Prickly white-peppered hibiscus flowering sweeps into sweet orange-peeled lemon meringue tartness and vodka-tinged banana daiquiri boozing above dry barnyard graining. Citric-spiced hop perfuming reveals herbal sage pungency at the back end.
NIGHT SHIFT BRIAR WEISSE
Bright beet reddish pink-headed Berliner Weisse aligns tart raspberry puree groove with limey lemon peel zesting in bacterial lactobacillus setting. Sharp citric acidity gains salty residue lining raspberry vinaigrette souring.
ICARUS FRUITED & FLYING BERLINER WEISSE
Effervescent purply pink-hued Berliner Weiss hybrid loads kettle-soured lactose and tart pineapple, mango and blackberry adjuncts to stylish salty coriander base. Sour candied fruiting gains mild champagne wining as well as oaken cherry pucker at tart pastry finish.
ICARUS INVINCIBLE SUMMER PALE ALE W/ LACTOSE & COCONUT
Vibrant super-hazed yellow amber pale ale hybrid brings lactose and coconut adjuncts to the fore alongside vanilla-sweetened peach, pineapple, strawberry and mango goodness. Toasted coconut sugaring and tropical fruiting contrast mildly lactic yogurt souring to its soft oats-flaked wheat base.
MIKKELLER CAN I GET A WIT WIT
On tap at Ambulance, perfumed cologne oiling saturates mild orange-peeled coriander sweetness and spritzy lemon zesting in a dryer-than-expected witbier setting.
BLUE POINT COCONATOR DOPPELBOCK
On tap at Hoover’s, waywardly hybridized doppelbock lacks sufficient richness, texture and coconut milking. Mild coconut adjunct lost to faded plum-dried toffee spicing and dewy peat moisture, picking up unusual soured cider sharpness.
TIRED HANDS HELLES OTHER PEOPLE
On tap at Ambulance, dry helles lager pits dewy pilsner malts against grassy-hopped herbal musk and distant lemon rot.
GUN HILL GET THAI’D RICE LAGER
On tap at River Of Beer, peculiar jasmine rice-based herbal lager connects cologne-perfumed Thai spicing to Citra-hopped Kaffir lime zesting and minty lemongrass as lightly kilned pilsner malts provide cushy base. Try in lieu of sake.
CENTRAL WATERS OCTOBERFEST
On tap at Ambulance, sweet-breaded caramel malting gains lightly spiced dried fruiting and mild chestnut respite over cardboard-bound buttered biscuit base of moderate-bodied marzen.
THIN MAN PILLS MAFIA
Musky earthen dryness, wet-grained mossy dewiness, lemony herbal hop perfuming and floral-spiced daubs glide above bready cracker base of mineral-watered Bavarian-styled pilsner.
BUD LIGHT ORANGE
Candied orange tartness reminiscent of Tang instant powdered drink gains soda-like citric fizz as raspy tangerine fruiting nearly saves cheaply fruited light lager from oblivion.
HEAVY REEL BREWING COMPANY
SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY
Residing at the first floor of a tan brick split-level edifice on the Boulevard two blocks from the ocean in the vibrant beach town of Seaside Heights, HEAVY REEL BREWING COMPANY opened its doors springtime 2018. A simple 3-barrel nanobrewery in the heart of the Jersey Shore, brewer Jeff Greco worked at Neptune City’s Little Dog with Jersey icon, Gretchen Schmidhausler, before venturing off on his own.
A li’l slice of heaven, the small floor-tiled pub contains eight silver-backed tap handles at the serving station, four small round tables, a railroad-tied left wall and some fishing photos.
Greco enjoys going just one small step beyond stylistic convention, giving each beer tried on this August ’19 journey a slightly heightened flavor profile. Heavy metal music plays as I imbibe six worthy brews.
First up, spritzy citrus-shined blonde ale, Undefinable Standards, let brisk lemon-limed Motueka hops and sugared orange spicing gently sail atop dry pale malts.
Soft-toned pinkish amber pleasantry, Follow The Iwa, a salty raspberry-induced Berliner Weisse, let sour lactobacillus acidity affect its tart raspberry luxuriousness, leaving mild green apple, cranberry and oaken cherry illusions on the tail end.
Easygoing ‘blended saison,’ Oblivion, brought tropical Mosaic-hopped lemon, orange and pineapple juicing to sugary malt spicing, briny barnyard graining and warm French breading.
Murkily hazed orange-yellowed New England IPA, Skin//Bones, provided lactic yogurt-milked grapefruit, passionfruit and gooseberry souring and sharp orange rind bittering, picking up puckered lime acidity and light green peppercorn herbage by the finish.
Utilizing chocolate, coconut and macadamia, sweet Imperial Porter, Staring Into Emptiness In My Eyelids will capture the attention of hearty dessert fanatics. Its toasted coconut alacrity rode above brown chocolate spicing, glazed macadamia sugaring and desolate blackberry notions.
Bringing dry oyster-shelled black chocolate to the fore, 34N 74W Barnegat Bay Oyster Stout retained black-malted molasses bittering to contrast less resilient milk-sugared rolled oats.
In July ’24, revisited Heavy Reel on a hazily sunny Friday afternoon following a sweltering beach swim to down six dandy suds.
Brisk lemony grapefruit zesting and grassy hop astringency dotted mild “hoppy” blonde ale, Midway Beach, leaving dry barnyard graining on its mineralized pilsner malt base.
Dewy Irish Red Ale, Lost & Rendered, placed cellared fungi must inside orange pekoe tea and nutty rye illusions over dry wheat-germed mineral graining.
Soft-toned yellow-hazed Imperial IPA, Zombie Clown, scattered lemon-soured yellow grapefruit bittering and tart guava salting alongside peachy pineapple, tangerine and tangelo tanginess atop dry pale malts.
Smoothie sour ale variant with creamy marshmallow-fluffed vanilla sugaring plied to navel orange pulp, Luvv: Orange Creamsicle, picked up pineapple-juiced bergamot marmalade tartness and lemon meringue piquancy.
Nitrogenated dry Irish stout, Good Rats, retained nutty dark-roast coffee overtones and subsidiary dark chocolate bittering.
Luxurious pastry stout, Straight Drizzle, draped caramel atop toasted coconut and bourbon chocolate richness, gaining luscious creme brulee, vanilla fudge cake, molasses cookie and black licorice licks.