Complex Scottish ale integrates botanical angelica root herbage and earthen tobacco-roasted mossing with dark toffee-spiced brown chocolate over barley-smoked molasses pumpernickel breading, picking up latent prune-dried fig smidge. Fine Icelandic wee heavy knockoff.
Sweet vanilla-sugared whipped creaming absorbs strawberry shortcake sweet side opposing tart strawberry rhubarb dry side. Along the way, strawberry vanilla ice cream parade rounds up tertiary cherry, cranberry and tangerine fruiting above clay hop soiling.
Stunning eighth anniversary milkshake IPA invites milk-sugared Madagascar vanilla sweetness and zestful orange Creamsicle whipped creaming to contrast lemony grapefruit-pitted bittering in lactic soured setting. Ambrosial marshmallow-candied mandarin orange, pineapple, tangerine and strawberry fruitiness underlies sherbet finish.
Lactic-aided cream ale brings milk-sugared vanilla richness to lively lemon-limed orange zesting as yellow grapefruit rind bittering lingers. Yogurt-like souring levels off quickly as lemony vanilla assurance rises.
Profuse marshmallow-fluffed vanilla creaming rushes forth with cotton-candied powdered sugaring to contrast its zestful lemon-twisted kettle souring over lactic acidulated malting. Expansively tart flavor profile includes Pez-like powdered candy tartness, limey Margarita salting and soured ambrosial fruiting. Nearly perfect Sour Patch Kids-inspired marshmallow candied confection.
Thickly tart intensity magnified by pineapple-juiced pink guava, papaya and pomegranate sourness to contrast lactic-doused marshmallow sugaring (and piquant strawberry rhubarb snip) in Sour Patch Kids candied manner. Formidable kettle-soured tropical fruiting retains mouth-puckeringly eye squinting tartness but only mild vinous acidity.
GLASSBORO, NEW JERSEY
In the heart of Glassboro serving dedicated brew hounds and attracting local Rowan University students, AXE & ARROW came into existence April 7, 2019. Head brewer, Greg Fletcher, learned his craft in Colorado before partnering with likeminded entrepreneurs, Josh and Krystle Lockman. The gallant trio then designed their seven barrel brewing system at bustling Glassboro Town Square, a pedestrian-friendly midtown patio garden.
The wood-toned studio-like interior has plenty of open space and includes a raw pine-walled 12-seat bar with 20 tap handles and raw pine-walled backing contrasting the stark black tile ceiling and green walled side wall (with 2 TV’s). There are several bark top seats fronting the bar while silver brew tanks bedeck the rear.
My wife and I were Axe & Arrow’s first patrons on our noontime February ’21 Saturday journey.
There were three resilient golden hued or hazed New England-styled pale ales (two of the India pale variety) on hand for survey.
Soft-toned pale ale, Shattered Ceilings, brought sunny citric IPA fruiting to the fore as zestful yellow grapefruit and orange rind bittering contrasted subtle floral-perfumed spicing.
Musky lemon-dropped grapefruit bittering lingered gently above lightly creamed crystal pale malting for Nor’Easter, a hazy NEIPA with mild bark-dried grassy residue.
Another hazy NEIPA, crisply clean Brew Dragon, surged forth with lemony grapefruit peel and pith bittering retaining a mild hop char over delicate flaked oats.
A richer grain-hopped roast inundated bronze cleared Imperial IPA, The Axe, a stylish East-West Coast hybrid with moderate piney bittering spackling tangy orange briskness and tertiary pineapple-grapefruit daubs.
Lemony orange zesting picked up lightly lingered yellow grapefruit bittering for Azacca White Ale, leaving white-peppered herbage and prickly pear tartness near the white wheat spine.
Easygoing ambrosial sour ale, Pineapple Fluff, let zesty pineapple tartness engage powdered sugar marshmallow sweetness while its candied Pez-like lemon-limed pucker escorted mandarin orange/ clementine snips.
Herbal lemon-rotted musk countered the banana-clove whimsy of Squeaky Wheel, a huskier-grained hefeweizen.
Dewy sweetness encountered dark toffee sugaring to contrast the coffee-stained tobacco roast of Stubborn Goat, a dark-fruited weizenbock with truffle-like fungi molding.
