“Dank” pine resin drapes floral-spiced yellow grapefruit bittering and mild orange peel tang. Sharp citrus hop bite lingers as sour mango-guava tartness stays safely beneath.
VIRGINIA HIGH HEAT INDIA PALE ALE
Simply smooth streamlined pleasure brings lemony grapefruit tang to light resinous pining and mild oats-flaked base. Brisk Lemondrop and Galaxy hops inform subsidiary mandarin orange, passionfruit, guava and papaya tropicalia, heightening its sassy sweet ‘n sour fruitiness.
CAROLINA WIGGO! INDIA PALE ALE
One of four flagships brews, copper-bronzed medium-full body proves richer, creamier, ‘maltier’ and darker than typical IPA fare. Brown apple, bosc pear, tangerine and grilled mango fruiting heads to the fore alongside red ale-like toasted caramel spicing, overriding usual grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering as well as mild piney hop musk.
NEW BELGIUM MURAL AGUA FRESCA
On tap at Fishheads – Nags Head, blanched SweeTarts candy likeness gains sour gose-like salinity to contrast lemon shandy-like soda pop sweetness of underwhelming collaboration with Mexico’s Cerveceria Primus. Limey strawberry-watermelon Jolly Rancher illusions stay distant alongside wispy hibiscus and agave adjuncts. Murkily chalked fruiting remains nebulous.
NEW BELGIUM HONEY ORANGE TRIPEL
Sweet honey creaming drapes Seville orange peel tang, herbal-spiced white peppering and musty Belgian yeast cellar funk of respectable hybridized tripel. In the midst, candied pineapple, peach, tangerine and tangelo fruiting engages honeyed orange theme.
BOLD MARINER BREWING COMPANY
NORFOLK, VIRGINIA
Inside a gray aluminum warehouse off the beaten path in Norfolk’s Old Dominion University area, BOLD MARINER BREWING COMPANY came to fruition during November 2015. Owner Michael Starks, A former Navy officer, and head brewer, John O’Reilly, take a few good chances crafting stylistically whimsical elixirs.
A large overhead-doored American flag proudly beams down at the wood-lacquered J-shaped bar and standard community tables . Glass-encased brew tanks peak out from the cement-floored bar area. A gated picnic area, large beergarden and private party room offer plenty of extra seating.
I try all ten available samples on my initial July ’18 afternoon sojourn. Unlike most brewpubs, Bold Mariner concentrated on making lagers as well as ales.
Fair maize-dried Middle Light Lager brought corn-husked astringency to mild rice niceties and sweet floral accents, suiting only blue collar thirsts.
A better lager choice, Lafayette French Lager had subtly spiced citrus zing that went sour with lemon-rotted orange desiccation.
Just as worthy, easygoing Frogman Lager relegated dry floral earthiness and grassy hop bittering for its mineral grained toasting.
Floral hibiscus serenity hybridized Fete de la Mer Hibiscus Wheat, a salty lemon-soured moderate-medium body contrasting mellow yellow grapefruit and lemon meringue tartness against less prominent Belgian candi-sugaring.
Lemony grapefruit-soured Scurvy Dog Saison relegated blanched strawberry-grapefruit illusions and distant herbal notions.
Sessionable Bold Dominion Pale Ale saddled lemon-spiced grapefruit and orange tanginess with caramelized pale malting.
Dry Baja Coffee Pale Ale placed medium-roast coffee inside crisp pale malting, proving perfect as a breakfast alternative.
Middling dry-bodied moderation, Red Maiden Irish Red, placed toasted caramel malting alongside spicy apple-peach-orange jaunt.
Floral-fruited Dog Zebra IPA gave pine-dried yellow grapefruit and orange rind bittering a zesty lemon spritz.
Sweet toffee malts and floral hop spicing girded bittersweet tropical fruit sharpness for bold medium-bodied Liberty Risk Imperial IPA.
BENCHTOP BREWING
NORFOLK, VIRGINIA
At a dead end street just off bustling Colley Avenue, Norfolk’s uniquely rewarding BENCHTOP BREWING does a fine job re-creating, reimagining and Americanizing the crisply clean mineral-watered splendor of old-styled Norwegian-styled ales. Boasting “hop-forward ales harmoniously blending scientific approach and artistic freedom” using local ingredients, this spacious red-bricked pub will please any serious hophead as well as lighter thirsts with its crystalline IPA’s and provocative stylistic changeups.
An orange-lettered Benchtop sign welcomes thirsty minions to the 12-seat wood lacquered bar that includes five left-windowed community tables, eight-plus draught handles, railroad-tied bar backdrop, exposed ducts and one TV. A few metal-furnished front patio seats are also available out front and to the side.
Seated at one of the metal-backed patio seats with my wife, I sampled seven happily hybridized suds mid-July ’18.
Musty cellar-like Norwegian yeast inundated Gong Session IPA as well as Gong Water – Citra IPA. The former regaled mild grapefruit and orange rind bitterness that contrasted candied peach, pineapple and mango spicing while its fizzy lemon lime spritz gained momentum alongside Hallertau-hopped white grape esters.
The latter Gong benefited from juicy Citra hops and dank earthen wood musk as its floral-spiced grapefruit rind, orange peel, pineapple and mango tang spread across mild pine resin.
Lemony passionfruit guided Hazing Face Galaxy Pale Ale, a soft-toned moderation with floral-spiced tangerine, mandarin orange and grapefruit tanginess gaining wispy herbal nuances.
