WALDWICK, NEW JERSEY
One of the first northern Bergen County brewpubs, GEARBLOCK BREWING COMPANY opened its doors in springtime, 2022. Established by homebrewer, Tony Romano, this green aluminum awninged red brick pub, situated at the quaint Hamilton Square Shopping Center, served a respectable standard array of popular beer styles during my initial April ’22 visit.
A closed-in beergarden with wood and metal tables leads thirsty patrons to the entrance of Gearblock. Its modern Industrial interior includes a black tile ceiling with pendant Edison-bulbed lights, concrete-topped aluminum-sided bar and prohibition era automobile theme. There are twelve taps at the grey and white brick-walled bar serviced by the rear brew tanks. A few stools and four-seat tables fill out the cozy hotspot.
Clear beige Mexican style lager, Mastretta, utilized cologned agave to penetrate lemony white wine esters, lightly vinous Pinot Grigios phenols and buttery Chardonnay daubs above delicate pilsner malts.
Sea-salted lime zest stayed dry for lightly hopped gose, Busted Barnacle, leaving mild lemony grapefruit bittering and snippy coriander seeded peppercorn in its wake.
Sour lemondrop spritz and dry pale malt lagering settled at the grassy hop stead of Race Day Cream Ale.
Lime-salted Huell Melon-hopped gooseberry/ guava tartness, ancillary Tettnang-hopped herbage, recessive grassy astringency and neutral celery watering reached the white bread spine of The Kolschfather, a crisply clean light-bodied kolsch.
‘Classic’ Noble-hopped Fahren Marzen plied mild toffee spicing and wispy herbage to dry amber-grained pale malting.
Dry-hopped Imperial Red Ale, West Coast Red, placed spicy apple and pear fruiting alongside piney hop resin and mild tobacco roast overriding dainty caramel malts.
Sessionable NEIPA, U-Turn, combined honeyed orange, salted grapefruit and sour guava over buttery pale malts.
Coffee-roasted vanilla richness and raw molasses sinew reinforced the ‘slightly sweet’ chocolate base of Standard Coupe Vanilla Porter, a tarry full body.
Rich dark-roasted chocolate and coffee tones guided Leaded Imperial Stout, picking up a slight hop-charred wood sear to contrast its auxiliary burnt caramel spell.
Revisited Gearblock, October ’22, to consume eight rounded brews with wife and friend, Rich.
Corn-syrupy Vienna malt stickiness attached orange-oiled tartness for Tushek, an otherwise biscuity Vienna Lager.
An offbeat rauchbier-influenced cream ale, beechwood-smoked (?) cured meat endorsed coffee-bound Roach Coach, picking up dried maize, astringent grassiness and tannic vanilla.
Bold for its combined summer ale/ pale wheat styles, off-dry AMC escorted its spritzy IPA-like lemony orange bittering and grassy hop astringency thru a caramelized white wheat bed, relegating light herbal licks at the citric-spiced finish.
Spreading briny lemon tartness, white-graped Chardonnay tannins and adjunctive lemongrass soaping thru fungi-mildewed herbage, capacious soured saison, Citron, left mild barnyard leathering on its winy citric stead.
Sedate lemony grapefruit, orange and pineapple tanginess placated salty pine bittering atop honey-spiced pale malts for Numb Hands, a tidily conservative NEIPA.
Dryer than most schwarzbiers, Lammed issued lightly smoked peat to anise-spiced fennel, earthen truffle and light espresso illusions. Interestingly top notch.
Confectionery sweet chocolate serenaded post-fermentation coconut toasting for Standard Coupe Coconut Porter.
By upping the lactic maltodextrin of its original Loaded Imperial Stout, superfine Loaded X2 takes milk-sugared coffee creaming and roasted chocolate sweetness on a merry mocha mission, picking up black cherry and red grape wisps.
During November ’22 Saturday escapade, downed another four worthy suds.
Salty guava souring and ancillary cranberry-gooseberry tartness soaked blush pink Berliner Weiss, Shakedown Street Guavaberry, picking up wispily embittered orange pucker and sweet pink grapefruit snag.
