Impeccable oaken bourbon-barreled strong ale (a.k.a. Abacus) is a decadent British-styled barleywine. Chewy caramel nuttiness, rum-soaked crème brulee creaminess and syrupy maple molasses deepen bourbon whiskey theme. On second passing, rich raisin-pureed plum, prune and black cherry tartness seeps into surging chocolate-y toffee sweetness as ancillary burgundy, port and sherry ease into calm alcohol-burnt backdrop. Toasted coconut, vanilla extract, marshmallow and almond illusions further sweeten slow sipping heavy dessert treat.
ANCHORAGE THE TIDE & ITS TAKERS
Resolute Belgian-styled tripel aged in French oak Chardonnay barrels goes on a fantastic journey. Orange-dried lemon rind tartness penetrates white-peppered basil-thyme-lemongrass herbage and sweet honeyed malting for enduringly sharp white-wined promenade. Dark floral potpourri drifts into herbal fruiting as illuminating flavor profile and modest brettanomyces souring proliferate. Candied apple, lemon custard, green grape, white apricot, pineapple, banana and coconut add breadth to alluring Chardonnay finish.
YARDS OLDE BARTHOLOMEW BARLEYWINE
Boozy English-styled winter warmer (with bracing 10% alcohol volume) gets labeled as an unfiltered barleywine but seems closer to a nebulous strong ale. Seasonal cinnamon, gingerbread and sugar plum spicing loses out to phenol-hopped orange peel bittering. Ancillary molasses honeyed sweetness, caramelized apple stickiness, tangy peach ripeness and dried cherry pureeing waver through solvent alcohol burn.
(ANHEUSER-BUSCH) BUD SELECT 55 LIGHT LAGER
Flaccidly under-whelming clear-bottled low-calorie light lager with salt-watered Seltzer fizz, phenol hop astringency, dehydrated corn void and faint metallic sheen is a quaint bore. Flimsy 55-calorie fodder for freakishly frail freshmen.
COPPER MINE PUB
NORTH ARLINGTON, NEW JERSEY
In a tiny gray-painted corner lot next to a florist and across from renowned Holy Cross Cemetery on the quieter part of Ridge Road in Bergen County’s southernmost town, North Arlington’s warm and friendly COPPER MINE PUB is the humbly ambitious masterstroke of blue-capped twenty-something owner, Vito Forte. A craft beer enthusiast who grew up in the industry from an early age, he’s been learning steadily about the spirits business since working weekends at a local store.
On a sunny Thursday in April, I finally got to peruse this intimate neighborhood hangout and the homey ambience was all at once palpable. Named after the historic 18th century Schuyler Copper Mine (one of the first such mines in North America), this unpretentious dive bar couldn’t be any more hospitable. Perfectly placed between Routes 3, 7, 17, 21 and the Garden State Parkway and situated between the Passaic and Hackensack rivers a few miles from the Meadowlands Complex, Copper Mine’s a true blue dusty old gold mine.
At 4 PM, there’s already a dozen diversified brewhounds trying out Vito’s magnificent tapped selection. White-collar businessmen, local students and a few young women make their way in today. Within a 180-minute stay, I’ll drain a few delightful ales ranging from wine-y sour ale to sweet smoked German rauchbier. And I’ll be back for an amazingly resolute Belgian-styled Alaskan beer during dinnertime on Saturday.
“I was lucky,” Vito says as he tends bar from a stool next to the front window. “I worked at nearby Rutherford Wine Shop while in high school. I started in ’99 as a freshman. From day one, they were into better wines and beers. I learned at a young age. I stocked shelves and worked there through college.”
