GREENPORT HARBOR BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Peconic — Greenport Harbor Brewing Company

PECONIC, NEW YORK

Right in the heart of wine country at Long Island Sound’s North Fork hamlet, GREENPORT HARBOR’S second location (the first’s in nearby Greenport at a dilapidated firehouse opened July ’09) is situated on prime farmland and came to fruition in 2015. Taking up a yellow wood-shingled, brown-trimmed warehouse and overhead doored brewing facility, the expansive brewery includes a large old wood-tabled picnic area and aluminum-tabled side deck.

Inside the epoxy concrete-floored pub, an aluminum-walled back bar with twelve draught handles (and prominent American flag) services the wood top serving station, three plastic-chaired community tables and red bricked hearth seating. A right side wood-furnished blackened cement-floored dining space is also available for fine pub grub.

After dipping our feet in Orient Point, my wife and I head west to grab a picnic table to down five previously untried suds alongside a caprice sandwich on our initial GH trip during a sunny Friday afternoon, September ’23.

Muskily mineral grained Haus Pils, a moderate German pilsner, took floral-herbed Noble-hop mustiness, fresh-cut grassiness and mild lemon rot to rustic millet-spelt flouring.

Mild coriander-spiced mandarin orange sweetness picked up casual butternut-chestnut illusions, delicate herbal cilantro minting and rummy banana wisps for Sounding #5 Witbier.

Tart “dessert-styled” Pina Colada knockoff, Tiki Paradise Berliner Weiss, regaled tangy pineapple zesting, toasted coconut sweetness, dainty lemondrop souring and peachy orange-tangerine daubs above its milk-sugared oated wheat base.

Meanwhile, saltier lemon acidity anchored Bramble Paradise Berliner Weiss, leaving tart blackberry and raspberry souring to contain mild green grape vinegaring, spritzy pink champagne sudsiness and cranberry rhubarb snips over acidulated wheat malts.

Dryly full-bodied dark ale, Black Duck Porter, placed dark chocolate bittering next to burnt coffee oiling and tarry molasses gunk over peaty hop-charred black patent malts.

PORT JEFF BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Port Jefferson | Edible Long Island

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.

AUTODIDACT BEER

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for autodidact beer

MORRIS PLAINS, NEW JERSEY

Opened for business, March 2023, AUTODIDACT BEER crafts precision-guided, stylistically efficient brews. Occupying a pristine Morris Plains strip mall in an epoxy floored neo-Industrial middle space, Autodidact is run by long-time friends Ron Scouten and Ron Cassell, whose beer journey started when they utilized stovetop brewkits.

A concrete-topped ten-draught serving station anchors the studio-like black ceilinged pub. There’s a loungey right side area, four metal-chaired left side tables and benched tables. Windowed brew tanks are in the back.

I sojourned to Autodidact one rainy Thursday afternoon in September ’23 to try all eight available brews.

Delicate light-bodied Bavarian-styled Pastel Pilsner allowed nutty millet graining and husked corn dryness to spread thru mildly musky herbal hopped pungency.

Crisply clean dry-bodied West Coast-styled Hexagram Classic Pale Ale retained orange-oiled yellow grapefruit bittering and resinous floral herbage above muskily grained pale malting.

Soft-toned Wash Grisette let herbal botanicals soak into lemon-oiled vodka salting contrasted by honeyed rum florality.

Dry sea-salted liming and mild coriander spicing guided Burn Out The Limelight Gose, leaving lemony cologne musk on key lime pie tartness at the backend.

Easygoing Colder Hearts Cold IPA placed flaked rice sweetness inside its lemony orange-peeled grapefruit spritz, retaining a mildly creamed vanilla froth to contrast its latent grassy astringency.

Peachy pineapple tanginess, orange-peeled grapefruit zest and mildly salted guava-passionfruit enveloped Dualism New England IPA, as dry cannabis-oiled Strata hops and lemony pined Pacific Sunrise hops coalesced above sugary pale malts.

Rye-dried Sign The Bill Phil NEIPA utilized Sabro hops to remit mild coconut toasting, candied lollipop tartness, lemon meringue piquancy, orange marmalade tanginess and sugary spicing.

Oats-charred molasses treacled thru the nutty black chocolate bittering of Hawks And Doves Oatmeal Stout, a dryer stylistic changeup.

On Thanksgiving Eve ’23, sank four new Autodidact creations, including two less creamier and sourer NEIPA’s (with citric-pined West Coast aspirations) plus a dryer witbier and a herbier saison collab. I chatted with co-owning brewer, Ron Cassel, who was manning the tanks this cold afternoon.

Dried orange peel tartness and sour lemon rot dotted the delicate coriander spicing and teasing herbal musk of Tempest Witbier.

An interesting alliance with gypsy brewer, Dekkera, citric herbed barnyard-grained farmhouse ale, Late Bloomers Saison, placed tart lemon meringue, tangy marmalade, sweet banana and key lime piquancy across basil, sage and minty lemongrass seasoning.

Sharp piney citrus bittering embraced NEIPA, Shellstar, lifting bright lemony orange-peeled yellow grapefruit sunshine above mild oats-dried malts.

Dryer than Shellstar, lemon-dropped grapefruit, orange and pineapple zesting fronted Glint, a West Coast hop-influenced NEIPA with mild peachy mango tang and lightly soured redcurrant-gooseberry snips topping buttery oated wheat creaming.

EQUILIBRIUM MOBIUS PORTER WITH COFFEE AND VANILLA

Beers A-Z,

Updated Mobius variant betters original with its coffee-vanilla forward design. Soft-tongued Madagascar vanilla bean bittering absorbs lightly creamed coffee roast that then pervades dark roast hop-charred porter. At the finish, unsweetened cacao nibs insistence and dry espresso milking join vanilla coffee richness. Only some latent oily coffee remnant dampens fine prospect.

Möbius With Coffee And Vanilla - Equilibrium Brewery - Untappd

DESTINATION UNKNOWN PINA COLADA NEW ENGLAND IPA

Beers A-Z,

Salt-rimmed pineapple zesting and toasted coconut sugaring peruse lactose-aided vanilla creaming then given stiff vodka-like kick underscoring rummy Pina Colada knockoff. Marshmallow fluffed ambrosia salad illusions as well as orange marmalade tartness, lemon meringue piquancy, lime-zested guava souring and musty green grape esters provide ample follow-thru. Only a hint of alkaline astringency gets in the way of perfection.

Science of Selling Piña Coladas - Destination Unknown Beer Company - Untappd