Category Archives: United States Brewpubs

ROCK BOTTOM –BOSTON

United States Brewpubs,

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

In the heart of Beantown, this re-renovated chain restaurant-brewery opened as ROCK BOTTOM in 2001 and got renovated April 2011. Formerly Brew Moon, Rock Bottom bought out the company, merged with Gordon Biersch, and is owned as of this December 2011 trip by large conglomerate, CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries. This eloquent red brick-walled, wood-furnished space attracts vacationing families, businessmen and theatregoers. Special tap tables at right side booths allowed beer drinkers to pour by the ounce each house beer (brewed in Pittsburgh for this faux-pub).

I sat at the blue-slated central bar (with 3 TV’s per side) to taste each stylistically efficient ale. My wife settled on a bottled Wachusett Blueberry while I delved into the lighter fare this late afternoon session (after hitting Faneuil Hall’s shopping district).

Kolsch-Style Ale brought floral-hopped citric spicing to a phenol hop prickle, finishing like bark-dried lemon rot (but ain’t as unpleasant as that seems).

White Ale’s white-peppered, lemon-candied, orange-peeled coriander spicing suited its light effervescence.

IPA’s surprisingly soft tone contrasted wispy peach, apple and tangerine illusions against negligible hop pining.

Caramel-spiced orange and red fruits smudged grassy dry-hopped Red Ale.

The two seasonals on hand had less obvious stylistic guidelines so each benefited from being less regimentally specific. Holiday-styled Winter Wheat brought a nifty peppermint twist to orange-dried coriander-nutmeg-cinnamon spicing.

Better still, Snow Moon Belgian Trippel layered creamy cotton-candied banana over molasses gingerbread cookie sweetness, finishing with pastry-like banana-clove illusions resembling German hefeweizens.

Rock Bottom’s bottled beer selection included Lagunitas, Troegs, Left Hand, Magic Hat, Cisco and several well-known Belgians. Guest draughts were Victory Prima Pils, Ommegang Hennepin, Boulder Mojo IPA and local fave, Mayflower Porter.

www.rockbottom.com/boston

NASHOBA VALLEY WINERY

United States Brewpubs,

BOLTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Up a narrow rural road in rustic Bolton at an early Americana compound a few miles outside Worchester, NASHOBA VALLEY WINERY opened for business in 2004. Besides its estate-type vineyards and olden wood edifices, the winery also brews its own beers in one of its on-site dwellings. Visited post-Thanksgiving 2011, this multi-acre site also features several apple and peach trees plus an exquisite food menu paired with Nashoba Valley’s homemade wine and beer.

Past the weather-shaken gray farmhouse (with back deck) and open-air pavilion right down the beaten dirt path lies a manmade lake and the flag-smitten green ranch that houses the winery and restaurant. Samples of beer and wine were available at the back desk and bottles-to-go were available. I bought five different 22-ounce bottles of each available Nashoba Valley brew (reviewed in Beer Index). For those seeking a provocatively cloistered New England manor with debonair elegance and Old World charm, this vintage hilltop farm is king.

Nashoba Valley’s beers ran the gamut from styptic German-styled Bolt 117 (where citric juniper bittering overruns raw-grained herbal spicing); wavering alcohol-burnt Heron Ale (an OK ESB with singed mineral grains and wood-dried herbal tea respite); tart lemon-soured banana-clove hefeweizen Wattaquadock Wheat; oaken maple syrupy autumnal seasonal Oaktoberfest; vibrant pine-needled grapefruit rind-embittered IPA and viscous mocha-bound hop-charred Imperial Stout. Full reviews of these beers are found at Beer Index.

www.nashobawinery.com

CARTON BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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CARTON BREWING STORMS OUT OF THE GATE

Two investigative white-collar relatives and a respected musician friend with a crappy home brew kit yearned to create the beer of their dreams. Soon, the triumphant triumvirate would perfect a session beer that’d be the calling card for their ambitious new project. Run by Augie Carton (a stockbroker), his cousin Chris Carton (a Newark defense attorney), and Jesse Ferguson (famed Def Jux producer), Carton Brewery opened its doors, August 2011.

Just a block away from the largest eastern seaboard marina at Sandy Hook (inside an unassuming lavender domicile), Atlantic Highlands’ upstart Carton Brewery shocked local Jersey competitors by winning the People’s Choice Award at the First Annual Asbury Beer Fest. Utilizing a 5,000 square foot, 2-storey structure built circa 1890 to house Methodist summer tents, the newly wood-floored space was adapted to a legitimate brewery after a year of preparation.

While Chris Carton admittedly admired the beer crafting skills of local Red Bank celebrity Gretchen Schmidhausler (formerly of Basil T’s), Augie’s been genuinely impressed by New York brewers Southern Tier and California’s Firestone Walker. Amongst Carton Brewery’s pristine first floor equipment is a sterling stainless steel baby fermenter used during early experimental phases. Holding 20 gallons of beer, this virtual ‘flavor finder’ allows for four separate five gallon batches to be created to find out which hop variety or yeast strain works better for each individual recipe. A Red Rye is being readied for the larger tanks as we speak. And last weekend, the Carton’s made a pilsner-styled beer with blue agave syrup.

“We’re high hop guys,” Augie insists. “The red rye is our comfort beer. Whatever hop we want to play with we jam into the recipe and see how it’s gonna come out. We may fool around with four different yeast strains the first time we do a wildcard brew. Then we’ll settle on one yeast for the full 20-gallon fermenter.”

After cracking some jokes, we gathered at the red-bricked second floor taproom, a pristinely rustic lounge with two ‘70s-styled leather couches, sturdy wood bar, flatscreen TV, and the three-tiered trophy won at Asbury’s beerfest.

