On tap at Ambulance, oak-fermented saison lets white-wined phenols, lemon rot musk, orange rind bittering and grapefruit zest receive earthen barnyard rusticity above dry rye malts. Recessive green apple tartness gains raspy pepper spicing beneath the lightly acidic citrus surface.
GLENMERE NORDIC FARMHOUSE ALE
On tap at Seven Lakes Station, mild farmhouse funk and botanical juniper-tipped bittering regale yellow fruited herbal spicing of brisk saison. Lemony grapefruit tartness picks up stylishly Nordic rose hip, honeyed heather and rhubarb nuances.
FIRESTONE WALKER BRETTA WEISSE
On tap at Poor Henry’s, mild Berliner Weiss aged in French oak foeders brings tannic white grape acidity and salted lemon lime tartness to dry barnyard acridity above easygoing sourdough malts. Sour-milked yogurt spurt reinforces stylish citrus salinity.
GRIMM CHERRY RASPBERRY POP! BERLINER WEISS
Sassy Berliner Weiss takes lactic yogurt-like milk sugaring and gives it a lemony cherry-raspberry tartness prickled by muskily tannic champagne fizziness. Snazzy cherry-raspberry piquancy gains equally sour cranberry, pomegranate and crab apple illusions while light oaken acridity spreads to rustic barnyard leathering underneath the sour-candied surface.
EVIL TWIN B IS FOR BLUEBERRY
On tap at Poor Henry’s, tart blueberry essence underlined by sea-salted lemon lime souring for hybridized gose. Puckered cranberry and green apple sourness plus vinous green grape esters deplete blueberry goodness a tad.
HILL FARMSTEAD MARIE
On tap at Ambulance, muskily dry helles lager coalesces raw-honeyed maize, wet-grained cellar mustiness and herbal hop spicing embed sour yellow fruiting to gummy sourdough base. Horse-blanketed straw, hay and alfalfa rusticity deepens finishing acridity.
JACK’S ABBY SAXONY VIENNA STYLE LAGER
On tap at Seven Lakes Station, musky grain malts, mild Bavarian hops, delicate sourdough riffs and subtle herbal notions saddle tingly orange spicing to honeyed biscuit spine for amiable moderation. An understated gem.
MAGNIFY HOPPY LAGER
On tap at Poor Henry’s, musky lager fermented in Italian oak foeders loads dank herbal graining upon pungent lemon rot and desiccated orange tartness. White-wined Hallertau Blanc hops, tropical Nelson Sauvin hops and aromatic floral-spiced Crystal hops blend well.
KCBC JANIAK MANIAC PILS
On tap at Ambulance, muskily dank-grained Czech pilsner stays pungent as maize-dried barley, oats and spelt increase sourdough malting above resinous herbal hops. In the recess, floral-spiced lemondrops appear.
B.J.’S RESTAURANT & BREWHOUSE
NANUET, NEW YORK
One of the largest pub chains in the land of plenty, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse began in 1978 as a humble West Coast business doing a Southern California twist on Chicago-styled pizza.
Opened during 2016(?), Rockland County’s premier BJ’s location sits in Nanuet a mile up from the incomparable Growler & Gill. Inside a large open space with brick-walled high ceilings, prominent 20-seat bar, lower level dining booths, educational ‘Brewing Process’ mural and back kitchen, this cavernous sportsbar is nearly packed on a Tuesday evening during February 2018.
Alongside its national standard fare such as BJ’s Blonde, Piranha Pale Ale, Harvest Hefeweizen, Jeremiah Red and Hopstorm IPA are homemade root beer, cream soda and ciders.
My wife enjoyed Harvest Hefeweizen, a spritzy stylish moderation with lemony banana-clove-bubblegum conflux gaining herbal hop resin above vanilla-creamed sourdough flouring.
I downed light-tongued Tatonka Stout, an éclair-headed black chocolate-y dark ale with creamy coffee nuttiness and dried cocoa resilience given a lightly creamed nitro feel.
During December ’22 Sunday dinnertime perusal, enjoyed fruit-spiced Belgian winter celebrator, Grand Cru, a subtly complex nightcap with burgundy-wined dried fruiting, sweet banana bubblegum sugaring and orange marmalade tartness given mild botanical herbage as well as proper phenolic alcohol astringency.
BJ’s light pub menu includes pasta dishes and entrees as well as its well-known pizza.
During early October ’24 Indian Summer revisit, discovered two nitro dark ale variants and one rewarding IPA.
Briskly hop-forward India Pale Ale, Hopstorm, allowed floral-perfumed pine resin to seep into dry lemony grapefruit rind and orange pith bittering over sugary pale malts.
The nitro version of PM Porter retained silken creaminess as wood burnt dark-roast hop char grazed nutty coffee and black chocolate bittering.
Perhaps even better, Tatonka Stout – Nitro loaded sweet chocolate onto walnut-hazelnut coffee and bruised black cherry.
I returned one month hence to help BJ’s celebrate its silver anniversary with premier limited edition 2024 variant, 25th Annual Grand Cru. A Jamaican rum-spiced fruiting brightened the frontage while fungi botanical herbs fluttered thru banana puree, lemon meringue, Amarena wild cherry, orange liqueur and melon ball pleasantries.
PRAIRIE ARTISAN CHRISTMAS BOMB
On tap at Growler & Gill, variegated Christmas spices permeate rich and creamy (13% ABV) Imperial Stout. Wintry cinnamon-sugared nutmeg and ginger spicing decorates cacao-nibbed coffee adjuncts. Creamy vanilla icing covers fudgy Black Forest cake center. After a few sips, delightful chocolate mint cookie sweetness seeps into mild ancho chili peppering for Mexican chocolate-spiced entourage. Mesmerizingly complex.
EVIL TWIN YOU’RE IN THE JUNGLE BABY
Curiously hybridized Mexican-styled stout lets milky-textured Black Forest cake fudging flirt with tangerine-peeled bruised cherry, raspberry puree and blueberry tartness above recessive cedar-burnt hop char, leaving its wispy pasilla mixe chili peppering in the lurch. Molasses-draped dark chocolate syrup drapes the dark fruited center as honeyed cocoa nibs adjunct fights for space.