On tap at Growlers To Go – Duck, hybridized kolsch allows tart peach essence to expand above light pilsner malting. Lemon-soured peach tang gains mildly vinous green grape esters and slight vanilla extract bittering. In the recess, strawberry rhubarb tartness elevates piquant peach regalia.
DOUBLE NICKEL BELGIAN GOLDEN ALE
Staid Belgian blonde never catches fire as candi-sugared banana-clove sweetness fades as fast as its negligible orange-spiced piquancy and soured lemon snag. Mild herbal hop astringency contrasts wispy wheat wafer sweetness.
SLY FOX ALEX’S LEMON WHEAT
On tap at Andy’s Corner Bar, cheap lemonade sugaring rises above barren white wheat base. Light lemon-limed carbolic spritz picks up herbal snip. An unrealized soda-like summertime beverage.
BOSQUE LAGER
Superbly expressive light lager keeps it simple. Utilizing a soft German pilsner malt base, its sunshiny lemon zest and juicy grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering suit a feathery IPA. And its fuzzy carbolic fluff provides the lightest creaming imaginable. Subtle grassy hop bittering contrasts crackery white breading.
JAM ROOM BREWING CO.
NEWFOUNDLAND, PENNSYLVANIA
Inside a beige aluminum Village RV Center with its vinyl record-like JAM ROOM BREWING CO. sign just above the door, this rural countrified Newfoundland nanobrewery has been making small batch ales from a small two-barrel system (mostly one-offs) since 2016. Recently, they began distributing to local bars and restaurants.
During July ’18, entrepreneurial co-owner Austin Lehrian poured me some worthy ales crafted by brewmaster Bill Reese while I took a seat at the 7-stool serving table around noontime. The cozy barroom also included two small front tables, multiple wall-bound brewery stickers, sundry rock and roll music paraphernalia and a beer list strewn across a large right side blackboard. The lacquered wood countertop was inlaid with Jam Room script lettering. A few outside picnic tables provided extra seating for the dedicated night crowd.
Cool V guitar-shaped serving trays contained four of the seven samplers I’d quaff.
Our favorite brew, vibrant Fade To Red Hefeweizen captivated the tongue with joyously sun-drenched mango and red raspberry tanginess as well as sweet orange-peeled peach, nectarine and tangerine sweetness. Over time, stylish banana-clove conflux, zesty lemon twist, brisk pineapple juicing and SweeTart-candied tartness enjoin summery mango-raspberry burst.
Utilizing a lactic lager yeast, Maggie’s Farmhouse Lager brought sour lemon rot, desiccated orange tartness and mild lemongrass herbage to oats-dried spelt-like graining.
Traditional Golden Ale had more body than most lighter stylistic competitors as its yellow-fruited spritz gained mineral-grained pale malting and mildly pungent hop bittering in a brisk manner.
Dry Microgroove IPA let yellow grapefruit, orange and tangerine tanginess take the lead as candy-spiced pale malts contrasted moderate piney hop bittering to the gentle toasted biscuit spine.
Honey-glazed liquid fruit salad, Stereophonic Double IPA, a northeast-styled medium body, regaled tangy grapefruit, orange, pineapple, mango and tangerine zest with mild lemon snips above sugary pale malts.
Moderately legume-influenced Muddy Wooders Brown Ale slid peanut-shelled walnut and hazelnut illusions across dry cocoa-chocolate malts.
Recalling sweet vanilla ice cream, Winterland Vanilla Porter benefited from its rich chocolate malt setting and distant pecan smidge.
IRVING CLIFF BREW CO.
HONESDALE, PENNSYLVANIA
Doing small batch brewing out of a dank revitalized warehouse with locally sourced mountain spring water from a small system just a stones throw away from the original 1851 brewery, resident Honesdale proprietor, Brian Cobb, reopened IRIVING CLIFF BREW COMPANY during 2014 (and sold to D&H Brewery March ’23). Current brewmaster, Gary Sadavage, coaxes casually straightforward one-offs and a few standards from his small brewing system, hitting stride with the popular berry-flavored mainstay, Rip’s Purple Magic, and Maple City Lager.
A handcrafted wood bar centers the pub area where fine spirits and twelve-plus draughts are available during my July ’18 dinnertime stopover. There’s a stone electric fireplace for warmth and 2 TV’s for sports fans.