Bitterly dry salted kimchi influence provided brusque edge to chai tea peppering inundating juniper-snipped yellow grapefruit and mandarin orange zesting of Cho IPA, letting the brisk citric-laden Galaxy hop grassiness pick up limey Motueka-Nelson-hopped gooseberry and guava souring.
Dry dark-roast coffee and chalky black chocolate enjoin lesser caramel nuttiness for lightly hop-charred brown ale, Last Car On The Lot, leaving bitter Brazil nut and walnut illusions on the backend.
Oreo cookie-like milk stout, Crunchy Whip, proffered a vanilla beaned white chocolate creaming for bittersweet dark cocoa seeped in oily hop resin.
Twas the night before Christmas Eve ’22 when my wife and I revisited Gearblock to quaff four new brews.
Sharp citrus spritz blitzed herbal tea musk and grassy Saaz hop astringency for Fahrvergnugen, a traditional German pilsner.
Rye-spiced brown breading consumed Rye Or Die IPA, scouring its laidback grapefruit-orange-tangerine misting and mild herbage.
Orange-oiled herbal perfuming contrasted creamy vanilla-daubed banana sweetness for Tri-Power Tripel, a slightly muskier, dryer Belgian-styled strong ale.
Richly creamed Holiday Coffee Stout burrowed milk-sugared coffee tones into bittersweet vanilla bean, cocoa nibs, cinnamon and hazelnut adjuncts, leaving delightful Oreo cookie, chocolate fudge, cafe latte and espresso illusions on the backend.
Revisited trusty local pub again January ’23, guzzling three more newcomers.
Stylishly richer, broader and dryer for a hefeweizen, Beamer placed spritzy orange-candied tartness just ahead of its toned-down banana-clove sweetness and slight herbal whim.
Salty grapefruit, pineapple and mango tang met orange peel zesting and clay hop earthiness for Imperial IPA, Numb Hands, leaving a clean vodka sheen on its upfront tropical fruiting, mild herbal stint and gluey pale malt bottom.
Lemony yellow grapefruit-peeled mandarin orange piquancy led NEIPA, Brew Jersey, picking up waxy pineapple-papaya-mango conflux over its mildly creamed oated wheat base.
During Saturday evening shuffle in February ’23, wife and I discovered six newly brewed suds.
Gearblock’s latest cream ale, Chiseler, a sessionable golden clear light body, retained lemon candied souring, musky herbage, vegetal earthiness and phenol spicing.
Unlike its sourly citric Huell Melon-hopped derivative, The Kolschfather, K-Turn Kolsch took a more traditional approach as lemon-fizzed Noble hop herbage, maize-dried straw acridity and dark floral snips joined pilsner malted white breading for a crisply clean moderation.
Spritzy Czech-styled pilsner, Warrior, let perfumed lemon spicing pick up mild herbal musk atop mineral grained pilsner malting.
Dewy amber ale, Asking Price Altbier, scattered brown tea earthiness alongside resinous fungi musk and fennel-seeded tarragon(?) herbage to counters its lightly caramelized Vienna-malted bread crusting.
Tonight’s absolute fave, Phantom, a delightful double dry hopped NEIPA, regaled juicy pineapple tanginess abruptly brightened by lemon zest, orange-peeled grapefruit spicing and tropical mango- papaya-guava conflux joined by lovely juniper bittering above vanilla-creamed crystal malts.
On the dark side, Valentine’s Day treat, Bench Seat Imperial Stout, shuttled fudgy brown chocolate sweetness and creamy milk-sugared coffee to overwhelmed strawberry puree tartness and unsweetened vanilla respite.
On a chilly Thursday evening, October ’23, sat at wooden back deck to down five new brews and one revised brown ale.
Sweet corn contrasted dried maize for As Is, a German-styled pilsner leaving musky peat moss and dried floral remnants upon husked grain minerality.
Pale yellow-cleared Harvester Witbier upped the herbal dosage as its stylish lemony orange-peeled coriander spicing, salted peppercorn whim and wispy basil nip played catchup.
