Thick and creamy German-style winter lager brings chewy caramel-chocolate malting, brown-sugared molasses sinew and sweet Scotch warmth to soil-y wood-burnt bottom. Subsidiary raisin-pureed fig spicing and dark cherry tartness add depth. Milk Duds-like toffee finish reinforces initial mocha theme. A wintry doppelbock hybrid any chocolate lover will indulge.
DUGGES ½ IDJIT IMPERIAL PORTER
Marvelous mocha-bound full body retains advertised ‘salty licorice’ spell beneath hazelnut coffee sweetness and French roasted coffee urging. Burnt-sugared black chocolate, vanilla, cola, maple and molasses undertones plus nutty fudge reminder contrast lemon-twisted espresso souring.
FARMERS’ CABINET
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
Streets were filled with Mummers regaled in stage getup who’d finished their Broad Street parade route when I got to the FARMERS’ CABINET, a new Walnut Street saloon (opened St. Patrick’s Day, 2011) named in honor of an ancient agriculture handbook. A uniquely gothic gastropub, it serves “the most diverse collection of European craft beer in Philly” alongside a few indigenously “primitive field” beers emulating from an urban farmhouse nanobrewery down in Arlington, Virginia.
The brainchild of Lehigh University graduate Matt Scheller and married couple Matt and Colleen Swartz, Farmers’ Cabinet also boasts a tremendously original cocktail selection and creative farm fresh menu that includes cured meats and bread made in-house. Originally, the three Pennsylvania-based entrepreneurs had varied success with similarly schemed endeavors initiated by Emmaus’ gothic candlelit Euro pub, Tap & Table, and its twin offspring, Bethlehem’s beer-intense Bookstore Speakeasy cocktail lounge and East Falls’ two-storied Old World-styled Fork & Barrel.
“All those places were steppingstones and building blocks to get into Philadelphia with an equally intense cocktail program with great beer and food fused to the former concepts,” Kutztown native Scheller explains. “We were going for a 19th century Victorian saloon feel with the sparks of elegance – yet ruggedly rustic.”
Heavy curtains drape the burlap-sapped wood planks of Farmers’ Cabinet, where the left side European Beer Hall-influenced communal table welcomes interaction and its opposing cocktail room recalls Prohibition Era speakeasies. A vast array of European beers handpicked by Scheller on international travels age in a temperature controlled cellar storage area. Snooty beer geeks and curious ale hounds will be knocked out by the large amount of hard-to-find one-off brews originating from Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, England and all points between.
“The goal is to provide topnotch obscure beers from small European breweries,” Scheller says. “The biggest concern is spoilage. The health of the beer is important. There’s concern for delicate moderate-bodied beers. Bigger, more robust beers, such as stouts, could sit for awhile and it’s not a major concern. If I think a beer’s been sitting too long, I’ll try it myself. However, most beer’s made to be consumed fresh. There’s a whole different pay scale for several rare bottles, like with fine wines, but they seem to go pretty fast.”
During August ’11, Farmers’ Cabinet hooked up with meritorious brewer, Terry Hawbaker, whose phenomenal craft beers at Williamsport’s Bullfrog cannot be understated. Now working out of a 5-barrel urban farmhouse nanobrewery in Alexandria, Virginia, the talented brewmeister’s trend-setting adjunct saisons have become all the rage in Philly.
“Terry’s currently working on developing a beautiful house yeast to cultivate a really cool sour ale base for blending with other beers. We’ve also gotten invited to Copenhagen’s Beer Celebration in May. Top American brewers will include Port, Hoppin’ Frog, Jolly Pumpkin, and Hill Farmstead alongside many heavy-hitting Europeans,” Scheller revels.
Upon my mid-afternoon sojourn, four worthy saison house beers were available to peruse while sipping a delicious bowl of creamy squash soup. Suitable Ragtime, Delta Blues and Cabaret music played in the distance of this Classical pub as I dug into soft-tongued Autumnal Saison. Utilizing seasonal pumpkin to lacquer lemon-soured citric hops in an unobtrusive manner, the contrarily spice-less libation went well with the delectable gourd broth.