Delightful dessert, Hardwired, a hazelnut coffee-enriched porter, gained toasted coconut sweetness, mild pecan buttering and distant cola nuttiness.
Though its peanut-buttered cacao powdering’s nearly lost in the mix, Black Gold Oatmeal Stout maintained a weedy earthen char that saturated its vanilla-beaned maple oatmeal spine and citric Cascade hop wisp.
HADDON HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY
Originally hailing from nearby Magnolia circa 2015, Haddon Heights’ LUNACY BREWING COMPANY occupied a yellow stucco Industrial mall (with pale green aluminum roof) in the rear of the complex (before closing 2023).
Interestingly, there is a long winding fence curving towards the entrance that’s reminiscent of a Texas slaughterhouse. An overhead side door leads to a large three-tabled deck next to a ground level wood-benched area.
A luminous Lunacy moon signpost centers the aluminum-sided wood top bar (not shown in above picture) with two tap stations gathering 18 draught handles and an electric beer board. The gray cement floor and blue-grayed walls magnify the black tiled ceiling where pendant lights and large fans hang. A projection screen opposes the left side bar.
I enjoyed eight of the twelve available selections during my January ’21 mid-afternoon jaunt. But there have been bountiful one-offs, seasonals and specialty brews crafted since its inception. Most beers this day were thickly clouded, stylistically richer and delightfully off-center, running the gamut from mango milkshake pale ale to Christmas spiced porter and cookie-inspired stout.
For a simple light-bodied opener, Golden Slippers Pale Ale sufficed. Delicate lemon-dried tartness and grassy hop astringency topped dry pale malts in a mannered way.
Bittersweet orange pulping and ambrosial grapefruit-peach-grape juicing received vanilla beaned powdered sugaring for Creamsickle Milkshake Pale Ale, leaving jasmine-like orange blossom florality upon the citric vanilla confection.
Another milkshake-inspired pale ale, Mango Moonshake, maintained grapefruit-imbibed mango pulping, tart orange-juiced concentration and ripe nectarine sweetness above astringent hop pining.
Sharp citrus spicing contrasted the yogurt-soured grapefruit rind bittering and green grape esters blitzing spritzy NEIPA, Orion, a dry pale-malted medium body with solid resolve.
Bountiful holiday-spiced porter, Fig E Pudding, brought fig-sugared cinnamon, nutmeg and pine nut illusions to the surface alongside fern-like spruce tip resin and smoky dark chocolate malts.
But Crooked Steps, an English-styled strong ale, allowed corn-liquored grain alcohol ethers to get in the way of its perfumed gin-soaked vodka sway and piney Chinook hop lacquering.
Smoothly creamed nitro-injected Chocolate Coconut Coffee Stout resonated with rich brown-sugared molasses sap draping cocoa-powdered coffee resolve, dark chocolate-malted vanilla beaning and banana coconut caking contrastingly consuming mildly ashen nutty respite and pipe tobacco crisping over honeyed Graham Cracker wheat base for oatmeal raisin cookie deliverance.
Best bet: Resembling a chocolate chip cookie, Space Cookie Imperial Stout unleashed molasses-sugared vanilla bourbon, creme brulee and yellow cake sweetness upon its chewy utopian mocha dessert splendor.
WILLIAMSTOWN, NEW JERSEY
Inside a red brick Main Street cornerstone of Gloucester County’s unincorporated Williamstown, 13TH CHILD BREWERY occupies a former bank/ music studio. Opened March 2017, just a few months before Cross Keys Brewing Company began operations one mile down the road, 13th Child’s white-walled gleam, large sectional windows, olden wood floor and high overhead are reminiscent of a pristine 19th Century schoolhouse.
Five tables front the wood top serving station while pendant lights hang from the black tongue-and-groove ceiling. Corner counter seating opposes right side stainless steel brew tanks carrying approachable suds my wife and I imbibe this sunnily brisk January ’21 afternoon.
A few brave souls fought off the freezing temps by plowing a few at the beer garden.
