On tap at Ambulance, lightly soured lemondrop-hopped farmhouse ale sweetens its white-peppered herbage and dry barnyard musk with honeyed banana-clove pleasantries.
TWO TON BANANAS FOSTER
On tap at Poor Henry’s, light vanilla creaming battles back lactic yogurt souring and tannic grape tartness. In the midst, rum-buttered banana daiquiri sweetness fades quick as dry plantain acridity sets in alongside tertiary boysenberry-gooseberry pucker. A bit waxy.
18TH STREET LAKE STREET EXPRESS SESSION PALE ALE
On tap at Ambulance, sassy sessionable sureshot (with cool cartoon label) coalesces bright citrus zest with dank bark-dried wood tones, grassy herbal notions and tingly spicing over dry cracker-like pale malts. Lemony orange, clementine and tangerine tang picks up ancillary pineapple, peach, mango and tangelo illusions.
PEEKSKILL SOUTHERN ACCENT LAGER
On tap at Ambulance, slightly soured tropical-fruited Australian hops redirect bready pale-malted, aluminum-yellowed, hybridized lager. Polite white-wined kiwi, guava and papaya illusions engage piney IPA-styled citrus spicing in clean moderate-bodied setting.
BRADLEY CHASING KIWIS PILSNER
On tap at Poor Henry’s, dryly tropical New Zealand-hopped pilsner retains subtle kiwi tartness above bready pilsner malting and raw millet groats. Dewy botanical kiwi adjunct leaves soft-toned gooseberry, cucumber, honeydew and melon rind illusions on the tongue. Mellow pilz pleaser.
WESTBROOK POPPIN PILS
On tap at Beef Trust, musky straw-dried maize and spritzy lemon bruise venture to sizable sourdough spine. Light herbal vegetal snip adds further acridity.
FOREIGN OBJECTS DIE DEUTSCHER HALTUNG KELLER PILSNER
On tap at Poor Henry’s, German pilsner-styled kellerbier brings stylish ‘rustic earthiness’ to biscuity sourdough breading, grassy hop astringency and musky floral-perfumed citrus murk. Hazy orange amber hue is richer than the liquid contained.
VICTORY CAGE RADLER
On tap at Morris Tap & Grill, cloyingly effervescent lemonade-related radler pleases sugary summertime thirsts, but gets redundant flavorwise. Light ginger herbage seeps thru lemon-candied hop oiling (and lagered yeast) alongside syrupy pineapple, peach and grapefruit snips as frothy vanilla head recedes, leaving lots of tart lemonade sugaring.
ABOMINABLE SNOWFEST 2019 @ DEFIANT
PEARL RIVER, NEW YORK
Defiant Brewing’s 5th annual Abominable Snowfest was another smashing wintertime hit as curious local minions and professional beer geeks once more collided on a cold January afternoon to plow some of the finest regional draughts. As usual, the amiable hour-and-a-half VIP pregame featured many fantastic one-off ‘big beers’ (most of which I sampled and described below) while the entire 5-hour gathering also benefited from good BBQ, fine pub fare, great live music, an elastic female contortionist and a ceiling-raising stilted lady.
Proving again that there are an ever-increasing amount of local breweries within a 35 mile radius, the Snowfest brought aboard a few more recently opened businesses. Naptime, Big Alice, Fifth Hammer, Long Lot and Gentle Giant were represented alongside another dozen or more regional establishments.
Getting there at a quarter to twelve, the line has already started. I meet veteran 381 Main promoter, John Fladung, then receive my complementary Defiant Abominable Snowbeer, an easygoing Belgian-styled golden ale aperitif with spritzy lemon zesting picking up orange-candied tartness and mild white-peppered honey spicing over dry pale malts.
Keeping it light, pale and sessionable, musky honeyed grains and lemon-rotted Noble hops casually consumed off-dry German-styled(?) moderation, Big Alice NYC Pils, respectable blue collar Brooklyn fodder.
Carefree dry-bodied moderation, Barrier Extra Krona IPA (a collaboration with NYC nano Brewski), let tart guava and passionfruit adjuncts gain lemony grapefruit-orange tanginess alongside botanical grape tannins and pale malt spicing, gaining light musky hop astringency by the finish.