Augie settles under the taps, pouring briskly lemon-seeded, grapefruit-sugared Carton Boat Beer, an instantly popular conventionality with curried peppercorn-tarragon herbage and weedy purple kush aromatics.

“The job of any session beer is to taste good cold and clear up a thirst,” Augie opines as angry Irish fiddle music plays in the background and the sun gleams through two skylights. “When you’re no longer gunning them down and you need the beer to warm up a bit – unlike macrobrewed lagers that go to hell at 40 degrees – we want Boat to stay interesting. As it warms, citric fruits turn to white stone fruits – peach, pear, apricot. What starts off super-piney becomes more mossy and chill and evolves. We chose Kolsch yeast because it stays out of the way of the iron-rich salty brined Jersey mineral water.”

Homegrown hero Bruce Springsteen blares from the speakers as we dip into zip-coded 077XX East Coast IPA, an expressive citric-candied medium body veering stylistically away from clean-watered West Coast rivals.

“We focus on harmony between bitterness and sugaring playing to our water source,” Augie shares as the all-important Saturday tasting crowd arrives. “We’re anti-type, but 077XX’s an India Pale Ale. It has a saltier eastern watering we’re not hiding or correcting except to take chlorine out with a carbon filter. There’s super-American floral tropical hops.”

Though he’s not with the Carton’s today, partner Jesse Ferguson grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado, moved to New York to run the dopest indie hip-hop label (Def Jux), then married Augie’s wife’s best friend. Practicing zymurgy was initially difficult for the apprenticing Carton-Ferguson connection, but the curious trio just wouldn’t give up.

“Jesse was a super-helpful cool cat I gave a homebrewer kit to as a thank you present and he went ahead and brewed a terrible beer,” Augie laughs as we dip into headily approachable Carton BDG, a nut-charred, black-peppered, coffee-roasted dry body evoking French bread crust. “He started making better beers and Chris and I were drinking a lot. If we could get Russian River’s Pliney The Elder, we’d drink it as a session beer. So Jesse attempted to make a session beer. After five attempts, we were getting closer to what we truly wanted. We sent Jesse off on a year of internships to Georgia’s Terrapin Brewery and Kelso in Brooklyn.”

For mid-afternoon dessert, I try the pilot version of an unsweetened session stout exhibiting acridly swampy earthen soiling and chocolate-soured coffee oiling. According to Chris, it’s the world’s only dried milk stout. A finalized version will be available in January 2012.

“Ultimately, our plan was to expand beyond kegs,” Augie says. “We want to stay this size until we could bottle or can our own beer instead of using a contract brewer. As beach bums, we don’t necessarily want to bottle because boaters handle cans easier. Drinkability is a priority.”

Augie then elucidates about ‘loving the provocative interplay between beer, wine and food.’ Before long, the loquacious host displays a solid appreciation for ‘the difference certain hop spices and yeast batches make upon discovery.’

A week later, Augie shows up at Little Fall’s 381 Main to pour Come Out & Play, a one-time ‘common lager’ bringing chocolate-spiced dried fruiting to resinous Warrior-hopped nuttiness.

He concludes, “Last time we were here, 381 sold-out our Pumpkin Cream Ale in 30 minutes. So we thought we’d bring up something special again.”

During a March 2012 stopover, got to try a few new Carton beverages alongside the wife. While conversing with Carton brewmaster, Jesse Ferguson, at the first floor brewing area, he pours me a just-finished version of his latest concoction, Red Rye Returning. Served right from the tank, its caressing brown-sugared chocolate malting and dainty fig-sugared dalliance sit atop a serene peat-y rye base tingled by mild Simcoe hop bittering.

Then it’s off to the second floor bar where a few dozen brew hounds sample Carton’s sessionable Boat Beer and toast its brisk citric lure. Ferguson’s partners, Augie and Chris Carton, greet me and break out a pilot version of Honey Porter, a sensational newly tapped libation bringing uppity rum-spiced illusions to smoked maple molasses, black chocolate, honeyed pecan, purple grape, hickory and chicory illusions. Augie then gives me a shot of a fantastic Caribbean rum called Shipwreck that he’s trying to emulate with future piloted renditions.

As we get set to leave, I meet Dan Hitchcock, a young brewer whose Rushing Duck Brewing is due to open June ’12 in Chester, New York. The former Weyerbacher brewer (and American Brewers Guild grad) promises year-rounds such as Coffee Porter, Strong Ale and West Coast Pale Ale.

www.cartonbrewing.com

WORMTOWN BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

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WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS

WORMTOWN BREWERY represents the second largest New England city, Worcester, an industrial and manufacturing community that’s home to Holy Cross University 30 miles west of Boston. Speedy expansion allowed Wormtown to move into its own 10,000 square foot downtown space (open St. Patrick’s Day 2015 in an old Buick dealership) after being housed at Peppercorns Grille for five years.

Brewer Ben Roesch offers “a piece of Massachusetts in every glass” thanks to locally sourced grains and hops. A fabulous Underground Ale Series is due sometime in 2016. A new bottling line allows flagship offerings such as the increasingly popular Be Hoppy, Bottle Rocket Pale Ale and Pumpkin Ale to be sold at liquor stores for deeper commercial exposure.

A backyard grain silo and stone-slated side patio mark Wormtown’s exterior while 10 tap handles grace the terrazzo-floored tasting room bar (with nifty front-walled beer name canvas, high ceilings, exposed pipes, Gruber growler filler and windowed brew tanks).

I stopped in after lunch at Brew City Grill – a few doors down – during January ’16, exploring seven previously untried libations.

Easygoing Fresh Patch Pumpkin got things going with its sweet pumpkin pie spicing contrasting dry pumpkin-roasted vegetalia, leaving a light ginger-nutmeg-allspice trail.

