TROON BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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HOPEWELL, NEW JERSEY

Inside a white back house with green trim on the bucolic Double Brook Farm grounds, TROON BREWING came to fruition during 2015.

Though Troon is a microbrewery, there’s no onsite taproom. Instead, its fulsome brews are available at Brick Farm Tavern – a cavernous Old World manor on the cavernous Hopewell estate with exquisite wood furnishings, upscale cuisine and classy liquor selection.

Gathering all the pastoral splendor western Jersey has to offer, I quaffed four tapped Troon’s at Brick Farm Tavern, February ’20, grabbing a tabled seat at the bar in front of the large stone hearth.

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Conditioned on lemon zest, wonderful lactic kettle-soured Aviaphobia brought salty mango and strawberry adjuncts to piquant orange-juiced pulpiness above tart yogurt-milked acidulated malts.

Succulent hazy beige-yellowed Caught In The Trees IPA, conditioned on vanilla, maintained a pastry-like powdered sugaring for its sweet orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess, leaving orange-caked pineapple frosting on the flaky fruit pie-crusted finish.

Sharply citric-spiced, saffron beige-hazed It Fell On Deaf Ears Imperial IPA brought fresh pine needling to juicy lemon, grapefruit, orange and pineapple tanginess.

Lovely milk chocolate sweetness pervaded confectionery dessert, Humdrum Existent Imperial Stout, bringing subtle cream-sugared coffee, burnt caramel, toffee and dried cherry illusions along for the cheery chocolate finish.

RIVER HORSE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

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EWING, NEW JERSEY

Just a few miles from Referend Bier Blendery, Ewing’s RIVER HORSE BREWING COMPANY expanded into this space from nearby Lambertville in 2013 (see old factory site pictured below). One of Jersey’s first microbreweries, starting out during 1996, River Horse changed ownership in 2007 and became the state’s second largest brewery behind Flying Fish.

Residing in a pristine beige-stoned professional Industrial warehouse with pressed aluminum top, head brewer Chris Rakow operates the eleven 40-barrel fermenters, four 100-barrel fermenters, a cold-filter water tank and bottling-canning system at the roomy high-ceilinged backspace.

Celebrating ancient Egyptian brewing heritage with its hippo-laden beer designs and logos, River Horse’s popular, diversified lineup is led by Belgian-styled flagship, River Horse Tripel Horse (reviewed in Beer Index). Now distributing bottles and cans into New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, their new 25,000 square-feet facility has capacity for even more expansion.

During my sunny February ’20 afternoon jaunt with wife and dog, discovered a few new River Horse elixirs while seated at one of the seven barreled tables fronting the small serving station.

Briskly rustic German-styled The Peoples Lager brought grassy oats-dried minerality and mild barnyard leathering to lemon-rotted herbal astringency.

Brewed specifically for onsite quaffing, Imperial Oatmeal Milk Stout upped the rich brown and dark chocolate syruping and burnt caramel fudging for its maple oats-sugared hazelnut sweetness, picking up slight black cherry tartness in 14% ABV setting of luxurious full body.

Creamy brown chocolate fudging contrasted bitter hop-charred dark cocoa syruping for bold mocha treat, Chocopotamus Stout, a delightful nightcap.

CONCLAVE BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

Conclave Brewing — Allie Feick Portfolio

FLEMINGTON, NEW JERSEY

Moving from its mall-bound digs in Raritan to a sterling gray aluminum-sided Flemington warehouse fourteen miles west in January 2020, CONCLAVE BREWING has seen an increasing demand for their crisp elixirs since getting licensed five years hence.

Conclave now joins Lone Eagle as a Flemington brewery fixture. Several community tables dot the midsized Edison light-fixtured pub space. The marbleized amber concrete floor glazes the interior and the compact serving station features at least sixteen tap handles. The large high-ceilinged left room brew tanks climb towards the sky and further expansion in this gargantuan microbrew space seems inevitable.

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On my February ’20 stopover, I enjoyed four previously untried goodies.

Perfectly centrist flagship, Gravitational Waves New England IPA, posted a punctual tropical fruit-spiced Galaxy-Citra-Mosaic hop blend that allows mild floral pining to soak into juicy grapefruit, pineapple, mango, orange and peach zesting.

Floral-perfumed citrus zest brightened Taiji IPA, as mildly creamed crystal malting glazed crisply clean yellow grapefruit-embittered orange tanginess.

Heady dark candi-sugared quad, Artaban Belgian Dark Ale, received a spicy dried fruited barrage of golden raisin, plum, prune and dark cherry.

On the dark side, bittersweet cocoa nibs and vanilla beans enhanced Liquid Velvet Imperial Porter, pervading its syrupy dark chocolate malting with decadent delight.

WET TICKET BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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RAHWAY, NEW JERSEY

Right in downtown Rahway not far Union County Performing Arts Center and a historic Jersey reformatory, WET TICKET BREWING started slinging suds at its Main Street location December ’16.

Inside a store-windowed neighborhood shop, Wet Ticket’s friendly serving center belies its huge gray-floored operational brewing backspace (with three community tables between tanks, stout barrels and kegs).

There are fourteen taps at the rustic stainless steel-topped, metal-seated, L-shaped serving station while the opposing left wall features a surfboard and snowboard and mod art. Front window seating is also available at the friendly town pub.

Brewer Tim Pewitt’s brusquely robust stylistic endeavors included two yummy stouts and a porter alongside three briskly clean IPA’s, a distinct kolsch and easygoing pilsner this sunny February ’20 afternoon.

Sessionable clear-paled light body, Perfectly Played Pils, placated its gentle oats-dried pilsner malting, delicate maize-dried leathering and sweet rice nicety with modestly herbaceous Noble hop musk.

Just as smoothly tranquil, Kolsch Ale, sustained a crisply clean watered flow with subtle lemon-dried tartness linked to freshly mown grassy hops, mild lemongrass herbage and frisky fungi fringe in a briskly incisive manner.

Well-balanced amber-bronzed Imperial IPA, Dream Ticket, thrusted forth with zesty grapefruit and orange peel sunshine, allowing perfume-oiled pineapple, peach and tangerine tropicalia to seep inside dewy pale malts.

Polite amber-hazed New England IPA, Fully Juiced, revealed zesty grapefruit, orange and pineapple vibrancy for its wispy vanilla yogurt milked souring.

Lactose-aided NEIPA, Galaxy Shaker, lifted salted mango-grapefruit zesting and floral-tinged pineapple-peach-passionfruit tang above vanilla-creamed pale malt sugaring (leaving an herbal tinge on the juicy fruited finish).

Richly dark-roast nuttiness anchored Pecan Porter, contrasting cedar-seared walnut char with maple molasses-sugared tobacco roast over dark chocolate bittering.

Black-peppered cocoa nibs serenaded Mexican Chocolate Stout, a maple oats-sugared mocha treat with ashen hop bittering and warming cinnamon cocoa finish.

Nutty cocoa-driven Imperial Oatmeal Stout let sweet milk chocolate goodness and maple oats sugaring contrast embittered Blackstrap molasses-draped dark chocolate syruping in fulsome mocha setting.