Lively perfumed citrus hops enlivened the earthen barnyard rusticity of smoothly soothing session beer, Field Hop Grisette, where herbaceous white peppering surrounds lemony fig-dried melon wisps. Essentially a lighter saison with impulsive Extra Special Bitter properties, its not far removed from Farmers’ Cabinet’s regular grisette, a lightly tart Berliner Wiess hybrid.
Moving on to the two dark ales, soft-flowing Imperial Holiday Porter dumps 50 pounds of pumpkin and sweet potatoes upon hop-oiled coffee acridity and musty chocolate chalking, gaining cherry-dried pumpkin puree illusions over time.
Labeled a hybrid Belgian dark ale, D-Rye Field Stout brought marble-breaded chocolate rye, coarse cola nuttiness, funky earthen musk and pine-burnt wood char to tart dried fruiting. Scheller acknowledges the first batch was not nearly as wood seared and the second batch “got a lot dryer.”
To further experiment with house beers, Hawbaker’s Virginia brewing facility recently installed eight separate 10-gallon vessels in order to test different hops, flowers and woods in certain saisons.
Those who are looking for an abundance of rare European beers or well-crafted specialty house beers will embrace this dimly lit antediluvian public house.
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Upon my second stopover at caberet-styled speakeasy, THE FARMERS MARKET, my wife and I stick forks into syrupy Farmers French Toast (with cinnamon, vanilla, honeydew and cantaloupe) for brunch on this blustery December ’12 winter’s day. Sitting amongst the community tables behind the main left side beer bar, we get entertained by aged-in-the-wool bluesman Shaky Lymon, who goes thru four generations of tunes from Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Buddy Holly and Jackson Browne (a snickeringly deranged cover of “Cocaine”).
The pamphlet-like Winter 2012 menu features fascinating cellar-aged beers by renowned gypsy brewers as well as worthy tapped selections from Belhaven, Bells, Founders, Haandbryggeriet, Porterhouse, Pretty Things, Sly Fox and Weihenstephaner.
Attentive barman Dave Winward quickly hooks me up with a fascinating collaboration between Europe’s St. Feuillien and America’s Green Flash called Biere De L’Amitie, a Belgian strong pale ale bringing herbal citric-peeled sour fruiting to rye-smoked black chocolate malting. On tap, its lemony orange-peeled bittering sidles tart kumquat, papaya, crabapple and pineapple illusions above pine-nutty fern leafing.
Next up, Het Sas Christmas Leroy lacked seasonal specifity, but not character. On tap, the hybridized Scotch Ale brought vague Christmas spicing to a Belgian dark ale styling, padding its wayward brown-sugared cookie dough center with pallid grape, cherry and cola nut illusions. But a better selection was just ’round the corner.
At this point, brunch is done and I choose one of the finer international bottled selections. Renaissance Elemental Porter, a dark, rich and mellow dry-bodied New Zealander chock full of black chocolate-smoked malts, roasted coffee bean bittering, sour-milked cocoa powdering and peppery-hopped Baker’s chocolate tartness really hit the spot as a dryish dessert.
Ancient cocktail recipes from London’s Ritz Hotel and Harry’s Bar in Paris (circa 1920’s) and NYC’s Holland House Hotel via 1880’s will get boozers going. And the fine wine selection’s aimed towards true connoisseurs.
TRIUMPH BREWING – PHILADELPHIA
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
To start off New Years Day, 2012, visited Philadelphia’s TRIUMPH BREWING ‘round noon (closed in 2014 and sold to 2nd Story Brewing). Located at the Olde City district just up the street from Penn’s Landing near the banks of the Delaware River in a former paper mill, this pleasantly rustic restaurant-bar had a looser atmosphere than Triumph’s New Hope and Princeton franchises.
Opened April 2007, the red-bricked neighborhood bar (with beige window frames and door) features a 15-seat right side bar, private white-walled booth, small rear stage and left side dining area with neo-mod ‘60s wood furnishings. Upstairs, the wood-floored space has a banquet room, glass-encased business room, 8-seat metal bar and silver brew tanks.
Both TV’s at the bar had the Eagles-Redskins football readied as I consumed a few previously untried libations. Winter Bock, a higher octane version of Old City Lager, scattered sourdough yeast atop herbal-tinged lemon rot, clover-honeyed orange tartness and boozy Courvoisier illusions, receiving an ancillary Extra Special Bitter-like fig-date astringency after a few sips.