Described as a “liquid fueled rocket” dedicated to pioneering engineer Doctor Robert Goddard, Bottle Rocket Pale Ale loads citric-peeled tropicalia onto rye malt graining and grassy hop astringency.

Next, outstanding mainstay Hopulence DIPA, a sharply embittered citric-pined full body, brought a large yellow grapefruit peel contingent to orange-peeled pineapple, papaya, guava and passionfruit tropicalia (above the delicate French bread base).

Classic English brown ale, Blizzard Of ’78, utilized local roasted coffee beans from Acoustic Jam for its intriguing blend as cocoa dryness, charred nuttiness and dark-roasted hop bittering seeped into the reedy cherrywood bottom.

Combining subtle peat-smoked malts with cocoa-powdered brown chocolate sweetness and sugary dried fruiting, hybridized Slow Burn Rauch Bock retained a light bourbon lilt.

Just as interesting, Snafu Rye Wine combined dry rye malts with sweet IPA fruiting, bringing its tangy lemon-candied pineapple, peach, orange and tangerine glaze to the fore.

Arguably Wormtown’s finest offering this cold day was Sweet Tats, a robust breakfast-styled oatmeal stout surging forth with sugared coffee overtones backed by maple molasses oats, brown chocolate, espresso and vanilla richness.    

WORMTOWN’S FORMER BREWERY AT PEPPERCORNS:

Now occupied by Dave Richardson’s Flying Dreams Brewery, Peppercorns hosted Wormtown originally.

Connected to Peppercorns Grille & Tavern on Park Avenue in a freestanding tan edifice (with bright red Peppercorns sign), Wormtown has made fabulous inroads since opening its doors in 2010, winning a few Great International Beer Festival awards for a few well-regarded offerings.

On my initial post-Thanksgiving ’11 trip, my wife and I settled in for dinner at Peppercorns, seated across the pristine 10-stool wood bar near the slate gray side wall. Exposed pipes, multiple TV’s, several tables and local sports memorabilia bedeck the crowded bar while the equally busy wood-furnished backspace offered family dining. Wormtown’s glass-encased brew room sidles the right side next to the parking area.

Besides Wormtown’s ten efficient selections, Peppercorns serves bottled beers by Magic Hat, Abita, Dogfish Head, Bear Republic and Smuttynose (plus the tapped version of Berkshire Steel Rail) as well as extensive wine choices. Drink of the Week, Liquid Marijuana, blended Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum with Blue Curacao, Malibu Madori Pineapple Juice and sour mix. Hearty Italian dishes, burgers, seafood, and Neapolitan pizza crowded a large menu.

As the New England Patriots spanked the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday eve, I delved into a rich lobster corn soup and Bolognese Pasta (with beef, pork, tomatoes and herbs) to go with my ample sampler trays. One of the most impressive beers available this autumnal twilight was enchanting Wormtown Birthday Brew #1, a celebratory 1st anniversary ale placing woody Amarillo hops beside piney grapefruit-pineapple-peach-apple-mango fruiting and creamy corn-sugared caramel malts.

Lighter thirsts would be wise to start with mild red-orange-fruited Elm Park Amber Ale, a straightforward cereal-grained, caramel-toasted, peppery-spiced, beechwood-seared concoction just amiable enough to suit amateurs and aficionados alike.

Sweet-corned honeyed wheat lined the front end of fall seasonal, Wormtown Oktoberfest, a phenol-spiced mid-ranger carrying citric Noble hops to a back-tongued vegetal simmer.

Diacetyl lemon-rotted light body, Seven Hills Pale Ale, will provoke hop-heads with its grassy-hopped lemon rind bittering, dry bark acridity, and solvent-like alkaline acidity. And the washed-out Turtle Boy Blueberry Ale gives its astringent blueberry souring, slick hop phenols and nitro-like cream ale mouthfeel only a modicum of space to roam above the light white wheat backdrop.

Brewer Ben Roesch’s best offerings were right around the corner. On the dry side, The Buk Rye Pale Ale (brewed exclusively for Boston’s famed Bukowski Tavern) slipped pumpernickel rye breading into Citra-hopped grapefruit-lemon-pineapple-mango fruiting, toasted mineral graining and peppery herbage.

Even drier, Be Hoppy IPA matched dry grapefruit-juiced juniper bittering and pine-resinous floral spices to brisk orange-lemon-peach overtones layered atop creamy crystal malting.

Richer than its initial 2010 version, Mass Hole boasts ‘crystallized barley and zesty citrus,’ picking up wood-smoked malts, ample hop spicing and sharp nuttiness atop unripe orange, dried fig and grape esters. A nuttier find, Wormtown Wintah Brown Ale, allowed smoky cocoa, Brazil nut, walnut, hazelnut and tobacco illusions to infiltrate roasted hop-charred spices to its toasted brown breaded finish.

Tonight’s after dinner treat, Woosta Weizenbock, pleated chocolate-spiced smoked malts with sweet banana, cherry, apple and grape illusions as well as tertiary fig-sugared stewed prune, raisin puree, and date dalliances.

On half-hour pop-in during March 2012, tried Worcester’s Bravest Wheat Ale. Its herbal-spiced yellow fruiting, prickly hop fizz and candied crystal malting allowed mild lemon-limed orange peel tartness to reach menthol-freshened salty bottom.

www.wormtownbrewery.com

10 miles south of Worcester in the rural confines of Sturbridge, YANKEE SPIRITS (376 Route 20) had one of the best beer selections on the East Coast, comparing favorably to poughkeepsie’s Half Time and Manhattan’s New Beer Distributors.