Roasted butternut salting contrasted the pumpkin pie spicing of Pumpkin Coach, letting perfumed ginger herbage outlast its mild cinnamon-nutmeg-allspice conflux.
Vibrant yellow grapefruit-forward Addendum NEIPA allowed sunshiny orange peel sweetness and briny guava-mango-gooseberry tartness to surface alongside mild herbal spicing above crystal-sugared pale malting.
Offbeat, intricate and chameleonic, brit-styled extra special bitter, Axle Revolt, plied spruce-tipped dark floral perfuming to enter the fray next to nutty rye, pumpernickel and wattleseed dryness, leaving a hint of smoked beechwood on the dry Baker’s chocolate backend.
Mellow coffee-stained dark chocolate bittering, peat-smoked dark roast hops, cola nuttiness and mild maple molasses consumed upgraded brown ale, Last Car On The Lot, reminiscent of a dry Irish stout.
Twas the night before Christmas eve ’23, my wife and I settled in once more at Gearblock to discover two bi-coastal IPA’s, a Belgian double and a currant gose.
Brimful saffron yellow-hazed NEIPA, Nos, let limey guava-gooseberry salting, dry grapefruit rind bittering and lacquered pine resin contrast sweet orange peel zesting and delicate floral spicing over mildly creamed oated wheat.
Bitterer bronze-cleared West Coast IPA, Lead Sled, soaked piney grapefruit zest and pungent orange rind in sticky pine resin.
Dark candi-sugared dried fruiting sweetened Double Clutch, a strong dubbel with black cherry, spiced fig, stewed date and burgundy illusions spreading above whiskeyed caramel malting.
Ultra-dry black currant pureed gose, Tumbling Twit, a pinkish mauve sour, allowed pink Himalayan salting to penetrate its black currant adjunct, lemony guava parch and tart raspberry-cranberry nips.
On a warm September ’24 eve, wife and I sat on porch to try four more worthy tap pours.
Crisply clean Italian pilsner, Alfa, let floral-daubed spicing and mild grassy hop astringency approach its spritzy lemon crackle above musty pilsner malting.
Briny lime bittering saturated tart blueberry, blackberry and raspberry adjuncts of fruited sour, Trader Joe Knows, reaching its dusty acidulated wheat bottom.
Sharply dry West Coast-styled IPA, Fleetwood, scoured its musky pine tones with profound lemon-pitted grapefruit and orange pith bittering plus tingly spicing over sugary pale malts.
Juicy Imperial IPA, Slush Box, brought crayon-waxed grapefruit, orange and pineapple oiling to resinous pine musk atop mildly creamed pilsner-malted oated wheat.
Brought son Chris to Gearblock on a chilly Sunday eve in early November ’24 to try a sunny IPA and worthy Belgian dark ale.
Juicily yellow grapefruit-forward New England IPA, Bird Dawg, let sugary pilsner-malted oated wheat sweeten tropical Nelson Sauvin/ Nectaron-hopped guava, starfruit and gooseberry tartness while lemony Citra-hopped mandarin orange, pineapple and peach tang surfaced alongside vibrant grapefruit verve.
Tongue-tickling dried fruit spicing gathered above mild molasses syruping for Helican Belgian Strong Dark Ale, a candi-sugared easy drinker with understated plum, raisin, prune, black cherry and banana fruiting plus dainty cardamom, allspice and cinnamon respite and unassuming 9% ABV.
Mid-November ’24, took wife to enjoy K-Turn Kolsch while I delved into two sensational New England IPA’s.
Vibrant double dry-hopped NEIPA, Slammed, let tropical Motueka-hopped guava, gooseberry and white grape salting merge with sharp Citra-hopped yellow grapefruit, orange peel and pineapple zesting plus mild pine tones atop pilsner-malted oats.
Even more intense, hazier and perhaps, zestier, Tri-Five plied tropical Motueka/Nelson/Citra hops to creamily wheated oats, leaving salted pineapple-mango-guava goodness and lemony grapefruit and orange peel resilience to enlighten the senses.