On tap at Seven Lakes Station, tart ruby red marooned Berliner Weisse places zesty lemon-peeled orange zest next to mildly acidic raspberry tannins and lactic sour-milked yogurt pungency. Smoothly sharp blackberry souring continues to the puckering lemon bruised finish, gaining wispy raspberry, boysenberry and kumquat illusions.
Tart raspberry puree syruping stays subtle against limey bittering that pervades slightly vinous brut champagne spritz and lemon-candied cranberry respite. Minor vinous acidity dots salty coriander base of thin sour pleasantry.
Salty lime pucker lingers gently on the tongue with mild acidity as tart cherry licks serenade pinkish amber-hued dry body. At the finish, sharp lime-dried cherry souring gains brisk blush champagne spritz, mild rosé wining and tannic green grape smidge.
On tap at Taphouse 15, pinkish magenta-hazed gose brings stylishly soft-toned salted coriander dryness to sour cherry, guava and mango adjuncts. Tart raspberry pucker enjoins sour tropical fruiting alongside dainty yellow-pink grapefruit bittering above mildly acidic oaken vanilla base. Fine hybridized gose.
Crisp clear-yellowed German-styled pils provides briskly carbolic salted lemon spritz for grassy Noble-hopped dryness, leaving light floral-spiced herbage and mild wood shavings upon the biscuit-y cracker back end. A superfine hoppy pilsner.
CLIFTON, NEW JERSEY
Right across the street from famous hot dog joint, Rutt’s Hut, Clifton’s GHOST HAWK BREWING COMPANY came into existence April 20, 2019. Inside an unfinished overhead-doored warehouse connected to Silk City Distillery, this spacious one-room pub features high ceilings, cement floors, a brew crew loft and wood lacquered serving station. Five community tables and six cocktail lounge tables sit across from the left side 20-stooled bar with reclaimed wood-stacked draught handles.
Veteran brewmaster, Chris Sheehan, mans the 15 BBL tanks for Passaic County’s first ever craft brewery. The decorated UC-Davis graduate got the nod as head brewer after serving at Defiant, JJ Bitting, Gun Hill and Chelsea breweries. His endlessly varied recipes continue to thrive and he’ll no doubt brew a few barrel aged elixirs given the fact a distillery’s next door.
Owned by Clifton natives Tom Rachelski, a financier army vet, and Steve Bauer, a graphic designing streetwear maven who joins me in conversation this glorious day, Ghost Hawk strives to create high quality beers that attract wide-ranging palates.
On this sunny May ’19 Saturday stopover, my wife and I enjoy all seven well-balanced, efficiently designed brews on tap while consuming Rutt’s Hut Triple Decker turkey sandwich, fried cod and a ‘ripper.’
Worthy ‘Continental-styled’ staple, Ghost Hawk Lager, a dry Dortmunder-like medium body with crusty sourdough malts, perfumed maize husk and dewy herbal licks received musky sulfate-watered Noble hop pungency for a stylishly bold thirst quencher.
Briskly straight-ahead moderation, Daedalion Wheat, had an oats-dried pilsner malt mouthfeel and spritzy lemony grapefruit snap, picking up grassy hop astringency and mild wood tones at the rustic grained finish.
Tart cherry souring enveloped easygoing fruited hybrid, Cherry Daedalion Wheat, where rose-wafted lemon zest lightly embittered cherry rhubarb piquancy as well as passive grapefruit, passionfruit, kiwi and mango snips above its billowy white wheat base.
Fennel-seeded caraway herbage seeped into dry rye spicing for mildly pepper-breaded medium body, Along For The Rye.
Yellow grapefruit zest brightened mild New England-styled IPA, Apex Predator, letting wispy peach, orange and tangerine tanginess settle below oncoming piney hop bittering.
Decisive ‘Triple,’ Trouble IPA brought spicy red-orange fruiting to candied toffee sweetness, relegating its herbal perfumed black tea bittering while nascent honeydew, melon, pineapple, pear and apple illusions find space.
Today’s one dark ale truly sufficed as a delicious post-lunch dessert. Mocha-powered Ravendark Stout regaled grain-roasted dark chocolate, cocoa nibs and cold-brewed coffee overtones given spicy anise sweetness to contrast its charred hop remnant.
During December ’25 afternoon revisit, Ghost Hawk had a chili cookoff and live band while I consumed six previously untried suds.
