On tap at Growler & Gill, tart blood orange adjunct and earthen grain musk perks up dry radler-styled light lager. Mildly spiced lemon spritz as well as peach-pitted pink grapefruit, mandarin orange, rose petal and tangelo illusions flutter by baked breaded white wheat backbone. Juicy blood orange template stays subtle yet continuous.
GREAT DIVIDE ROADIE GRAPEFRUIT RADLER
Top-grade soda-beer combo reveals juicy grapefruit permanence that gains sweet orange peel drift and crisply carbolic 7Up-like lemon lime sugaring. Zesty morning sunshine.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE HOPS N’ ROSES AGED IN OAK BARRELS
On tap at Growler & Gill, politely oak barreled wild ale utilizes mild rose hips, elderflower and hibiscus adjuncts to engage lightly vinous red wining, tart lemon snicker and musky honeysuckle trickle. Tertiary floral-daubed herbal tea illusions sneak thru winy tannins.
OMMEGANG PALE SOUR ALE
Elegant pale yellow-cleared moderation (in collaboration with Belgium’s famous Liefman) forwards white-wined lemon rot musk to lemongrass-salted citric hop stead and tart grapefruit curdling above mild sourdough respite. Sour lemon-limed yogurt finish fades quick.
THREES SHORT FUSE SMOKED HELLES
On tap at Ambulance, abstruse foudre-fermented helles lager combines reserved vanilla-sugared marshmallow sweetness with mild tropical fruiting above subtly smoked pale malt dryness. Foudre casking adds ever-so-slight toasted wood parch.
VICTORY HOME GROWN AMERICAN LAGER
Elusive clear golden pale lager with modest intentions. Mildly spiced lemondrop spritz tingles cereal grained carapils malting and alkaline astringency. Sedate Mosaic-Cascade-Citra-Chinook hop influence checkmarks unspecific citric-spiced neutrality.
NIGHT SHIFT NITE LITE
On tap at The Oath, microbrewed lite lager works well as stylishly distinct alternative to Bud-Coors-Miller fodder. Mild wet grain musk surfaces alongside rice-watered corn malts, subtle lemon spicing and delicate grassy hop astringency and directly above wheat-dried cracker base. In the can, corn-starched grain musk and perfumed hop lemon spritz rise to surface.
DOUBLE NICKEL LAID-BACK LAGER
Inexpressive blue collar fodder lacks advertised ‘sweet melon’ influence. Unassuming orange-dried lemon bruise and murky vegetal musk gain sour splurge.
DOUBLE NICKEL PILSNER LAGER
Classically-styled German pilsner takes on macrobrew competition with nearly inoffensive lightweight. Musky wet-grained dankness soaks lemon-dried grassy hop astringency and murky herbal-floral blur. Diacetyl remnant depletes soggy finish.
1940’S BREWING COMPANY
HOLBROOK, NEW YORK
One mile down the road from Saint James Brewery in a beautiful beige-stoned Industrial park, 1940’S BREWING COMPANY makes a wide variety of Classic-styled craft brews in their small 5-barrel operation. Opened during 2014, owner Charles Becker’s father used to brew at Rheingold while brewmaster Jon Bregel proves to be a resourceful zymurgist.
The brewery’s prominent front-windowed sign welcomes patron to the rustic two-room setting. The light brown walled serving room featured a wood finished wraparound bar with golden 1940’s emblem above 15 tap handles plus Edison lights and cornered flat-screen TV.
A separate side room had community tables and barreled stools.
A friendly, relaxed atmosphere was shared by a full house this rainy Saturday afternoon, May ’18. I grabbed a middle seat at the bar and consumed thirteen well-balanced brews. I bought a crowler of 1940’s flagship Wicked Chowdah IPA for the road (reviewed in Beer Index).
Daintily lemon-candied Bohemian Blonde provided a fine light-bodied opener with its grassy hop astringency bringing proper acridity to its oats-flaked white wheat graining and sweet crystal malting.
Tart blueberries sweetened a tad for Sapphire Squeeze Blueberry Ale, where sour lemon tartness battled back dry chocolate malts above its Bohemian Blonde base.
Just as easygoing, Hefe Injustice, left its stylish banana-clove sweetness upon doughy French-breaded crusting and soapy carbolic spritz.
Plain raw-honeyed Oh Bee Have Cream Ale let grassy hop astringency upend sour lemon rot and light herbal notions.