Within a few years, the amiable West Virginia University-transferred William Paterson history grad opened the Copper Mine. A blue awning with three insignias and a few neon signs promoting respected American breweries (Flying Fish; Stoudt’s; Avery; Firestone Walker) welcome patrons to the maroon-walled, beadboard-based, white tin-ceilinged interior. There’s a big screen TV at the 10-stooled left side bar and four opposing tables (where local patrons enjoy take-in food alongside Vito’s interesting tapped and bottled selection). Banners for California’s Ballast Point and Bear Republic plus New Hampshire’s Smuttynose, Canada’s Unibroue and Belgium’s Chimay line the right wall where shelves display empty bottles of hard-to-find beers.
Turning a rundown ‘old man’ saloon into a hip craft beer haven by the autumn of ’08, Vito did a few necessary renovations before establishing his rustic joint. But it all came to fruition quickly.
“I replaced the floor, which was badly carpeted, and put down tile. Then I took out the horseshoe-shaped bar and replaced it. And the basement walk-in cooler is new,” he explains while I finish vinous, cherry-soured, white-wined, oak-dried BFM Abbey St. Bon Chien.
At this point, Brendan, a Rutgers-Newark MBA night student, walks in for a spell. We try some double-fermented, bottle-conditioned water kifer, a bacterial yeast-sugared libation created by a Bayonne chiropractor that tastes sweetly grape-juiced at this young age, but will attenuate to a vinegary cider-like sourness over time.
Then a Meat Puppets instrumental comes on and I delve into herbal yellow-fruited summertime ale, Saint Somewhere Saison Athene, before settling on grapefruit-embittered Ballast Point Tongue Buckler Imperial Red, a wonderfully well-rounded and beautifully fruited full body placing tangy sugar-caned peach, pear and apple illusions above setback alcohol-burnt juniper hops.
As Vito’s local buddies continue walking in, I notice Dogfish Head 120 Minute India Pale Ale is by far the most popular drink here.
“IPA’s go out the fastest. They’re increasingly popular,” Vito says. “I like all beer styles. I’d never turn down a bourbon-barreled Imperial Stout. That’s one of my favorites alongside really good sour ales. But I also appreciate a good IPA.”
Two small floor-bound refrigerators at the bar prove Vito’s got exquisite taste. California’s The Bruery and Firestone Walker sidle Michigan’s Jolly Pumpkin selections. Plus, growler fills are available.
“We used to carry a lot more bottles, but we trickled it down to specialty bottles of more obscure or rare stuff unavailable in a keg locally. I love Jolly Pumpkin. They’re very artisanal and every batch is variegated. Their kegs are rare so I keep bottles on hand. I understand sour ales are expensive. They take longer to make and a lot of effort goes into them – sometimes aging in oak barrels for years. But if the beer’s good, customers don’t mind,” Vito justifies.
I dip into Schlenkerla Oak Smoke, an ambitious wood-burnt rauchbier with much more malt sweetness than usual smoked beers, to finish my initial three-hour sojourn.
Vito concludes, “The normal crowd’s like today. All these southern Bergen towns I draw from are like one square mile – Rutherford, Lyndhurst. It’s like a big checkerboard. Last week, some Texans came in. Local chemical factory workers, pilots from Teterboro and a few Toms River postal employees swing by too.”
I trek back to Copper Mine with my wife and youngest son to chow Jo Jo’s Pizza slices, grabbing a table to imbibe Anchorage The Tide & Its Takers. A Belgo-American ale aged in Chardonnay oak barrels, its orange-dried lemon rind tartness penetrates white-peppered basil, thyme and lemongrass to the sweet honey malted backend. As with my previous stopover, there are several knowledgeable beer fanatics scrutinizing Vito’s vital selections.
Make sure the Copper Mine’s on your ‘must list’ of diminutive north Jersey neighborhood beer bars to visit along with Bogota-based Andy’s Corner Bar and Haledon’s Shepherd & Knucklehead.
HEINEKEN TARWEBOK
Uniquely sweet wheat bock (a.k.a. German-styled weizenbock) contrasts the usual dank bittering of Heineken’s best known international fare. Sugary honeyed molasses creaminess sets the tone above mildly sweet barley-roasted chocolate malting and sweetly soured red cherry tartness. Toffee, maple, hazelnut, banana and fig crowd brown-sugared rum spicing before medicinal alcohol-burnt cough medicine aftertaste takes hold. A sweet dessert treat.
