All posts by John Fortunato

NESHAMINY CREEK BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

CROYDON, PENNSYLVANIA

Anchoring an overhead-doored red warehouse with large grain silos at New Hope Ferry Market, NESHAMINY CREEK BREWING COMPANY is stationed north of Philly in the town of Croydon (with a second satellite taproom in nearby Dublin opened October ’21). Founded in 2010, this well-established microbrewery has received massive distribution throughout New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland since 2016.

At the New Hope Ferry Market, Neshaminy Creek’s main pub features a wood-seated pine top bar with stainless steel draught handles serving several community tables spread between the snazzy post-modernist wall design. A small right side lounge area and a billiard table fill out the room and celebratory beer-related murals don the white sidewalls. The aluminum ceiling contains exposed pipes and hanging Edison lights. Near the back room brew tanks is a nifty party center.

My wife and I visited early February ’25 mid-afternoon, downing the four tapped beers I never had on tap or at home.

Mocha-dried toffee spicing permeated German-styled Bock Buster, a Noble-hopped moderation with slightest ashen walnut skin.

Zesty lemony grapefruit bittering stayed subtle soaking up cologne-perfumed dry spicing and resinous pining of Imperial IPA, Date Jeans, picking up strawberry, banana, white grape and tangelo snips.

Dry red rye IPA, JAWN of the Dead, placated its grapefruit-seeded orange rind bittering with black grape and dried plum tartness as compost earthiness and resinous pine reached the burnt toast base.

Bitterly black-malted dark chocolate and powdered cocoa spread wide for dark roast hop-charred Baltic Porter, Eye On The Tide, a ‘raucous’ mocha full body with peated Irish coffee remnant.

VAULT BREWING COMPANY – EASTON

United States Brewpubs,

EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA

Inside a former bank, VAULT BREWING COMPANY’S second location at downtown Easton opened its doors December ’24 (twelve years after their Yardley flagship brewery started). The spare white-stoned pubs’ chalky cement walls, cement floors, olden archways and dark glass frontage give Vault a provincial speakeasy feel.

A ten-seat, aluminum-topped bar served a rounded selection of head brewer Chris Sayko’s proprietary beers alongside upscale snacks, sandwiches, cocktails and wine. There are cozy wood tables in the barroom and private backspace dining.

My wife and I perused the Vault on a cold Sunday at noon, early February ’25. I’d already quaffed a few Vault brews at Yardley and at home and now bought Munich-style Dunkel Lager, All Boots Rise Double IPA and Bank Holiday Christmas Stout (all reviewed in Beer Index).

Dry Lithuanian farmhouse ale, Liquid Asset V2, let creamy banana esters enter the fray as honey-spiced dried apricot, lemon meringue and pear niceties picked up floral perfuming and herbal nuances atop delicate pilsner malts.

Piney grapefruit, lemon rind and orange pith bittering brightened Mosaic-Strata-hopped, Public Offering, a dry medium-bodied hazy IPA with Sultana-hopped guava, green grape and gooseberry tartness above lightly creamed oated pale malts.

Semi-sweet oatmeal stout, Bear Hug, gained milk-sugared coffee tones, maple oats sweetness and toasted nuttiness contrasting dry-roast hop char.

Rich Imperial Pastry Stout, Bird In Hand, ‘perfect with vanilla-glazed chocolate donut,’ combined Madagascar vanilla, cassia cinnamon, cocoa nibs and cafe latte adjuncts with fudgy bourbon chocolate given slight campfire-smoked ancho chili peppering to contrast dried cherry, plum and prune snips.

GERONIMO BREWING @ LILLY’S GOURMET

United States Brewpubs,

DOYLESTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

Taking up a cozy backspace at Lilly’s Gourmet inside a pinkish mauve stucco side cafe in the heart of Doylestown, GERONIMO BREWING matches stylishly familiar proprietary beers to upscale food. The small wood floored and furnished pub features nine billiard-balled draught handles at the L-shaped eight-seat bar and a back kitchen creating fine cuisine. Exposed pipes line the low ceiling and one TV is situated near tonight’s tap list.

The right side nano brew tanks were next to the two-seat round table my wife and I grabbed on a brisk Saturday eve, January ’25. I quaffed all five available beers alongside quiche, chicken wings and cheesesteak eggrolls.