Dry-bodied Holiday Ale- Cask brought wafting peat to soft fig-cherry acridity and hop-oiled roasted chocolate.
Briskly carbolic Unfiltered Helles layered mildly astringent corn-soaked yellow fruiting over soft grained breading.
Seasoned beer drinkers may lean towards Rauchbier, a perfume-wafted, beechwood-smoked German-styled dry body topped with a sharply hop-spiced pepperoni pizza crusting that’s perfect complementing barbecued meat dishes.
Others may reach for the less astringent Irish Red, with its stoned-fruited orange tang overlaying wheat-husked cereal graining and recessive caramel nuttiness.
DOCK STREET BREWERY
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
Inside a historic West Philly firehouse one mile south of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School lies DOCK STREET BREWERY, opened in 2007 and initially visited January 2nd, 2012. Formerly located at Logan Circle with a bottling plant nearby, Dock Street has been transformed into a vibrant brewpub taking up the entire first floor of a marble-pillared three-story red brick building (with a second floor bicycle shop and third floor acupuncturist).
Two black awnings welcome customers to the cement-floored pub, where glass-encased brew kettles, exposed ducts, several black tables and a 10-seat bar fill out the yellow tile-walled facility. An open wood-burning fire pit cooks 20 pizza varieties and the menu also features char-grilled burgers, sandwiches, wraps and calzones.
Owned by Sicilian-bred Rosemarie Certo and head-brewed by Scott Morrison (formerly of Mc Kenzie’s and New Haven Brewery), Dock Street maintains a casual café atmosphere.
The Flyers and Rangers faced off for an outdoor hockey game on the right side TV as I dabbled with six previously untried libations this cold mid-afternoon. Easygoing lemon-soured Kolsch pitted wheat-husked astringency and wood-dried undertones against tingly honey-sugared hop spices.
OMG Pale Ale placed Cascade-hopped wood dryness atop floral red and orange fruiting.
But those were merely reliable moderate-bodied preliminaries for champagne yeast-soured Bubbly Wit, a Belgian-styled double witbier with lemony banana-clove frontage, vanilla-honeyed midst, mild coffee roast, toffee hint and white-peppered chamomile-lemongrass-basil conflux.
Best selling Rye IPA was an approachable dry-bodied moderation gaining resinous earthiness above light rye breading, lemon-seeded grapefruit zest and molasses-honeyed black tea mildness.
Also retaining a viscous honeyed sweetness, Old Ale (traditional English altbier) plied brown-sugared caramel malting to a mild coffee roast and crisp tobacco-peat nuances.
For dessert, I enjoyed sessionable London-styled Man Of Trouble Porter, an espresso-milked relaxant pleating oats-toasted black chocolate with black-breaded pumpernickel and ashen hop-charred mineral grains. Too bad the highly regarded Prince Myshkin’s Russian Imperial Stout was temporarily out.
Upon revisiting Dock Street Brewery nearly a year hence during post-Christmas December ’12, I imbibed five previously untried libations alongside Alsatian-styled Flammenkuche Pizza (packed with creme fraiche, caramelized onions, applewood smoked bacon and gruyere cheese) and the busy Vegetarian Pizza (artichoke hearts, spinach and creme fraiche).
This time around, the place was packed at 8 PM so my wife and I were seated at the left side cafe table away from the TV (where a college bowl game is shown). We consumed the stylistically robust Royal Bohemian Pilsner, a Czech-like pils with efficient maize-husked astringency and dry alfalfa graining reinforcing its lemony floral-perfumed hop bittering.
Then, sociable entrepreneur, Certo, started making the rounds and saying hi to many local customers. She stops by and tells us she’s very proud of Nino’s Prickly Pear, an interestingly peculiar Sicilian-bred moderate-bodied Biere De Garde combining subtle prickly pear overtones with equally refined fig-dried plum, kiwi, mango, raspberry, watermelon and papaya illusions skirting alcohol burnt bittering.
