Draught-only Belgian tripel brings Fuggle-hopped dryness to sugary pilsner malting, mingling orange oiled musk and peppery lemon rot bittering with contrasting banana-clove sweetness. Heightened 10% alcohol splurge provides buttered rum waver. Authentic Trappist yeast funk inspired by Westmalle Tripel and Victory Golden Monkey works well for herbal-fruited overlay.
Gnarly gutter junk with blood-like Watney’s Red Barrel molasses gunk and peated cocoa-chocolate malt spunk. Pureed raisin, sugared fig and purple grape tannins envelop port wined midst. Syrupy black cherry cough medicine backdrop thickens chocolate liqueur niche.
IRON MONKEY’S YARDS NIGHT UNDER JUNE MOON IN JERSEY CITY
On a beautiful early June eve in 2012 I finally got the chance to peruse the wholly revitalized Jersey City financial district at a highly praised drinking establishment founded when the craft beer revolution exploded upon the Jersey scene in’96. Thanks to a much needed and overdue redevelopment and beautification program, this Hudson River sanctuary across from Lower Manhattan (and staring out at Lady Liberty) has gained belated prominence over the past decade.
Once a destitute urban wasteland filled with political corruption, shattered railyards, and rundown factories, Jersey City’s reputation changed with the building of several upscale riverfront properties, shopping plazas, residential towers, and waterfront walkways. Best of all, a local red-bricked tavern with a wiry iron monkey figure and baby blue sign with beige insignia changed the way these territorial beer drinkers viewed handcrafted American brews and vintage imports.
Tucked into its downtown Greene Street neighborhood on the York Street corner, IRON MONKEY RESTAURANT & BAR serves over 100 bottled beers and a dozen tapped beers at any given time. Owned by Steve Mc Entire, a local entrepreneur whose meditational ’80s China trip inspired him to open a successful restaurant-bar, this narrow 4-tiered tavern appears out of place amongst the mammoth multi-office edifices in its modernistic urban surroundings, but local businessmen and post-teens keep this intimately rustic hotspot going.
Two benches, a chalkboard menu, and neon beer signs welcome patrons to the ground-floored, low-ceilinged, slate-topped right side bar. Sanctified beer bottles line the walls and a glass mural centers the 12-seat bar, where a few TV’s are tucked into the corners and 24 tap handles serve only the finest craft beers.
Patriarchal mahogany stairs lead to the second-floored 4-seat bar (with several family-styled tables, olden tiled ceiling, gothic-draped windows, taupe walls, and antique wood-steel furnishings). Beyond the third floor open kitchen lies an upper deck open-air 5-seat bar serving red umbrella-sheltered lunch tables. A copper water wall with greenish oxidized patina and an adjacent building serving as a video projection screen add to the coolness factor.
As Oasis’ heavenly “Champagne Supernova” blared from the rooftop patio speakers, my wife and I struggle to find space in the cozily cramped outdoor confines for this evening’s highly anticipated event, YARDS MEET THE BREWER NIGHT. Celebrating Philadelphia’s oldest living microbrewery (established 1994) with 6 well-priced libations, Iron Monkey is packed to the hilt tonight. The highest demand is for Yards India Pale Ale, which was finished off by 9 PM.
Founded by Tom Kehoe and Jon Bovit, who’d previously worked at an English-styled Maryland brewery, Yards Brewing Company began as a garage-sized operation in the yuppie-like Manayunk section in northwest Philadelphia, crafting Yards Entire Porter and an adjunct non-spiced golden barleywine, Old Bart. Soon after, caramel-honeyed, almond-toasted, off-dry conqueror Extra Special Ale debuted at ‘95s Philadelphia Beer Festival, increasing Yards recognition.
From 2001 to 2007, Yards moved to the Kensington area of Philly, but the space became too tight and the brew crew had to move yet again, allowing the smaller Philadelphia Brewing Company to thrive better in this former spot.
Now stationed at the Northern Liberties district north of Philly’s Center City, Yards gets respect for being the first 100% wind powered brewery in Pennsylvania. In fact, this very ‘Green-leaning’ brewery recycles hot water and cardboard, provides spent grain for local farm animals, and even uses salvaged mahogany trim for its bar and walls.
After ordering my Yardage samplers, we decided to sample each refreshing tasting at the less populous second floor bar, where the taps serve Lindeman’s Framboise and Peche, two world-class Belgian lambics, plus exotic herb-spiced, rye-dried, Finnish-styled Dogfish Head Sahtea. My wife, Karen, had to get her fruit juices going, settling into the middling Boulder Kinda Blue Blueberry Wheat Ale while I ripped into the previously untried Yards Brawler Pugilist-Style Ale.