Lemon-soured cranberry tartness rode above wheat crackered pilsner malts and leathery oaken tannins for Cran You Ugly Pale Ale, picking up withered boysenberry, gooseberry and green grape whims.
Mildly puckered lemon-limed peach bittering soaked up the lactic brettanomyces yeast of Wanna Peach Of Me, a kettle-soured fruit ale.
Diffident saison, Break It Frenchie, sidled zesty lemon tartness with honeyed banana, bruised orange, and green grape notions, leaving herbal nuances upon the straw-dried backend.
Easygoing English-styled IPA, Session 19, permitted pasty raw-honeyed pale malts to obtain waxy apricot-fig desiccation and dewy peat mossing.
Another sorta English IPA, inconspicuously soft-toned Cascade Annie IPA wedged dewy tea-leafed earthen mossing onto mildly creamed candi-sugared citrus spicing and dried plantain snips.
Flagship Mosaic-Citra-hopped New England IPA, Mean 13, allowed its ample yellow grapefruit thrust to gain ambrosial yogurt-soured mandarin orange tanginess and tart green grape esters above pasty pale malts.
Placidly sweet doppelbock, Irons Bock, let toffee-spiced dried fruiting delicately pleat chocolate crystal malt sugaring.
Mildly fudged chocolate creaming sashayed above the chewy cookie dough bottom fortifying Schoko Bliss, a sweet chocolate stout with espresso, cappuccino and cafe au lait undertones.
WILLIAMSTOWN, NEW JERSEY
A humble oasis tucked away off the Atlantic City Expressway (one mile north of 13th Child) in the quiet tree-lined suburban village of Williamstown, CROSS KEYS BREWING CO. opened its doors March ’18. Comforting in its charmingly ungarnished warehouse-converted studio splendor, Cross Key’s green-hopped insignias are ever-present throughout the gray cement-floored pub.
An outdoor wood patio at the parking lot leads to the entrance where two overhead doors provide further access. A nifty wood-lacquered bar top with embedded keys, twelve-plus tap handles, twin electronic beer boards and overhead caged Edison lights is situated in the rear. Barreled tables and a few couch furnishings decorate the spare space. A separate high ceilinged right side room with stainless steel brewtanks, large refrigeration unit and ample kegs store the proprietary suds.
The winning array of rounded elixirs proved quite expressive on my Saturday evening jaunt, January ’21. While watching the Packers battle it out on TV, I sank eight sundry suds.
Easygoing light body, Williamstown German-Style Pilsner, confined its pasty corn-sugared malt liquoring and lightly floral-spiced herbage to its salty cracker spine.
Banana-spiced cotton candy sweetness enjoined brisk orange zesting to contrast pungent herbal hop astringency and salty phenols lingering thru the fruitful frontage of The Journey, a peppy Belgian Blonde Ale.
Candi-sugared bruised orange sweetness enhanced rummy banana daquiri cocktail flare for creamy Belgian tripel, The Marathon, a fine pilsner malted elixir.
Tartly vinous Yada Yada Yada Cherry Pie Gose allowed candied apple sweetness to seep inside its cherry rhubarb piquancy and lemon-soured cranberry, strawberry and apple splurge.
Orange-spiced oats sugaring coated Orange Jumpsuit, a tangy citric-glazed double dry-hopped IPA with mild pine oiling.
Floral-spiced piney fruiting embraced Hopedemic East Coast Double IPA, a pasty pale malt-sugared medium body with tangy peach, grapefruit and orange zesting.
Robust Peepin’ Porter relied on dark chocolate malts for its cocoa-dried roasted coffee, espresso and macchiato aspect, leaving cola, hazelnut and walnut dabs on the backend.
Decadent Quarantine Reserve Imperial Stout utilized syrupy chocolate-bound Madagascar vanilla beans to boost its boundless aspirations. Lusciously rich bourbon vanilla, chocolate cake, hazelnut coffee and hot cocoa tones as well as bruised black cherry, black grape and blackberry sweetness contrasted dark roast hop-charred bittering over honeyed mocha malt base.
MANTUA, NEW JERSEY
Inside a pale blue aluminum-sided tan brick industrial mall, Mantua’s NECK OF THE WOODS BREWING set up shop in its green-walled space during springtime ’19. On the outskirts of Pitman twenty miles east of Philly, its happy commencement coincided with nearby breweries such as Kelly Green and Human Village.