Another Euro-styled tropical-fruited delight, Black IPA, brought chocolate-spiced Belgian yeast and malt-roasted black rye to fig-sugared pineapple, kiwi and mango undertones, finishing with lingered licorice licks.
Tonight’s dark ale choice, approachable medium-bodied Little Prince Stout, packed oats-charred black coffee bittering and dark cocoa powdering onto dry stone-fruited citric nuances.
As dinner concluded, the courteous Certo gave me a bottle of elegantly sessionable, floral-citric, herbal-hopped La Biere Des Amis Saison to take home (reviewed in the Beer Index).
Before hitting the road, I settled into the ‘deceptively strong’ and devastatingly beautiful Barleywine, a velvety smooth 10% strong ale with an oaken vanilla soothe highlighting cherry-bruised banana, cantaloupe and honeydew sweetness while gaining vibrant sherry, brandy and cognac tonality.
MANHATTAN’S 404 HOSTS TRIUMPHANT ‘BEER BAR FEST NYC’
Hundreds of beer geeks joined ranks Saturday, December 10th, for the first BEER BAR FEST NYC. Hosted by prospering New York City Homebrewers Guild bellwethers Chris Cuzme and Mary Izett at a hot new venue, this merry two-session gathering culled eight new-sprung Big Apple beer bars serving ‘the choicest small plates’ of artisanal food alongside unrivaled craft beer ‘under one roof.’
And that’s no small boast. While the Guild continually educates people on the interesting array of progressive-thinking micro and nano breweries popping up in the last few years, Cuzme and Izett keep developing close relationships with the freshest local eateries promoting craft beers.
“Hopefully Beer Bar Fest will biannually showcase new beer bars across New York City,” Cuzme explains. “For far too long beer bars haven’t been given deserved respect for the fantastic booze they serve and the awareness given craft beer. As bar menus showcase better beers, it’s fun and exciting to pair them with food.”
An enthusiastic group of appreciative gourmandizers congregated at the luxurious 15,000 square foot club known only as 404, a chic West Side Hell’s Kitchen art space with cement-floored white interior, exquisite cocktail bar and pristine loft used as a banquet hall, reception area or for special events. The distinguished assemblage of tapped beers on hand went extremely well with the recommended food pairings, widening the palates of many zealous goblet-palmed quaffers.
I preliminarily headed upstairs to the loft, where famed British-American Real Ale fanatic, Alex Hall, held ground at the center serving stations at high noon. The stacked half-keg barrels behind Hall housed eight rangy cask-conditioned brews. The salty seafood brining of raw oysters from Sayerville’s NAKED COWBOY OYSTER BAR complemented the soft-toned elegance of these smoothly unpasteurized libations.
The cask version of gypsy brewers’ Wandering Star Raindrop Pale Ale contrasted pleasant honeyed sweetness against fig-dried grape and woody earthen herbage. Sixpoint Little Frankie’s Pale Ale spread peanut butter across orange marmalade. Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter – Cask brought mellow dark chocolate to peat-dewed dried fruit, bettering its glorious filtered version.
Grabbing a few more oysters, I ventured into the cask-conditioned Firestone Walker Pale 31, which balanced its sour citric impetus against floral-dried rye breading. Meanwhile, the remaining four cask conditioners made a good overall impression on a smattering of beer espousers at this 4-hour afternoon session.
I then decided to venture into a few previously untried Belgian-styled ales sans food post-haste. A moderate aperitif, Wandering Star Zingari Witbier (brewed with cardamom, India fenugreek spice, lemongrass and a splash of coriander) brought delicate herbal pungency to crisply clean-watered citric fig. Contrarily, Greenport Harbor 2nd Anniversary Ale (a complex Belgian strong pale ale) draped creamy caramel malts and candi-sugared Belgian yeast atop a not-so-subtle grapefruit-peeled juniper bittering and refreshingly floral-spiced mint stint.
After dipping into Brooklyn-based Sixpoint Mad Scientist, a light-tongued, black-chocolate-spiced, cocoa-dried altbier, I drifted back downstairs to Chelsea’s Guilty Goose table, where this mod American Brasserie held court. I paired the resilient rice ball-like Bacon Cheddar Risoto with California’s Lagunitas Bay-Styled Doppelweiss, an adjunct weizenbock contrasting brisk mustard-seeded hop sharpness against creamy rum-spiced Bananas Foster lacquering. Guilty Goose’s Duck-Smoked Pork paired fairer with Wandering Star Berkshire Hills 01201 Saison, boosting its meaty aspects with sharper sour-fruited fig-prune musk and fresh-watered citric spicing.