A soft-tongued, dry-toned, bronze-bodied, English dark mild ale, the feisty-named Brawler Pugilist brought brown-sugared, raisin-greened, port-sauced, plum-fig-apricot illusions to coffee-iced chocolate nibs duskiness, picking up ashen nuttiness as well as chamomile tea herbage along the way. It’s claim as a pugilist styled ale may be a bit overstated for such a calming moderation. Perhaps, it’s only supposed to be a welterweight boxer they’re trying to emulate.
As a bunch of admirable post-collegiate craft beer denizens begin to assemble at the bar behind us, we’re now in very close quarters, unable to freely swing an arm or stretch a leg. But I feel fortunate to be here since a rep from Hunderdon Distributors that came earlier never gained access due to the incommodious dinner time conditions. She had to go elsewhere in Jersey City to find a cool brew, but then admitted to being a bit impatient following the heavy traffic conditions pre-Fourth Of July. At least we’re seated. And I’ll need to be for the more Herculean 18th century presidential offering about to reach my lips.
One of Yard’s ‘Ales of the Revolution,’ which includes General Washington’s Tavern Porter and Poor Richard’s Tavern Spruce Ale (in honor of Ben Franklin’s 300th birthday), the exquisite Thomas Jefferson’s Tavern Ale was originally made with ingredients grown at the ex-prez’s self-sufficient Monticello, Virginia estate. A fully expressive English Strong Ale, the Jeffersonian vintage placed honey-sugared caramel malts and butterscotch spice caking atop berry, citrus, and quince fruiting ‘til its gin-soaked, ethanol-burnt aftertaste threatened to overwhelm the 8% alcohol elixir. It got the eyes bleary, numbed the body, and ultimately pleased three of my five senses.
Moving on…
Yards boss, Tom Kehoe, claims he liked Bass Ale and wanted to make a beer that retained similar characteristics, resulting in the beefed-up chocolate malting of Yards Extra Special Ale. At Iron Monkey this eve, the subtler cask version of the bottle-conditioned ale was available for scrutinizing. Its cherry, citrus, and berry illusions stand out a bit more as the frisky spice hop tingle of the bottled edition gets toned down against the enhanced fruited niceties.
Yards Saison Belgian-Style Ale benefited most from its tapped version, escalating its peppery-hopped, orange-peeled, lemony grapefruit bittering and counteractive sugared spicing.
Though I didn’t get to try the ever-popular English-styled Philadelphia Pale Ale at this mobbed shindig, its bottled version had a sourdough buttering that usurped the understated wheat-chaffed dryness and roasted hop bitterness.
Now and then, Yard’s onsite tasting room, open from noon to 7 PM Monday through Saturday and noon to 4 PM Sundays, features ambitious tap-only concoctions such as bourbon barrel aged beers and other one-off specialties. But customers will also find 6-packs, half-gallon growlers, cases, kegs, and pints of their favorite delectable liquids as well.
In its newest warehouse space on North Delaware Avenue since 2008, this ascending microbrewery continues to craft quality beers and ales for essential East Coast imbibing. Surely, as proven here at Iron Monkey, there’s a major interest from Jersey City’s proudly elitist craft brew hounds, heretofore labeled ‘brewpies,’ courtesy of Mercury Brewing’s head zymurgist James Dorau.
RANDOLPH, NEW JERSEY
Friendly teamwork seems to be the focus at Randolph’s MORRIS TAP & GRILL. An ambitious American gastropub opened during 2011 in a majestic natural stone edifice (run by a few motivated young restaurateurs), the roomy confines convey a refined splendor further defined by the rustic charm of its warm interior. Geared more towards family fun than previous tenant, Stone Fire Grill, this sylvan mid-Jersey watering hole contrasts its casual folksy dining with formal elegance.
Led by head chef, Eric LeVine, a gourmandizing Brooklyn-bred culinarist made famous as Food Network’s Chopped champion, Morris Tap & Grill is determined to conceive the greatest food and beer pairings for their ever-growing customer base. Working at his grandfather’s butcher shop at age eleven gave LeVine the primordial training he’d need to develop into one of the Garden State’s finest cooks, building a solid reputation at prestigious eateries such as Times Square’s Marriott Marquis, Harvard Club Of New York and Brooklyn’s River Cafe.
“I also owned catering companies and restaurants over the past eighteen years,” the confident LeVine informs. “Luckily, I wound up in Jersey. (General Manager) Mike DeSimone brought me in as a partner in January after I was at this stuffy private country club realizing I’d die there as an old fossil or move on and be creative and love what I do.”
Given a lot of space to devise various seafood, beef, poultry and game dishes, the enterprisingly modernistic cuisinist gained subsequent plaudits for the Baconeater – a deliciously hearty burger CBS-TV voted one of the state’s best. LeVine’s also made noise with lamb T-bone, filet mignon and roasted duck dinner items as well as an expansive Banquet Menu. Combining fabulous original dishes with appropriate craft beers became a major priority from the start.