CRICKET HILL BREWERY – RICK REED

United States Brewpubs, ,

CRICKET HILL BOASTS ‘BEST BEER ON EARTH’

It’s truly fitting that Grateful Dead’s “Built To Last” would be playing on the radio as I make my initial visitation to Cricket Hill Brewing Company. Just a few weeks earlier, the Fairfield-based microbrewery had been temporarily shutdown due to the nasty flooding Hurricane Irene brought to the area. Happily, the decade-old warehouse housing Cricket Hill was spared from water damage.

“God must love beer,” owner Rick Reed proclaims over the phone just days earlier. “Everybody else got flooded so there’s this Fairfield camaraderie now. We’re creating beer energy.”

Nevertheless, there were some early problems to overcome when Cricket Hill tried opening its doors May 15th, 2001. The first major concern was almost a showstopper. Reed bought brewing equipment, set up operations and filed for a federal brewer’s permit, but the disastrous events of 9-11 slowed the filing process and Reed didn’t receive a permit until 2002. Meanwhile, he’s struggling to pay rent and electricity to no avail.

“My brewer at the time told me as long as we have all this downtime, let’s brew a lager instead of an ale. So we made East Coast Lager,” Reed recalls. “Most microbreweries won’t do lagers because it takes too long and uses up too much space. Flying Fish doesn’t do any, but we do three now.”

Before getting involved in the brewing game, Reed worked in the computer services industry finding help for companies hiring cheaper overseas labor. On his 10th wedding anniversary, he and wife Patti headed to Bermuda. While driving around on a scooter, they came across now-defunct Triangle Brewery.

“Triangle had some wonderful beers,” Reed admits. “We left there knowing I had to get involved with brewing. The owner was a New Jersey accountant and the brewer left Chicago when his wife dumped him. I got a nice severance package from my old company and never looked back.”

At the time, there were only five breweries in Jersey. And Reed believed he could help Coors-Bud-Miller swiggers make the transition to better easy-to-drink beers.

Reed contends, “We didn’t want to scare away macrobrew drinkers. Our philosophy was to create Step One beers. Our four flagship beers – East Coast Lager, Hopnotic I.P.A., Colonel Blides Altbier and Breakfast Ale were definitely approachable. We also felt Jersey may be a fickle market, but when it turns it’ll do so with a vengeance. We’re a huge market.”

By 2007, Reed received additional capital from retired financier, John Watts, whose self-proclaimed job description, ‘Reserve and Small Batch Inspector,’ barely scrapes the surface. His monetary contribution helped Cricket Hill acquire fermenters and packaging supplies. And yes, he did help expand the specialty line and Reserve Series.

Presently, Cricket Hill is the third largest state brewery behind Flying Fish and River Horse, brewing 2,000 barrels and 13,000 cases of beer per year. A Pittsburgh native weaned on Iron City Beer (a ho-hum libation nearly as metallic as its namesake), Reed got into Ballantine Ale in the early ‘70s. At the time, he was a hard-nosed American refusing to try imported beers. Many years later, New Jersey’s Waterloo Beerfest had some great beers and he wondered why everyone was not “drinking this stuff.” Though he can’t remember which beers he enjoyed, Reed soon attended the American Brewers Guild for online testing and a one-week training session in Sacramento. In fact, Reed started a recent 25-day intern program for novice brewers at Cricket Hill.

“It exposes apprentices to every angle of a little brewery, from filtering to cleanup. So far, we’ve had a dozen guys come and ten now have jobs in the industry. Two are at Magic Hat and some others are at Brooklyn, Dogfish Head, Weyerbacher and Alaska breweries. They leave here with such a wonderful foundation of knowledge people hire them as cellar men and assistant brewers. It’s not as intense training as the Brewers Guild, but we take on three people per month for direct training. Presently, we’re writing a course curriculum,” he acknowledges.

Though Cricket Hill doesn’t necessarily make designer beers, head brewer, Mehmet Kadiev (who left for J.J. Bittings during 2013), has definitely enlarged the palate of his aged-in-the-wool boss. Kadiev made his mark at Fayetteville, Arkansas’ respectable Hog House Brewing Company. But he pined to move back to his home state and soon took on head duties for Reed.

“I got the opportunity and was happy,” Kadiev tells me as I sample Cricket Hill Nocturne Dark Lager, a brown-sugared, cocoa-seeded, coffee-roasted delight with bitter hops submerging malt sweetness. “A huge part of brewing is consistency. Hop varieties change from season to season. I’m a Hophead who loves Imperial I.P.A.’s. I also enjoy Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous 11th Anniversary Ale. It’s a supposed black I.P.A., which is an oxymoron to call a pale beer ‘black.’ I’d rather call them India Black Ales.”

Besides crafting batches of best selling East Coast Lager, Kadiev’s brewing a Russian Imperial Stout and Porter set for the winter, both of which will also come in limited edition bourbon barrel versions.

While Reed may not have an overly expansive palate, he admits being pleasantly surprised by how well the Reserve Series has been.

“The bourbon barleywine I could drink all night long. I love bourbon.” He adds, “You learn to have this appreciation for home brewers. It’s a lot of fun and a big adventure. The craft beer industry is truly a blast. I don’t have a very good critical palate. I just go by flavors without picking up certain illusions. Do I like or dislike it?”

So far, all Reed’s beers are made to the strict specifications of Germany’s purity law, which states only water, barley, hops, and yeast are used.

“I’m a purist,” Reed insists. “That’s not to say we won’t add seasoning. We never have. But one of our small batches may utilize that.”

Draft-only small batch brews such as Cricket Hill Belgian Dubbel have already knocked the sox off some Asbury Park Beerfest patrons I drank with in early October.

As we leave Reed’s office and return to the brew room, the two of us settle into a bottled version of Cricket Hill Bourbon Barleywine, the 500th brew made here at their busy 3,000 square foot facility. A heavenly elixir a tad softer than typical oak-aged barleywines, its chewy caramel malting and prickled hop spicing lead a parade of vanilla, pecan pie, chocolate cake, butterscotch, marzipan and coconut illusions.