A Napolean Dynomite-attired Santa Claus named Wildman joined me for the next few tastings. I thusly paired Café D’Alsace’s exquisite uptown French cuisine with a few gypsy brews by Brain Strumke, whose engaging Stillwater fare gets contract brewed in Belgium, Netherlands and Maryland.
Stillwater Cellar Door, a Belgian saison with white sage, deepened its white-peppered basil-thyme conflux against sharp hop-spiced orange liming while capturing the savory tenderness of lamb-oxtail-pork-smoked Baeckeofe Alsatian Casserole. Picking up even more illusionary complexities alongside D’Alsace’s meat casserole, Stillwater Our Side IPA/Saisondeepened the thyme seasoning of the Pinot Gris-braised dish, raising its herb-seasoned grapefruit rind bittering above fresh rosewater nuances.
Crisper and cleaner than the previous two, Stillwater Stateside Saison tossed resinous earthen hops at taut apricot-pear fruiting and rye-spiced orange souring. Perhaps the most expressive, Stillwater Folklore Belgian Dark Ale latched lactic schwarzbier-like cocoa bean dryness and dark chocolate spicing onto dried fruits, gaining a dusky earthen soiling that may’ve constricted the meaty food pairing. Our host, Mary Izett, enjoyed the Alsatian casserole with Allagash Black, a Belgian-styled stout with nutty chocolate spicing, hop-charred molasses bittering and cappuccino notes.
Astoria-based Sunswick 35/35 broke out Buffalo Wings for six notable Denmark-brewed Evil Twin elixirs. Dry moderation, Evil Twin Williamsburg Hipster Ale, countered woody-hopped grapefruit rind bittering and dried orange tartness against caramel-malted toasted almond. A commendable stout brewed with orange peel, Evil Twin’s The Talented Mr. Orangutan delivered Belgian chocolate spicing to its coffee-roasted core.
Eloquent coffee roasting also affected Evil Twin’s fudge-y molasses-espresso-vanilla-draped Yin Imperial Stout, a wonderful changeup to tropical-fruited Yang IPA (where fresh-watered floral serenity dapples apricot-pear-pineapple-orange-apple fruiting in an approachable manner). Combining both, dark chocolate malts outdid Yin & Yang Black & Tan’s currant-nipped dried fruits. Thereafter, extraordinary Soft Dookie Vanilla Imperial Stout rendered molasses-sugared crème de cocoa, brown chocolate, and vanilla creaminess.
Then it was off to Madison Avenue-based Rattle N Hum’s table to consume shellfish sliders with Netherlands’ strikingly illuminating Emelisse Barleywine, a slow-sipping cognac-like almondine pleated with red cherry, caramelized chocolate, honeycomb and rye. Equally fine was Rattle N Hum’s squash-pureed Wild Boar, paired with Greenport Harbor Black Duck Porter, a robust combination plying schwarzbier-like chipotle-sauced chocolate creaminess to tender pork crisping.
Lower East Side’s Idle Hands catered mini onion-sauteed jalapenos burgers, a casually-spiced delectable well-suited for Vermont’s zesty Hill Farmstead Harlan IPA, a tame herb-spiced fruit juicer juxtaposing slightly wooded grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering with creamy crystal-sugared pineapple, peach, red apple and plum tones.
Long Island City’s Alewife Queens supplied peppery veal-pork parmesan meatballs to go alongside Greenport Harbor Strong Ryeland ESB’s hop-spiced tea acridity. And Gramercy Park’s Taproom 307’s thin-crusted prosciutto pizza complemented Italy’s spectacular Sangria-like Baladin Nora.
For a closer, I figuratively visited my childhood neighborhood, combining Bronx Ale House’s braised short rib chili with Bronx Pale Ale’s supple almond-toasted caramelizing, spicy orange-backed dried fruiting and minor wood pining.