Floor-malted barley and toasted rye supplied Shropshire Lad, a Brit pale ale with sharp dark-roast hop bittering.
“Fruity delight,” Cranberry Daedalion Wheat, a sweet cranberry variant, let tart cherry come aboard after its fizzy lemon spritz prickled the honeyed wheat base.
Vibrant hazy pale ale, Karin’s Wings, utilized Nectarine and Nelson Sauvin hops to advance its tropical guava-passionfruit-gooseberry appeal and lemony mandarin orange spurt before Simcoe Cryo hops added gentle grassy pined herbage.
A dry New England IPA, Intricate Order Vol. 7 updated its easygoing tropical splendor as piney yellow grapefruit bittering, sweet orange peel tanginess and tart pineapple juicing made way thru mild oated wheat creaming.
Caramel-like demerara sugaring and spiced plum-raisin-prune conflux consumed capacious Belgian dubbel, Dubbelthink, a mossy full body with musty cellared funk and tertiary pipe tobacco, blackcurrant and burgundy tones.
Bitter black chocolate and nutty coffee propped up semi-sweet stout, Hollow Ground, leaving mild burgundy riffs, raw molasses gunk and musky pine singe.
www.ghosthawkbrewing.com
PEARL RIVER, NEW YORK
‘More than just craft,” Pearl River’s GENTLE GIANT BREWING also serves some of the best barbecue in the tri-state area. Open during late 2018, this rustic apoxy-floored Main Street warehouse joint retains an unfinished café-style appeal that’s dankly inviting.
The perfect blue collar spot for stylishly conservative brews and delicious homemade countrified BBQ meats, its offhand dinosaur-themed atmosphere will please families as well as Pearl River’s insatiable local drinking community.
Several community tables sidle the kitchen-bound, eight-stooled serving station where one big projection TV, several strewn liquor bottles, a blackboard food menu and simple food counter exist.
A few brew tanks take up the left-windowed red wall staging area and a back-walled corrugated aluminum draught board delivers satisfyingly standard suds. An eleven year homebrewer, Nick Carnicelli, took over brewing operations ’round May ’19.
On this cool May ’19 evening, my wife and I grab some barbecued smoked chicken wings and bacon-smoked Mac ‘n Cheese to go alongside six homemade brews.
Sour lemon-limed pungency seeped into the delicate mango-passionfruit tropicalia of dry Berliner Weiss, Juice By Dr. Alan Grant, leaving a cheese-clothed sweaty musk upon the lactic acidulated malts.
On the other side of the spectrum, Creamsicle-like blonde ale, Chocolate Orange, let creamy vanilla sugaring gain sweet orange peel tanginess as well as bitter orange rind zesting (sometimes recalling citric-tart St. Joseph’s aspirin).
Red, orange and yellow fruit spicing dotted caramelized barley malts for peaty moderation, Irish Dark Red Ale, an off-dry easygoer.
Black grape-embittered wood tones gained a mild hop char to infiltrate the caramel-burnt black malting of Rex Rocket Double IPA, a fine Cascadian dark ale.
Caramelized dark chocolate malts countered dry anise spicing of dark-roasted Imperial Porter, T Porterdactyl, leaving teensy coffee, espresso and cappuccino undertones.
Dry cocoa-powdered black malts and coffee-stained dark chocolate roast amplified Fossil Fuel Stout, gaining creamy brown-sugared molasses sweetness to tweak the bitter mocha finish.
During early September ’23 revisit, discovered nine more stylistically diverse offerings while consuming Acer’s Animosity pizza (with mozzarella/ricotta-cheesed tomato and garlic) plus the Dino Burger (with melted provolone, bacon, onion and tomato).
Musky raw graining accompanied sweet baked breading as orange-oiled lemon rot (Hallertau hop) and dry spicy herbage (Saaz hop) coalesced for Classic German-styled Paleolithic Pilsner.
Dry spelt graining picked up Hallertau Blanc-hopped desiccated lemon tartness and green grape esters for Bavarian offshoot, O’Zapft Dinkel Lager, rinsing its distant champagne sparkle in rye breading.
Mild citrus spicing sat atop white crackered pilsner malts for Neolithic Helles Lager, yet another German styled brew.
Sourdough breading softly affected Hefesaurus, retaining its vanilla creamed banana-clove sweetness against moderated Noble hop herbage.
