Moderate 15th anniversary pale ale places West Coast-like India Pale Ale citric pining and rye-honeyed brown breading above roasted caramel malting. Pineapple, grapefruit and melon sweeten grape-nut tenacity and mild chocolate-vanilla respite as earthen mineral graining scours resinous hop oiling.
BIG MUDDY MONSTER INDIA-STYLE BROWN ALE
Happy marriage between robust brown ale and hop-centric India Pale Ale works dark chocolate nuttiness into citric-oiled hop resin and latent wood char. Burnt caramel malting picks up hazelnut molasses sweetness as recessive grapefruit, pineapple and tangerine fruiting dwells beneath.
WIDMER BROTHERS KGB RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT
Dryer than most sweeter stylistic competitors, robust mocha dessert beer balances dark-roasted chocolate malting, dried cocoa powdering and bitter coffee grinding. Tertiary vanilla, espresso, roasted tobacco and licorice root illusions float beneath.
WIDMER BROTHERS RASPBERRY RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT (2012)
Murky raspberry puree tartness never fully integrates with hop-charred black coffee nuttiness and dark-roasted chocolate malting. Chalky cocoa backdrop adds to rich mocha prominence, but raspberry flavoring seems a bit artificial.
SHIPYARD MONKEY FIST IPA
Heady English-styled India Pale Ale brings dry wood lacquered pungency to sharp lemon-peeled grapefruit and spoiled orange musk. Perfume-dusted peach, pear and apple illusions contrast coarsened plasticine hop oiling, resinous earthen pine char and fusel vodka-nipped alcohol astringency.
BOLERO SNORT RAGIN’ BULL AMBER LAGER
On tap at Taphouse Grille, rampageous amber lager is way busier and bolder than lighter, less fussy competition, spreading multifarious flavors atop its baked biscuit base. Despite low alcohol volume, pungent dry-hopped bittering, musky orange-grapefruit tartness, nutty caramel spicing and musty vegetal souring rage forth in a flurry. Heartier thirsts will appreciate its tenacity.
LEFT HAND AMBIDEXTROUS ALE STEP 3 (GRAND JUJU)
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, arcane herbal-spiced hybrid doubles the resinous hop earthiness of brewers’ Good Juju for an abstruse cross between alcohol-heightened Imperial IPA and ginger root tea. Light citric influence, licorice-rooted anisette spell and boozy vodka whir barely register as blatant raw-honeyed ginger influence rages forth.
FLYING DOG PUMPERNICKEL IPA
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, bold pumpernickel essence rolls over peat-smoked chocolate malting and caraway-seeded molasses breading. Cocoa-dried rye toasting and blackened hop char relegate dried fruited fig, date and plum undertones. Bittersweet mocha influence far outweighs any fruitful IPA tendencies.
(ALEMAN/ STONE/ TWO BROTHERS) DAYMAN COFFEE IPA
Revolutionary amber-coppered coffee-doused India Pale Ale leads the way for collaborative Chicago-bound gypsy brewer. Densely bittersweet fresh-roasted coffee bean theme usurps tropical-fruited grapefruit, mango, pineapple and guava regalia. Piney hop-charred resin deepens dark-roasted chocolate malt base. Espresso, hazelnut and molasses undertones complement bold black coffee flavoring. Uniquely compelling and worthy of its hype!
EVIL TWIN IMPERIAL BISCOTTI BREAK
“Arrogant and flamboyant” Imperial Stout pours like motor oil and definitely mimics a delicious pine nutty almond biscotti dipped in black coffee. Creamy fudged chocolate brownie frontage sweetens mid-palate, picking up cocoa nibs, carob, French vanilla, hazelnut latte, amaretto and anise illusions. Sneaky oak-charred chipotle pepper burn seeps into bourbon-lacquered java finish. A superior 2013 discovery.
PROLETARIAT
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK
Just down the street from Hop Devil Grill in Manhattan’s East Village, diminutive dive bar, PROLETARIAT, boasts ‘rare, new and unusual beer’ as its prophetic slogan. An inconspicuous St. Mark’s Place hangout for crazed craft beer enthusiasts, Proletariat opened May 2012 to excited local fanfare.
A narrow joint with an elongated left side bar and one front windowed table, the rustic black-bricked interior walls (with bright paint-chipped clusters) resembles a ’50s ice cream parlor with its low-to-the-ground swivel stools, white-tiled ceiling and right-walled picture frame regalia. Four tap fountains contain twelve rotating draught handles and several hard-to-find beer bottles adorn the shelves.
On my initial April ’13 visit, Beverage Director Cory Bonfiglio efficiently tends bar as a packed house enjoys a well-rounded choice of beers going from light pilsner to rich mocha stout. As cool underground rock plays in the background, I dip into Louisville’s Against The Grain Hacksaaz Chuggin’ Pils, a dry-hopped rye-grained light body with orange-oiled herbal notions. Next, Long Island City’s Rockaway ESB upped the citric rye influence of the former pils for an upscale pale ale-like refresher given an English-styled earthen fungi musk.
As it starts to pour outside, several nearby customers decide to chow down on the limited, but fine, pub fare (such as Toasted Pretzels, Brined Potato Wedges, Grilled Cheese, Beer-Braised Brat and Reuben Burger). I reach for sessionable Manhattan-based Radiant Pig Jr. IPA, an easygoing charmer with lighter India Pale Ale-related stylistic illusions. Its polite piney grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and minor juniper snip contrasted tangy peach, mango, passionfruit, pineapple and melon tropicalia.
For a closer, lenten amber lager, Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier, proved how well German rauchbiers strike a chord with rangy palates. Its beechwood-smoked parlance, sweet cedar chipping and Band-aid wafted astringency pleasurably seeped into the tongue.
True to the free-spirited underground punk scene that once thrived on St. Mark’s Place, Proletariat offers an intriguing melange of super suds.
PRETTY THINGS AMERICAN DARLING
Daringly complex dry-hopped pale lager moves beyond stylistic limitations with its heightened vodka-like 7% alcohol volume, zesty citric intrigue, lingered herbal notion and perfumed lavender florality. Musty yeast funk brings earthen fungi peculiarity to lemon-peeled grapefruit, orange, clementine and navel orange tartness as well as black-peppered lemongrass, basil and sage herbage. Mineral-grained German pilsner malting provides soft base. On tap at Track 84, sunny lemon spritz and mild orange tartness endear grassy-hopped herbage.