Rye-caramelized pale ale, Fifth Hammer Autumn Rye, did a fine job as a moderate-bodied early afternoon eye-opener, leaving wispy floral-spiced sweetness and earthen hop foliage upon pumpernickel rye breading.
Glistening lemon-peeled grapefruit, orange and tangerine spicing embraced approachable Millhouse Led Ashtray IPA, which stayed mild via oats-neutralized pale malting.
Light lactic-soured milk sugaring and subtle vanilla creaming grazed brisk mango-pineapple-papaya tropicalia and candied citrus spicing for commendable Millhouse Cashazacca India Pale Ale.
Durable Peekskill Pantry Beer, a briskly clean coffee IPA, linked dark-roast Ethiopian coffee to black chocolate malting without totally compromising its contrasted citric-spiced pale malting.
Brewed with Graft apple cider, fine saison hybrid, Newburgh Farm Boss, mingled Spanish cedar, elderflower and coriander subsidies with herbal lemon tea reminders, relegating its sweetly soured cider finish.
Bitter dark cocoa, burnt coffee and sour dried fruiting aligned with bitter nuttiness for Broken Bow Nick’s Hazelnut Praline Porter, leaving sweet hazelnut and praline adjuncts to get pushed aside.
Velvety spirits-aged, Pine Island Bourbon Barrel Porter, let sweet bourbon vanilla alacrity drape cocoa-sugared brown chocolate malts and wispy spiced rum licks.
A few rangy rye-influenced Imperial Stouts from Brooklyn’s KCBC caught my attention next.
Firstly, medium-roast iced coffee tenacity scored for KCBC Ryders of the Black Rainbow Imperial Coffee Stout, leaving nutty brown chocolate malting upon sweet rye breading.
Then, KCBC’s rye-barreled Demons On The Dancefloor, a smooth 11% potion loading bittersweet cocoa nibs onto dry rye, bourbon and burgundy elegance, proved to be an ultra-relaxing solution.
Defiant started really packing up by 1:30 as I got my hands on a few more craft suds while diggin’ the BBQ.
Dark chocolate-caked cold brew coffee consumed Big Alice Date Night Bro Stout, a bitterer-than-sweet full body with nut-charred dark roast hop abundance.
Creamy black chocolate syruping coated hop-charred vanilla bean bittering for Pine Island Oatmeal Creme Stout, but its up-front ‘heaviosity’ soon retreated atop the oats-sugared malt base.
Lactic liquid cocoa (cholaca) escorted black chocolate, vanilla bean and coffee bean bittering thru sweet cardamom spicing and brief cayenne peppering for briskly clean milk stout, Naptime Fika, a bustling mocha-spiced Swedish dark ale.
Silken mocha-enriched stout, Captain Lawrence Double Pull, guided coffee-roasted black chocolate bittering towards espresso-milked nuttiness above lightly charred oats.
Conditioned on chocolate-coconut- vanilla, heavenly Imperial Milk Porter, Brix City Coconut Crème Choco-Lit Pastry Party, let fudged brownie, chocolate mousse, malted milk and coconut cream pie illusions rise to the confectionary mocha-candied surface.
“Udderly sweet” Finback Coquito Milk Stout brought richly lactic brown chocolate malting to cinnamon-spiced coconut toasting, sweet vanilla creaming and wintry nutmeg snog in fabulous dessert-like fashion.
Even more profound, superb Rushing Duck Dirty Chai Ded Moroz Imperial Stout, a kaleidoscopic variant on its mocha-enriched dried fruited original version, adds chai-spiced black peppering to medium-roast coffee, dark chocolate, anise herbage and cinnamon-spiced Graham Cracker sugaring.
Before heading out, I went sour for a nifty change-up. Winterized by tart plum and cranberry adjuncts, mildly acidic sour ale, Rushing Duck Don’t Stoke The Bear, gained a harmonious lemon-limed green grape pucker.
Prost!
-John Fortunato
BARLEY HEAD BREWERY
MYSTIC, CONNECTICUT
Just down the road from famous Mystic Pizza in the basement of a red brick warehouse building, BARLEY HEAD BREWERY opened in this quaint seaport village during 2017 (and closed during 2024).
Taking the rustic gray cement-floored space of a former jewelry store, Barley Head’s diminutive low-ceilinged two-barrel nanaobrewery includes several small sectioned-off brew tanks, three-seated wood serving bar (with large blackboard menu), right-walled couch, four left scattered seats, two window seats and many one-off homebrews by ex-Cottrell brewer Drew Rodgers.