Like a rugged old codger, Reed likes to tell tall tales to unsuspecting customers. If you’re speculating about Cricket Hill’s chirpy moniker, he’ll tell you one of three stories.

“I tell ‘em when the Germans came over the first commercial hop farm in Saranac was named Cricket Hill. That’s a lie.” He continues, “The second is Australians drink more beer per capita than any country and the game of cricket could last for days and the blokes drinking blue collar beers sit on Cricket Hill. That’s true. But the real story is my Boonton-based 1753 farmhouse had a barn we wanted to convert into a tavern but got denied permission.”

Furthermore, Reed’s Hilarious Brew Plant Tour Speech on Youtube (given at most Friday night 5 to 7 PM tasting tours) is extremely entertaining. Amongst other goodies, Reed defiantly alleges, “You have been brainwashed since you were children to believe there’s nothing else to drink than Miller-Coors. They think we’re stupid!”

On my second sojourn to Cricket Hill on Veteran’s Day in November, Reed gives a different rant at the tasting tour, one that salutes our brave armed forces. After toasting the vets on hand, he then rails against the music industry’s archaic royalty rules, which state that he has to ‘supposedly’ pay $500 for any copyrighted songs the local instrumental Jazz combo plays.

As an extended jam of Van Morrison’s seductive “Moondance” plays in the background, the line for beer goes out the backdoor. But patient customers have no trouble reaching the serving station within a few minutes. On tap, Cricket Hill’s Paymaster Porter retains a deeper prune hue, richer mocha malting, more pronounced dried fruiting, and mossier earthen dewiness.

Even better, the newly unveiled Trappist India Pale Ale displays a wonderful musty Belgian yeast funkiness to contrast affluent raisin, prune, and fig notes above feisty sharp-hopped black peppering and creamy caramel malting. It’s a splendid addition to Cricket Hill’s increasingly illuminating elixirs.

Best of all, Reed’s enthusiastic disposition and jovial personality make the Friday tasting sessions the perfect retreat for hardened beer nuts. And the love he shows for his sanctified minions extends to the beer Cricket Hill serves. Cheers!

ALLAGASH BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

Katie Wanders : Allagash Brewing Company

PORTLAND, MAINE

Sometimes a little bit o’ luck is all ya need. Take Allagash Brewing owner, Rob Tod, who stumbled into the beer business washing kegs at Vermont’s second largest brewery, Otter Creek, in ’93. At the time, he didn’t know the biz well, but fell in love with brewing after two days of work. In ’95, Tod began Portland, Maine’s ALLAGASH BREWING, an astoundingly successful venture that has led to a lifetime commitment to making interestingly renowned libations.

“We did in on the cheap,” Tod explains as we celebrate Allagash night at Jersey City’s newborn Barcade, November ‘11. “Shipyard and Geary were already opened so there was a readied local market. After the plumbing and welding, we started with a no-frills draft only system with two fermenters.”

A big part of Allagash’s successful culture has come from crafting innovative recipes and styles that moved beyond the inaugural Belgian-styled novelties. Though limited in capacity, Tod never let his small space constrain the audacious originality of an ever-expanding lineup of gratifying suds. At any given time he may have five different beers barrel aging and then blended differently.

“We taste the barrel aged versions every six months and let them sit for a two-year period,” Tod says. “Anyone at the brewery who has an idea for a beer could brew one on a 10-gallon pilot system. Some have become full-scale beers.”

Allagash is constantly coming out with limited release beers (check the Beer Index), learning from each experience. As the only American brewery invited to Belgian brewfest, Allagash made several wonderful spontaneously fermented beers.

“We’re going back March 2012,” the proud entrepreneur indicates. “We re-created the Belgian yeast funk with Maine’s soft water, which is well-suited for our beers. Our Interlude and Confluence use brettanomyces yeast we found at the brewery growing in a batch of beer we cultured. We also brewed Thing 1 and Thing 2 for an event in Boston. We take the first runnings of a base beer and ferment separately.”

At Barcade’s Allagash Brewing Night, several sour ales and wild ales make the rounds with positive feedback coming from the packed house this rainy Thursday night. There’s typical Belgian-styled fare such as Allagash’s signature Curieux, Dubbel, Four, Grand Cru, Interlude, and White, plus previously untried offerings such as Victor and Victoria (Belgian Strong Ales) and Bourbon Black.

Even the industrious Tod has not tried every single beer he’s crafted onsite. Though he’s tasted Thing 1 and Thing 2 off the tank before carbonation and conditioning, the tall zymurgist has yet to try the finished draft version. Hopefully, tonight will be the right time to indulge. Cheers!

CAVALRY BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

OXFORD, CONNECTICUT

A respected 23-year military combat veteran in the 2nd armored cavalry regiment, new-sprung brewmeister Michael Mc Creary developed a love for English ales while running a sales force over in Europe. And now he’s importing English barley and hops to create his own crisply approachable British styled elixirs under the banner of CAVALRY BREWING COMPANY (closed May ’11)

“My policy is to make Cavalry a veteran-owned and run operation,” Mc Creary informs me as I peruse his 3,000 square foot warehouse space in an industrial mall along the rolling countryside of rural Oxford, Connecticut. “Right now I have only one employee for sales and delivery, but I’m about to hire another one.”

Starting January 2010, it took the industrious entrepreneur four-and-a-half months to assemble equipment and then fill brew tanks. Since then, he has crafted four flagship and two seasonal ales. In order to get his beers to truly emulate specific British characteristics, Mc Creary treats the local water source in order to mirror the ‘hard water’ from the Midlands of England. And from the taste of each dry-bodied potion, I’d say he’s definitely on to something. Each selection seemed to identify with the rustic tree-lined foliage surrounding this clean-as-a-whistle central Connecticut brewery.

