On tap at Ambulance, sour wine-barreled grand cru pits tart lemon zesting against vinous green grape subtlety and sharp cider bite. Easygoing fare with lightly acidic nature.
BREWDOG PINA PLAYA
Pina Colada gose with a Margarita Twist. Salted coriander expectancy gains lemony pineapple-coconut tartness for refreshingly tropical summertime briskness. Sour citric acidity lingers alongside Pina Colada likeness while tertiary mango, papaya and guava illusions waver.
ROCKMILL DUBBEL
Chewy, gooey and dewy, sharply spiced dried fruiting engages candi-sugared bread pudding sweetness and moist earthen mossing of rich dubbel. Ample prune-stewed fig, raisin, plum and dark cherry tartness gains musty purple grape esters and dry bourbon lilt by the creamily rich fruit-caked finish.
ROCKMILL WITBIER
Fickly offbeat witbier ‘brewed with spices’ combines sharp orange-peeled lemon meringue tartness, cider-bound champagne souring, rummy banana daiquiri wisp and wayward peach sway for obtusely fruitful deviation. Peppery herbal-licked coriander, cardamom and clove spicing and musky cellar funk crowd the honeyed wheat back end.
SHIP BOTTOM BLUEBERRY BIKINI BOTTOM WHEAT ALE
Amiss blueberry tartness fades quickly as corn whiskey malting and phenol hop stead create murkily acrid astringency. Raw-honeyed blueberry syruping usurped by cidery advance, depleting desolate cherry and mango snips. Ripe blueberry aromatics far outweigh blueberry flavoring.
BRIX CITY ACID BLEND STRAWBERRY RHUBARB ALARM CLOCK
Psychedelia-bent sour ale brings ‘acid blend’ of lemon-dropped strawberry puree tartness and mild salted rhubarb chutney piquancy to contrasted creamy vanilla sweetness, leaving cranberry, oaken cherry and gooseberry illusions at the leathery back end. Fluffy whip-creamed strawberry sweetness counters moderate citric acidity at demure sour-fruited finish.
BRIX CITY FURTHERMORE
On tap at Poor Henry’s, lightly vinous malt-lagered ale yeast gains slightly sulfuric lemon-soured musk and salty herbage for grainy dry-bodied moderation.
WOODSTOCK LOOK INSIDE
On tap at Ambulance, crisply dry kolsch conditioned in oak foeders lets perky lemon spritz gain floral-dried grassy hop astringency above raw wheat base. Oaken vanilla influence offers sour respite to clean vodka-teased citrus finish.
BRADLEY SI MONSTER LAGER
On tap at Poor Henry’s (2019), sourly tropical Mexican lager’s an acquired taste. Splashy agave-cologned lime peel zesting given mild sea salting over musky hop stead. In the can (2022), aluminum-cleared light body gained slight resolve. Mild sea-salted lime peeled lemon spritz and wispy agave herbage retain frothily creamed malt liquor head. Decent baked bread remnant. Betters Corona.
LAWSON’S SCRAG MOUNTAIN PILS
On tap at Ambulance, perfumed pilsner malting provides light base for lemon meringue tartness, peppery fennel spicing and musky straw wheat acridity of fine Czech-styled lightweight.
BELLEFONTE BREWING COMPANY
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE
Inside a tan brick building at the light Industrial business mall, Branmar Plaza, BELLEFONTE BREWING COMPANY took the name of its north Wilmington section and celebrated its three year anniversary, May ’19. Its clean open pub space houses a backroom 4-barrel brewing system crafting a cornucopia of stylishly accomplished elixirs.
A cozy setup with six-seat mahogany bar sporting fourteen tap handles and a large brew-stickered refrigerator, the lacquer cement-floored Bellefonte’s cartoon-infested walls add a youthful touch. A semi-permanent right side red-couched TV area brings comfy elegance and two parking lot-bound bench tables under the green canvas awning provide extra seating.
My wife and I grab one of the mid-room barreled tables to enjoy fourteen fine offerings during hot July ’19 trip.
Musky rye-oats graining and pleasant fungi earthiness stabilized 4G LTE Four Grain Lager, a pre-Prohibition-styled lightweight that may’ve bested the fresh-cut grassiness and herbal lemon respite of equally light-bodied Particle Pilsner.