WIDMER BROTHERS OKTO FESTIVAL ALE
Damp aromatic foliage and leafy-hopped earthen nuttiness provide autumnal array for middling dry body. Complacent Vienna-malted cereal grain toasting, latent metallic shard and acrid phenol spicing lower appeal.
PUB DOG HOPPY DOG
Aggressive pale ale stays smooth, clean and sessionable while maintaining bold citric bittering reminiscent of an India Pale Ale. Zesty grapefruit-peeled lemon rind bite stays above resinous earthen-grained dampness and mild piney prickle. Toasted caramel malting sweetens the moldy breaded backend.
(FLYING DOG) UNDERDOG ATLANTIC LAGER
Perky light-bodied lager brings resinous floral-hopped citric spicing to sourdough breading. Musk-y lemon rot and orange compote pleat mild dry-wooded astringency. Biscuit-y malts bring salty pretzel and toasted baguette illusions to the fore. Serve to Euro pilsner fans.
(THORNBRIDGE) SAINT PETERSBURG IMPERIAL RUSSIAN STOUT
Convincing lactic-soured cocoa malt entry pushed aside for chewy brown chocolate creaminess and soy-milked coffee splash. Sturdy mocha theme reinforced by molasses-draped oats, peanut-shelled walnut and mossy peat as well as tertiary dark-fruited raisin, fig and black cherry nuances.
MAD FOX BREWING COMPANY
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA
In the bustling downtown area of Falls Church on Route 7 at Spectrum Mall’s corner lot lies MAD FOX BREWING, an upscale casual English-styled gastropub opened in 2009 (and closed June ’19) by seasoned mid-Atlantic brewer Bill Madden. Just a few miles down from Alexandria and the nation’s Capitol, this spacious restaurant-brewery is Madden’s latest creative venture and first as an owner.
A gold-lettered black awning (with several Mad Fox insignias) and outdoor patio welcome patrons to the maple-wooded space with green-walled left side dining countering the beige-walled saloon room. Across from the entrance are several copper kettle brew tanks. The centralized tin-tiled ceiling offers Neo-Classical splendor while the lantern-like pendant lighting (suspended by chains) and polished concrete floor recalls Olde Americana.
My wife and I sit at the commodious 63 foot bar (with two TV’s and prominent clock) to try an astonishing fourteen different brews in five-ounce tulip glasses on a Saturday in March ’12. Though it’s not yet lunchtime, the fine Americana pub fare includes brick-fired pizza, burgers, sandwiches and salads while the dinner menu offers steaks and salmon. Breads, pickles, and condiments are made in house.
The left side of the menu reflects Madden’s Long Island roots – pizza and sandwiches – while the right side is chef-inspired.
Emerson Lake & Palmer’s sensitive acoustical retreat “From The Beginning” plays in the backdrop as the lighter samples get tried.
Approachable moderate-bodied bohemian Czech beer, Braha Pilsner, placed citric zest across mild dry-wooded Saaz hop bittering and twiggy bark acridity.
Dry-hopped American Pale Ale spread grapefruit-peeled orange tang across resinous floral earthiness and mineral-grained breading.
An ‘English ordinary session ale,’ Fennec scattered light-bodied sugar caned crystal malting atop waxy fruit dollops and grassy clay hops.
Easygoing soft-watered Kolsch retained a citric-rotted souring that pleasingly scoured minor herbage, finishing with a grapefruit-juiced lemon spritz. Arguably better, the unfiltered version, Kellerbier Kolsch, had a more pronounced grapefruit bittering to combat its grout-y cellar-like musk and dankly dewy pilsner malting.
Cereal-grained Rock Star Irish Red Ale dispensed bread-crusted barley toasted crisping, caramel roasted sweetness and citric-sugared crystal malting in a straightforward manner.
