On tap at Sogo, refreshingly crisp Belgian golden ale with mild lemongrass and pink peppercorn adjuncts dabbing bright lemon zested mandarin orange tang as well as sweet banana-clove wisps and wavering Sauvignon blanc-wined white pear snips. Zestful herb-laced citrus finish stays sharp.
On tap at Taphouse 15, wispy bourbon barrel aging sweetens toffee-spiced fig sugaring and dewy cold-lagered pilsner malting for tidy, if underwhelming, bock.
On tap at Ambulance, lightly vinous green grape tannins gain tart orange-dried lemon pucker above acrid barnyard leathering for dry wine-soured ‘cara cara’ orange juice-fermented farmhouse ale.
On tap at Ambulance, dry kolsch-inspired farmhouse ale spreads lemony green grape esters across sweet champagne yeast modesty and leathery straw hay parch as sour mixed culture yeast enhancement sedates tartly citric white wine pucker of reasonable hybridized kolsch-saison.
Rustic dry-bodied straw-hued bohemian pilsner brings earthen maize-husked grassy hop astringency to sour lemon-juiced green grape tannins and leathery horse-blanketed cheesecloth smear. A sourer pils.
On tap at Morris Tap & Grill, honeyed IPA fruiting regales lemony pineapple-juiced grapefruit zesting, dainty floral sweetness and earthy pine resin before astringent alcohol esters reach the surface. Subsidiary passionfruit tartness, tangerine tang and acai whimsicality enhance syrupy pineapple juicing.
On tap at Morris Tap & Grill, tropical Motueka hopped Imperial IPA with cloudy bronze haze lets slightly soured gooseberry, passionfruit and melon rind aspect and zesty lemon spritz lightly embitter its floral-bound yellow grapefruit and navel orange peel tang. Mildly pungent pine dankness and dry pale malts saddle pulpy citrus finish.
On tap at Morris Tap & Grill, busy Brut-styled IPA unites dry champagne yeast with lemon-limed ruby red grapefruit zesting, subtle resinous pine bittering and distant herbal spicing. Below bubbly sparkling wine temperance lies advertised prickly pear and rose illusions.
On tap at Morris Tap & Grill, sharply assertive Citra-hopped golden ale coats lightly embittered grapefruit-peeled orange rind zesting and spicy pale malting with dry wood-lacquered herbal notions above mild wheat-oats spine. A bolder pale ale.
Four Jersey-bred beer enthusiasts joined forces for HACKENSACK BREWING COMPANY, opening its doors January 2019. Though Bergen County remains too asininely exorbitant and monetarily manipulative to flourish in the current brewpub Renaissance, Hackensack now has two operational breweries within a quarter-mile of each other on Johnson Street.
Inside a white stucco warehouse with high ceilings, cement floors and barreled tables, HBC’s two-room interior features an overhead-doored brew room and right side pub.
At the pub’s V-shaped 12-stooled serving station, there’s several silver draught handles, a beer-ridden bulletin board, one central TV, Edison light fixtures and a crowler-filled refrigerator. Along the side wall are book-shelved seats and framed photos of several cool local musicians.
In early June ’19, stopped by to suck down nine straightforwardly original brews before grabbing dinner.
A fine opener, spunky Motion City Lager let casual lemondrop-hopped tangerine zest bring tongue-tingling spritz to buttery pale malt breading and latent herbal snips.
Pale malt spicing, lemony orange licks, dry wood tones and astringent herbal hops gather for bread-crusted moderation, Fairmount Pale Ale.
Summery fruit ale, Lawn Stripes, brought lacquered lemon-rotted raspberry candy and apricot pureeing to subtle resinous hop astringency over sweet wheat base.
Lemony banana-clove insistence permeated fine dry saison, Carried By Six, leaving funky barnyard earthiness, light white-peppered herbage and pale malt spicing upon candi-sugared citrus sweetness.
Just as effective and a tad lighter, more traditional Belgian-styled saison, Tried by Twelve, caressed its sweet orange-peeled coriander spicing, buttery banana breading and mild apricot sway with dry farmhouse herbage over a delicate sugary oats bed.