The overhead-doored, cement-floored backroom space fits additional table seating, the brew tanks and a gold-lettered Irving Cliff Brew Company mural painting. Celebrating local macrobrew heritage, there are beer trays from Gibbons Ale, Stegmaier, Schaefer and Schmidts staring down at us while my wife and I grab a Philly Cheesesteak and Smoked Trout to go with our beer samples. Burgers, appetizers and salads were also available.
As for the well-watered draught fare, modestly complex local favorite, Rip’s Purple Magic, allowed tart raspberry-blueberry sweetness to contrast lemon-soured lactic yogurt spurts above pilsner-malted white wheat breading.
Slight maple syruping guarded soft-toned, moderate-bodied mainstay, Maple City Lager, letting brown-breaded malts carry thru to dried fruited plum and date souring.
Dry grassy-hopped Canal Cream Ale placed mild pale malt sweetness across dried orange complacency, leaving wheat-flaked corn and rice musk at the pilsner-like finish.
Honeyed grains soaked Farmers Market Wheat, a copper-browned hefeweizen with lightly spiced banana-clove accents buried below sweet orange tartness.
Light maple sweetness fronted Maple Dunkelweizen, gaining delicate orange-soured tartness over sugared wheat malting.
Lightly spiced Ichabod’s Lost Pumpkin Ale let its sweet pumpkin-pied sugaring contrast roasted gourd earthiness and mild lemon souring.
Floral-fruited moderate-medium body, Dyberry Creek IPA brought stylish grapefruit, pineapple and orange bittering to the fore as honeyed pale malts contrasted dry Chinook hop woodiness in brisk cucumber-watered setting.
Lightly creamed Belgian Tripel countered caramel-malted banana and clove sweetness with green apple tartness to its oats-flaked buckwheat base, but lacked depth and body.
De-husked carafe malts gave St. Tikhon’s Russian Imperial Stout its dry chocolate chalking as mild anise illusions creeped towards the surface.
Aged 5 years to perfection, spirited Stock Ale provided sweet whiskey and dry bourbon warmth to wood-dried tobacco roast, light sherry wining, vinous lime-leafed green grape esters and wispy crabapple tartness.
On January ’20 revisit, discovered a few more Irving Cliff brews.
Sweet ‘n sour blueberry tartness consumed light-bodied Blueberry Blonde Ale, as wispily spiced pale malts received subtle white wheat breading.
Bitter lemon acidity upstaged salted mango tartness for Jolly Prankster Mango Sour, letting tertiary oaken vanilla, hard cider and white wine illusions slip in the back end.
Dewy English-styled Imperial IPA, Crazy Train, brought corn whiskey tones to soft mineral graining and citric floral-perfumed Bravo hop intensity.
Juicy fruited Citra Wet Hopped IPA loaded lemony grapefruit zest upon orange-mango sweetness and mild guava souring above sugared pale malts.
Perfectly re-creating a chocolate mint cookie, Thin Mint Cookie Stout draped mildly creamy dark chocolate syrup onto gingerbread, green mint chocolate and mint julep illusions.
Brown-sugared cookie dough sweetness contrasted Blackstrap molasses bittering above the maple oats base of Oatmeal Cookie Stout, leaving distant hazelnut, walnut and bruised cherry illusions in its wake.
A worthy local Old Timey folk combo’s playin’ “Rocky Top” and other Americana favorites when I revisit Irving Cliff, April ’22, on a sunny Friday afternoon, to try six new brews and a reconstituted local fave.
A tarter Pez-like candy coating draped the pureed raspberry-blueberry conflux of updated flagship, Rip’s Purple Magic, picking up Muscat/Concord grape jamming.
Lemon soda fizz gave spritzy Radler-styled Dandy Lemon Shandy its sweetly sugared entry as oncoming lemonade tartness and herbal elderberry snips dallied.
Lightly salted Orange Tang knockoff, Tang Pale Ale, left light lemon juicing upon wispy parsley-cilantro herbage.
Mild candied citrus spicing and honeyed wheat guided Summer Camp Honey Ale, an aluminum clear-hued lightweight.
Dryly brined lemony pomegranate tartness couched cranberry-bogged Pomegranate Sour, a lightly acidic quencher.
Piney citrus onrush blasted juicy mango tanginess of Mango Double IPA, leaving brisk orange-peeled grapefruit zing.
Slick milk-sugared coffee and hazelnut chocolate serenaded Russian Imperial Stout, further sweetened by mild maple molasses licks.
