Easy flowing moderation brings sweet navel orange zest to soft hop bittering and delicate caramel malt sugaring. Candied pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine and mango tang sweetened by orange blossom fragrance just below the surface. Minor aspirin astringency beckons at floral fruited finish.
Sugarcane syrup provides sweet foundation for honey-spiced caramel malting, zesty citric effervesence and floral-perfumed hop zest. Dry navel orange, tart grapefruit, overripe lemon and peach undertones reach the crisply clean sugared finish. Simple. Effective.
MONTVILLE, NEW JERSEY
Definitely one of Jersey’s best beerpubs, POOR HENRY’S PUB & RESTAURANT has been in business since 1975. In a fieldstone-bricked ranch (with aquamarine trim and sidewalk cafe), this Old World tavern on Route 202 could be defined as an Irish-styled pub, dive bar, gin mill or family restaurant. Each description fits the otherwise inconspicuous establishment well.
Founded by Kenny Garrity, Poor Henry’s originated in nearby East Hanover and served Guinness Stout to experimental palates. But while that Irish bar ceased to exist, the newly established Montville gastropub continues to flourish. During 2011, Garrity’s son, Jesse, expanded the draught selection and brought craft beers onboard.
Featuring outstanding pub fare (prime rib, burgers, pasta, fish) and a quickly revolving 23-tap selection, Poor Henry’s is divided into two distinct sections. To the left, a home-styled dining area with 4-seat tables serves lunch and dinner while the rectangular right side bronze-topped bar (with multiple TV’s and blackboard tap listing) maintains a bustling sportsbar appeal.
On the side walls, several road signs and auto licenses mix with several craft beer banners from Dogfish Head, Full Sail and Ithaca (plus a green-clover neon sign promoting Heineken and a Guinness ad). The extraordinary bottled specialties on this February 2015 sojourn included Brooklyn K Is For Kriek, Victory Oak Aged Horizontal Barleywine, Clown Shoes Peace Money Can’t Buy, Lost Abbey Inferno Belgian Golden, Guinness 1759 Amber Ale eith Smoked Peat, Epic Elder Brett Saison and Allagash Midnight Brett.
Grabbing a seat at the bar for a short mid-afternoon jaunt, I down fudgy dessert treat, Neshaminy Creek Coconut Mudbank Milk Stout (reviewed in Beer Index). Afterwards, I return for dinner with wife in tow and the bar has gone from practically empty to completely crowded. So we took a dining table and order two delicious mainstay menu items: Faroe island dilled salmon and Pizza with bacon, sauteed onions and mozzerella. Alongside the food, I consume four samplers of previously untried libations including sessionable Green Flash Jibe IPA and collaborative Du Claw/ Cigar City Impey Barbicane Moongun Amber as well as Wild Beer Induna Cru Saison (with apples) and Du Claw Hell On Wood Bourbon-aged Barleywine.
As much a friendly neighborhood hangout as a great destination spot, Poor Henry’s warm, rustic charm will please everyone with its fresh food, interesting brews and cozy atmosphere.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, excellent Devil’s Milk barleywine gets draped in Kentucky white oak bourbon barrels for an intensely complex summertime adventure. Luxurious bourbon sweetness gains light cognac lilt as zesty grapefruit peel bittering and sharp citric hop bite reveal sunny underside girded by pale, wheat and melanoiden malt dryness. On the sweet side, toasted coconut, almondine, maple molasses and toffee illusions gain attention alongside subtler plum-raisin conflux.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, sessionable hybridized amber ale utilizes herbal-honeyed lemon souring to add a sophisticated edge to humble beer styling. Oats-flaked torrified wheat plainness and distant caramel malting restrain the IPA-like piney hop bite and zesty citric acidity.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, wild brettanomyces yeast provides sour white-wined champagne sparkle to tart Somerset apple juicing and subtle white-peppered piney hop bittering of English saison. Mild orange-rotted yellow grapefruit souring and zesty pineapple tang fill out the backend.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, sessionable low-alcohol India Pale Ale brings copious yellow grapefruit peel bittering to resinous Cascade hop bite and sharp bark-dried yellow wood astringency. Zesty lemon, pineapple and orange illusions amplify floral-bound grapefruit plot as creamy crystal malts add sugary respite.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, smooth coconut-milked dark ale leans on brown chocolate creaminess to reinforce subsidiary shredded coconut, toasted almond, burnt caramel and fudge illusions. Mild vanilla, cocoa, coffee and molasses hints help sweeten lactic mocha-laden coconut finish.
On tap at Doherty’s, washed-out strawberry witbier gets soapy above its soft white wheat bed. Delicate strawberry-pureed sweetness and pepper-spiced Belgian yeast influence diminish abruptly, allowing diacetyl buttering to spoil the party.
In bottle: herbal ginger spell outdoes sweet gingerbread spicing and sharp cinnamon stick respite to honeyed Graham Cracker spine. Light lemondrop whim adds mild sourness but stylish brown sugaring lacks. On tap at Doherty’s, pleasant lemony ‘ginger ale’ retains sessionable simplicity. Soft spiced hops allow ginger-leafed cinnamon and clove accents to spread across pasty Munich malting, but thin mouthfeel precludes advertised gingerbread splendor.
On tap at Doherty’s, soft-toned rye porter spreads brown and black chocolate malting across dry-spiced hop char. Belgian chocolate-spiced dark cocoa, smoked molasses, roasted coffee, espresso and toffee undertones increase creamy mocha soothe.
On tap at Doherty’s, dry milk stout brings Rustica coffee bean roast to nutty chocolate opulence. Beneath the surface, black chocolate, Godiva chocolate, frothy espresso and vanilla bean illusions pop up alongside Brazil nut, hazelnut and cola nut nuances. Soft mineral-watered smoothness provides crisply clean flow for milk-creamed coffee finish. In the bottle circa ’18, mild coffee-roasted espresso bean presence competes favorably with bittersweet black chocolate tones and hop-charred walnut-cola conflux, finishing with a silken carbolic briskness.