Easygoing New England-styled Imperial IPA, Walk-Off Double, brought tangy grapefruit zesting to lemon-sugared orange sweetness and barley-floured sourdough malting with irresistible splendor.
Crushed uziza pepper adds light herbal pungency to effectively offbeat hybridized Imperial Pale Ale, Pepper Coast, a cologne-perfumed dry body with limey chamomile resonance contrasting powdered lemonade tartness.
Subtle Madagascar vanilla creaminess faded over zesty citric hops for Nu-Bajan Blonde. Its coffee-beaned version, Nu-Bajan Breakfast Blend, coalesced light-roast coffee tones, creamy vanilla sweetness and mild coconut toasting above pale-malted citrus spicing.
Sweet toffee blanketed bittersweet chocolate and milk-sugared coffee tones for Toad Style Extra Stout, picking up dried anise, bruised black cherry and black grape illusions at the busy back end.
EVERETT, MASSACHUSETTS
With three locations as of my May ’19 trip, NIGHT SHIFT BREWING has become one of Boston’s most successful craft breweries since opening 2012. Just down the street from Bone Up Brewing and close to Everett’s colossal casino, this mighty red-bricked pub really gets crowded by loyal locals at nighttime.
A large overhead door leads to Night Shift’s high-ceilinged warehouse where 24 draught lines, a proprietary owl logo and colorfully designed (and individualized) blackboard beer listing crowd the bright blue-walled mahogany bar. Some simple community tables and a few round tables fill out the well regarded cement-floored pub.
A fenced-in patio near the entrance provides extra outdoor seating. Brew tanks are in the rear and a small stage area gets set up for local musical talent on occasion.
Best of all, most of Night Shift’s rangy brews (available in cans) really hit the spot, though the first few tried and reviewed down below merely offer an alternative to Bud-Coors-Miller fare.
Effervescent aluminum-cleared lo-cal Mexican lager, Lime Lite, pitched agave-cologned tequila whimsicality to lemony lime zesting above its fragile white bread spine. Bud Light Lime alternative and nothing more.
Dry clear-yellowed moderation, Cul-De-Sac Cream Ale, brought grassy-hopped grapefruit and orange subtleties to musky corn-starched pale malt hesitance and wispy herbal snips.
Corn-whiskeyed phenols enveloped Outer City Limits Dry-Hopped Lager, a briskly carbolic light body with herbaceous hops and dry pale malts.
Next came a few fruitily tart hybridized Berliner Weiss-styled sour ales, dryly vinous summertime moderations with low alcohol volume.
Leathery mixed culture fermentation provided a firm sour foundation for Ever Weisse, an extremely popular variant with tart kiwi, strawberry and hibiscus adjuncts gaining mild lactic acidity, vinous lemon juicing, bitter green grape apprehension and oaken cherry dryness above saltine crackered spine. Try in lieu of strawberry rhubarb pie.
Similarly mixed-cultured sour ale, Blossom Weisse, loaded tart oaken cherries atop its lactic kilned wheat bed, leaving lemony green grape tannins in its wake.
Vinegary cidered wild ale, Zou Bisou Bisou Ale with Lemon & Juniper, brought agave-tinged lemon zesting and subtle juniper berry bittering to musky hop-oiled astringency, leaving a slight metallic sheen upon the teasingly whiskey-grained finish.
Briskly sharp dry-bodied moderation, MVP New England Pale Ale (a spunky collaboration with Mondo), brought sunshiny grapefruit-peeled orange tanginess to lightly piney hopped bittering and juniper-licked gooseberry sourness. Tropical pineapple, mango, peach and guava illusions enhance its piney citrus splendor.
Thickly orange marble-hazed New England India Pale Ale imbued juicy grapefruit-peeled orange zest with lightly lingering herbal hop bittering countered by creamy pastry-like crystal malting.