HERE & NOW BREWING COMPANY
HONESDALE, PENNSYLVANIA
Home to the first commercial steam locomotive in America, the rural village of Honesdale supports two brewpubs – Irving Cliff Brewing along the backwoods foothills and Main Street’s more prominently located HERE & NOW BREWING COMPANY.
Inside a three-story red brick corner building across from the railroad station, Here & Now celebrated its one-year anniversary May 2018. A cozy wood-floored joint with Classical white-tiled ceiling and wood furnishings, the 20-seat bar features 12-plus draught taps directly below the brewery’s chicken-scratched metal copper insignia. (see below)
An overhead door serves as the entrance and a small right side stage at the front adds extra space. A backroom off to the left provides private space for small parties. The rear kitchen serves good pub fare to go with the rangy homemade tapped beers.
Emulating a Prohibition Era speakeasy in some ways, Here & Now’s seven barrel system serves a rotating lineup of beer crafted by brewmaster Karl Schloesser (and future expansion is deemed inevitable).
I get to experience twelve previously untried brews during my one-hour July ’18 perusal.
First up were five interestingly diverse one-off saisons. Mildly creamed Le Dale Saison plied pineapple, yellow grapefruit and mandarin orange tartness to floral-spiced niceties and herbal subtleties. Earthy rye tones deepened Rainbow Season Saison’s sublime grapefruit-peeled mandarin orange piquancy and slight lemongrass tingle. Nearly as earth-toned, Solace let delicate Cascade-hopped citrus spicing linger softly above mossy pine resin and celery-watered vegetalia.
Simple springtime session saison, In The Meantime, delivered raw-honeyed spicing to floral citrus licks and grassy hop astringency.
Boosting the hop level gave Porch Sitting Hoppy Saison its moderate grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering while floral lemon tea illusions fluttered above crackery pale malting.
Musky grain malts fortified As A Feather Helles Lager, a light-bodied German styling given floral-dabbed corn, spelt and alfalfa groating that hides its wispy yellow fruited sway.
Mustier Accidentally Prague Czech Dark Lager pasted musty chocolate chalking to earthen oats grist.
Lemony white grape sourness inundated Hue, a solvent-like hefeweizen needing stylish banana-clove sweetness.
Dry peach-fuzzed citrus zest enveloped Secret Epicenter Pale Ale.
Sweet orange peel serenaded brisk 7th Street Circus House IPA, a sessionable moderation with mild grapefruit, peach and tangerine illusions.
Black grape, black cherry and blackcurrant influenced Night Orchestra, a mildly wood-toned Black IPA with piney citric bittering deepening its black chocolate-y black malts.
Lastly, dry cocoa and chocolate malts eased into Bat Patterns Porter, an easy drinking dark ale with soft earthen wood tones.
CALLICOON BREWING COMPANY
CALLICOON, NEW YORK
Open year-round since 2012, CALLICOON BREWING COMPANY serves as the local neighborhood watering hole for this tiny mountainside village just down the road a few miles from Bethel – site of ’69s historic Woodstock Festival.
With children playing billiards in the adjacent room and the World Cup keeping customers satisfied at the pub on a sunny July morning, my wife and I (and dog, Roscoe) take a seat at one of the four frontside patios to try three homemade bovine-named craft brews.
At the Classical red-windowed wood-toned entrance of this friendly barn-styled dive bar, a Betty Boop mannequin welcomes patrons to the rustic interior. A large liquor selection and about a dozen draughts inform the 10-seat mahogany bar. Atop the bar loft are a sled, stuffed pheasant and plastic cow while a bear carcass, longhorn steer skeleton and an American flag displayed at the right side wall match the splendor of this patriotic hunting community. A small kitchen serves pub fare.
The town of Callicoon closely resembles an old Wild West outpost and this pre-prohibition-styled Callicoon Brewing, a rustic oasis, fits the bill perfectly.
Each of the three brews available on this date proved to be straightforward and easily consumed, taking no chances beyond the stylistic norm.
Middling Cow Pail Ale brought mild honeyed pale malts to the fore as gentle citrus-spiced tones emerged over time.
Slick No Bull IPA combined subtle grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering with lightly pined citric hops above sugared pale malts.
On the dark side, Brown Cow Porter draped sweet maple sugar atop murky fudged chocolate and roasted coffee tones.
