CLIFFSIDE BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

Founding brewer, David Durant, opened his friendly neighborhood nano operation October 2017 (and closed May ’23). A pet project, diminutive pub CLIFFSIDE BREWING successfully dabbled with many well-known styles.

Inside a beautiful marble-stoned cornershop, the small open space features six front-roomed wooden tables and an eight-stooled serving table towards the rear (with ten-plus draughts and free popcorn).

My wife and I visit on a drizzling Friday eve in April ’18, trying all eight brews on tap while losing at trivia.

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First up, Mesmerized Witbier layered raw-honeyed sap atop mild orange-bruised banana, clove and bubblegum sugaring as well as sweet Cahllah breading and wispy tobacco crisping.

Next, clover-honeyed(?) Soft Landing gained orange-dried tartness to contrast mild caramel malts.

Soft-toned Enlightenment Fruit Ale brought tangy apricot juicing and mild peach-tangerine tartness to sugar-wafered pale malts and subtle hop astringency.

Tidy moderate-to-medium body, Stonewall Red, offered toasted amber graining to orange-dried apple souring, mild tobacco roast and timidly musky hop astringency.

Springtime comforter, Graceful Shutdown Maibock, upended lemony mandarin orange, clementine and tangerine modesty with soapy pale-malted hop acridity.

Maybe the finest choice on this seasonally cold night, hazily chartreuse-hued Synaptic Misfire Northeast IPA, a creamily malted medium body, gained juicy orange-peeled grapefruit, tangerine and pomelo tanginess.

Sedate Rockslide Brown Ale coalesced caramelized chocolate malting with earthen nuttiness.

For dessert, dry Pinky Out Stout embellished its crisp barley-roasted Bakers chocolate entry and cocoa-powdered tartness with bitter charred hop restraint.

cliffsidebrewing.com

FRONT PORCH BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

Residing at an inconspicuous aluminum-sided industrial mall, FRONT PORCH BREWING opened a month after Wallingford’s first brewery, Cliffside (now defunct), during November 2017 (and closed brewing ops February ’23).

As usual with the Constitution State’s current brewing climate, this independent nano occupies rustic warehouse space. Co-owning home brewer, Jay Flynn, crafts interestingly experimental concoctions ranging from several sour ales to a pale ale, IPA and English dark mild on this Friday eve, April ’18.

Going through the side door, Front Porch’s small white-walled, cement-floored, overhead-doored, community-tabled area features a serving station with eight draught lines, a colorful black-boarded beer list and several outside spirits (whiskey, tequila, cider, wine).  There’s also a tiny porch area with video games.

During my hour-long perusal, quaffed six satisfyingly soft-toned suds.

Approachable moderation, Hand Cannons Imperial Sour Ale, let grapefruit-soured lemon tartness gain light woody hop astringency. Equally affable, Try All & Error American Pale Ale, contrasted dried orange tartness against mild wood-toned Chinook hops, briskly zestful Citra hops and lightly sugared pale malts.

Murkily chartreuse-hued Berliner Weiss, Parti Gal #3, brought salty lemon-limed cantaloupe rind, honeydew-pureed tartness, vinous green grape tannins and mandarin orange subtleties to its delicate white wheat spine.

Durably pleasurable Reverse Mermaid IPA surrounded moderate grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering with grassy hop astringency and pale malt sugaring.

Mildly bittersweet English dark ale, Albedo Mild, winningly combined dark chocolate roast with dewy peat earthiness, black grape tartness and dried nuttiness.

Interesting night cap, I’m Too Cold To Care Imperial Sour Stout saddled Black patent malt bittering with sour coffee-chocolate tones and mildly acidic grape tannins above sourdough rye dryness.

frontporchbrewing.co

ELI CANNON’S TAP ROOM

BEER PUB,

fun bar - Review of Eli Cannon's, Middletown, CT - Tripadvisor

MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT

One of the most bohemian campus-styled beer halls in the whole Northeast, ELI CANNON’S TAP ROOM serves Wesleyan College and the whole free-spirited Middletown community with its lively frathouse appeal , antique memorabilia, graffiti-clattered walls, eclectic curiosities, local paraphernalia and well-selected revolving draughts.

In the heart of Connecticut just south of Hartford at Middletown’s North End, the recently renovated red brick tavern co-owned by beer-centric entrepreneur, Phil Ouellette, will appeal to any seasoned brew hound. In business since ’94, its offbeat dive bar appearance never obstructs the fantastic pub fare (burgers, sandwiches, snacks).

Mugs hang from the 35-tap bar and several brewery signposts decorate the walls alongside bikes, fire engines, skeletons, motorcycles and a mummy poster.