As Led Zeppelin’s chilling “Heartbreaker” plays in the background, I sampled Cavalry’s lightest offering, Dog Soldier Golden Ale from the tap. Modeled after an English session beer, its grassy Fuggle hop earthiness and dry lemony orange interlude mellowed into a light rye finish.

Next, Hatchplug Ale, a Classic English bitter named after a first lieutenant, seemed not far removed from an easygoing Extra Special Bitter, with its earthen leafy hops and barley-toasted cereal graining picking up alfalfa, whey and mushroom illusions (finishing drier than Dog Soldier).

Taking its moniker from a World War II brigade, Marauder I.P.A. maintained an easy flow as well, but its bark-dried oaken cedar parch and desiccated date-fig-prune conflux leaned towards a Classic English IPA style instead of a citric-pined American takeoff. Fuggle-hopped earthen peat soiling and minor nuttiness underscore this medium-bodied delight.

“The biggest pain in the ass is bottling,” Mc Creary confesses. “I’d rather do kegs any day of the week and service local bars.”

Presently, he turns out about 180 cases per week and the rest is kegged for consumption. After he runs back and forth getting one of the brew lines ready for boil, Mc Creary serves up an experimental concoction just filtered, transferred and carbonated the day before. X Limited Edition, a Nut Brown Ale, brought mild tea-leafed hop-toasted ESB-like bittering to refined peanut-shelled walnut-chestnut-butternut illusions, ancillary autumnal foliage, and tertiary citric licks.

The Eagles revitalized sneer “Already Gone” blares from the speakers as I slip into Cavalry’s darkest ale selections. Nomad Stout places roasted hops and black chocolate malts into a sedate black coffee setting, picking up hazelnut along the way.

“That’s probably my simplest recipe given to me by Steve Potts of Bull Lane Brewery. I use a highly attenuated, very aggressive yeast for that Dry Irish Stout.” he offers while the opening riffs of Derek & The Dominoes esteemed “Layla” takes us back to the Seventies. “I like the malt-y front end of my beers. And I like to get a little hop bite at the backend.”

Though not presently available on tap, Mc Creary’s best bottled offering may well be Big Wally Porter, a creamy caramel nutty medium body utilizing whole bean coffee and designated after an Iraqi commander. Peanut, hazelnut and Brazil nut crowd the hop-charred cocoa bittering and dark chocolate confections.

“We have a Cask Wednesday in the middle of each month. It’s a traditional cask beer and we usually get around 25 people for the $5 tasting tour,” Mc Creary concludes.

Check out the Beer Index for all bottled reviews. Also, 20 miles west of Oxford is Danbury’s Fairgrounds Wine & Spirits, featuring a large selection of microbrewed beers.

www.cavalrybrewing.com

SPRING HOUSE TAPROOM

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for spring house brewing co

LANCASTER / MOUNT JOY, PENNSYLVANIA

Residing in Lancaster’s Central Market at Hager Arcade, SPRING HOUSE TAPROOM serves craft beer originating from nearby Conestoga’s Spring House Brewing – originally a small keg-only barnyard operation started in 2007. Utilizing natural spring water emanating from its basement, the boorish stable’s brew house has grown fast. On my pre-noon stopover, 7 Gates Pale Ale, Spring House’s flagship beer, just started getting bottled for Pennsylvania consumption.

The grand opening of the Taproom on February 3, 2011, allowed brewmaster Matt Keasey to expand beyond any stylistic limitations. A glass-fronted alehouse with ultra-mod orange and black interior, the midsize open-spaced room featured a U-shaped bar (with 3 TV’s), sidling wood-furnished tables, and exposed ductwork. Local patrons have taken advantage of the maroon mug club.

On this sizzling hot Thursday, Van Halen’s “Panama” blares from the speakers as I ingest seven pleasing concoctions that go just past conventional barriers. But before testing the outer limits, I sampled above-mentioned mainstream lager-like mainstay, 7 Gates Pale Ale, a crystal-malted dry body with mildewed orange astringency, lemon mold souring, root vegetable slipstream, and wet cardboard bottom.

Nearly as mainstream accessible but way better, Goofy Foot Summer Wheat retained a moderate fresh-watered citric dalliance and floral-spiced wisp.

Next up, two Belgian-inspired beers showed off Keasey’s broad range. Diabolical Dr. Wit ceded a curious cologne entry enjoining evergreen overtones, herbal rosemary-thyme intensity, floral lavender-lotus-hibiscus accents, and blood orange-peeled kaffir-limed acidity atop sugary maple.

Robot Bastard Belgian IPA spread buttery banana, nectarine, cantaloupe, and pineapple tropicalia over pumpkin-glazed chamomile tea nuances.

Staying on the fruity side, persuasive Mango IPA contrasted cotton-candied mango sweetness against modest grapefruit-peeled bittering, picking up ancillary orange, apricot, and peach enticements.

Mouth-puckering tropical alternative, Two Dudes Wet Paint Guava Ale brought dry lemon-pitted bittering to soft-spiced guava tartness, rotted orange sourness, and subtle perfume notions.

To finalize this eye-opening session, there were two nutty alternative elixirs. Perfectly descriptive Peanut Butter & Jelly maintained a certain jellybean likeness, layering chocolate-y peanut-shelled whimsicality with grape jam, strawberry, and boysenberry illusions.

For dessert, Peanut Butter Chocolate Stout spread creamy peanut-buttered black chocolate richness above vanilla, macadamia, hazelnut and cola undertones.

www.springhousebeer.com

IRON HILL BREWERY – MAPLE SHADE

United States Brewpubs,

Inside a freestanding building at Kings Highway Commerce Center just outside Philadelphia in South Jersey’s Maple Shade lies the eighth IRON HILL franchise. Celebrating its second anniversary (July 21, 2011), this capacious red-bricked post with black awning and tinted windows was sojourned prior to crossing the Delaware River into north Philly.

