On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, tenuously defined New England-styled IPA skirts stylish pulpiness as salted grapefruit zesting gains sour lemon spritz and meandering mandarin orange, honeydew and melon illusions as well as piney herbal respite.
ABOMINATION EVERY DAY FOG DOUBLE DRY-HOPPED IPA
On tap at Ambulance, delicate double dry-hopped New England IPA lets mild lemony orange tang gain subtle grapefruit-salted peach, pineapple and tangerine tinge as well as wispy floral herbage and understatedly dank piney hop resin for unassuming hazy golden moderation.
UNTIED WHAT’S THE HYPE IMPERIAL IPA W/COCONUT, PINEAPPLE & VANILLA BEANS
Steadfast orange-peeled grapefruit zesting gains laidback coconut-pineapple adjuncts and mellower mango-guava stint as mild piney hop bittering settles beneath. Delicate vanilla bean tannins influence tropical fruited nature but stylistic ‘milkshake’ and ‘New England’ labeling seem sketchy.
CAPE MAY KEY LIME CORROSION
Zestfully tart sour IPA adds mild lactobacillus acidity to dryly salted key lime juicing. Fizzy Soda-like citric spritz promotes tangy lemon-limed mandarin orange misting.
CAPE MAY CRUSHIN’ IT BLUEBERRY LEMON INDIA PALE ALE
Slightly sour lemony blueberry tartness and sunshiny pineapple-guava-grapefruit auxiliary scamper thru wearily defined nickel-hued Mosaic-Lemondrop-hopped IPA (with well hidden 8% ABV). Sour cranberry-crabapple illusions nearly outweigh its compromised citric zing. Needs firmer distinction.
INDUSTRIAL ARTS STATE OF THE ART: MOTUEKA IPA
Pillowy soft, fluffily white-headed pale yellow body features New Zealand’s Motueka-hopped tropical fruit souring. Typical East Coast IPA-like lemony orange pith bittering and mildly embittered piney hop astringency engage tartly limed peach, passionfruit and guava sourness over creamily soft-toned crystal pale malting.
KANE BLUE HOTEL INDIA PALE ALE
Efficiently modest, soft-tongued, Galaxy-hopped IPA brings easygoing lemony grapefruit-orange tang and ancillary tangerine-pineapple-mango-peach tropicalia to subtle piney hop resin, leaving a hint of dank bitterness above mild oated wheat base. A tidy easygoer pale ale lovers could enjoy as much as less bitter hop-heads.
JERSEY GIRL SUN KISSED CITRA INDIA PALE ALE
Lemony yellow grapefruit zesting brightens Citra-hopped moderation. In the midst, mild tangerine-pineapple-mango prickle and tart candied orange snip pick up wispy juniper-nipped pine resin above neutral oated wheat base.
AURORA DON’T ACT LIKE YOU’RE MAD ESB
On tap at Ambulance, stylish dewy peat mossing and distant nutty caramelization pick up unexpected cinnamon-spiced brown sugar sweetness, dried fig-prune licks and latent perfume musk for slightly offbeat, amplified ESB.
EQUILIBRIUM FULL CIRCLE PILSNER
On tap at Ambulance, crisply clean pale golden light-bodied Bavarian pils with musky hay-dried mineral graining, fresh cut grassiness and slight herbal snip picks up muted lemon zesting. Simply one of the best dry pilsners.
FIRST STATE BREWING COMPANY
MIDDLETOWN, DELAWARE
Inside a grey aluminum Industrial warehouse with large black-lettered FIRST STATE BREWING insignia, this spacious northern Delaware pub opened for biz, December 2020. Crafting a diverse range of stylishly ‘classic’ brews, First State concentrates on delivering a host of IPA’s alongside several charming one-offs and a few recurring faves.
A pristine high ceilinged watering hole at Middletown, Delaware’s Levels Business Park (a few miles from Crooked Hammock), this freestanding brewhouse boasts an elongated 25-seat bar with glass-encased tanks, a stainless steel kitchen (serving fine pub fare) and several metal chaired tables.
There are 20 taps along the tiled backbar while exposed pipes line the walls and white hop coned lamps light the bar. Three TV’s show college football bowl games and the electronic beer menu lists today’s fare.
A black metal-furnished side deck offers further seating.
On New Years Day, 2022, I imbibed seven sundry suds.
Crisply dry helles lager, Downright Upright, plied raw-honeyed mineral graining and hay-like barnyard leathering to mildly perfumed herbal hops over bready pale malts.
Sedate lemon-candied banana and clove entry gained floral cologne fragrance for Lucid Refraction, a doughy-bottomed hefeweizen.
Zesty orange-peeled grapefruit tang gains mild herbal-tinged piney hop dankness for double dry-hopped IPA, Mystic Illusion, leaving white peach, pineapple and cherry illusions in its wake.
Better still, resonantly soft-toned Mosiac-Citra-Galaxy-hopped tropical fruit spicing sent lemony orange-peeled grapefruit zesting across tangy pineapple, peach and tangerine sweetness contrasting guava-passionfruit sour end of Persistent Illusion, a delightful oated wheat sugared India Pale Ale.
Interesting off-dry Belgian-styled moderate-medium body, Beaming Tripel, brought light black peppering to floral lemon-licked honeysuckle adjunct slightly sweetened by beet-sugared dextrose malts as tart Lemondrop hops glisten for bitter herbal cellar funk.
Stylishly a tad dryer, Quadratic Quadrangle, let candi-sugared plum, fig and cherry tartness seep inside tobacco-roasted cocoa malting.
Penetrative Nicaraguan medium-roast coffee overtones punctuated by tarry walnut-seared dark chocolate bittering and wood-burnt hop char of dry Black Lotus, letting silky lactose creaming envelop its bold java theme.
VALHALLA BREWING CO.
ELKTON, MARYLAND
Located at a fork in the road in the rural small town of Elkton, Maryland (20 miles west of Wilmington, Delaware), VALHALLA BREWING CO. inhabits a fire engine red ranch. Opened during 2017, the cafeteria-styled barn house churns out an approachable array of brews as well as meads to go alongside light pub fare.
A horse insignia post leads to the metal-furnished front deck at Valhalla’s wood paneled entrance. Its lofty bright red interior features an elongated 20-seat bar with large backroom brew room. There are 12-plus aluminum-backed tap handles – some serving outside brews such as Germany’s respected Reissdorf Kolsch and local RAR’s Bucktown Brown. Several community tables fill out the gray cement-floored pub and several TV’s add a sportsbar angle.
I saddled up to the bar to enjoy four fine suds during New Years Day, 2022.
Splendidly sheening flagship IPA, Hiking Viking, brought candied orange tanginess, yellow grapefruit bittering and peachy tangerine sweetness to the fore alongside mild pine resin above dry pale malting.
Dry Citra-hopped IPA, Citra Smash, let lemony mandarin orange spritz perk up piney herbal licks underscored by crystal malt sugaring.
Spelt-grained rusticity and mild herbage guarded Benediktiner Oktoberfest, leaving oily brown leaf astringency upon its biscuity melanodin malting.
Mild nut-charred dark chocolate gained mossy wet leaf astringency for Friggs Robust Porter, picking up a snip of dry burgundy wining.