My wife and I grab a table at the cramped right side dining area where several college kids tip glasses. It’s a stormy Friday in April ’18 when I consume local Connecticut fare such as Back East Crosby Stills & Smash Pale Ale and New England Kewl Beans Stout plus Cali’s Anderson Valley Framboise Rose Gose (all reviewed in Beer Index).

elicannons.com

ANGRY ERIK BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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HAMPTON TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY

In the rural northwestern Jersey village of Hampton Township, ANGRY ERIK moved from nearby Lafayette to now occupy a maroon aluminum-sided barnhouse at a newish industrial mall area during 2019.

A high ceilinged cement-floored open space with 14-seat wood-topped serving station, stooled tables and random barrels, Angry Erik’s pristine yellow-walled interior also features a massive bar-centered brewery banner, cool end-of-bar serpent and at least 12 tap handles.

A maroon-umbrellaed, slate-pavered side deck with plastic furnishings offers plenty of outside seating along the hillside.

A host of patrons greet my dog Roscoe upon my initial August ’19 sojourn. My wife and I will quaff five previously untried suds while grabbing a few seats on the deck midafternoon.

Dryer than expected, Belgian Abbey singel, Hand Of Tyr, brought mild raw honeyed bittering and tart fig-date-apricot dried fruiting to its relegated beet-sugared pecan glaze.

Honey-spiced tripel, H2 Ale with Honey & Hibiscus Tripel, reeled in its unassuming 10% ABV to reveal vibrant citrus tanginess, gentle hibiscus tropicalia and subtle floral herbage.

Hybridized Belgian-styled India Pale Ale, Fjord Crosser, retained a dryer wood-toned citrus bittering as lemony grapefruit-seeded desiccation and grainy pine rusticity picked up sweet honeydew, tart lychee and sour gooseberry undertones.

An interesting black ale/ Maxwell Heavy Scotch Ale blend, Shady Max coalesced its dewy Scotch-fruited tobacco leafing with cocoa-dried black patent malts in a well-conceived manner.

Best bet: glorious Bourbon Barrel-aged Vangandr, a 2019 version of Belgian brown ale aged in sweet bourbon, regaled sharp-spiced cherry, banana, toffee, raisin and coconut luster as well as peated whiskey persistence.

EARLY ANGRY ERIK ARTICLE PRIOR TO HAMPTON MOVEImage result for angry erik building

LAFAYETTE, NEW JERSEY

Directly off Route 94 in the rural Western Jersey town of Lafayette, ANGRY ERIK BREWING is a small, successful, independent business ready for imminent expansion. Since opening in 2014, the entrepreneurial husband-wife tandem of Erik & Heide Hassing have taken their steady offering of one-off beers and seasonal repeats statewide and beyond.

Relishing the cool “Don’t Get Mad, Get Angry” slogan and utilizing a thrasher-wielding dragon Viking insignia, Angry Erik boasts a “constant variety of beers to quench every craft beer lover. Inside a red-tanned light Industrial complex, its eight-seat bar features several tap handles and a blackboard listing draught selections while three wood tables line the left side. In the back brew room are two plastic picnic tables for further seating.

Just ten miles away from Sparta’s beer-centric Krogh’s Brewpub and Mohawk House Restaurant, Angry Erik’s ever-changing beer menu moves faster than a speeding bullet.

On my celebratory 4-20 visit during 2018, the entire menu changed from a mere two weeks hence. I got to quaff five previously untried suds before heading East at sundown.

First up, Angry Erik’s easygoing Belgian What? Belgian Blonde let spritzy orange-peeled grapefruit, pineapple and lime zest gain moderate Amarillo piney hop bittering above oats-dried wheat malts.

Next, ‘seductive’ elderflower-enhanced The Dainty Viking Blonde Ale brought tart citrus-spiced Chardonnay buttering to subdued pale malting, though its rustic dried flowering seemed overwhelmed.

Tidy IPA, To Taste (Hoppy Heide #4), spread moderate yellow grapefruit bittering across spritzy pineapple, peach, orange and tangerine tanginess above crystal malt sugaring.

Politely hop-headed IPA, Hop The Fence, brought sweet ‘n sour grapefruit tones to ashen pine resin and plasticine-grouted clay hops, gaining tertiary peach, pineapple and orange juiciness at the moderately bitter citrus finish.

For silken Valentines Day-inspired dessert, Cordially, Cupid Porter regaled prominent Black Forest cake sweetness thanks to tartly sweet ‘n sour black cherries and sugary chocolate-cocoa fudging.

www.angryerik.com