Genial pale-toned moderate-bodied spring bock retains crisp, clean, dry-bodied nature and delicate water flow. Subtle honeyed malt creaminess enhances polite spice-hopped fruiting and leafy floral nuances. Mellow peach, grape and quince illusions prickle biscuit-y cornbread spine and placid nuttiness. A nearly perfect post-prohibition-styled macrobrew reintroduced to the market around 2010.
NEW ENGLAND 668 NEIGHBOR OF THE BEAST BELGIAN-STYLE GOLDEN ALE
Impressive Belgian-styled pale ale in a can. Candi-sugared yeast caresses mild crystal malt creaminess and grassy-hopped tropical fruiting. Subtle grapefruit, pineapple, melon, cantaloupe and tangerine sweetness stormed by resolute clove-spiced banana taffy surge. Chardonnay, ambrosia and lemon custard illusions subsume sharply salted white peppering at alcohol burnt backend of fruitful endeavor.
TRAP ROCK RESTAURANT & BREWERY
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY
A totally exquisite English-styled Country Inn with cozy cabin warmth and intimate refinement, Berkeley Heights’ TRAP ROCK RESTAURANT & BREWERY offers topnotch handcrafted beers alongside upscale cuisine. Its natural stone and red-bricked walls render intrinsic rusticity elevated by the sun-beamed fireplace lounge, formal L-shaped oak bar, attractive mahogany booths, exposed wood beams and windowed copper kettles. The debonair ambience also graces the beautifully landscaped outdoor back deck, suggesting the same sylvan countryside affluence high profile clientele expect.
Yet despite its beamingly elegant luxuriousness, the casual atmosphere and relaxing vibe attract the usual rhapsodic working class suspects such as curious beer geeks, smalltime businessmen and local families. And the tantalizingly variegated menu allows regulars to gain an appreciation for a host of freshly devised dishes and spirited elixirs.
“It’s not so easy keeping up,” head brewer Charles Schroeder explains while readying for his 10th anniversary at Trap Rock this May. “But it’s a good problem to have until New Jersey legislation changes and brewpubs are able to sell beer off-premise and expand business.”
After attending Chicago’s renowned Seibel Institute and apprenticing at Flying Fish, Schroeder worked part-time at Ramstein, then headed off on a six-month stint at Victory Brewery. All that experience gave the New York City-bred Jerseyite the chance to man the tanks at Trap Rock when Rob Mullin (now at Idaho’s fabulous Grand Teton Brewing) left to go west.
“I learned a lot about production and turning out a substantial amount of beer at Victory. They sold tons of Hop Devil India Pale Ale,” recalls Schroeder.
To commemorate his decade-long tenure at Trap Rock, the seasoned zymurgist will churn out a few specialty beers formerly relished. The blasts from the past might include a peculiar German weiss beer, Hefedinkel, made with spelt instead of wheat (if he could find the spelt).
As a teen, Schroeder enjoyed his father’s richer ales, such as Heineken Dark, Becks Dark, Michelob Dark and Lowenbrau Dark. He worked in the parts and service car industry for a number of years before turning attention to home brewing around 1993 – inspired by a sagacious Pennsylvania friend.
“My first job was to crack the grains by putting them in a ziplock bag and using a rolling pin for flattening,” he says as I sip Aegir’s Pride Quad, a Belgian-styled full body gathering cocoa-dried Belgian chocolate spicing and rich cola-hazelnut surety above dehydrated prune, fig and plum nuances.
Never afraid to better a foregoing recipe, he then serves up the revised version of best-selling Kestrel IPA, where Chinook hops replace the Northern Brewer variety for a drier wooded tone that crisply contrasts a lighter crystal malt setting. But consistency is just as important as tweaking and upgrading the recurring lineup.
Lighter thirsts invariably lean towards standardized Ghost Pony Helles Lager while heartier palates evidently crave sturdily coffee-roasted Capt. Carl’s Oatmeal Stout. Plus, there’s always something new and exciting to be explored.
On this chilly Wednesday, April, 2012, the previously untried Devin’s Devilish Double IPA gets me stimulated with its gooey pine-sapped grapefruit peel bittering, dark-roasted mocha malting and ancillary peach-pear-apple illusions riding atop a soft water base for an easygoing changeup to Kestrel’s orange rind-embittered revelry.
“We pride ourselves in having a well rounded selection. And I’m surprised how much dark beer we sell. People get upset if I don’t have one on tap,” Schroeder says as my meal arrives.
Described as New American cuisine with a Southern flare, Trap Rock’s heightened comfort food retains an approachable delectability suiting cultured connoisseurs as well as less discriminating tastes.
Tonight, I delve into the scrumptious Pecan & Maple Glazed Duck Breast with herb spaetzle and mustard that’s sweetened by cider braised red cabbage and complemented by the two aforementioned IPA’s. On previous trips, I sunk my teeth into the tender Tuna Tartara Tostadas (with chili, lime vinaigrette and cilantro slaw) and the smoked turkey sandwich. For a buttery noontime appetizer, the Maine Blue Bay Mussels with sausage, fennel and celery leaves piqued my interest on one occasion.
“People’s palates are constantly changing. I equate it to beer styles we’ve always known and making them better by altering the ingredients to adjust an individual’s expectations. American brewers like taking those ingredients you normally wouldn’t use and putting them in. There are a lot of regulars who’ve eaten everything on the menu ten or fifteen times over so we bring in different choices. Some Southern influences shine through the barbecued ribs, enchiladas and taco trio,” the tidy brewmeister insures as he pours a superfine Belgian-styled ale made with crystal malts and English hops called Abbey Du Roc (a spice-fruited dry body blending earthen grape esters, fig-juiced tartness and port musk above smoky peat).