Dry German-styled pilsner, Ut Prosim, loaded creamy rye flouring upon dewy peat earthiness and black-peppered whims atop tidy pilsner malts.

Dry unfiltered pilsner-styled lager, MPM Kellerbier, saddled mild mandarin orange tartness with peppery herbage and earthen rusticity.

Easygoing Columbus-Chinook-hopped pale ale, CB5, let dry wood resin and barnyard hay inside its Maris Otter-malted caramelized rye stead, picking up latent grapefruit, orange rind and lemon dollops as well as apple-pear snips.

Sunny lemony grapefruit tanginess lightly embittered Citra-Mosiac-hopped NEIPA, Chuicy Chowie Wowie, leaving dry herbal-tinged pine tones on the pale malt spine.

May fave was rummy red-orange-yellow fruited Mayday Maibock, a toffee-spiced Vienna malted treasure with braided Easter bread buttering.

ARISTAEUS CRAFT BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

LANGHORNE, PENNSYLVANIA

The small Bucks County town of Langhorne, twenty miles north of Philly, is home to Sesame Place and since March 12, 2020, ARISTAEUS CRAFT BREWING COMPANY, a nifty open floor-designed five-barrel nano with an exceptional lineup. Master brewer Harry Arnold began his journey homebrewing in 1996, designing well-balanced stylistic recipes.

Aristaeus has an Industrial feel as its wood-furnished epoxy-floored pub room features aged wood columns, exposed pipes and hanging black lights plus a black top serving station with twelve-plus draught handles serving suds from the left side tanks. A cement patio doubles the patronage.

Mott The Hoople’s “All The Young Dudes” plays as my wife and I grab a few elixirs on a brisk Sunday afternoon, early February ’25. Also available were wine, nitro cold brew coffee and specialty cocktails.

Dry pale malts pasted straw-cleared American lager, Skyline 75, a sessionable light-bodied pleasantry for mellow thirsts.

A sun-splashed lemony orange spritz dashed atop the biscuity rye base of Big Oak Bend Rye Saison, finishing with citrus-spiced herbage.

Nitrogenated milk-sugared stout, Kalapa, let mild coconut toasting enter the ‘slightly sweet’ chocolatey fray, picking up mild caramelized coffee riffs.

Another easygoing nitro milk stout, Dark Matter, retained dryer dark chocolate chalkiness, picking up latent coffee nuttiness.

NEWTOWN BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

NEWTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

At a red brick Industrial mall along Penns Trail, family-owned NEWTOWN BREWING COMPANY opened its taproom, October 2019. Crafting sturdily stylistic beers in a conservatively well-designed neo-mod colonial space, co-owner Gregg Bonstein spent a few years as a homebrewer and partnered with his wife, Sara, to get Newtown Brewing up and running.

Inside, the vinyl wood-planked floor leads to the twelve-chaired black top bar. Recalling an upscale farmhouse, there is a barn-like kiosk, ten stainless steeled draught handles along the earthen brick back wall and ten rustic four-seat hardwood tables. Large barreled brew equipment towards the back left side sidles a backspace entertainment area.

My wife and I caroused at Newtown late Sunday afternoon one week before the Eagles landed in the ’25 Super Bowl.

Dry light lager, Believe, sprayed lemon zest atop honey-spiced French breading.

Dewy sweet Vienna Lager, 60% Of The Time It Works Every Time, let toasted amber grains pick up floral-daubed spicing and musty dried fruiting.

Sweet orange peeled coriander prodded laidback witbier, Yippee-Ki-Yay Orange Sucker, hiding floral whims, wispy herbage and buttery vanilla beneath the hard-candied citrus surface.

Ultra-dry piney grapefruit bittering secured West Coast IPA, Pine Needles & Sunshine, picking up tangy pineapple zesting and sweet-tart orange candied glaze.

Waxy fruited New England IPA, The Haze Is Strong With This One, affixed lemon-dropped pineapple bittering and tart guava-gooseberry souring to sweet orange peel zesting, a creamy oats-based medium body.

Chalky dark chocolate-y burnt coffee nuttiness given soy milking for earthen English dark mild, Practically Perfect In Every Way, but its flavor fades.

Holiday-spiced winter warmer, Cotton-Headed Ninny Muggins, sprinkled brown-sugared cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and clove atop confectionery gingerbread, picking up sweet orange peel spritz.