Brisk One Hop This Time: Citra brought sunshiny lemon zest and floral nuances to resinous pine-hopped wet grass astringency, picking up mild pineapple, mango and tangerine whims.
Heady Fluffiest New England Triple IPA (the strongest version of Fluffy IPA at 9.7%) lets lemony grapefruit tanginess, heavily sugared pale malts and floral perfumed musk encounter harshly alcohol-burnt esters at lingeringly phenolic citric hop-embittered finish.
Heavily hop-charred black coffee bittering, wood-burnt ashen nuttiness and treacly Blackstrap molasses attached mild citric spicing for mocha-smoked full body, Exit 11 Black IPA, a musky Blackstrap molasses
Soy-sauced sour nuttiness contrasts toffee-spiced caramel malting and dried fig notions for thinnish bock-like schwarzbier, Nocturno Black Lager.
Sourly coffee-roasted Bakers chocolate entry guided Awake Porter aged with Coffee, leaving earth-scorched oily nuttiness along the ashen cocoa powdered finish.
www.nightshiftbrewing.com
MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS
At a renovated light Industrial area six miles north of Boston in a well-maintained red brick building, IDLE HANDS BREWERY is the pride of hilly woodland city, Malden. A black-gated entrance with Idle Hands insignia and metal-furnished porch welcomes patrons to the pristine warehouse pub.
Whether leaning towards German lagering, Belgian funk or American spunk, Idle Hands’ gentle touch can be felt with each distinctly soft-toned offering. Founding headbrewer Chris Tkach moved his operations from a tiny Everett storefront to its current nearby space in 2016.
The expansive high-ceilinged rafters add spacious dimension to the sparely furnished interior. LED-bulbed pendulum lamps hang above the twelve-seat serving station where twelve barn-wooded silver metal draught handles carry the brews crafted in the windowed silver barrels. Six cafeteria-styled community tables provide extra seating.
Fabulously boozy Country & Western tunes such as “Drinkin’ On My Mind,” Whiskey Bent & Hellbound” and something about ‘getting his drunk ass home’ play in the background as my wife and I settle into ten Idle Hands suds.
Stylishly robust Edgeworth Pils brought mild floral citrus rind bittering to pungent maize-dried hop musk, fresh-cut grass astringency and cracker-like pilsner malting, leaving zesty lemon wisps on the clean tail end.
Grain-toasted baked breading appeased moderate zwickel lager, Emelyn, leaving musty fungi rusticity on the spicily fig-dried finish.
Approachably brisk dry body, Slate Ale, gathered slightly soured melon rind, lemon-spritzed papaya-raspberry tartness and mild hop bittering above sweet biscuit malts.
Salty-herbed Belgian wit, Blanche De Grace, goes a stylish step further as lemony orange coriander expectancy gets bum-rushed by cologne-perfumed lemongrass, fennel and wildflower illusions over its sedate pilsner-malted wheat bed.
Sweetly bread-crusted Munich dunkelweiss, Brunhilda, aligned toffee-spiced chocolate malts with mossy dried fruiting and earthen nuttiness.
Fermented subtly with Malbec grape must, Mazamomma Cream Ale let bubbly champagne sweetness reach raw-honeyed pale malt dryness.
Interesting, if not fully integrated, mixed culture farmhouse ale hybrid, Rosemary Reimagined, underutilized its sweet potato, candied yam and rosemary adjuncts, but let tannic-soured pinot grigio wining spawn a tartly puckered acidic aspect.
Soft-toned, golden-hazed, New England Imperial IPA, Splitter, allowed yogurt-soured yellow grapefruit piquancy and subtle melon-mango-papaya tropicalia to ride above its malted red wheat spine.
Another tropical fruited NEIPA, yellow-marbled Four Seam strove for sunshiny winsomeness as serene mango-guava-melon sentiments gained dry wood dankness and muted peach-pineapple wisps.
White-peppered lemon zest and honeyed banana-peach sweetness confirmed passionate tripel, Triplication, a boozy (8.9% ABV) elixir with spiced-up peach, pear and pineapple ripeness.
idlehandscraftales.com
