Natural blueberry flavored moderation with fizzy white-headed yellow belly, spritzy lemon club soda fizz and dull white wheat base. Tart blueberry lacquering fades quickly, dulling tertiary strawberry-raspberry conflux.
SHOCK-TOP COSMIC BERRY WHEAT
AXEMANN UGLY PALE ALE
Dry IPA-derived pale ale surrounds Cascade-hopped lemony orange-peeled grapefruit spunk with resinous pine bittering as spritzy citrus prickles pale malt sugaring of simple, blue collar moderation.
RUNAWAY TRAIN BREWERY
Right along the historic D & M train tracks near the center of Honesdale, RUNAWAY TRAIN BREWERY opened its spickets August 11, 2023. Described quite accurately as a ‘brewhouse saloon,’ an olden rail house welcomes patrons to the converted grey warehouse.
Runaway Train’s elongated yellow wood top bar spreads across the family-friendly pub, serving slate top tables and plastic-chaired tables along the concrete floored main space. A hearth-warmed lounge area and left side tanks fill out the light Industrialized, pipe-exposed, chandelier-ceilinged interior. A wood-floored billiards room is available upstairs.
My wife and I journeyed to Runaway Train early December ’25 on a frigid Friday eve. Dominated by lager-related fodder, we tried eleven of the fifteen homemade beers available (missing out on three IPA’s and a schwarzbier).
For starters, traditional Czech pils, Ticket To Ride, a smoothly sessionable barley-roasted light body, stayed subtle with spicy floral herbage and limey soapstone residue.
Crisply dry pilsner-malted lager, Declaration, caressed its lemony orange spritz with peppery Saaz hop herbage – an easygoing flagship.
Equally sessionable helles lager, Golden Spike, slid musty lemon souring and subtle herbal spicing across biscuity barley malts.
As for off-dry Railside Lager, its sour lemon musk countered mineralized pilsner-malted barley.
Scotch-licked barley, dried maize and lemondrop herbage fronted Honesdale Hauler, a soft-toned festbier with sedate vanilla creaming.
Brisk lemon fizz tickled Coach Car Kolsch, a Noble-hopped moderation with musky floral herbage topping buttery biscuit base.
‘Simple pub ale,’ Wet Your Whistle, retained light bodied appeal as mossy spelt graining drifted thru mild floral hop bouquet.
Another pillowy moderation, Honesdale Rail Cream Ale, hustled creamed corn sugaring for nutty rye breading and grassy herbal hops.
Tobacco roast crisping embraced dewy peat for lightly caramelized Irish red ale, Irish Conductor, benefiting from kilned barley toasting.
Nitrogenated traditional English dark mild, Last Train Home, relegated caramel toffee sweetness for Bakers chocolate tartness and nut-skinned dried fruiting.
Dry Irish stout, Lucky Ticket, placed dewy truffle earthiness inside charred dark-roast hops, picking up bittersweet dried fruiting at its cocoa nibs base.
RUNAWAY TRAIN D & H COAL CAR BARREL AGED IMPERIAL STOUT
Creamy dark chocolate and coffee inundate (12% ABV) Buffalo Trace bourbon scheme as sweet burgundy, spiced brandy and whiskeyed cherry illusions plus subtle black cherry, raisin and fig snips gain maple molasses syruping fortifying roasted cocoa nibs base.
BOLERO SNORT / IMPRINT STICKY SITUATION PASTRY STOUT
Rich chocolate fudging soaked in bourbon with chewy marshmallow creaming sweetened further by Thai banana and cinnamon roll adjuncts for decadent barrel-aged pastry stout. Swiss Miss chocolate, maple syrup, espresso martini and toffee pudding illusions plus distant raspberry, prune and raisin licks surge forth at the chocolate bourbon banana breaded finish.
DU CLAW PASTRYARCHY CHOCOLATE CHERRY CAKE IMPERIAL STOUT
Decadent dessert layers fudgy dark chocolate richness with bitter cocoa nibs and tart red cherry tartness, leaving creamy mocha resonance upon dry wood-burnt dark roast hop char. Bulky chocolate cherry cake finish picks up red grape tannins, red raspberry rasp and grenadine syruping plus mild chocolate donut, honeyed baclava, butterscotch vanilla, molasses cookie and hazelnut coffee illusions. Bold, luxurious confectionery nightcap (with unassuming 9.4% ABV).
HARDYWOOD CHRISTMAS MORNING IMPERIAL STOUT
Bold milk stout aged on Kentucky bourbon and conditioned on ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, honey and coffee lacks creaminess but promotes spirits as dry bourbon-burgundy wining and whiskeyed chocolate lead the way for boozy Christmastime celebrator. Its dry side adds oaken vanilla, Bakers chocolate and coconut milk to contrast subsidiary maple syrupy gingerbread sweetness, but the Brazilian and Sumatran coffee influence stays neutral.
FIRESTONE WALKER BETWEEN TWO GRAHAMS IMPERIAL STOUT
Combining renowned brewers’ Parabola and Velvet Merkin, excellent S’mores-inspired stout aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels relies on vanilla bean richness, cocoa nibs fudging and brown-sugared cinnamon sticks to awaken rummy marshmallow-centered Graham Cracker base. Rich dark chocolate syruping drapes oncoming hazelnut brownie, biscotti anisette, dark cherry and dried fig illusions. Another fascinating nightcap by FW.
NEW HOLLAND DRAGON’S MILK COCONUT RUM BARREL RESERVE STOUT
Decadent rum barrel aged variant of popular stout lets syrupy cane-sugared rum spicing reign upon toasted coconut adjunct and vanilla-daubed cocoa creaminess enriched and contrasted by dark-roast hop char. Like a coconut-flavored white rum (or Malibu liqueur) spread atop a Graham Cracker.
EPIC BIG BAD BAPTIST BLUEBERRY PIE IMPERIAL STOUT
Rich whiskey barrel aged dessert treat loads capacious blueberry pie sweetness upon fudgy chocolate milkshake creaminess and gingerbread respite. Syrupy blueberry continuance picks up scattered dark cherry, raspberry, boysenberry, prune and plum illusions as well as wintry nutmeg spicing plus whiskey-backed bourbon and burgundy sedation.
ROSKO’S CULVERT CREATURE IMPERIAL STOUT
Velvety limited edition (2025) 10% ABV Imperial Stout lodges fudgy dark chocolate next to bittersweet cocoa nibs and oaken vanilla given dewy wood-seared peat mossing. A slither of Angel Food Cake and snips of dried fruit waver.
OAKFLOWER BARRISTER COFFEE HOUSE FIRST CUP OATMEAL STOUT
Conditioned on Congolese coffee from Barrister Coffeehouse, its smoky dark chocolate nuttiness and dark-roast-hopped oats char secure the black peppered coffee beaning. Coffee cola, burnt coffee and maple molasses illusions persist.
