AUBURN, NEW YORK

Inside a red brick building just down the block from Shep’s at Genesee Center mini mall, NEXT CHAPTER BREWPUB came to life in August 2018. Local married homebrewers Scott and Michelle De Lap decided to open the snugly Auburn nanobrewery where proprietary and guest beers, local spirits, wines and cocktails get washed down by wood-fire pizza, burgers, wings and paninis.

Several cherry red-seated hardwood tables, a cozily couched book-shelved lounge area, a Prohibition Era silver inlet black-tiled ceiling and antique red brick walls fill out the Edison-lit twelve-seat wood bar. A tiled wood stove serves pizzas to the local minions joining my wife and I at Next Chapter early June ’24 on a sunny Friday afternoon.

Sweet red-orange-yellow fruiting glided thru Blondie, a pilsner-malted pale ale that’s sunshiny sessionable.

Adding pureed blood orange to the aforementioned blonde ale, Blood Orange Blondie gained tart mandarin, tangy tangerine and sweet clementine illusions for its sugary mix.

Utilizing a sugary pale malt base, Chapter Blueberry Ale retained a light sweet n’ sour blueberry lacquering and lightly creamed honeyed wheat stickiness.

Contrasting slight earthen melon rind bittering with mild watermelon sweetness, spritzy Chapter Watermelon Wheat Ale gained cucumber watered celery crisping.

Underripe peach tartness countered sweet peach tanginess for Peachy Keen Kolsch, a dry pilsner malted moderation with tertiary apricot skin tannins, lemon licks and cucumber slumber.

Perfumed citrus spicing anchored West Coast-styled NYS IPA, a Cascade-Centennial-hopped medium body with lemony grapefruit bittering and orange-oiled guava and passionfruit tartness.

Local Crow City roasted coffee beans met rich cacao nibs bittering for nitrogenated Chapter Crow City Coffee Stout, but its lemon rind-soured espresso spunk and dry red wine esters nearly prevailed.