Delicate pearl-headed straw-hazed moderation gains modest orange peel bittering alongside pithy coriander spicing. Silken sugar malt creaming inundates mild honeyed wheat base. Fleeting peppercorn and lemongrass herbage adds nice touch.
NESHAMINY CREEK TRIBUTE TRIPEL
Fungi yeast pungency contrasts herbal honey sweetness that serenades mild coriander-spiced orange peel bittering. Rising banana-clove influence picks up candi-sugared pear, apple and honeydew illusions.
NESHAMINY CREEK COUNTY LINE IPA
Viable dry-bodied India Pale Ale stays less aggressively hop fruited than typical stylistic fare. Cereal-grained caramel malting and piney floral resonance envelop juicy grapefruit-orange tang. Candied pineapple, peach and mango sweeten casual citric bite. On tap, sharper piney citrus bittering peaks above previously undetected spruce-tipped juniper bite.
SUSQUEHANNA HOP FIVE IPA
Apprehensive lemony hop spice picks up light piney flourish and delicate floral musk. Expectant grapefruit-orange thrust never materializes.
SUSQUEHANNA PILS-NOIR
Inconclusive dark pilsner profile of brownish cola-hued schwarzbier needs better specificity. Murkily astringent molasses-toasted cocoa malting fades to oblivion. Slick nuttiness ransacks phenol backdrop. On tap at The Drafting Room, better ’13 version enjoined cinnamon-buttered sweetness with honeyed fig-date-cherry scarcity to minimally impact dewy dark-roasted graining.
(PRISM) FELONY INDIA PALE ALE
Well balanced 10% alcohol-fueled Imperial IPA (in bottle) balances English and American styles as citric-pined oily hop resin, toasted caramel malts and flaked maize drape floral pineapple, pear, nectar and honeydew fruiting. Lemony grapefruit bittering picks up metallic astringency inundating the lingered aftertaste.
BACKYARD ALE HOUSE
SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA
In the heart of Scranton across from the Court House, BACKYARD ALE HOUSE came on the scene November ’08 and soon became Electric City’s premier beer bar. Offering an outrageously enormous 500 bottled beers as well as 20-plus rotating taps, Backyard’s celebrates America’s proud microbrew generation in grand style. Its pristine tan frontage features Backyard’s brown-lettered insignia, windowed neon signs for the Keystone State’s most popular microbreweries (Stoudt’s/Troegs/Victory/Yards) and gorgeous earth-toned slate footing.
Upon entering the clean open space for the first time, June ’13, there resides a 15-stool left bar with two big screen TV’s, Backyard-etched central mirror, sundry taps and a large refrigerator (with awesome bottled selections). To the right are dining tables and along the middle beams several collectible beer bottles stand front to back. A newly installed kitchen serves pub fare such as burgers, wings and pizza.
Nick Lowe’s cold war anthem “So It Goes” blasts from the speakers as I settle into a beer crafted just down the highway, 3 Guys & A Beer’d Ladder Dive Rye IPA. Its reedy-hopped rye breading and orange-rotted dried fruiting picked up a grainier residue than most typical fruit-forward stylings.
Before getting a few takeout bottled beers from local breweries such as Old Forge, Susquehanna, Evil Twin and 3 Guys & A Beer, I grab a seat outside in the cement-floored open-air back deck. Overlooking City Hall, the red brick-sided space offers an 8-stool covered bar with three TV’s, several tables and chairs and a popcorn maker. On tap at the back bar are familiar Bud-Coors-Miller product as well as Guinness, Goose Island, Ommegang, Stegmaier and a few local indie draughts.
I dip into creamy eggshell-frothed Victory Uncle Teddy’s Bitter (with its orange-oiled lemon pit tartness and nutty respite) and vibrant fruit-candied Clown Shoes Tramp Stamp Belgian IPA (where black-peppered hops and alcohol-burnt astringency contrast a bright grapefruit-orange-tangerine-peach tang).
Indoor and outdoor jukeboxes provide alternative and classic rock selections while live music plays Friday and Saturday evenings.
Sat at cement-floored awninged back patio at noon in October ’24 on a beautiful Sunday to try a few local Benny’s brews (Peanut Butter Lager and Birthday Cake Stout) plus New Trail Flannel Weather Imperial IPA, Ithaca Nitro Vanilla Porter and Sweetwater Blue (reviewed in Beer Index).
A favorite watering hole for local businessmen, post-collegiate imbibers and craft beer enthusiasts, Backyard’s perfectly centralized location attracts a diverse crowd to Scranton’s inner sanctum.
IRON HILL BREWERY – CHESTNUT HILL
CHESTNUT HILL, PENNSYLVANIA
In a quaint cobblestone neighborhood in northwest Philadelphia’s historic Germantown Road, Chestnut Hill’s IRON HILL is its sixth franchise chain. Opened during December 2012, the well designed restaurant-brewery gained quick popularity. A beautifully plush 2-room expanse with high ceilings and a pull-up door offering patio access for the red brick edifice, Iron Hill’s cherry oak furnishings and amiable atmosphere provide luxurious comfort. Behind the waiting area are 12 oak booths for family dining away from the left side bar room (where several more tables reside).
