Yet another lovely piney fruited pale ale with high IPA aspirations. Subdued lemony orange-peeled grapefruit, pineapple and mango zesting rivals Nelson Sauvin-hopped gooseberry/guava souring, Strata-hopped cannabis resin and lightly salted herbage above dry pale malting.
ALLAGASH MY ONE & ONLY SOUR RED ALE
Puckering fruited tartness and lingered tannic acidity bring the funk to complex fouder-aged sour ale. Tartly salted raspberry, plum and cherry adjuncts provide rigid sour edge to candied Sweet-Tart powdering. Ascending white grape vinegaring, hard cider sharpness and oaken cherry desiccation outdo bittersweet faux-Framboise lambic raspberry juicing.
HACKENSACK CLINTON PLACE PUMPKIN ALE
Roasted pumpkin salting edges out sweet pumpkin pie spicing as herbal ginger minting outlasts lightly brown-sugared nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, clove and star anise seasoning above modest crystal malted wheat base.
PINELANDS SLIGHTLY SUNBURNT WHEAT W/ BLACKBERRY & HIBISCUS
Fuzzy lemon spritz blurs blackberry adjunct and salty juniper-tipped hibiscus flowering as brisk piney citric IPA-like bittering gathers above delicate white wheat base. Crisply clean but a tad nebulous stylistically.
EVER GRAIN EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITBIER
Soft-toned witbier utilizes zesty orange peel, minty lemongrass and sweet coriander adjuncts. Lemony mandarin orange tingle settles below coriander-spiced citrus serenity alongside dry champagne, herbal cologne and soapy talc snips.
GHOST HAWK NEOGENESIS CREAM ALE
On tap at Taphouse 15, crisp straw-cleared pre-Prohibition styled cream ale places maize-dried corn flaking next to lightly herbal spiced hops and sunny lemon flicker for easygoing moderation.
SCHILLING VOLKSGARTEN VIENNA LAGER
On tap at Taphouse 15, lightly creamed Vienna lager with murky caramelized cereal graining, herbal lemon splotch and grassy hop astringency nullifying advertised honeyed biscuit and toasted almond illusions.
SCHILLING G’SUFFA! FESTBIER
On tap at Taphouse 15, soft-toned Bavarian lager drips sweet dewy peat upon maize-dried astringency, light floral spicing and warm French breading.
MAST LANDING CHAMP LAGER
Classic straw yellow cleared pale lager with musky sour mash pungency mildly penetrating lemony hop briskness and light lemongrass minting over musty white-breaded pilsner malting. Fine easygoing lager fodder.
ZYWIEC LIGHT BEER
Modestly enjoyable fizz watered pale lager. Crisp cereal grained barley roast, rice-dried corn flaking and mild rye breading contrast musky herbal hop astringency.
KING’S ROAD PINCH HIT PILS
Streamlined pale golden Czech-styled pilsner with light earthen grain musk, spritzy lemon snag and pithy herbal spicing reaching creamy oats base. Dry-hopped floral citrus vibe adds slight diversion to usual mineral grained bohemian moderation.
STONY POINT BREWING COMPANY
WEST HAVERSTRAW, NEW YORK
Since Memorial Day ’22, STONY POINT BREWING COMPANY at Bricktown Bierhaus has served its thirsty minions well-crafted, highly approachable suds. Inside a red brick right side cornershop in the Hudson River village of West Haverstraw, Stony Point’s brewmeister, Dave Ludwig, a former homebrewer, not only handles the brew tanks, but also mans the short German-inspired pub menu.
A grassy, side-decked, metal-furnished biergarden leads to the side entrance. The faux-wood floored pub features twelve-plus tap handles at the small bar and several small brew tanks in the back sidling the kitchen. There are five tables near the windowed frontage and the black tile ceiling nicely contrasts the white-tiled side walls.
Offering splendid Bavarian-styled food such as bratwurst, knockwurst, frankfurters, potato pancakes, horseradish-cheesed pretzels and Belgian waffles to go alongside Ludwig’s charming liquid fare, this diminutive nanobrewery retains a cozily relaxing neighborhood feel.
During my initial October ’23 visit, I discovered one crisp flagship and five easygoing, recurring beers while chatting with the bustling Ludwig.
Smoothly clean flagship, Tomkins Kolsch, tendered white-breaded lager malting for brisk lemongrass herbage, candied lemondrop tartness, mild green grape esters and salted guava daubs, leaving a fizzy lemon spritz upon the tongue.
Casual traditional marzen, Bricktoberfest, placed brown-leafed herbal hops and mild orange oiling above buttery breaded Vienna/ Munich malting.
Another sessionable moderation, Kanawauke Wheat, let lemony mandarin orange tartness and lightly spiced herbage reach its delicate white wheat base.
A demure collaboration with fellow Rockland County breweries, Gentle Giant and Two Ladders, modest floral-spiced agave herbage, dry lime juicing and raw-honeyed lemon souring gathered for Dos Piedras Gigantes, a slightly eccentric Mexican lager utilizing Modelo yeast and citric-graped Motueka hops.
Pureed apricot picked up lemon-seeded bittering for Beaver Pond Apricot Blonde, a simple grassy-hopped, pale-malted light body.
Dry juniper-perfumed gin spirits soaked the moderate pine-lacquered grapefruit, orange and pineapple bittering of Aye Be You, a boozy West Coast-styled IPA with terse turpentine licks suited for hardcore hop heads.