Honeyed banana and clove suited pastry-malted Hefenly Brew, an approachable hefeweizen with floral-wafted herbal nuances. Meanwhile, tarter banana-clove sweetened the orange-peeled coriander niceties of Monkey’s Gotta Go, a choice witbier.
Dry spritzy champagne-like Kiamensi Kolsch brought lemon-wedged orange rot souring to Noble-hopped wood mildewing and mineral grained pilsner malting.
Lightly sour Tart Passion Saison let salty passionfruit tartness snag zesty lemon briskness to counter its sweaty cheesecloth musk. Another similarly styled offshoot, Acai Berry Tart Saison shifted the focus to sour-candied blueberry-acai tartness, leaving oaken cherry wisps at the backend.
Pasty-like cream ale, Orange Street Ale, stayed soft-toned as lightly frothed honeysuckle wheat malting picked up a mild orange spritz above mild grassy-hopped astringency.
Meanwhile, honeyed yellow fruiting fronted bold (7.3% ABV) Belgian pale ale, Bellevue Blonde, stays crisply easygoing ’til the alcohol esters consume the candi-sugared Abbey yeast profile.
Straightforward lo-cal moderation, Small Wonder IPA, packed a juicy tropical punch complemented by delicate pine resin and dry pale malts.
Easygoing soft-tongued NEIPA, Oat-face Killah let grassy-hopped grapefruit, peach, mango and orange tropicalia soak into its light white oats malting.
On the dark side, Lord Smokey’s Brown Ale draped bitter nuttiness upon dark chocolate malting and Band-aid-like smoked beechwood(?) astringency.
Peanut-buttered dark chocolate coated Diamond State Stout, a semi-rich dry body with black malt bittering receiving a slight earthen wood scorch.
Richest, creamiest and tastiest choice, Bean Laughing Black Coffee IPA, a black-malted Cascadian Dark Ale, maintained its treacly fudged cocoa-powdered coffee roast way above the ashen piney-hopped black grape and dried cherry pureeing. Its tertiary cola nut, molasses cookie, burgundy, raisin and grapefruit illusions filled out the robust digestif.
bellefontebrewingco.com
BRICK WORKS BREWING – SMYRNA
SMYRNA, DELAWARE
Joining Blue Earl as Smyrna’s second brewery, BRICK WORKS BREWING opened in 2016 under the tutelage of nearby Milford’s Mispillion River Brewing. At Dupont Boulevard’s Commodore Commons Shopping Center in a freestanding red brick building, Brick Works’ brewmaster Ryan Maloney has created several newly designed elixirs to go alongside fine locally sourced pub fare.
Featuring a wooden fifteen-stooled slate top bar with a few four-seat tables towards the front and several scattered TV’s for sportsfans, its left side red cement-floored dining area contains the stainless-steeled open kitchen. Windowed brew tanks store the golden suds.
My wife and I grab a table in the closed-in patio (with sundry furnishings, a central slate-topped community table and rounded fire pit. I got to try eight fine homemade brews during my mid-afternoon July ’19 journey (though I missed out on the dortmunder lager and English mild ale).
Crisply dry moderation, Tiny Brick American Lager, brought perfumed orange oiling to mild horse-blanketed barnyard acridity, mineralized cereal graining and slight asparagus snip.
Orange-peeled lemondrop tartness secured Kaleidoscopic Sun Munich Helles Lager, receiving musky wheatgrass pungency and light tobacco crisping at the dry finish.
Cologne-perfumed yellow fruiting inundated Citrus Mistress American Wheat, letting its grassy hay-like hop astringency desiccate lemony grapefruit-mango briskness and zesty lime pucker.
Easygoing Drop Towel IPA soothed the tongue with lightly embittered grapefruit rind, tartly sour lemon and dry pine tones.
Juicy grapefruit, orange, peach and mango anchored brisk medium-bodied Boujee Boy Fruit IPA, leaving mildly creamed crystal malting on the back end.
Light citrus spicing upended dry herbal musk for Nouveau Riche Belgian Pale Ale, contrasting creamy sugared malts against astringent grape-leafed hop esters.
Lactic Joose Goose Double IPA brought limey grapefruit salting to waxy white grape, pineapple, gooseberry and mango fruiting, floral-bound herbal resin and subtle pale malt dryness.
Milk chocolate-centered Dark Entries Oatmeal Stout serenaded its bittersweet mocha continuance with Blackstrap molasses, toffee and black cherry illusions.
brickworksde.com