I visited the humble underground pub during mid-January ’19, soaking up one signature staple and seven limited edition elixirs.
Approachable flagship offering, Saison du Maison IPA, coalesced dry saison yeast with IPA-like citric hops, leaving orange-peeled pineapple, mango and tangerine juicing upon mild herbal peppering, lemony grape esters and light earthen musk.
Another crossbred saison, Haley Farm Farmhouse IPA, brought sour lactic acidity and leathery barnyard funk to the lightly embittered citrus hop profile.
Dewy peat contrasted spicy yellow-orange fruiting for moderate Interstellar Secret IPA, an engaging English-derived, New England-styled moderate-medium body.
Floral citric herbage spiked 2nd Enthrallment IPA, leaving lemony grapefruit and orange rind bittering upon piney-hopped grouted oats.
Tart cherry piquancy inundated Love & Pop, an easygoing fruited Belgian ale with murky grain malting.
Lightly creamed specialty grain ale, Chevy Levee & Rye let peaty caraway-seeded rye malting run amuck on brusque herbal citrus hops.
Chocolate-y raisin sweetness uplifted Dave The Great Dubbel, allowing mild burgundy, fig and date illusions to encounter dewy peat serenity towards the midst. The nitro version added mildly creamed walnut, hazelnut and black cherry nuances to the Raisinette-candied glaze.
www.barleyheadbrewery.com
30 MILE BREWING CO.
OLD SAYBROOK, CONNECTICUT
Hidden inside a brick terra cotta warehouse-garage along the railroad tracks of Long Island Sound-bound Old Saybrook, 30 MILE BREWING CO. opened its doors in 2016 (and closed January 2022). A quaint cement-floored dig with green and grey walls, indoor patio setup and 3 TV’s, its charm lies in its lean simplicity and good beers.
As of my initial mid-January ’19 fling, there were bottles and cans available for outside consumption. I got to sample eight well-defined homebrews on my early afternoon stopover with wife and dog, Roscoe, before escaping the oncoming snowstorm.
Signature India Pale Ale, Baby Fight Club, stayed tarter than tangy as its spangling citrus gleam allowed spicy grapefruit, orange and tangerine juicing to rise above mild lupulin-oiled pine tones and dry pale malts.
Dryer citric conciseness saddled Baby Fight Club (Double Dry-Hopped), a zestful IPA securing tingly lemon, grapefruit, orange and tangelo licks with herbal-licked grassy hop astringency.
Easygoing Mosaic-Citra-Cascade-hopped smoothie, Sum Pulp New England IPA, retained its stylish grapefruit, pineapple and orange zestfulness above gentle coniferous pining and modest crystal pale malting.
For audaciously wondrous one-off, Going Sour: Pomegranate, mild acidic salinity underlined pleasantly tart pomegranate sourness contrasted to perfection by sweet vanilla sugaring (and picking up latent gooseberry-cranberry snips).
Nearly as fine, Going Sour: Black Currant utilized subtle blackcurrant-spiced tartness to appease its moderately acidic salinity, leaving white grape, green plum, green apple and gooseberry illusions in its wake.
Stylishly soft-toned Rymley’s Winter Warmer, a dryer-than-sweet barleywine, placed muted red grape, red cherry and plum tones above aridly earthen caramel grain malts.
Happily abstruse Raison Saison plied golden raisins to its banana daquiri-sweetened Graham Cracker spine while wispily white-peppered lime tartness secured the rustic grained underbelly.
Coming across like a delightful creamed coffee, Astute Stout brought vanilla-beaned espresso adjuncts to the fore while sweet caramel latte, cinnamon and dark fruiting shaded the jaunty java juggernaut.
30milebrewingco.com
TWO ROADS / EVIL TWIN SAIGON SCOOTER SELFIE VIETNAMESE STOUT
On tap at Woodstack Pizza, creamily brown-sugared coffee sweetness envelops rich java-influenced stout collab between two respected Connecticut brewers. Vietnamese iced coffee continuance gains light bourbon vanilla, milk chocolate, cacao nibs, cinnamon, molasses and café au lait illusions to further sweeten decadent coffee milkshake alternative.