“Beer gives so many different elements to the food,” LeVine declares as an MGMT tune sounds off in the background. “The challenge for me, since I can’t drink beer (due to allergies), is to rely on beer profiles given to me.”
Trusting his sixth sense and DeSimone’s palate to create imaginative pairings, the shrewd Culinary Institute of America grad combines just the right ingredients in a delectably complementary manner. The bulky Baconeater counters bacon-stripped caramelized onion sweetness with tangy bleu cheese bittering, heightening the spicy hop bittering of citric-bound Kane Overhead Double IPA.
“It’s like drinking a good wine. Sometimes the flavors build as you go along and the wine sits, developing on your palate,” the diligent LeVine divulges as one of his favorite artists, Bjork, emanates from the speakers.
Broken into three separate sections, Morris Tap features the family-oriented Lodge (a right side focal point extending to the orange lantern-adorned rear area), the sportsbar-derived Tap Room (with copper tin ceiling, opposing TV’s and tidy wood furnishings) and the upscale Tree Room (a specialized table-clothed banquet space with cozy fireplace). Burnished amber earth tones provide ample rusticity. Plus, the wonderful draught and bottle selection confirms the pub’s earnest commitment to craft beer, drawing an escalating congregation of beer geeks, connoisseurs and neoteric enthusiasts.
“Craft beer is crazy right now,” the Sparta-raised DeSimone admits. “And the owners are great people. I thought I fit in well here. It’s a worthwhile experience. I had worked with (newly hired) mixologist Andrew Longshore in Charlotte at Crave Dessert Bar. It was a martini lounge and dessert boutique with hookah pipes. We were right in the middle of Charlotte, where the service industry is everything.”
Though direct competition for handcrafted artisan brews in Morris County lacks right now, there’s a surging local buzz for inventive food contests. A Twitter account follower offered a seriously difficult Chop Box challenge to LeVine recently. Researching what items had never been used on Chopped, the valiant contestant brought python, ostrich sausage jerky, green rice and hops to commingle.
Then, there’s LeVine’s famous gummy worm incident on Chopped. In the final round, desserts were to include gummy bears, pistachio butter, corn melon and rice puffs. A sushi roll was to be made out of the ingredients, but the gummy worms never solidified so he made a lemonade nougat and wound up winning.
“We have a very cool kitchen bar. It has a private table with private server and special menu at a premium price,” he says while I down fruity cinnamon-toasted summer ale, Epic Sour Apple Saison. “You get to experience the kitchen without a filter. If there’s yelling and screaming and shit breaking, so be it. It’s part of the deal. There’s a bit of the entertainment factor.”
There are also a load of specials to attract tentative customers, such as Thursday’s endless happy hour, Wednesday’s half-price growler fills and affordable Sunday brunch (featuring bottomless Mimosas, Sangrias or Bloody Marys). The ever-changing tapped beer assortment could be bought in seven, ten or twelve-ounce servings, with the smallest seven-ounce size hopefully assuring skeptical purchasers to try variegated libations if the first one doesn’t quite suit their taste.
In May 2012, Morris Tap & Grill teamed up with Civilization of Beer founder, Sam Merritt, for a Cicerone Certification Class that educated interested beer geeks on flavor profiles, styles, history and proper storage. Expect many more of these profgrams.
As I sip coconut-centered digestif, Kona Koko Brown Ale (with its toasted almond, praline and vanilla notes caressing sharp hop spicing), Longshore joins me at the bar to promote Cooking With Class. It’ll gather curious brew hounds for uniquely exquisite beer and food pairings.
Lifeless light-bodied golden ale (in a can) retains nasty corn malt astringency and dreary veggie-rotted citric spritz to musty wheat-husked white-breaded bottom. Lemony orange misting lost in the mix.
Bold grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering gets sweetened by wheat-honeyed caramel malting. Musky oily hop pining deepens fresh evergreen forestry, juniper berry bite and black tea swipe. Zesty citric finish picks up pineapple, pear and mango tease.
Deranged medium-bodied Belgian pale ale brings sinewy sourdough yeast breading to sugared pastry sweetness, shunning typical candi-sugared citric spiced styling. Soft-watered texture daintily affects tertiary lemon custard, candied orange, green grape, honeyed apple and bosc pear trinkets.
Compelling canned Belgian wit retains delicate grassy-hopped citric mist, frothy pearl head and palest straw body. Sweet orange peel briskness seeps into coriander-spiced lemon candied tartness, subtle mango-juiced grains of paradise tropicalia and mild green banana starching. Subtle yeast pungency picks up lightly salted white peppering to winsomely contrast refreshing citrus spritz. Perfection.
