
As the sun sets on the bay, I quaffed stylistically robust Jackspot Amber, a sharp Fuggle-hopped orange-spiced medium body with caramel-roasted malts and biscuit-y baguette backdrop.
BLUE POINT BREWING COMPANY
PATCHOGUE, NEW YORK
Located in Patchogue’s industrial section one mile southeast of Brickhouse Brewery on River Street lies medium-scale craft beer operation, BLUE POINT BREWING COMPANY. Proving to be ‘way cool’ with their free Saturday afternoon 3-sampler offerings and covered outdoor deck, Blue Point was founded in 1997 by avid home brewers Mark Burford and Peter Cotter. Besides having an expansive bottling line, these motivated craftsmen aim to please the local minions that put ’em on the map.
Inside a pale blue garage-like shack, Blue Point’s green-walled tasting room features eighteen tap handles on three fountain heads plus a gorgeously tiled bar top (with sketches of ancient Middle East zymurgists, Abbey monks and brewing regalia), two pews and one large refrigerator (with bottled selections to go).
Joining the casual atmosphere amongst cousins and friends, April 2013, my wife and I order our samples and grab the table across from the bar. Served from the large silver vats located in two separate adjoining rooms, each tapped offering found its own pleasant niche.
First, fruit-dried Spring Fling picked up bitter grapefruit-orange tones and sugared fig-date illusions atop a firm wood-hopped base.
Next, citric-bound Mosaic IPA brought lemon-pitted navel orange, mandarin orange, tangerine and marmalade fruiting to brisk piney-hopped bittering.
As our clan moved outside to the deck area, I reached for the robust Oatmeal Stout, with its oats-flaked toasting and smoked chocolate malts contrasting coffe-roasted hop charred bitterness. Molasses-glazed walnut and hazelnut as well as sour black cherry undertones filled out the backend.
For an amazing pre-dinner closer, sipped Old Howling Bastard (2013 limited edition). A 10% alcohol barleywine based on No Apologies Imperial IPA, its cherry-pureed dried fruiting and creamy caramel malting sweetened rum raisin, sugar plum and honey nut undertones.