Straightforward Proven Theory IPA let brisk orange-peeled lemon rind and juicy grapefruit gain pungent yellow-wooded juniper bittering and desiccated mango, pineapple and peach undertones.
Adding a little sourness to the mix, Juicy Thoughts Double IPA allowed bitter lemon rot to ransack sunny grapefruit, peach and tangelo tanginess as well as mild piney hop resin.
Foraged oyster shells brought viscosity to salty lemon-limed Mermaid’s Scorn Oyster Gose, a sweet-tart coriander-spiced moderation with lactobacillus souring gaining vinous white grape esters.
For dessert, Walter’s Brunch Coffee Chocolate Maple Porter draped maple sap across roasted coffee, milked espresso, chalky chocolate and dried cocoa illusions.
BEARDED BIRD BREWING
NORFOLK, VIRGINIA
At Norfolk’s artsy Neon District, BEARDED BIRD BREWING crafts well-rounded Americanized versions of several standard beer styles. Open since May 13, 2017 (and closed around 2022), manager Matt Harte and brewer Joe Cloonan help guide the delightful l’il nanobrewery.
Beneath a generic black and white Bearded Bird sign, patrons enter the high-ceilinged one-room pub to find a 10-seat L-shaped bar, gorgeous black serpent queen mural and front-windowed community tables. Its unfinished warehouse feel is increased by the aluminum-roofed back patio (with metal furnishings).
My wife and I visited during a hot Friday evening, July ’18.
Smooth ‘core beer, Angry Aly Amber, allowed yellow fruited spicing to brighten the front end above mild leafy-hopped grain roast and nutty remnants.
‘Sunny’ Clean Cut Canary Cream Ale let its sweet orange tang coerce raw-honeyed lemon rot souring over toasted wheat malts.
Sour-creamed White Flag Vanilla Cream Ale offered lemon meringue tartness and mild vanilla bean sugaring to grassy hop astringency.
Ginga Ninja Honey Ginger Saison raised ginger and honey adjuncts above lemon rot souring and leathery barnyard acridity.
Vibrant The NEON IPA saddled lemony grapefruit and orange-peeled tangerine tanginess with dry piney hop resin and floral-spiced herbage.
Milk-sugared Big Trouble coffee beans lifted Early Bird Hazelnut Stout as hazelnut sweetness and chocolate-spiced vanilla fudging edged out toasted hop crisping.
Similarly-styled 1st Anniversary celebrator, Early Bird In Russian Stout, brought sweet-milked hazelnut coffee to dark chocolate, cocoa and carafe malts as well as tertiary black cherry and black licorice snips, picking up a peppery nuance over time.
MIX IT UP – VIRGINIA BEACH
VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA
Open 2015, MIX IT UP not only offers a fine selection of local, national and international microbrew bottles-cans, but also a diverse menu of fifty draughts avavilable at the silver metal wraparound serving station (but closed 2020). While the left side features the bottles and cans, the seperate right side room holds the draughts. A wood-floored back deck offers more seating.
On a late afternoon jaunt, I bought several bottles of Virginia vintage while quaffing MoMac Sea Cow Stout (reviewed in Beer Index).
WESTTOWN BREW WORKS
WESTTOWN, NEW YORK
A virtual retreat away from the suburban sprawl of Rockland County and beyond New York City, Orange County’s WESTTOWN BREW WORKS came to life in rural seclusion during 2015 (and temporarily closed 2024). Built within the confines of a mountainous canyon in the tiny hamlet of West Town (a few miles northeast of Warwick’s bohemian village) this wood-furnished gray barnyard really soaks up the peaceful pastoral serenity of the rustic rolling hills.
On a beautiful sunny Sunday in July (2018), me and the wife (with dog in tow) enjoy some live acoustic music while sitting at one of the many patio tables perched outside the green aluminum-topped brewery.
Inside, the high-ceilinged venue, the elongated wood bar features tap handles below sidled American flags guarding the blackboard beer menu. Interestingly, Westtown’s also a hop farm.
We tried all five currently available brews while the music played pristinely in the backdrop.
First up, soft Belgian farmhouse ale, Wit Tail, laced subtle orange-peeled coriander sweetness with mild white wheat malts, picking up wispy mandarin orange, tangerine and grapefruit illusions.
Next, lemony orange-peeled moderation, Solar Scar Tripel, sweetened over time as its candi-sugared caramel malting and mild vanilla creaming came thru.
Approachable Farmhand India Pale Ale brought easygoing floral-spiced grapefruit, orange and pineapple tanginess to the fore as its mild piney bittering gained light hop peppering.
Sedately nut-charred Scouts Recipe Brown Ale provided walnut, peanut and hazelnut tones for its toffee setting.
Lastly, Shoo-Fly Dry Irish Stout retained moderately dry black chocolate bittering and muted brown-sugared molasses sweetness.
www.westtownbrewworks.com
BREAKER ABANDONED MINE BARLEYWINE (MERLOT GRAPE MUSK)
Expressive Merlot grape musk provides lightly vinous blue grape esters for vanilla bourbon-infused oak tannins sweetened by caramelized barleymalts. Terse Chardonnay-buttered chestnut, pecan and praline undertones deepen its subtle complexity. Spritzy champagne bubbles add carbolic flare.
CLIMAX RASPBERRY HEFEWEIZEN
On tap at Climax, soft-tongued raspberry puree tartness relegates mildly creamed banana-bubblegum sweetness and sour lemon tingle above delicate white wheat spine. Sweet-tart candied raspberry persistence pays off for fruitful hefe.