Most likely a mildly updated 2015 version of Poland’s ever-popular light-bodied pale lager (a.k.a. Jasne Pelne) made with pure mountain spring water. Polite hop-fizzed astringency fizzles into rice-buttered cereal graining. Considering the robust United States craft beer industry’s colossal takeover, this ‘premium beer’ struggles to compete against ‘bigger’ stateside lagers, but will please good-hearted Blue Collar thirsts.
EINSTOK ICELANDIC TOASTED PORTER
Soothingly affixed dark-roasted Icelandic coffee theme picks up polite molasses-smoked brown chocolate influx, black cocoa dalliance, nutty caramel-burnt sugaring and toasted coconut sedation. Light espresso, macchiato and soy milking deepens fudgy mocha penetration while cola, walnut and hazelnut illusions gain mild hop-charred peat soiling. Minor metallic oxidation found in deep recess of Arctic moderation.
EINSTOK ICELANDIC WHITE ALE
Acquiring the sweet orange-peeled coriander spicing of a light-bodied Belgian witbier, refreshing straw-hazed sedation also utilizes pure Icelandic water to heighten briskly clean minerality. White-peppered lemon lime tartness and herbal-nipped floral daubs underscore sunny orange-grapefruit tang. Easy to drink.
EINSTOK ICELANDIC PALE ALE
Soft-toned cereal grain toasting and roasted caramel sugaring peak above mildly citric Cascade hop spicing. Wispy earthen floral tones daub doughy back end.
RINN DUIN BREWING
TOMS RIVER, NEW JERSEY
Open since January 2014, Toms River-based RINN DUIN BREWING (named after a famous Irish castle and since 2019 operating as Toms River Brewing) crafted sessionable English-styled ales as well as approachable barrel-aged elixirs, a few hybridized treats and anything that struck their fancy. For their first anniversary, entrepreneurial father-daughter combo, Chip and Jacqui Town, created an approachable candi-sugared Belgian Dubbel using Irish barley, English hops and Irish yeast called Black Thorn.
Local disabled marine, Charlie Ryan, recently took over head brewing chores from veteran homebrewer, Ryan Michaels (formerly of Sly Fox). And as of my July 2015 visit, the brewery now bottles two of its year-round mainstays and a few specialties.
Inside a tan-hued, maroon-trimmed edifice behind Bacchus Winery, Rinn Duin’s just three-and-a-half miles west of the New Jersey Parkway on Route 37. Its Irish shillelagh-topped tap handles serve the wood-floored Tasting Room, a cozy area with a beautiful hand-made silver tin ceiling, wood-shelved beer bottle collection, several Irish themed photographs and one TV. A 25-barrel brewing setup presently takes up some of the 6,500 square-foot space.
Rinn Duin’s United Kingdom-inspired bottled selections (reviewed fully in Beer Index) included yellow-fruited Lawnmower English Blonde, mocha-dried Sandpaper English Brown, caramel-toasted St. John’s Irish Red and coffee-roasted Pota Caife Dry Irish Coffee Stout.
Alongside each of the aforementioned bottled selections tried on draught, three more worthy elixirs were quaffed as 4-ounce samplers and then by pint glass.
Peat whiskey-malted Trinity Scottish 70 brought serene kiln-smoked campfire residue to crisp tobacco-roasted reedy hops and poppy-seeded Scotch licks. Light-roasted coffee beans influenced Hiberian Dry Irish Stout, a sweeter selection than Pota Caife that gathered black patent malts, dark chocolate, powdered cocoa and charred oats.
Before departing, easygoing Bourbon Pota (aged in Elijah Craig barrels) blended dark-roasted coffee beans with oats-dried brown chocolate and a subtle hint of bourbon.
Making some of the most consistently rewarding and authentic mild ales, Rinn Duin will easily satisfy anyone with a hankering for crisp Brit-styled nectar.
RINN DUIN POTA CAIFE COFFEE STOUT
Leisurely dry-bodied moderation lets lightly creamed dark-roasted Tanzanian coffee spread across cocoa-seeded black chocolate malting and mild toasted hop char. Modest oats-flaked burnt caramel sweetness lingers recessively beneath calm coffee setting.
RINN DUIN ST. JOHN’S IRISH RED
Tidy caramel-roasted hop spicing picks up mildly smoked chocolate nuttiness and dewy earthen graining over biscuit-y barley malts, leaving wispy red-orange fruiting and toffee-breaded trifle on the back end. Robust flagship beer is brewers’ best seller.
RINN DUIN SANDPIPER ENGLISH BROWN
Appealing dark chocolate-malted cocoa frontage of mildly dry brown ale allows quaint nut roast and relegated molasses sugaring to sedately linger over multigrain-breaded hop toasting, appeasing light-to-moderate-bodied dark ale fanatics.
RINN DUIN LAWNMOWER ENGLISH BLONDE
Sessionable light-bodied suds offers yellow-fruited moderation to pale-malted croissant breading and dewy tea respite. Acidic citrus spritz and tannic green grape tartness pick up mild fresh-cut grass astringency for mild off-dry ‘lawnmower’ fodder.
(WALS) BELO PETROLEUM IMPERIAL STOUT
Thick motor-oiled mahogany pour leads to dark-roasted black chocolate entry gathering chewy anise overtones, vanilla bean insistence and oats-charred dark cocoa variance over tarry chewing tobacco bittering. Sugary molasses sinew guards heavy mocha theme as latent coffee illusions pick up dank wood singe at chocolate cake finish.
(WALS) BELO IPE
Fascinating ruby-bronzed Brazilian quadrupel aged on sugarcane-juiced cachaca oak chips leaves quite an impression. Spicy coriander adjunct sweetens enduring fruited ascendance and mocha molasses intensity. Tropical mango-guava-pineapple-nectarine tang, tart fig-raisin-plum dried fruiting and mild banana pleasantry enrich splendid chocolate-truffled creme brulee insistence. Dark rum-spiced caramel and toffee sedation found at busy fondue finish.
CAPTAIN LAWRENCE PALATE SHIFTER IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, crisply tropical-fruited 2015 update of brewers’ Captain’s Reserve stays refreshingly invigorating. Tangy orange-peeled grapefruit, pineapple, mango, peach, papaya, nectarine and cantaloupe juicing gets sweetened by wheat-honeyed caramel roast while moderate hop-oiled pungency, earthen pine resin and herbal notions provide sharp contrast.