Then it was on to Vienna-malted Defender American Pale Ale, a briskly tropical fruited medium body with dry Columbus hops and wildflower-honeyed candy tartness complementing grapefruit-peeled orange compote, white peach and pear nuances. The special cask version muted the pale-malted hop bitterness for wood-toned lemon rind, grapefruit, papaya, guava and pineapple juicing plus herbaceous raw-honeyed ginger rooting.
Mellow St. James Irish Dry Stout pleated oats-toasted pale, black and chocolate malts onto soft coffee-roasted walnut dryness. Its smoother cask version retained a dark chocolate nuttiness above espresso coffee beans.
The Who’s rapid fire anthem “Going Mobile” blazes forth as Mad Fox fills up for Saturday lunch. And that’s when I investigate the experimentally hopped Tinnerhill IPA, a clear-toned dry-wooded pleasantry culling lemonade, apple cider and grapefruit subtleties.
In collaboration with Bob and Ellie Tupper (creators of the fabulous Tuppers Hop Pocket Ale), Madden designed the rewarding India Ink Black Ale, where chalky chocolate malting gets back-ended by dried cherry, pineapple and grapefruit.
Traditional English-styled medium body, Geordie Brown Ale, stayed soft-toned as filmy mocha malting caressed minimal chestnut, praline and pecan notes.
Perhaps most worthy, Belgian-styled farmhouse ale, Saison, entwined bruised lemon bittering and leathery white-peppered hops with cotton-candied yellow fruiting for a sumptuous dessert treat.
As we finish up our samples, celebrated brewer-owner Madden stops by to say hi and share a bit of history.
“I started as a homebrewer while living in San Francisco with a buddy,” the Huntington, New York native recalls. “We’d checked out a newly opened homebrew shop, spent $100 each on credit cards and began brewing in a Mission District flat.”
Over the course of a few years, friends claimed his beers were “pretty good.” So Madden took out a personal loan and got accepted to University of California Davis’ famed brew school.
“I got into the Masters Brewers Program after applying in ’94. It was almost affordable back then,” he says with a laugh. “There’s a brewers conference we’re going to in a month. But that year it was in Austin, Texas. While you’re in the program, Davis puts together a bunch of resumes for distribution. Capitol City sought me because their contract brewer at Frederick Brewery was also a UC-Davis grad. I got about thirty offers. The industry was kicking. But I didn’t want to brew in Utah, Maine and a bunch of other places.”
Downtown DC was most attractive to Madden at the time. Plus, Capitol City was expanding. So he started at the first location on 11th and H during ’95. He also designed the Shirlington pub and now-defunct Bethesda and Baltimore pubs.
“When I was at Capitol City in the final years as executive brewer, we’d let each brewer do their own beers, but we had a core of four standards. So the brewers would express themselves and do whatever they wanted. But that was in the heyday with five locations. Now there’s two. And the downtown location doesn’t brew. It’s all done at Shirlington.”
After decommissioning the original brewery in 2001, Madden took it apart, hauled it out and sold it to Leesburg Brewery, which became Thoroughbred’s before changing over to Vintage 50. Madden worked at Vintage 50 for three years while developing and designing Mad Fox.
“We got lucky here,” he says before ducking out to eat a shrimp burger. “There was another tenant in here that never even got to construction. When things got interesting on Wall Street, financing was lost. The landlord remembered us and we worked on a letter of intent and by 2009 opened for business.”
PUB DOG RASPBERRY DOG
Blandly watered-down raspberry tartness reaches acrid Seltzer-fizzed solvency, neutralizing light 4% alcohol volume. Minor acidity slips into auxiliary cranberry wisp, dismissive cider souring, washed-out lemon-drop snip and teasing floral whim. White wheat spine can’t hold water. Barely betters fruitier low-alcohol beers from myopic mainstream macrobrew mavens. Serve with woodruff syrup to increase raspberry flavor.