An upscale modern facility with dark wood furnishings, central bar (with 3 TV’s), hanging lamps, back dining, and rear brew tanks succeeds as both a sportsbar and mall eatery. Plus, a newly marketed growler machine, hooked up to each tap line, takes the load of busy bartenders by automatically filling the half-gallon containers and adding carbon dioxide.

Exquisite food, described as ‘new American cuisine,’ truly sufficed. I had the fish soft taco, a delicious catfish dish draped with pineapple, red cabbage, and jalapeno slaw on top of a flour tortilla, while imbibing ten seasonal/ specialty ales (forgoing the five house beers tried at other Iron Hill sites). Lucky patrons may purchase favorite selections in bottled versions to take home.

Brewer Chris La Pierre stopped by to say hi as I quaffed his well-rounded, finely detailed offerings. On cask, subtle medium-bodied English-styled bitter, Anvil Ale, retained a dryer reedy musk, floral-hopped chamomile or green tea sway, mild pumpernickel lick and teensy tangerine twist.

The nitro version of staple Ironbound Ale, known as Kellerbound, brought soft citric-hopped bittering to creamy crystal-caramel malts and tertiary floral herbage.

Though the traditional German Pilsner seemed too mainstream, its dry-bodied maize astringency, citric sharpness, raw-honeyed bittering and buttery milling grains suit long-time lagerheads.

Three expressive Belgian-styled brews competed favorably against two German wheat beers. Light-bodied moderation, Belgian Wit, secured subtle banana-clove-coriander expectancy with candi-sugared Belgian yeast, unripe orange-tangerine tartness and herbal nuances.

More impressive, Belgian IPA coaxed sharp citric-spiced bittering above sweet crystal malting, lacing floral grapefruit-peeled pineapple-pear-apricot fruiting with parched bark-dried kindling to its rye-breaded backend.

Better still, tropical-fruited Cannibal, a strong Belgian pale ale, imparted a ripe banana-peach-pear conflux supplemented by white-peppered clove spicing, herbaceous splendor and sudden licorice notes.

On the Bavarian tip, delicate Hefeweizen melded clove spicing to lemony orange-banana tartness.

Softly perfume-hopped Hopfenweizen benefited from its mild summery effervescence, enhancing the expectant banana-clove-coriander theme with candied pineapple and tangy orange.

A complex double IPA, crafted to celebrate Iron Hill’s anniversary, totally ignited the early afternoon crowd. Brewed with citric Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hops, the illustrious Second Rising plied sweet whiskey warmth to mild mocha malts, picking up sugared fig, fried banana, red grape, date, almondine, and lemony coconut illusions along the way.

Nearly as good, Kryptonite coerced a full-thrust hop-embittered assault out of brisk wood-seared fruit spicing, contrasting amiable caramel, butterscotch, marzipan and vanilla sweetening.

My wife and I left her parents’ ocean front Long Beach Island domicile to pick up her mother at Philadelphia International Airport, February 2012. Along the way, we ate ultimate nachos at Maple Shade’s Iron Hill while I consumed three previously untried dark ales plus one tantalizing Belgian-styled beaut.

Luca Brasi Milk Stout really killed! Its dark-roasted Sumatran coffee bean bittering perfectly contrasted the chewy burnt caramel sweetness and ancillary black chocolate, vanilla, Kahlua and raspberry notions seeping through the charred hop roast.

Nearly as great, Belgo Black (placing flagship Pig Iron Porter in Belgian yeast) brought smoked molasses malting to Belgian chocolate spicing and fig-sugared raisin-prune nuances.

India Black IPA competed favorably with its earthen peat malts gaining cappuccino, espresso and dark chocolate tendencies above dark-fruited cherry, blackberry and fig illusions as well as ashen wood smoke.

Buttery sweet Unassisted Tripel Strong Ale gathered plum-sugared fig spicing for bubble-gummy banana-clove pleasantries.

www.ironhillbrewery.com

PRISM BEER CO.

United States Brewpubs,

NORTH WALES, PENNSYLVANIA

Situated in the back of a tan stucco professional complex along the railroad tracks in rural North Wales (north of Philly and east of Lancaster), PRISM BEER CO. opened October 2010 (then closed December 2017 and Mc Allister Brewing moved in). Brewer Rob De Maria, a Philly native, gained experience brewing keg-only beers. Retaining his formative recipes, but using different yeast, the former corporate worker initially found creative release as a home brewer.

Sojourning to Prism for a few after dinner libations, mid-July 2011, I got to encounter several approachable, yet totally experimental, craft brews. Entering through yellowed wood doors to a ten-seated L-shaped bar (with centered TV and nearby jukebox), this diminutive spot also had three wood tables and a glass-walled rear section storing brew tanks. A bottling line ready to be assembled downstairs will increase volume for this splendid neighborhood dig.

Alongside eight diverse selections, I downed a Prism Dog frankfurter dubbed Purple (loaded with chipotle beef chili, red onions, and pineapple relish). Lighter thirsts will appreciate citric-bound Shady Blond, with its dry lemon spicing and tart blood orange snip. Buttery pale ale, Par Tea, brought a mild black tea bittering to grapefruit-peeled lemon zest and apple-spiced wining.

Another softie, Funk Zone, a peculiar dry-bodied Irish Ale, possessed a surprising cinnamon cider theme reinforced by a tart lemon-peeled lime pucker, piquant brettanomyces souring, and maple syrupy ginger-nutmeg-allspice innuendo.

Dry clover-honeyed Bitto Honey IPA placed woody-hopped bittering, apple-skinned citric tartness, and floral spicing beside crystal malted almond-marzipan sweetness.

