Old fashioned dark lager parades dark-roast chocolate malts across black rye breading, mossy peat dewiness and dried fig swig, recalling English-styled ESB with its underlying earthen brown tea bittering. Tertiary toffee, pecan and burnt toast reminders waver.
Casual moderate-medium body evenly spreads lemony yellow grapefruit spicing, tangy orange-peach-pineapple-tangerine-mango conflux and resinous piney hop herbage atop pastry sugared pale malts, finding middleground between sessionable easygoing fodder and sharply bitter Imperialism.
These sessionable light-bodied American kolsch-styled ales just keep getting better and Mother Earth’s relaxing clear-strawed version is quite precise. Delicate moldy orange tartness gains light lemon-rotted white grape souring, tangy citrus peel sweetness, mild grassy hop bittering and floral-spiced pale malting above sourdough-influenced baked bread bottom. Crisply carbolic citric spritz tingles the tongue.
Dry Bohemian pils breaks free from standard biscuity Vienna malt assurance and grassy Tettnang hop neutrality. Lightly pined lemon spicing picks up straw-dried hop astringency and earthen wood-toned herbal sensation, creating more rounded stylistic profile.
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA
Going to college in Asheville (commonly known as “Beer City USA”) inspired young Wilmington natives John and Michelle Savard to begin a homebrew equipment shop that expanded to one of North Carolina’s finest brewpubs by summer 2015.
In a tan 11,000 square-foot industrial building with three barrel system and cozy beergarden, WILMINGTON BREWING COMPANY just began kegging its homemade beers as of my two-hour June ’16 sojourn. Within walking distance of North Carolina-Wilmington University, its family friendly tap room features 15 draughts at the wood-topped aluminum bar, five small tables, various games, childrens’ toys and 32-ounce crowlers to go.
First up, refreshingly dependable Bier Garden Kolsch balanced sweet honeyed malts with orange-dried tartness and lemony sourness
Splendidly balanced Tropical IPA matched floral-perfumed citrus hops to sugar-spiced crystal malts as the fresh-watered medium body gathered tangy grapefruit-peeled lemon, mango, guava and peach illusions above mild resinous pine astringency.
Dried cocoa, black chocolate and sour coffee inundated Damn Good Brown Porter, gaining a walnut-seared hop char to increase its latent molasses-dried cola nuttiness.
Dark-roast coffee and menacing charred hop bittering overwhelmed vanilla bean sweetness for rich Vanilla Coffee Porter.
Creamy Blair’s Breakfast Stout let dark-roast Focal coffee take center stage over soothing chocolate cake and vanilla tones as subtle cappuccino, toffee, hazelnut and espresso illusions wavered.
Here’s more Wilmington Brewing beers yet to be tried: Raspberry Saison; Jalapeno Saison; Beach Banger Session IPA; Midtown Swank Double IPA.
On my next Carolina trip, I will venture to Wilmington’s Dutch Square Industrial Park to peruse Broomtail Craft Brewery and then hit downtown’s Good Vibes and Waterline breweries.
www.wilmingtonbeer.com
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA
A few blocks from Wilmington’s waterfront lies the Medieval-inspired IRONCLAD BREWERY. Open February ’15 and visited pre-dinner June ’16, Ironclad’s a jumbo-sized public house with a spacious ground level and barn-topped loft area (with elegantly elongated wood-stained L-shaped bars and multiple tap handles).
Preserving the original structure of the brick-walled pub, previously an auto body repair shop, was essential to maintaining its historic integrity.
Upon entering the stone castle-designed edifice (with oversized Chamber-styled wooden front door), customers are welcome to the rustic Old World ambiance of the low-ceilinged, cement-floored, Industrial-styled ground floor. Upstairs, a balcony lounge area with vast seating (sometimes used for banquets and weddings) surround the classic 25-seat bar.
My wife and I grab seats at the bar and get the hummus with crackers (also available were chicken wraps, sandwiches, pretzels and popcorn). New brewer Laren Avery will bring his own recipes to the expansive beer menu that included ten well-rounded house brews and a few excellent local microbrews upon my springtime perusal.
Sweet honeyed Lydia’s Lager brought Helles-like pilsner malting to Noble hop spicing and a snickering lemon lick. Nearly as light-bodied, honey-spiced Old Baldy Golden Ale retained a laid-back lemony orange tang.
Fine English-styled moderation, Fish Tale Pale Ale, coalesced sweet orange peel, dried cherry and caramel apple over light dry hop bittering. Earthen amber grains picked up cherry, fig and apricot snips for Nash’s Irish Red Ale.
Easygoing Cape Fear Defender IPA let lemon-dried grapefruit peel tartness contrast sweet crystal-malted melon and honeydew snips above soft piney hop astringency. Spicier and pinier than the aforementioned Defender, Teddy Hopper Double IPA placed lemony orange-peeled grapefruit rind bittering above syrupy peach sweetness and white-sugared barley malts.
Girardelli white chocolate infused White Squall White Chocolate Brown Ale, a sweet, soft-toned, sessionable dessert treat with subtle fig-dried spicing.