Bringing upscale cuisine to a brewpub environment was quite unique when Trap Rock opened in ’97. The owners, Harvest Restaurant Group, who try to stay one step ahead off the curve, now run nine different Jersey eateries including two steakhouses, two Italian restaurants, a few taverns and a newly conceptualized high-end diner, Urban Table, which serves breakfast, alcoholic milkshakes and sundry craft beers. Local farms provide fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses to the growing minions. Furthermore, the wine assortment is outstanding.
While chowing down, the chatter of dinnertime patrons fills the barroom as the clock strikes 6 o’clock. A charming hostess seats supper guests at the left side booths. And the 15-seat bar reaches full capacity. It’s another busy night at one of the East Coast’s most rewarding brewpubs. Quite obviously, unacquainted outsiders ought to seriously consider this a ‘destination bar.’
Below is a survey of Trap Rock’s fine ales made during previous trips.
Opened in 1997 and initially visited April ’06 with family in tow, this quaint brown-toned slate-adorned pub offered elegant warmth from its cozy dual fireplaces to its woodsy back deck garden. Fabulous Single malt Scotch, bourbon, cognac, wine, and cocktail selections complemented breath-taking chow (calamari, ribs, hummus, pizza).
On tap were a wide variety of worthy suds. Though pungently grained, tartly lemony orange, wheat-hay-chaffed Ghost Pony Helles Lager and its softer diacetyl version, the sourly lemon-bruised, cereal-breaded Ghost Pony Lite, strictly appeased amateurs, the rest of the lineup really took off.
Much better were raspberry-soured lemon-tart Razzy Wheat, buttery apple-caramelized peach-dabbed Marzen-styled Hathor Red Lager, hop-pepped red-orange-fruited Fuggle Rock Ale, and spicy red-fruited floral-piney Cascade-hopped Kestrel’s Joy IPA.
Even more promising were zesty orange rind-softened, grapefruit peel-embittered, pine needled, cask-conditioned Tribute Pale Ale and dry black chocolate-y coffee-beaned espresso-finishing Thunder Storm Stout (a soft-bodied victor with ancillary smoked nut, cigar ash, and black cherry illusions).
After bringing parents to Newark Airport for Florida-Bahamas getaway, February ’09, ventured twenty miles west to revisit Trap Rock and imbibe brewer Charles Schroeder’s latest seasonals and new finds.
Dry green-hopped crystal-malted chamomile-tinged English Bitter-styled, Emily Rose Ale, and earthen barnyard-wafted grassy-hopped lemon-soured wheat-dried JP Pilsner were polite openers.
Tart candi-sugared, lemon-bruised, coriander-spiced, orange peel-embittered, green banana-soured Rockgaarden Wit, chocolate-dried fig-soured black tea-embittered Marcus Brown ESB, and extremely dry-hopped Chainsaw Double IPA (with its bark-bound grapefruit rind bittering offsetting fig-date-apple-apricot nuances) provided fruitful respite.
Burnt coffee and creamy espresso deluged black chocolate roast, pureed black cherry souring, and ashen cocoa-powdered charcoal bittering of dry-bodied digestif, Mac Clellan Stout.
During June ’11 layover with wife, reinvestigated standard fare and discovered a few previously untried brews. Light-bodied Ghost Pony Helles Lager placed lilting citric-floral nuances atop biscuit-y backend. JP Pilsner, a German-Czech-crossbred, had a lemon-bruised, sugar-spun, grassy-hopped spritz.
These were pleasant lead-ins for Hathor’s Amber Ale, a mild pale-malted, orange-dried, lemony-hopped freshener. Just as soothing, tart banana-cloved, lemon-limed summertime session beer, Schroeder Weiss, retained a bubble-gummy sweetness.
Hop-heads will lean towards dry grapefruit rind-embittered delight, Kestrel IPA, and sharp, nut-fruited, crystal-malted, English-styled charmer, Stealthy Mule Ale.
Low alcohol Belgian pale ale, Saison Du Roc, brought black-peppered lemon-peeled bittering, orange rind tartness, and coriander-ginger spicing to the fore.
Dark ale aficionados will enjoy coffee-roasted, chocolate-malted, peanut-shelled, oats-dried Capt. Carl’s Oatmeal Stout.
Upcoming summer ’11 fare will include a Bavarian Wheat, Blueberry Saison, and unspecified Rye Beer. A new fermenter and bottling line for point-of-purchase sales will be installed to handle increased volume.
AECHT SCHLENKERLA OAK SMOKE DOPPELBOCK
On tap at Copper Mine, palpably askew russet-browned German rauchbier (a.k.a. Eiche) brings unexpectedly heightened brown-sugared malt sweetness to anticipatory oak-smoked cured meatiness. Subtle faux-beechwood oak singe sunk into bacon fat, honey-glazed ham, barbecued pork and beef jerky illusions drops off a tad as syrupy maple-sapped caramelizing gains prominence. Latent dry nutty undertone emerges below beefy wood-soaked hop char.
OMMEGANG SEDUCTION PORTER
On tap at Zeppelin Hall, Belgo-American hybrid ale ‘brewed with chocolate and kriek’ stays robust to creamy mocha finish. Chewy chocolate sweetness outdoes dark cherry influence, picking up coffee-soured vanilla, molasses, oatmeal cookie and hazelnut influence above dry hop char. Tertiary chocolate cake, raisin bread and plum illusions add depth.
FIRESTONE WALKER SUCABA
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.
