PORT JEFFERSON, NEW YORK
Taking up the first floor of a white-railed barn house across the street from Port Jefferson Harbor and amongst the sundry boutique shops crowding the pristine Chandler Square harbor front, PORT JEFF BREWING COMPANY was established October 2011. An enclosed outdoor side deck with barrel tables and a wraparound wood-planked covered porch offer plenty of seating for the diminutive pub.
Inside, a small serving station with twelve-plus taps sidles a glass-enclosed brewing area. Unlike most craft breweries, there is only one small table and some nautical decorations in the dinky brick-floored pub so most visitors buy growlers and cans to go.
My wife and I visited Port Jeff on a beautiful Sunday at noon, September ’23, to consume eleven well-rounded, diversified suds. I’d already discovered Port Jeff’s year-round brews such as Schooner Pale Ale, Runaway Ferry Imperial IPA, Porter and Starboard Oatmeal Stout (reviewed in Beer Index).
For a light-bodied starter, sessionable golden ale, Centennial Sunset, spread mild lemon zesting over sugary pale malts, retaining a clean Seltzer-like spritz.
Tartly sweet strawberry and spritzy lemon fizz received light vanilla creaming for amiable fruited blonde ale, Darryl Strawberry, named for the Met-Yankee baseball icon.
Approachable pale ale, Fresh Hop, plied mild lemon-dried Cascade hop bittering to floral spiced herbage and its white breaded base.
Mildly embittered pineapple, grapefruit and orange rind zesting soaked lightly pined IPA, Casa De Roberto, a dry pale malted moderation.
Lightly creamed vanilla froth guarded the lemony grapefruit peel bittering and resinous pine-hopped stickiness of Shiznit IPA, a straw-cleared moderate-medium body.
Lightly salted lemon-limed passionfruit tartness surfaced for fruited sour, Mermaid Tears, picking up white grapefruit and mandarin orange daubs above slightly acidulated wheat malts.
Rummy orange zesting given creamy vanilla froth and banana pureed sugaring to contrast the boozy vodka-induced 10.3% ABV silking, salty green grape esters and hard cider remnant of lusciously rich Orange Dream, a mighty tripel.
Meanwhile, semi-flagship tripel, Trippel H, caressed candied lemony orange tartness and peachy pineapple tanginess plus sweet banana-clove snips and chestnut daubs with soft herbal spicing above buttery pilsner malt sugaring.
Toned down pumpkin spicing, delicate roasted pumpkin salting and mild brown-sugared nutmeg and cinnamon gave seasonal Boo Brew its blanched flavor.
Chocolate syrup draped deep-fried banana chip sweetness for robust Banana Porter, leaving maple-glazed molasses and peanut-hazelnut snips in the dust.
Coffee-oiled black chocolate bittering in a soft tongued setting guided Coffee Porter – Nitro, a wildflower honeyed take on its flagship porter.