My wife and I grab a seat at the bar for a few pre-noon eye-openers this sunny Memorial Day ’13. Two large TV’s sidling the bar show the Duke-Maryland lacrosse final and the Phillies game. The high ceilings feature overhead fans and mauve corrugated steel. A keg filler centers the pristine oak bar and the Brewing Process list etched into the wall counters the left side-walled Beer Listing.
In the windowed backroom, large brew tanks serve several satisfying seasonals crafted by brewer Paul Rutherford alongside Iron Hill’s flagship beers.
My wife grabs Raspberry Wheat, a corn-honeyed fruit ale with raspberry-pureed strawberry-seeded tartness saturating Graham Cracker sweetness. I get to quaff three previously untried libations that prove the sheer diversity of this excellent Northeast franchise.
First up, Philly Painting Gold Malt Liquor layered its flaked corn malts with brisk perfume-hopped citric spicing, bettering any malt liquor marketed.
Next, crisply hopped Belgian Pale Ale brought white-peppered Belgian yeast musk to floral orange-peach-grapefruit nuances and candi-sugared crystal malting.
Mild Hop-Anonymous, a dry-bodied lupulin-powdered ale, received a tropical grapefruit-peeled orange rind, pineapple, apricot and nectar punch.
MONK’S CAFE
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
One of Philly’s most prestigious underground hotspots remains Rittenhouse Square’s MONK’S CAFE BEER EMPORIUM. Owner Tom Peters keeps the tenacious local and visiting brewhounds enthralled with a wide selection of Belgian beers as well as American and international craft brews. Monk’s Beer Bible lists over 300 world class bottled selections and the daily Front and Back Bar draught menus have a mind-boggling selection worth exploring.
Near the corner of 16th Street just inside the city’s downtown parameters, Monk’s Cafe provides a cozy intimacy perfectly in tune with the broad scope of not only craft beers but also fine wines. Its narrow interconnected rooms have a maze-like setup.
Entering thru a bright red door (covered by a Belgium-flagged yellow and red striped black canope), a few windowed tables offer a quaint lunch setting adjacent to the eight-seat front bar (where a rustic tap station houses five draughts listed on the nearby menu board). Past the three pews and two-seat tables (made of reclaimed oak furnishings from a choir loft) and down the hall, an Abbey St. Sixtus sign welcomes patron’s to the crown jewel, Monk’s sterling back bar.
With an eight-seat bar and left-walled tables, the Old World-styled backspace retains a rare elegance deepened by its artful decorum. A mirrored Monk’s Cafe insignia centers the bar, which houses top shelf booze, a segregated Delirium Tremens tap handle and twelve-draught tap station. Two gorgeous tapestries along the wall prove illustrious. One portrays 15th century wine making processing and the other’s a wool and silk woven ‘five senses’ reproduction.
Peters, a proud entrepreneur, moved into Monk’s current space way back in 1997, just as the American public was truly discovering the variegated international beer landscape the market finally accepted full-on. A respected beer guru guiding a Philly landmark, Peters’ spent a few moments conversing on a sunny Memorial Day, 2013.
Though it’d be difficult to sample every untried beer currently on tap or bottled, two fabulous imperials, one an India Pale Ale, the other a sweet-toothed dark ale, capture my attention.
Gleaming tropical-fruited Omnipollo Nebuchadnezzar Double IPA brought lovely sugar-caned peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit and mango tropicalia to grapefruit-peeled juniper hop bittering.
Engaging mocha dessert treat, Evil Twin Naked Lunch In A Heavenly Copenhagen Resto, a full-bodied Imperial Stout, worked dark chocolate-spiced vanilla, anise, coconut, cookie dough and raisin bread illusions into its smoky confines. (Full reviews are in Beer Index).
Those hungry souls visiting Monk’s caliginous gastropub should try Red Light Mussels, Monk’s Burger, Rainbow Trout or Duck Salad Sandwich.
Claiming to incorporate the ‘Soul of Belgium in the heart of Philadelphia,’ Monk’s appeal only widens as the craft beer market explodes.
LIQUID HERO BREWERY
YORK, PENNSYLVANIA
Next to pristine Sovereign Bank Stadium on the outskirts of York’s industrial center lies LIQUID HERO BREWERY, an enticing red-bricked microbrew pub opened in 2012. Co-owners Matt De Prato, Christian Quinlivan and Josh Hoke, all present on my initial May 2013 sojourn to this Lancaster County hotspot, present a fabulous array of stylistically diversified ales.