WALLENPAUPACK BREWING COMPANY
HAWLEY, PENNSYLVANIA
Residing at a large 10,000 square foot facility with a 20 barrel brewing system, WALLENPAUPACK BREWING COMPANY opened for business September 30, 2017. Along rustic Route 6 in the northeastern Pennsylvania borough of Hawley, an old coal mining community now home to many summertime activities, this pristine microbrewery certainly impressed its nearby citizenry. During my initial July 4th, 2018 sojourn, the place is packed by lunchtime with local minions readied for fine pub fare and well-crafted brews.
Inside its capacious high-ceilinged confines were an 8-stool L-shaped right side bar with ample side and back room dining. Wooden tables and metal chairs also adorn the echoey aluminum-roofed space. A left side hearth adds warmth and the wood-enclosed side patio offers extra seating.
20-plus tap handles serve homemade brews from the large silver brew tanks in a glass-encased room behind the bar. I got to try four samplers on-site and brought 4-packs of popular fare including Lake Haze Double IPA, Largemouth IPA and Paupack Cream Ale (reviewed in Beer Index).
Engaging moderation, Smoke On The Water, let mild rauchbier-like beechwood smoke to spritzy lemon zest above brown breading.
Brisk Seeing Double Red Ale plied sharp India Pale Ale fruiting to biscuit pale malts, leaving orange-peeled grapefruit and pineapple tanginess alongside mellower apple and pear illusions.
Approachable collaboration with Bonn Place Brewing, Nattmara Black Lager, took an interesting twist blending mild molasses-sapped maple, coniferous spruce and mossy fern.
Busy Riverbed Black & Tan regaled molasses-sapped black chocolate malting with appealing cherry snips to counter dry wood-charred hops.
Wallenpaupack Brewing was extremely packed when my wife and I visit for Sunday brunch early December ’25, grabbing a small side table to down ten previously untried brews.
Fluffily cream-headed No Frills Pilsner, a light-bodied German, let floral-spiced lemon musk settle atop cracker-like pilsner malting.
Dry Scotch-like malting drifted into bohemian moderation, Magnifico Czech Pale Lager, a rather common stylistic blend compared to pinkish-cleared For The Love Of Lager, an offbeat blue corn-based elixir with Scotch-dipped corn grits receiving lemony champagne spritz.
Utilizing half the water of flagship Paupack Cream Ale, 8th Anniversary Cream Ale packed a punch as its 9% ABV allowed corn sugared vanilla to infiltrate its spelt-grained tortilla chip crisping and grassy hop stead.
Conditioned on Madagascar bourbon vanilla, Ethiopian coffee beans and espresso, Vanilla Latte Cream Ale doused Paupack’s maize profile with powder-sugared vanilla coffee sweetness.
Moderated banana-clove entry gained sour lemon spritz for Hawley Hefeweizen, placing light vanilla creaming upon its sourdough base.
Salty coriander sprinkled the lightly acidic lime-dried lemon souring meandering thru Cracking Weisse, a crisp Berliner Weiss.
Sessionable dry-bodied Party Cove Tropical IPA occupied zestfully fruited Citra-Mosaic-Azacca hops with sugary wheat-flaked oats, scattering tangy pineapple, grapefruit, orange and mango juicing.
Floral-perfumed pine lacquering spackled the bittersweet orange-peeled yellow grapefruit tanginess of Inside Edge IPA, leaving a cologne-soaked juniper snip.
Nitrogenated cherrywood-smoked rauchbier, Smokestacks, brought Band-aid astringency to campfire-glazed molasses, meat-cured salami and peaty moss.
TRACTOR 2018 BOURBON BARREL AGED LUNA DE LOS MUERTOS IMPERIAL STOUT
Moderate bourbon-aged Imperial Stout (circa 2018) lets tart black cherry-bruised sherry, port and burgundy wining softly whisk away mild black chocolate/ vanilla combo. Delicate whiskey tones absorb winey provocation as well as dank grape-raisin-apricot musk and dank earthen bottom.
RUSTY RAIL WOLF KING WARRIOR STOUT
On tap at River Of Beer, dry medium-full body invites dapper Costa Rican dark-roast coffee bittering to the fore above earthen walnut-dried molasses oats base – recalling, at times, an Irish Stout with its black-malted dark chocolate malting.
SCHLAFLY KENTUCKY MULE
Mimicking a lime-juiced Kentucky mule cocktail from its sweet bourbon serenity to its ginger-leafed vodka smear and agave-teased tequila whim. Fresh-squeezed lime juicing stays pertinent while cologne-perfumed bourbon aging fades. An exquisite golden ale-based elixir from one of America’s best experimental brewers.