The response for Beer Bar Fest NYC was overwhelmingly positive as attendees loved the food, beer, and atmosphere. And the night session apparently had a higher attendance. I can’t wait for the next Fest.
-John Fortunato
RIVER HOUSE BREWPUB
MILTON, PENNSYLVANIA
The most unique place my wife and I sojourned on our April ’11 Susquehanna Valley journey was across a bridge from Bucknell University next to the banks of the Susquehanna in a portico villa backing up to a farm. To say Milton-based RIVER HOUSE BREWPUB is a veritable godsend is an understatement. Beautiful Italian statues bedeck the outside perimeter of the multi-sectional green-trimmed gray stucco building. Operating since March 2010 (and closed in 2019), owner Larry Mancini’s excellent Italian cuisine complemented prime handcrafted beers by Bart Rieppel (formerly of Abbey Wright).
Formerly the Italian Terrace, River Houses’ flowered open patio, water fountain, banquet rooms, and fireplace dining are exquisite. We got seated at the rear section’s rectangular bar (with multi-TV’s and glass ceiling) and indulged in delightful antipasto and risotto pescatore (marinara-sauced seafood with tomato-rice). Brew tanks to the far right served a diverse cornucopia.
Starting with dry banana-cloved Highwater Hefeweizen, astringent raw-honeyed cereal grain-sugared Street Light Wheat and caramelized gourd-like Suzy’s ESB (with fig-candied sugar plum wisp), I stepped it up a notch with crystal-malted, caramel-centered, fungi-bottomed Irish Red Ale, Buggy Town Red.
But these were merely appetizers to whet my thirst for dry blueberry-fronted, raspberry-soured, blackberry-ripened, cranberry-limed Blueberry Wheat as well as soft-focus Black Velvet Oatmeal Stout, an offbeat peculiarity placing black cherry, blackberry, and black licorice before expectant mocha malting (and ashen cigarette-charcoal bittering).
While Raging River India Black Ale efficiently blended dark chocolate into IPA-like hop-charred cherry-berry nuances, the creamier Alpha Deuce IPA lacquered cotton-candied apricot, pineapple, and mango to iodine-addled orange peel bittering perfectly.
Luckily, I was able to salvage the last drops of a superb Belgian-styled ale in a growler for the ride home. A robustly malt-creamed alcohol-smitten fruit snack, Hat Trick Tripel scored high with its candi-sugared banana liqueur sweetness, cotton-candied tropical fruiting, and sinewy Scotch whir.
Finally got to revisit capacious chateau once more during Sunday night dinner stopover in May ’13.
Alongside pub clams (topped with cannellini beans, pancetta, leeks and ham), enjoyed soft-toned Pumpkin Love, a gourd-dried moderation gathering tingly coriander-cinnamon spicing and perfumed hop sedation.
Shared excellent cheese ravioli (with lemon-juiced green pea cilantro-saucing and sun-dried tomato) with wife before moving on to two dessert beers.
Though lacking expectant Belgian candi-sugared spicing, medium-bodied Cherry Dubbel worked tart cherry puree into its honeyed wheat spine, picking up cranberry, raspberry and rhubarb undertones.
Tonight’s best bet, elegant Black Knight Bourbonov N2, a full-bodied slow-sipping Imperial Stout, brought torrential brown chocolate and vanilla swells to sweet cherry-backed bourbon whiskey warmth.
OLD FORGE BREWING
DANVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA
After signing out of our Bloomsburg hotel Saturday morn (April ’11), my wife and I ventured ten miles west to downtown Danville, spending an hour at OLD FORGE BREWING (opened for business December 5th, 2008). Described as a ‘fun, casual, comfy pub,’ this narrow bi-level saloon benefited from local farm-grown ingredients integrating brewer Damien Malfara’s healthy pub fare. Bending stylistic guidelines in his favor, the former Philadelphia chemist showed off an expressive array of suds emanating from downstairs fermenting tanks.
Upon entering, a small silver brewing system fronts this brick-walled pink lady-like structure. Eight seats crowd the left bar (with colorful parasol, uniquely carved tap handles, and pottery-made beer mugs) situated across three right side tables and antique oaken-framed mirror. Handcrafted wood and metal fixtures bedecked this ground level space. The similarly styled upstairs lounge backed up against an outside deck colorfully splashed with Old Forge insignias and the like. A short menu included burgers, sandwiches, and quesadillas.