In the maroon-walled tasting room are six wood tables and a seven-seat bar (where a large TV, blackboard beer list, tap handles and several collectible bottles reside). Rustic wood crossbars, exposed ceiling ducts and gray concrete floors give the elevated backroom brew tank area an ole factory feel. Local Pennsylvania wines (listed on a sign near the Dogfish Head insignia) are available at the brass top bar as well as appetizers, salads and entrees (Fish & Chips, Cuban Pretzel Melt, Bacon Cheeseburger and Triple Decker Sandwich).
Settling at the middle of the bar next to Quinlivan, and soon after, De Prato and Hoke, the gracious bartender serves nine samples in beautiful six-ounce goblets. My wife is totally pleased by the awesome wheat beer triumvirate available this Saturday afternoon.
First, we share soft-toned Hero Weizen, a mildly creamed banana-clove-centered delight with lemony orange brightener and wispy white wheat sedation. Then comes Schweet, a fruitful strawberry wheat ale caressed by cranberry-raspberry-blueberry tartness to its Graham Cracker spine.
Blending the Schweet with Hero Weizen, The Mix brings candi-sugared crystal malting and sharper hop astringency to sweet ‘n sour strawberry-raspberry fruiting and ancillary banana-clove-bubblegum nuances (while arguably bettering the two original brews).
Liquid Hero’s flagship offering, American Hero Amber Ale, goes beyond mainstream sessionability with its coarsened hop-spiced bittering and toasted caramel malting receiving a mosy earthen dewing.
Brand new Pale Ale sharpened its citra-hopped bite with juniper berry bittering and mildly perfumed orange-lemon-grapefruit serenity.
Even more pungently engaging, Irregardless Citra-Hopped IPA coated its hop-oiled peach-pineapple-mango tropicalia with a serious ethanol kick.
Collaborating with nearby Bube’s, dry-bodied Black IPA brought black licorice illusions to chalky dark cocoa and chocolate ascendance, leaving a trail of dried fruited resonance.
Smooth nitro-injected Imperial Stout placed nutty chocolate sweetness next to hop-embittered cherryskin, cola and cocoa illusions. Just as worthy, Adam’s Stout loaded molasses-tarred vanilla fudge richness onto dark chocolate, coconut and cocoa nibs undertones and hop-charred coffee bittering.
Combining the talents of three experimental homebrewers with humble beginnings, Liquid Hero has become an instant staple in this factory town known as White Rose City.
BENNY BREWING COMPANY (MARTY’S BLUE ROOM)
NANTICOKE, PENNSYLVANIA
Talk about your successful traditional family-run neighborhood joint! Serving agrarian mining villagers, local businessmen and familial denizens living inside the inconspicuous uphill Sheatown section of Nanticoke with authentic Cajun food since 1984, MARTY’S BLUE ROOM expanded its red brick-fronted, white clapboard-sided residential boundaries under the guidance of convivial husband-wife Jim and Joanie Schonfeld. By 2010, Schonfeld’s son began brewing operations under his own name as BENNY BREWING COMPANY, utilizing a single-barrel Sabo system with four fermenters.
Formerly one-room saloon, Roman’s Cafe, Marty’s rustic country comfort proves to be therapeutic. Entering the diner-styled homestead for a two-hour jaunt, May ’13, my wife and I grab a table across the left side 14-seat bar where twelve taps pour Benny’s current four libations (fermented in the windowed brew tanks) plus Bud, Labatts, Yuengling and Hofbrau for the macro-brew masses.
The blue-tiled ceiling, Harp lager signpost and Blackboard Beer list capture the eye as we settle into the cozy cafe. Though we don’t ‘Go Cajun’ this afternoon, Maryland crab soup and garlic-breaded parmesan-cheesed bruscetta provide excellent fodder for Benny’s appealing fare.
Brisk citric-spiced perfume-hopped spritzer, Summer Ale, opened the session with easygoing splendor.
Centrist-like Amber Lager enticed honeyed malt sweetness with chestnut, pine nut and resin variables.
Gose-like beige-hazed moderation, Wit, brought herbaceous notions (lemongrass, eucalyptus, peppercorn) to sweetly perfumed orange peel, lemon zest, mandarin orange and yellow grapefruit crisping. Its coriander salting and fern-like freshness add further delicate luster.
Hopenstein India Pale Ale layered woody Simcoe hops atop dry grapefruit-peeled juniper berry bittering and juicy tangerine-orange-peach tang.
Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, soft-focus Oatmeal Stout (nitro version) mingled black coffee bittering, creamy cappuccino frothing, chalky cocoa coarsening and wood-burnt chicory.
Coal mining posts, dirt roads and farming mules may be a thing of the past in this rural northeast Pennsylvania hideout, but Marty’s peaceful easy feeling re-creates Concrete City’s abandoned smalltown atmosphere.
EVIL TWIN NAKED LUNCH IN A COPENHAGEN HEAVENLY RESTO
On tap at Monk’s Cafe, sweet mocha dessert treat layers black chocolate-spiced smoked malts atop chewy cookie dough yeast. Black cherry puree, raisin bread, toffee, vanilla, coconut, anise and biscotti undertones scatter by ashen hop char.