Nutty mocha-fronted India Brown Ale contrasted glazed pecan and hazelnut sweetness against seared walnut astringency as mild mocha malting reached the surface and subtle perfumed hops wafted beneath.
Cask-conditioned India Brown Ale, regaled with peach, plum and date adjuncts, retained the original version’s perfumed nuttiness and a more definitive fruited flavor profile.
Brewer Avery’s newest elixir, Laren’s Black IPA, lifted dried cocoa, black chocolate and coffee tones above charcoal-hopped black grape and blackberry rasps.
www.ironcladbrewery.com
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA
Everyone should have a true blue neighborhood brewery as friendly, convenient and cozy as Wilmington’s inconspicuous FLYTRAP BREWING. About a half-mile up the hill from the waterfront at the Brooklyn Arts District and “specializing in small-batch Belgian and American ales,” Flytrap’s entrepreneurial brewer, Mike Barlas, opened this kind boutique pub in October 2014.
Tucked into a residential community, its white stucco brick exterior and white brick interior provide a clean sheen. The raw space features an aluminum ceiling with heavy metal girds. The brewtanks behind the centralized 16-seat wooden bar serves eight tables with twelve tapped selections (four home brews were available for my June ’16 late-afternoon sojourn). Eight outside picnic tables provide plenty of room on this clear blue-skied Saturday.
Flytrap’s best selling flagship, an approachable moderation called Rehders Red, brought lightly spiced orange and apple fruiting to caramel-roasted sweetness, providing dry yellow-wooded hop astringency for contrast.
Dry-bodied Saison draped lemon meringue, orange marmalade, white grape esters and sour lemon onto its buttery Chardonnay finish, picking up mild banana daiquiri tones as well.
Atypical Rye Pale Ale weaved dry rye and spiced fig into unexpected pine lacquering and wispy herbal gestures.
Bittersweet dark-fruited mocha malting inundated lightly embittered Stout, a medium-bodied dark ale with blackberry, black cherry and black grape snips as well as dry plank wood reminders.
www.flytrapbrewing.com
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA
A uniquely casual Philadelphia sportsbar in the heart of Wilmington, THE COPPER PENNY is arguably the finest beer pub in the city. Up the road from the waterfront on Chestnut Street, The Copper Penny boasts multiple draught taps, sundry Philly sports paraphernalia and wooden furnishings in a cozily clustered saloon setting.
Packed to the hilt on a Saturday in June ’16, my wife and I congregate at the 30-seat L-shaped right side bar. A backside open kitchen serves sandwiches, burgers and other pub fare to go alongside a cornucopia of local and national tapped beers and assorted liquors. TV’s are scattered across the walls with framed photos, banners and historic nostalgia. Besides the Phillies, Flyers, Eagles and 76ers memorabilia, there are Sylvester Stallone’s stalwart Rocky pix and several craft beer signposts crowded together.
On my one-hour visit, I quaffed Coronado Berry the Hatchet Fruit-Infused Wheat Ale and Natty Greene’s Smoked Peach IPA, a few previously untried hybrids reviewed in full in Beer Index.
All Wilmington-bound beer enthusiasts are encouraged to give the The Copper Penny a spin.
copperpennync.com
NEW BERN, NORTH CAROLINA
Along the pristine Neuse River in an exquisite seaside setting at historic Colonial town, New Bern, PERSIMMONS WATERFRONT RESTAURANT offers some of Carolina’s finest draught beer. Its 12-seat central bar services a luxurious indoor dining space, large outdoor deck and upstairs banquet room.
At the tiger wood-topped bar, my wife and I enjoy a few new Carolina brews during our one-hour stopover on the way to Wilmington during June ’16. I’d been dying to try the excellent Foothills Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout for years and finally got the chance on this sunny weekday afternoon. Nearly as worthy was Double Barley Thrilla In Manila Porter (both are reviewed in Beer Index).
Persimmons’ local tapped ales, fine wines, liquors and creatively upscale food will suit seasoned connoisseurs, gastropub enthusiasts, casual seafaring folks and young families alike.
www.persimmonsrestaurant.net
On tap at Persimmons, mighty fine chocolate-malted full body set the world afire upon initial 2006 release. Rich brown chocolate entry picks up immediate vanilla bean, fudged brownie, milked espresso and Black Forest cake influence over dark-roasted hop char. Serene bourbon warmth, sugared Blackstrap molasses syruping and pureed black cherry tartness add further luster to luxuriously velveteen creamy chocolate essence.
Smoothly creamed dark ale offers fudgy black chocolate syruping to dark cocoa respite and toffee-coffee-vanilla interludes. Dark-roasted hop charred bittering contrasts sugary mocha molasses mandate.
On tap at Persimmons, luxurious vanilla-doused ‘spiced herb’ porter retains rich mocha influence and bourbon molasses glaze above dark-roasted hop bittering. Beaming vanilla bean theme abruptly guarded by sugary brown chocolate and rum-soaked cacao nibs. Seriously sweet dessert treat.