Old Blues music played as I inspected my seven sturdy samples. On the moderate end, mildly bitter, smoothly dewy Egan’s Best Bitter, draped caramelized fig across apricot-dried fungi bottom.
Perched between the brewers’ Bellows Brown Ale and Underbite IPA, Falling Down India Brown opposed leafy dry-hopped tranquility with brown-sugared caramel-chocolate malting.
Light-bodied Kolsch, Endless Summer Ale, spice-hopped lemon-rotted citric fizzing.
Lager-aged, mocha-dried, fig-sugared, prune-strewn Old Forge Alt nearly outdid superb orange-peeled, lemon-limed, juniper-embittered T-Rail Pale Ale (deviously replicating an IPA).
Candi-sugared Slightly Rood Belgian Pale Ale countered biscuit-y caramel toasting, dried fig spicing, and date nut breading with earthen clay hop bounty.
Slack Tub Stout fused dry espresso, dark chocolate, and molasses to flaked oatmeal.
MARLEY’S BREWERY & GRILLE
(above picture is new location since 2018/ bottom picture is original)
BLOOMSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA
Situated east of Danville and west of Berwick along the Susquehanna River, Bloomsburg may be Columbia County’s most industrialized town. Tucked into a midsize red-bricked space on Main Street’s downtown stretch with maroon awning, green interior, Classical molding, and separate right side dining area stands MARLEY’S BREWERY & GRILLE, visited April ’11. Sitting at the left side bar across from a beautiful mirrored mural with Marley’s insignia, I enjoyed fruity ales, a porter, and stout alongside humus and prime beef sandwich while watching Philadelphia Flyers playoff hockey with my wife.
Silly dog-related names christened each well-balanced delight brewer Mark Brunwarth concocted in the basement tanks. Two fine white-peppered Belgian-styled ales led the way. Candi-sugared, plum-dried, prune-stewed, herbal-hopped Choke Collar Trippel bested sweeter fruit-spiced Dirty Dog Dubbel.
Another two Euro-fashioned offerings of German heritage fared well. Bitch In Heat Hefe layered banana-breaded clove-coriander spicing and lemony orange tartness above honeyed wheat.
An abundant plum-soaked fig-spiced sharpness enveloped Dock Jumper Dunkel, subduing bruised banana sweetness and dried mocha malts. Dog Runner Ale, a mild Irish Red Ale, needed deeper crystal malting, riper black cherry fruiting, and better tea-like midst.
On the dark side, oats-toasted, chocolate-spiced, coffee-burnt, espresso-bent Guard Dog Porter gave chocolate-bound barley roaster Leg Humper Oatmeal Stout a run for the money.
Though soft-hopped, Droopy Ear Alt retained loud raisin-pureed cherry prompting and molasses-sapped overture to earthy bottom. Dry-bodied pine-fruited Tire Chaser IPA gained woody-hopped grapefruit-peeled black currant bittering to contrast zesty orange, pineapple, peach, and apple.
Crisp citric-fizzed Kong Kolsch was least memorable, placing nasty corn-oiled astringency aloft pungent vegetal graining.
Overall, a nice showing on a rainy Friday eve from a cordial neighborhood pub opened February 2010.
SHAWNEE CRAFT BREWERY @ THE GEM AND KEYSTONE
SHAWNEE-ON-DELAWARE, PENNSYLVANIA
So I left the three kids at home alone, jumped in the car with my wife, Karen, and headed west to the Pocono Mountains and beyond for a two-day excursion on Good Friday, April ’11. Our trip began at Shawnee-On-Delaware’s bucolic Gem & Keystone Restaurant, a maroon three-story Colonial edifice perfectly in tune with the surrounding wooded countryside. Located at the Shawnee Inn & Gold Resort alongside a rolling stream in easternmost part of the Poconos, this fabulous eatery served beers crafted at SHAWNEE CRAFT BREWERY by Leo Bongiorno. As if to prove winter still had one last breath, I spotted a few leftover snowflakes before entering.