Moving to the even more stylistically deviant darker ales, there were four intriguingly indefinable aberrations. Deliriously fascinating Death March Hopless Black Ale allowed a vibrant star anise entry to abet lemon-peeled green apple tartness and ascending red-black licorice illusions.

Though listed as a traditional Black & Tan linking Par Tea’s citric regalia to Death March’s licorice flourish, Flying Magic Zebra’s prominent star anise luxuriance nullified any expectant mocha insistence. Also independently freewheeling, Love Is Evol Brown Ale overwhelmed its advertised strawberry tartness with plentiful jalapeno peppering as well as stove-burnt coffee, dark chocolate, and walnut illusions. Another stylistic departure, Insana Stout, hid bacon fat, coffee beans, and wild berries beneath soy-sauced smoked chocolate.

At Four Points By Sheraton, May ’13, refreshingly smooth Felony Imperial IPA brought citric-pined oily hop resin to maize-flaked backdrop, leaving ripe grapefruit and lemon fruiting.  

Prism’s maniacally investigative offerings will captivate adventurous beer hounds, but nonchalant neophytes need not apply.

www.prismbeer.com

JOBOY’S BREWPUB

United States Brewpubs,

We secretly dined at JoBoy's Brew Pub: Here's a review for our IncognEATo series | Local News | lancasteronline.com

MANHEIM, PENNSYLVANIA

On my mid-July 2011 overnight perusal of northern Philly and the outlying Lancaster area, the most accessible brewpub fare came from Manheim-based JOBOY’S. Located in the rustic rural hillside on Main Street at the historic Summy House just down the road from Pennsylvania’s Renaissance Fair (housing the smallish Swashbuckler Brewery), cozily wood-furnished JoBoy’s brings casual country comfort to local denizens, wayward road warriors, and inquiring ‘brewpies’ (groupie-like beer geeks).

Married owners Jeff and Jo Harless unveiled this intimate joint on April Fools Day, 2010 (closing August 2019). But the beers are no joke. Besides Jeff’s six delectable oblations (prepared with help by chef, Mike ‘Tug’ Mc Gall), I seriously enjoyed the terrific Southern-styled smoked pork sandwich with fried hush puppies.

A crooked red brick walkway from the rear parking lot leads to a slanted gray front porch. Upon entering the antiquated 1879 hotel tavern, a low ceiling 12-seated right bar with four booths welcomes patrons. One TV at the bar and another up front kept several bar drinkers entertained while a family-styled backroom and adjoining dining space suit the quieter supper crowd. Vintage provincial pictures, farm equipment, quilts, and antiques don the walls.

This mid-afternoon, I got introduced to a few well-rounded brews that leaned to the lighter side without getting commonplace.

For a zesty opener, Raspberry Summer Cream Ale brought judicious raspberry-seeded tartness to wheat-honeyed sweetness and sugary bubblegum fruitiness.

Next, moderate-bodied German Wheat sauntered by with its simple banana-clove expectancy.

Spicy red-fruited Manheim Red saddled its candi-sugared sweetness with an India Pale Ale-like grapefruit-peeled orange, apricot, and lemon meringue zing.

Briskly fruited American IPA contrasted mild floral-hopped wood dryness and grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering against lively apple, peach and pear illusions overriding biscuit-y caramel malts.

Anyone with a taste for a proper British bitter should welcome JoBoy’s ESB, an endearing dry body gathering mineral-grained pumpernickel-rye breading, sun-drenched dried fruit astringency, and mild herbal traces.

Easygoing JoBoy’s Robust Porter finished off my day with a sedately soft-tongued goodbye, draping black cherry over creamed coffee and dark chocolate.

Fine beer and authentic barbecue readied by ‘good old boys busting their asses.’ What more could a thirsty carnivore ask for? This enticing niche-like ‘destination restaurant’ has been jam-packed since its advent.

www.joboysbrewpub.com

COASTAL EXTREME BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND

Since 2009, microbrewery COASTAL EXTREME BREWING COMPANY, makers of Newport Storm brand beers, has occupied its new freestanding building two miles down the road from Newport’s historic downtown district and one mile south of Coddington Brewery, visited February 2011 (then became Newport Craft Brewing). Behind the green aluminum exterior lies a clean brewing operation with up-front tasting room, high ceilings, silver brew tanks, observation deck and rum distillery (apparently 22 rum distilleries were located in Newport during 1769, but floundered over time).

For $7, patrons receive a tulip glass to try four ample samples. While my wife enjoyed sweet blueberry-juiced, Graham Cracker-honeyed dessert treat, Rhode Island Blueberry (bottled version fully reviewed in Beer Index with brewers’ other products), I tried two similarly styled Black IPA-inclined aspirants.

Firstly, rich ruby-browned Newport Storm Spring Ale (listed as an Irish Red Ale but previously known as Maelstrom IPA) brought piney molasses sapping, coarse nutty sharpness, roasted hop char, and burnt toast shavings to cocoa-dried blackberry, black currant, and black cherry rasp.

Even better, bottle conditioned Newport Storm 2010 11th Anniversary Black Ale spread resinous hop-oiled bitterness across dark rum-spiced molasses-soaked cocoa-dried chocolate malting, date nut-breaded black grape, black cherry, and blackberry illusions, and floral wisps (with teasing ethanol hints).

www.newportstorm.com

Over the years, I’ve picked up a nice selection of craft beers at Newport-based Vicker’s Liquors (next to the Tennis Hall of Fame). On April ’12 visit, bought Newport Storm Ryan Rye Pale Ale and Sabrina Belgian Pale Ale plus Mayflower’s IPA, Golden Ale, PAle Ale and Porter as well as Haverhill GestAlt Brown Ale and Cisco The woods Monomoy Kriek.