Dry-hopped lemon and orange souring regaled Vienna Waits For You Kolsch.
Strawberry-laden Hipster Weisse coddled its spritzy sour lemon salinity with perfumed dry spicing and tart cranberry snips, finishing with a puckering strawberry lucidity.
Caramel-toasted Starboardown Irish Red glided spicy red cherry, red grape and raspberry illusions into crisp tobacco-roasted earthen dew.
Brisk West Coast-styled Airfield IPA brought orange-peeled grapefruit tang to light pine tones and caramel-spiced pale malts.
Affably soft-tongued Column Shifter Double IPA retained a juicy grapefruit, orange, tangerine and pineapple tang over barley-roasted Maris Otter malts.
Pleasantly hop-roasted Change At Jamaica Black IPA balanced dried fruited tartness with dark chocolate malts.
Black-malted dark chocolate and coffee saddled semi-rich Brunch Porter, a cookie dough-bottomed medium body with tertiary black cherry-pureed nuttiness.
Dry Sinners Mass Oatmeal Stout affixed moderate dark chocolate and vanilla bean bittering to raw molasses-backed oats. Its nitro version obtained black cherry, cola nut and espresso subsidies for the dry mocha rhapsody.
1940sbrewingcompany.com
SAINT JAMES BREWERY
HOLBROOK, NEW YORK
Established in 2012, SAINT JAMES BREWERY makes fine artisanal Belgian-styled ales out of mostly locally sourced farmhouse ingredients. In time, Saint James also made a host of IPA’s and other stylish brews.
Visited during a Saturday downpour in May ’18, the pristine Industrial warehouse-bound brewery (with windowed bird emblem) is located right near Long Island’s MacArthur Airport in the town of Holbrook.
Its interior resembles a straightforward, no nonsense Belgian pub with its hardwood chandelier at the foyer, wood-barreled stool seating, nuevo metallic furnishings and high ceilings. The red-floored space also includes a large-screen TV and large backroom brewtanks.
I tasted large samplers of six fruitful delights on my initial journey.
Effervescent Rachelle Blanche brought lemon-soured orange peel tanginess to bruised banana tartness and setback clove-bubblegum-vanilla illusions above sugar wafer-like wheat malting.
‘Smooth alcohol warmth’ serenaded Biere des Chevaliers, an easygoing dubbel with beet-sugared molasses sweetness and dry plum wining covered in musty earthen dew.
Delightful medium body, Tripel, supplied candi-sugared fruit spicing with peaty barley malts and herbal restraint.
Mildly sour Pomme loaded cider-like red apple tartness and mild pomegranate juicing atop subtle barley hops.
Dry cherry-soured Cerise contrasted pomegranate-cranberry dryness with mild molasses sugaring.
Best of all: fantastic holiday ale, Biere de Noel Quad, let lightly creamed chocolate malts settle alongside dark cherry, burgundy and Syrah exuberance, tobacco roasted crisping and blackcurrant snips.
http://www.saintjamesbrewery.com/
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE BREWING COMPANY
ELMSFORD, NEW YORK
Starting in nearby Pleasantville, New York, during 2006, CAPTAIN LAWRENCE BREWING COMPANY soon evolved into a massive microbrewery at its sprawling Elmsford site. Now a well-known Westchester staple and highly rated East Coast beer destination, the ever-increasing brewhouse (named after a Revolutionary War naval commander) now enjoys robust bottle-can-keg sales.
Led by UC-Davis certified homebrewer, Scott Vaccaro, the good captain’s current 40-barrel brewhouse features a community-tabled outdoor picnic area (with separate serving station and red wood furnishings), large window-encased high ceiling auditorium, plastic-tabled community-styled Beer Hall (including beautiful 30-foot mahogany bar with blackboard beer menu) and Funk Facility (built in 2015 to create sour ale and limited barrel-aged creations).
During my May 2018 journey on a beautiful Saturday, I got to sample Orbital Tilt – Galaxy IPA (reviewed in Beer Index) while munching on a salad. Other delectable food items included ribs, wings, meatballs, pork, steak and chicken. Though limited edition Fudgy The Beer Stout sold out in one hour two days hence, I picked up a crowler of Powder Dreams IPA.
Able to make highly regarded core beers alongside reliable sour ales, limited edition pilot batches and interesting seasonal stuff, Captain Lawrence proudly delivers a wide range of unfiltered beers (with excess yeast removed thru a centrifuge).
www.captainlawrencebrewing.com