Creamy chocolate peanut butter stout, You Merely Adopted The Dark, I Was Born In It, dabbed persistent mocha nuttiness with light vanilla sweetness above honeyed Graham Cracker base.

ARTIFACT BREWING – DOYLESTOWN

United States Brewpubs,

DOYLESTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

Opened April 2024, Doylestown-based ARTIFACT BREWING joins its Hatboro flagship location as a functioning nanobrewery. The red-bricked garage shop with large black-framed overhead door features a pine bark topped bar with 20 black metal seats. Several community tables fill out the cement-floored interior and the paneled wood board lists 12-plus draughts.

My wife and I gathered to consume eight stylishly centered ‘Artifacts’ mid-afternoon, early February ’25. Cocktails, spirits and wine also avail.

Mild amber-grained helles lager, Walk With Me, a pale yellowed lightweight, let spritzy lemon drops fall upon dry herbage and sourdough white breading.

Peaty moss secured the pumpernickel rye breading and dried fig-orange spot of moderate-bodied Extra Special Bitter, Only Child, a traditional English ale.

Boozy 8.7% ABV doppelbock, The Lonesome Love Us, placed Scotch-licked caramelized rye across spiced fig sugaring and lightly toasted raisin breading.

Brewed in collab with nearby Geronimo, hand-pumped English-styled dark mild, Come Together, slid dewy peat moss into weedy black tea stead.

Clear pinkish gose, Scattered Seeds Prickly Pear, let sea salted kiwi-like prickly pear adjunct receive mild celery-watered earthiness and pink champagne sparkle atop acidulated wheat base.

Sunshiny hazy IPA, Refuse 2 Lose, loaded sweet orange-peeled lemon zesting, tangy yellow grapefruit juiciness and salted guava-mango tartness onto dry pine surface.

Candi-sugared Belgian pilsner malting affixed fruity tripel, Unlikely Event, leaving tartly sweet banana puree, lemon custard, orange marmalade and dried apricot impact on herbal spiced concision.

Easygoing dry stout, The Twilight World, placed dewy moss inside dark chocolate chalking, day-old coffee dryness and charred nuttiness over barley-flaked mocha malting.

SECOND SIN BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

BRISTOL, PENNSYLVANIA

Taking up the same space originally occupied by Broken Goblet, Bristol’s SECOND SIN BREWING COMPANY opened in 2019 (with a second location in Newtown since 2024). A casually conventional tap house with eight-seat right side cement top bar, rounded tables and community benches atop a yellowed concrete floor, Second Sin’s white tile ceiling fits the light Industrial mall complex.

There are lanterns above the bar, a fine bottled beer collection upon the shelves and a front walled TV. The metal-sided outside deck increases seating.

My wife and I joined a full house Saturday afternoon, February ’25, to try four of the dozen draughts available.

Dry Faux-Talian Pils, sprayed floral-spiced lemon spritz upon its earthen barnyard parch and raw-honeyed pilsner malting.

Flirty red cherry tartness penetrated soft-toned fruit ale, Cherry Seinfeld, prodding white grape esters before reaching its caramelized Belgian Flanders red ale base.

Mild lemony grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering picked up frothy oated wheat creaming for Oatey-Boi, a double dry-hopped IPA with ancillary pineapple, mango, green grape and peach illusions joining the spritzy fruit cocktail.

Mexican-styled mole knockoff, Lil’ Mole, seeped bitter dark chocolate into cinnamon-spiced mulato peppers and bittersweet vanilla beans, leaving charred hop resin on the Band-aided backend.

BROAD STREET BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

BRISTOL, PENNSYLVANIA

One of the many Bristol, PA. brewpubs popping up since 2018 or so, BROAD STREET BREWING started slinging delightful stylish suds for hearty blue collar working stiffs in July ’23. Right off the 95 turnpike inside a smallish white colonial-styled strip mall with maroon awning, this friendly low profile joint has a certain casual charm.

Showing an appreciation for the City of Brotherly Love, there are framed Philly skyline photos on the walls and Flyers/ Phillies banners along the bar. The simple epoxy-floored interior features an aluminum-sided wood top bar and several wooden picnic tables.

My wife and I gathered on an early Saturday eve, February ’25, to sink six tapped brews.