An expansive, L-shaped, bark-topped bar with sturdy metal siding and twenty-plus draughts ends at the massive courtyard barn wall in the rear. Taking advantage of the high ceilings are the left side brew tanks that head skyward with liquid pleasure. A few wood tables across the bar are available and eight outside tables provide extra seating. A canning line began operating in April ’20.
My wife and I take seats at the front windowed table on a sunny weekday in early January ’21 to enjoy three stouts, two porters, one milkshake IPA, a supersized pale ale, a sour ale and a German pils.
First up, conventional bohemian light body, Lot P Pilsner, brought musky wet-grained earthen mossing to delicate lemon-spiced Hallertau hop herbage.
Zesty Citra-Mosaic-hopped New England-styled pale ale, Chuppta?, magnified its perfumed orange-grapefruit-pineapple-passionfruit tang with pasty wheat gluten thickening its pilsner malt base.
Easygoing kettle-soured variant, Now That’s Sour: Apricot + Mango + Raspberry, let mild salted lemon spritzing activate its downplayed fruity adjuncts over faded pilsner malts.
Milk-sugared vanilla creaming and zesty blood orange peel sweetness contrasted sharp perfume-hopped lemon-limed grapefruit bittering and puckered cranberry tartness over gelatinous oats flaked malts for offbeat hybrid, No OJ No Straw, a kettle-soured milkshake IPA.
Bitterly dry Chateau black malt smokiness lingered thru the oats-flaked coffee roast of PTP Porter, a signature Neck Of The Woods dark ale.
Belgian chocolate spicing sweetened the milk-sugared coffee tones and bourbon vanilla respite of Spicy Mochaccino, a sassy porter with restless cinnamon-barked cumin seasoning.
Sweet milk-sugared coffee vodka licks provided Black Russian cocktail novelty to cocoa nibs roast of Guess Who’s Back, a lightly barley-smoked white stout.
Dry coffee-burnt dark chocolate smokiness and nutty wood-seared hop bittering embedded Exit Light Stout, leaving slight black cherry tartness on the oat-flaked Maris Otter spine. Adding chili to the recipe, Exit Light Chili Stout provided mild bark-dried peppery heat to contrast its vanilla-creamed Graham Cracker bottom in a fascinatingly well integrated blend.
PITMAN, NEW JERSEY
A dry Methodist town for over one hundred years, Pitman, New Jersey finally allowed its first brewery to operate in 2016 (and closed 2023). KELLY GREEN BREWING CO. originally opened a block away from its current downtown location in a small tasting room. Now residing at a tan two-room storefront pub (with green hop nugget emblem) near the railroad tracks, Kelly Green was formed by three local homebrewers, Justin and Jeannette Fleming and pal Dave Domanski, as a part-time venture.
A cozy li’l nano crafting a slew of recurring and one-off brews that usually skirt simple stylistic boundaries, Kelly Green’s gray-floored interior features a ten-draught bar with white tiled back wall, exquisite wood furnishings, noirish black ceiling tiles and a few TV’s.
Classic easygoing German pale lager, Chicko’s, offered musky wet-grained leathering to herbal Halltertau hop soiling and corn-dried malt liquor remnant.
Salty lemon-limed tartness greeted floral hibiscus tang for Lemon Hibiscus, a spritzy kettle-soured ale.
Re-creating a Gummy Bear with flare, lactose-aided sour ale, Festivus Jelly, combined oaken cherry tartness, green grape esters and tannic vanilla above Graham Cracker honeyed wheat base.
Zestful herbal-cologned lemon juicing and mild mandarin orange tang admitted white-peppered sage, basil and tarragon seasoning to spice up lactic NEIPA, Standing On The Shoulders of Giants, a formidably hybridized elixir with grape-stemmed floral citrus Idaho 7 hops nudging mild mineral graining.
Coffee-sugared milk chocolate sweetened The Teets Milk Stout, leaving ancillary Kahlua, espresso, cappuccino and vanilla illusions in its rich mocha wake.