Holiday-seasoned mocha stout brings chocolate-chipped molasses malting to caramel-burnt toffee-cocoa-coconut restraint, creme brulee sweetness and compost-wafted winter spicing. Dark chocolate, coffee and licorice notions crowd the back.
TOP SHELF SMOKED BELGIAN-STYLE ALE
Unspecific, yet easygoing, limited edition smoked ale lacks true Belgian yeast character and could use amplified smokiness. Nevertheless, its toasted caramel sweetness and orange-spiced fruiting pleasantry override paltry peat-smoked malting. Weirdly, this had little correlation to brewers’ muskier and drier Belgian Ale.
TOP SHELF BELGIAN-STYLE ALE
Surprisingly similar pungent yeast profile as brewers’ Irish Style Ale confusingly compromises tropical guava, kiwi and passion fruit whim as well as herbal earthen musk with gnarly solvent-like astringency and dank yeast fungi. In the distance, musty grape stems and soured apple cider inform peppery hop coarsening.
TOP SHELF IRISH-STYLE ALE
Phenol cider-like astringency messes up dry peat-grained malting and mild cocoa-molasses conflux. Pungent yeast profile too close to brewers’ tepid Belgian Ale.
TOP SHELF HONEY SMACK
Unconventional cider-honeyed pale ale brings compost-wafted earthiness to lemon-rotted green apple tartness and champagne-fizzled yellow grape esters. Burnt rubber off-taste brings unwanted astringency.
BLUE RIBBON TAVERN
CHESTNUT RIDGE, NEW YORK
Just a few minutes away from my Jersey home (across the border in Rockland County) lies friendly neighborhood joint, BLUE RIBBON TAVERN. An unfancy barn-like beer pub with good food that’s proud home to one-ounce bourbon flights, this casual wood-furnished dive with a quaint sportsbar atmosphere is located at an unassuming mini-mall in Chestnut Ridge (five miles north of Pearl River’s Defiant Brewing). Dispersing craft brews since July ’13, its ever-changing dozen-plus taps are spread across the long bar top.
Since it’s the Friday before St. Patty’s Day, tonight’s dinner special is Swiss-cheesed rye-toasted cornbeef with mustard, a good choice to pair with probably the nuttiest Black IPA I ever quaffed.
My wife, daughter and I sit at one of the five tables along the blue-marbled white-based wall across from the 12-stooled wooden bar (with four TV’s, busy liquor shelves and dozen-plus tap handles serving craft beer). A chalkboard lists today’s featured taps and a few dartboards fill the right wall along with shelved tap handles and other ephemera.
John Lennon’s plaintive “Imagine” and Creedence’s rampaging “Travelin’ Band” blare in the background as I consume cornbeef and drift into a bite or two of my wife’s juicy Steak Sandwich and daughter’s crisp Santa Fe Chicken.
After downing Defiant Polar Vortex Black IPA, a richly black chocolate-malted, hop-charred, walnut-roasted bitter with distant grapefruit-dried pineapple fondue undertones, ice water gets consumed to soften my palate for a winningly peculiar witbier.
Bringing an unexpected plastique grouting and floral dusting to the typical Belgian-styled lemony orange spicing, Empire White Aphro elegantly works advertised lavender-perfumed ginger and white-peppered coriander adjuncts into its fruitful vanilla-daubed honeyed wheat base (picking up peachy banana-clove-bubblegum wisps).
For dessert, I thoroughly enjoyed enduringly mellifluous Cricket Hill Brewmasters Reserve #2 Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter, a richly textured mocha-sugared oats-charred full body seeped in Four Roses bourbon oak and graced by mocha latte, caramel latte, vanilla and toffee tones.
A few weeks later, my wife and I share cheddar-cheesed bacon-crisped ABC Grilled Cheese and Swiss-cheesed onion-sauteed Peppercorn Bison Burger. These hearty items went well with superb Ellicottville Chocolate Cherry Bomb, a richly creamed Imperial Stout with black cherry-pureed blackberry and blueberry tartness enhanced by ascending vanilla sweetness and contrasted against embittered hop-charred nuttiness.
