On tap at Ambulance, lemony blueberry bite receives mildly soured buckwheat-honeyed barnyard rusticity and sweetly tart banana quirk for nifty Belgian-styled strong blonde posing as a dry farmhouse ale.
HOOF HEARTED ROSE GOSE
Bone-dry, rosé-wined, ‘hot pink’ gose brings vinous lemon-salted green grape souring to subtle hibiscus tartness, leaving sparkling rosé reminder. Pink sea-salted citrus rind bittering gains mild cranberry pucker and acidic raspberry vinaigrette tinge upped by lactobacillus saison yeast.
CENTRAL STATE GARDEN GOSE
On tap at Ambulance, easygoing gose brings zesty lemon peel adjunct to tart briny lime souring and dry Sauvignon Blanc white grape tannins above delicate white wheat spine.
LAWSON’S MAPLE NIPPLE AMBER ALE
On tap at Ambulance, subtle Vermont maple syruping drapes mild dried fruit spicing and milder caramelized brown chocolate malting. Maple molasses-sugared mocha fruiting, dewy hop foliage and wispy chestnut-pecan-acorn tease need better forward thrust.
DOGFISH HEAD AMERICAN BEAUTY PALE ALE
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead – Haledon, floral grapefruit-peeled orange tang and mild grassy hop astringency envelop Grateful Dead-inspired granola knockoff. Honeyed almond, oats and cereal grain influence unassuredly secondary to dry pale-malted citrus stead.
NOBLE JAY BREWING COMPANY
NIANTIC, CONNECTICUT
Residing at a cement-floored Industrial mall inside an inconspicuous light blue-walled, black-ceilinged, 15-seat taproom (with track lighting and wooden US flag), NOBLE JAY BREWING COMPANY serves its quaint Mystic-area village of Niantic with a small variety of well-crafted homemade nano brews.
Owned and operated by proud military veteran, Mike Lincoln, Noble Jay dedicated three tap lines to lagers, a surprisingly large amount for such a small pub, during my mid-January ’19 afternoon perusal. Its diminutive interior features a small living room space with couch, rug and overhead TV plus multiple service academy flags along the walls. Led Zeppelin plays in the background as I down the three lagers, one rangy saison and a porter.
Open for business since August ’18 (and out of biz summer 2020), Noble Jay had joined Niantic Public House as one of Niantic’s initial craft breweries.
Musky German-styled pre-Prohibitionist flagship, Mo Pilsner, retained wet-grained pilsner malt breading and herbal Noble hop lemon rot.
Brisk orange-candied Lager Jammin Double IPL gained grassy-hopped astringency to contrast its sugared pale malt spine.
Perhaps the finest lager, stylistically dryer Chappy’s Red Valor regaled spicy red fruiting and dewy caramel malting to counter sour orange tartness in a briskly clean manner.
Inarguably, the most dynamic offering, complexly balanced First Ladies Saison coalesced its lightly sour fruit-spiced farmhouse dryness with the vanilla-sugared banana daquiri sweetness (and lemon meringue twist) of a heady tripel.
On the dark side, Fatty Boom Boom Baltic Porter contrasted soy-milked peanut oiling with sweet hazelnut-glazed caramel malts, leaving dark cocoa traces on the back end.
CARTON COFFEE & PAVLOVA
On tap at Beef Trust, subtle kiwi and strawberry sweetness embraces light ‘acidic bitter coffee curbed by milk and sugar’ of fabulous fruited version of Basic Coffee Imperial Cream Ale. Milk-sugared coffee goodness also caressed by cinnamon, vanilla, blueberry and several anonymously wondrous illusions. Naturally recommended.
TERRAPIN IRISH BUH-BYE WAKE-N-BAKE COFFEE OATMEAL IMPERIAL STOUT
On tap at Beef Trust, charmingly decadent full-bodied mocha dessert plies velvety whiskey-bent Irish cream liqueur to bitter black coffee overtones and fudgy vanilla-spiced brown chocolate stead. Tertiary cocoa, espresso, pecan, walnut, cola and hazelnut illusions deepen its complexity.
BOLERO SNORT KASHMIRI CHAI MILK STOUT
On tap at Poor Henry’s, Tavalon’s subtle chai tea influence guides peppery-spiced black chocolate syruping above silken oats-flaked spine. Milk-sugared mocha malting sweetened by cinnamon, cumin and cayenne piquancy, overwhelming latent green tea bittering of fine herbal-spiced stout hybrid.
DEFIANT VELVET PALATE RIDE IMPERIAL STOUT
On tap at Ambulance, dark-roasted coffee tones and dark chocolate malting glide above charred oats, leaving nutty espresso reminder at brisk iced coffee finish.
INTERBORO AMBASSADOR BLACK & WHITE IMPERIAL STOUT
On tap at Morris Tap & Grill, richly creamed dark chocolate syruping and bitter vanilla bean complement gain wood-scorched Chinook-Columbus hop char. Recessive cocoa nibs, black coffee, espresso and anise illusions reinforce mighty mocha-vanilla template.
NORTHWAY BURLY BEARD NITRO OATMEAL STOUT
Considerable nitro stout brings mildly creamed coffee roast to oats-charred black chocolate bittering and nutty espresso splurge in supreme fashion. Crystalline clean-watered base maximizes mocha resonance.