Earning a solid rep since opening September 2010, Shawnee’s uses locally grown ingredients for its fine organic beers and vegetarian-friendly food. Featuring an upstairs banquet area, main level dining and two back decks, the capacious hunter green-walled wood-furnished lodge also housed a larger downstairs bar with big screen TV’s, billiards, darts, and firepit. Sitting at the diminutive low-ceiling left side main bar (with 2 TV’s), friendly bartender Shawn Copeman hung out while I quaffed eight well-rounded beer samplers with outstanding crab cakes plus oak-grilled crostini bread chock-full of fresh mozzarella, roasted garlic, basil, and tomato.
Crisply soft-toned ‘Green Drinks’ (sans chemical preservatives) included subtle nitro-injected Session Porter, a nutty chocolate nicety gathering advertised ‘black currant overtones’ amidst ashen mineral grains.
Refreshingly clean Biere Blanche witbier brought hard candied lemon souring to white-peppered curacao orange sedation and tertiary banana-clove-coriander reminder.
Even better, Raspberry Blanche (a hopped-up Biere Blanche adjunct) saddled its tart raspberry rasp with limed brimstone pucker, oaken cherry pungency, green grape tannins, champagne-like Chambord desiccation, and sour ale-like brettanomyces acidity.
Approachable Barrel Aged Double Pale (based on Old World IPA recipe) retained smooth nitro-injected creaminess atop citric honeyed peach.
Elaborate Belgian-styled farmhouse ale, 2010 Pumpkin Saison Cuvee II dropped ‘pie sweet’ pumpkins into cinnamon-nutmeg-allspice conflux contrasting earthen fungi underside.
Indifferent lager heads might regale astringent yellow-fruited corn-dried pungency, Gold Lager. Neophytes may give the nod to corn-sweet, wheat-cracked, malt-soured, vegetal-dried American Blonde Ale or musty honey-soured mocha-spiced Stock Ale.
Upon my May 2012 lunchtime revisit, I sat at the downstairs bar in the light green-walled Lower Level Tavern getting drinks from bartender Nicole Chinnici. Hand-carved wood furnishings decorated the exquisite mahogany bar while five tables, several TV’s and a billiard table filled out the room. I consumed three previously untried beers during the one-hour stay.
Closer to a hybridized porter, mocha-malted Belgian Dubbel brought Belgian chocolate spicing to its toasted cola-hazelnut-praline conflux and dried tobacco roast.
Despite a heightened 10.5% alcohol volume, Kentucky bourbon-aged Nitro Bourbon Barrel Porter retained a soft flow as subtle brown chocolate creaminess worked its way into chocolate liqueur, sherry and port illusions.
Less intriguing, Brown Ale layered its pastry-caked brown sugar malting with soapy peanut-shelled walnut bittering.
Got back to Shawnee on way to Poconos, November ’18, quaffing Kirkwood Kolsch, a crisply clean moderation with Noble-hopped herbal spicing, lemon-rotted green grape tannins and floral-bound hardwood dryness.
Also, tried barley-roasted, caramel-spiced Will Rogers Red Ale, a prim centrist moderation.
(WELLS & YOUNG) COURAGE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN STOUT
Boldly rounded full body with exemplary sweet-sour-bitter balance allows hemp-like hop oils to positively affect milky brown chocolate entry, chewy maple molasses-sapped anise goo and sugary oatmeal-toasted backdrop. Advertised espresso adjunct pervades ancillary chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, soy, dried cherry and pipe tobacco illusions. Vinous red-wined sherry boozing settles beside rum-spiced tingle above earthen peat bottom and ashen pine soot. Lusty 10% alcohol thrust well hidden by luxurious chocolate creaminess and hop-charred pine char.
BROOKLYN BLACK OPS STOUT
Easygoing relaxant stays smoothly soft-tongued as oaken vanilla and dark chocolate seep into soothing bourbon warmth of wood-barreled Imperial Stout. Carbolic champagne yeast prickle yields burgundy-port undertones affecting black cherry, raisin, prune and blackberry tartness as well as subtle hazelnut-almond conflux. Dark-roasted stove-burnt coffee spell deepens complexity of 2011-brewed 10.7% alcohol mocha-bound digestif.