Phone: 845 356 4477
CRICKET HILL BREWMASTERS RESERVE #2 BOURBON BARREL AGED PORTER
On tap at Blue Ribbon Tavern, enduringly mellifluous dessert beer (ltd. ed. 2014) provides rounded mocha mouthfeel as richly textured oats-sugared hop-charred full body lets Four Roses bourbon oak seep into equally dispersed gamut of black chocolate, mocha latte, caramel latte, creme brulee, vanilla, toffee and coconut tones. Dark-fruited black cherry, fig and blackberry nuances rally from behind. Superb bourbon chocolate elixir.
DEFIANT POLAR VORTEX BLACK IPA
On tap at Blue Ribbon Tavern, daringly sophisticated Cascadian Dark Ale enriches stylish hop-charred black chocolate malting and distant grapefruit-dried pineapple fondue undertones with surprisingly insistent walnut-roasted bitterness (and less prominently contrasted hazelnut sweetness). Light charcoal burn increases resolute bitterness while relegating sugary toffee dalliance.
EMPIRE WHITE APHRO
On tap at Blue Ribbon Tavern, polite Belgian-styled moderation brings unexpected plastique grouting and floral dusting to typical witbier’s soft-toned lemony orange tartness. Elegantly detailed, its advertised lavender-perfumed ginger herbage and white-peppered coriander spicing reside above the fruitful vanilla-daubed honeyed wheat base (picking up peachy banana-clove-bubblegum wisps along the way). Mild soapstone minerality scratches the surface alongside subtlest rosewater, dandelion and eucalyptus snips.
FALLING DOWN BEER CO.
WARREN, MICHIGAN
Perhaps less eccentric, over-the-top and wide-ranging as Warren’s two magnificent brewpub staples (Kuhnhenn and Dragonmead), FALLING DOWN BEER CO. nevertheless has a fine lineup of craft brews. Located inside a converted diner and open for biz, March 29, 2013, this blue-topped red-bricked pub maintains a charmingly blue collar appeal serving light Americana food with its approachable liquid fare.
Visited by friend, Dennis Flubacher (who brought back samples to Jersey), Falling Down never tries to be too fancy or audacious, settling for a quaint suburban atmosphere approved by many locals. During his two-hour dinner stay, Dennis imbibed six ample samples, starting with easygoing light body, Chiller’s Revenge Amber Ale. Its clean-watered caramel toasting and phenol hop bite may’ve been unremarkable, but it’d suit amateur thirsts.
Next up, Rye My Donkey Rye Saison brought a large yellow-pink grapefruit contingent to Russian rye-breaded pumpernickel flouring and sweet banana-clove undertones. Perhaps even better, Ninja Chicken American Pale Ale got elevated by an aggressive India Pale Ale-like hop bittering that amplified piney tropical fruiting and zesty orange-peeled grapefruit rind tang.
Royal sour cherry-candied sidestep, Vampire Bunnies Cherry Blonde, offered a tart cherry pucker to crisp crescent-watered freshness.
On the dark side, Cascadian Dark Ale, Black IPA kept its dark-roasted black chocolate malting ahead of mild charcoal hop bittering.
Similar in style, dry Irish-styled FnA Stout worked cocoa-powdered Baker’s chocolate and mild black coffee into clean-watered hop briskness.
www.fallingdownbeer.com
FALLING DOWN RYE MY DONKEY RYE SAISON
Large yellow and pink grapefruit rind-pith-peel contingent brightens front end of dry medium-bodied saison. Russian rye-breaded pumpernickel flouring anchors zesty citric juicing, sweet banana-coriander reminder and earthy vegetal tinge. As grapefruit dominance diminishes, sour orange, pineapple and peach illusions flourish.
FALLING DOWN NINJA CHICKEN PALE ALE
Signature amber-copper staple loads aggressive India Pale Ale-like hop bittering into piney tropical-fruited citrus crisping. Pineapple leads the way above zesty orange-peeled grapefruit rind luster and sugary caramel malting. Phenol dark floral spicing relegates tertiary mango, guava and passion fruit illusions. A step ahead of lighter, less flavorful pale ale peers.