As for the two autumnal Octoberfest offerings, Oide Wiesn Marzen left gourd-like earthiness and leafy hop astringency upon its baked breaded bottom.
Sugar-rimmed Basic A.F. Pumpkin Spiced Ale contrasted cinnamon-nutmeg spicing against roasted pumpkin saltiness.
Distinct hazy yellow West Coast-styled Jurassic IPA blended Citra-hopped lemony white grapefruit and orange rind bittering with Simcoe-Amarillo-hopped herbal saltiness above barley-flaked pilsner malting.
Brisk Citra-hopped Citrazoid Double IPA let orange-peeled yellow grapefruit zesting take hold as candied pineapple, limey passionfruit, green grape, kiwi and lychee tropicalia reach the surface atop dry pale malts.
On the dark side, Binaural Black Lager slid Maris Otter-malted molasses oats into nutty black chocolate chalkiness.
On late August ’25 revisit, tried five newly brewed Gentle Giant suds.
Fruity Pebbles-like cereal sugaring aroused Dino Lager, placing lemony orange and pineapple riffs across mild hop phenols atop barren baked breading.
Brisk lemony orange zesting and sweet coriander spicing joined for Gnarzilla Witbier, a fine Belgiqan styled moderation with white peppered herbage and tangerine tanginess surfacing in the candied citrus midst.
A confectionery orange creamsickle knockoff, Orange Vanilladon IPA let marshmallowy vanilla creaming surround navel orange tang and lemon meringue tartness over oats-flaked pilsner malting.
Bright lemony grapefruit sunshine and tangy orange peel zesting enlivened Citra-Mosaic-Nelson-hopped First Clawss Double IPA, leaving tertiary white wine, mango and pineapple subtleties on its sugary pale malt spine.
Dark-roast coffee, black chocolate and charred nuttiness coerced dry black lager, Rawr And Order, a fine dark ale.
gentlegiantbrewing.com
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK
A casual English-styled pub with an enigmatic Speakeasy feel, Manhattan’s Upper West Side venue, AMSTERDAM ALE HOUSE, is conveniently located a block from the Beacon Theatre. An archaic mahogany-furnished joint, its keen Prohibition Era elegance gets enhanced by the golden tin ceiling, Edison light fixtures, stain glass windows and beautiful columned mahogany bar (with 30-plus taps, plentiful shelved liquor and narrow service area).
A backroom dining area gets packed after Beacon shows and sports fanatics get multiple TV’s to stare at while drinking craft draught or excellent bottled-canned fare from England, Belgium, Germany and the New World (Unibroue, Stone, Rogue, Ommegang, etc.). Burgers, pizza, sandwiches and entrees are available.
I enjoyed two previously untried beers, Central Waters Mudpuppy Porter and Harpoon Rec. League Hazy Pale Ale (reviewed in Beer Index) while getting out of the 90 degree sun this mid-May ’19 afternoon.
On tap at Growler & Gill, Irish Car Bomb-like nitro stout retains soothingly creamed dark chocolate syruping, honeyed Graham Cracker sugaring and sweet vanilla serenity (somehow recalling above-mentioned cocktail that combines Jameson Whiskey, Bailey’s Irish Cream and Guinness Stout). Black Forest cake, fudged brownie, crème brulee and cocoa milk illusions add further richness to extraordinary dessert treat.
On tap at Ambulance, mild oak-charred Black Dirt Bourbon Whiskey aging softly soaks into dark-roast coffee and black chocolate resonance, leaving dry rye notions in the midst. Nut-seared mocha richness overrides rye whiskey tones by wide margin.
Richly creamed Mexican-styled full body remains boldly well-balanced yet lusciously soft-tongued. Exuberant mocha-spiced sweetness increases brown-sugared cinnamon adjunct to contrast mild ancho-pablano peppering above molasses-glazed flaked oats malting. Minty chocolate luxuriance gains lovely milk-sugared coffee, bourbon vanilla, cocoa nibs, crème brulee, café au lait, coconut and hazelnut undertones. Recommended.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, mild oak-charred brandied cognac influence stays subtle against sweet brown chocolate entry and oncoming bourbon vanilla intensity, leaving fudgy toffee creaming upon rich mocha finish. Needs more dynamic blend with higher cognac impact, but fine nevertheless.
