Vibrantly easygoing Imperial IPA goes the distance as sparkling tropical fruiting, resinous pine needling and musky hemp oiling combine for ambitious flavor profile. Sharp hop-spiced tingle glazed by sweet orange-peeled grapefruit, pineapple, mango and peach juicing. Ridiculously well-hidden 10% ABV adds minor fusel acridity.
MELVIN IPA
Harmoniously designed medium-bodied West Coast India Pale Ale brings sharp grapefruit-peeled orange, tangerine, pineapple and peach tanginess to resinous piney hop bittering, floral-bound herbal respite and mild alcohol astringency.
MELVIN HUBERT MPA
Rewardingly crisp MPA (short for Melvin Pale Ale) lets delicate crystal-caramel malt creaming sweeten tart lemon-dropped mango, pineapple and papaya tropicalia above wispily pungent piney hop dankness. Fine mild resonance.
MELVIN KILLER BEES AMERICAN BLONDE ALE
Fine raw-honeyed lawnmower fodder. Mild citric hop bittering gains sour honey tone and herbal respite above soft cereal grained cushion.
MAGNIFY BREWING COMPANY
FAIRFIELD, NEW JERSEY
Just off Route 46 in the Pio Costa Industrial mall, Fairfield-based MAGNIFY BREWING COMPANY has become one of Jersey’s finest and most recognized microbreweries in short order.
Specializing in sessionable India Pale Ales, but not afraid to dabble in sundry other styles, Magnify came to fruition after founder Eric Ruta discovered Portland’s “amazing craft beer scene” during college. He eventually hooked up with experienced brewmaster, Erich Carrle (who’d worked at Kelso, Almanac and Speakeasy).
Open since 2015, Magnify’s fluorescent blue, white and yellow insignia dons the front window and a small bench sits outside welcoming patrons to the rustic gray-walled interior.
A large blackboard with colorful beer descriptions lists all tapped selections currently available at the hardwood 8-draught bar (with jarred Edison lights). Eight bar stools, several tables and one community bench fill out the room. Large ceilings allow several tall silver beer tanks to prosper in the rear and the walls are sparsely decorated.
On a hot September ’17 afternoon, I grab a seat and quaff three previously untried brews. Over the last few years, I had already consumed over 20 Magnify brews.
Today, Magnify has four worthy one-off IPA’s to consume on draught or buy in cans for takeout. Each one packs a lot of flavor while never getting too bitter or bold for softer palates.
A collaboration with Long Island’s Barrier Brewing, uplifting lupulin-powdered Don’t Sneeze brought sunny yellow grapefruit tanginess and sweet orange peel briskness to the fore as juniper-embittered piney hop resin contrasted its lightly creamed caramel-pale malting.
Despite its brazen 8.5% ABV, delectably fruited One-Two Punch (utilizing newly designed Michigan Copper hops with the Mosaic varietal) ultimately mellowed down as its spiced-up grapefruit, pineapple, orange, peach and mango tang received a lightly peppered pine oiling.
Crushable triple-hopped Break The Bank let its beige-yellowed murk bring yeasty sinew to the surface. Lemony grapefruit and orange rind bittering aided hemp-oiled herbal hops to contrast candied pineapple, mango and peach sweetness.
Easygoing crisp-watered DDH Mouthfeelings IPA with Oats and Lactose added mildly creamed lactic acidity to lemony orange-spiced alacrity and mild bark-dried yellow wood bittering, fortifying its backend with dried oats.
Magnify, Brix City and Bolero Snort have gained a lot of ground over the last few years, receiving access at nearly every conceivable North Jersey beerpub. Cheers!
magnifybrewing.com
PIPEWORKS VERY BERRY ABDUCTION IMPERIAL STOUT
On tap at Ambulance, richly creamed full body adapts Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries cereal motif over dark-roast mocha malting and restive hop char. Black chocolate syruping thickens cacao nibs and vanilla bean adjuncts to withstand advertised blueberry barrage, raspberry rasp and strawberry serenade.
DARK HORSE RAIL LA SPAR
Unconvincingly enigmatic stout lets dry vanilla-beaned sarsaparilla root adjunct punctuate flashy initiation. But its creamily smooth black chocolate syruping, gooey anise uprising, delicate bourbon tingle and mild cola nuttiness never properly reinforce the stifled vanilla root beer entry and a slight compost waft seems out of place.
PRAIRIE PARADISE STOUT
On tap at Coastal Craft Beverage, heavenly Imperial Stout aged on coconut and vanilla stays rich and creamy. Bittersweet vanilla-beaned coconut toasting picks up coffee-roasted anise spicing and oats-sugared black chocolate malting. Fudged brownie, chocolate cake, Black Forest cake and marshmallow remnants add to the mighty mocha dessert treat.
PRAIRIE PRISON RODEO HOPPY COFFEE ALE
On tap at Ambulance, assertively bittersweet Ethiopian coffee bean adjunct provides initial robustness, leveling off alongside zesty lemony grapefruit twist and teasing blueberry daub after a few sips. Juicy citric hop bittering and lemon meringue tartness gain strength against creamy milk-sugared coffee finish.
LAGUNITAS SAKITUMI ALE WITH SAKE YEAST AND RICE
On tap at Ambulance, uniquely hybridized IPA (with unobtrusive 8% ABV) utilizes dry rice-wined sake yeast to influence raw-honeyed orange oiling and wispy grapefruit-tangerine tang. Sweet bread flouring anchors enigmatic Japanese-wined medium body.
COMMON ROOTS LITTLE MONK
On tap at Ambulance, sessionable Belgian pale ale (brewers’ lighter alcohol version of Burly Monk) retains crisply clean grapefruit-juiced hop-oiling above honeyed malt piquancy, but laid-back herbal hop bittering never fully suffices.
PIPEWORKS LUCKY CAT ALE WITH STRAWBERRY AND HIBISCUS
Summery Mosaic-hopped fruit ale (with ethyl-like 8% ABV lacquering) relies on tart hibiscus-flowered strawberry adjunct to level off sour lemon acidity. Floral-bound lychee, guava, passion fruit and prickly pear illusions suit sweetly sour strawberry sway.