Flagship Independence Lager, a clear-yellowed ‘Classic American’ light body, let lemon lime soda fizz perk up crisp pilsner-malted cereal graining in sessionable fashion.

Sessionable summertime Mexican-styled spritzer, Broad Street Lime, let light limey bittering pick up zesty pineapple perk over freshly baked white breading.

One of Broad Street’s most popular brews, approachable Belgian Wit, 201 North, let mild coriander-spiced navel orange peel sweetness placate its buttered wheat breading.

Tropical fruited Mosaic hops ride above creamy oated wheat for Broad Street Bully, an Imperial IPA with brisk pineapple, mango, navel orange and tangerine tanginess drifting into soft pine tones.

“Assertive” West Coast IPA, Drop Top, secured piney grapefruit bittering and sunny lemon zesting with candied pale malt sugaring.

For dessert, velvety (12% ABV) pastry stout, Right Side Of the River, combined roasted coffee, creamy vanilla and brown chocolate in a unique caramelized campfire setting.

NAKED BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

BRISTOL, PENNSYLVANIA

Just down the road from the Delaware Riverbanks of Bristol in a narrow red brick shop, NAKED BREWING came to fruition in 2012 at its still-thriving Huntington Valley locale. A few years hence, Naked Brewing expanded to include this inconspicuously spacious Bristol taproom. Its rustic tavern feel secures the cozy main space as the olden wood floor, red brick side walls, barreled tables and bright red furnishings reinforce the tight 10-seat, L-shaped bar.

But that’s only part of the Naked experience. There’s also a cement-floored downstairs space with small stage area, wood tables and chairs and a 12-seat bar connected to a benched alleyway beergarden leading to the riverbank parking lot. Plus, the back-spaced kitchen served loaded hot dogs plus the New England clam chowder and Cuban sandwich my wife and I enjoyed alongside several diversified brews Saturday at noon, January ’25.

Concocting experimental elixirs (including a few “pub-styled” Old World Euro styles), founding head brewer Jim Crossland lets his creativity run wild with dazzling one-offs and recurrents.

Dry Bohemian lager, Luyi Pivo SMASH, placed delicate grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and subtle herbal salting atop Vienna-malted sourdough bottom.

A dryer hefeweizen variant, Lord Helmet Cran-Orange drizzled cranberry-soured lemon fizz and spritzy orange mist over blanched banana-clove sweetness as green grape esters and yellow guava reinforced mild finishing sourness.

Weirdly nebulous pretzel-inspired gose, Salty Phukker, spackled pink Himalayan salt and dill-pickled ground mustard across its coriander-seeded citrus zing.

Quirky barrel-aged biere de garde, Louis de Garde Dawg, temptingly engulfed ginny orange liqueur boozing with oaken white grape-skinned gooseberry and guava tartness over dry lagered pale malts.

Another unconventional Revolutionary Era barrel-aged doozy, 1681 Olde Ale stayed dry as Dad’s Hat Rye whiskey influenced molasses-sapped dried fruiting, red-wined grape esters and ripe cantaloupe sweetness.

Dry Imperial IPA, Krampus Cat, a local fave, sashayed zesty Azacca/Idaho 7-hopped lemon, clementine and guava fruiting thru mild black tea musk, delicate pine tones and floral wisps atop soft flaked oats.

Lovely Bananas Foster-inspired Belgian dark ale, Headboard Dismount, draped chocolate syrup all over vanilla-creamed banana puree as spiced rum, bananas flambe and fried plantain sweetness scurried thru.

Dark-roasted coffee dryness saddled caramel-burnt, nut-charred English brown ale, Freckles Angry, gaining black patent malt bittering.

Confectionery Tiramisu-inspired golden coffee stout, The Blonde Barrister, let milk-sugared El Salvadorian coffee seep thru bittersweet cacao nibs, eggy chocolatey vanilla custard creaminess and mild Graham Cracker sugaring.

Easygoing dry Irish stout, TEDStout, indulged its mild coffee-roasted dark chocolate bittering with a nutty wood burnt hop char and burnt toast remnant.

Rye-whiskeyed rum barrels informed barrel-aged Imperial Stout, Hello Starshine, sliding dry bourbon spicing into syrupy dark chocolate and oaken vanilla while tertiary black licorice, rum raisin, bourbonized fruitcake, maple molasses and candied nut illusions sashayed.

BROKEN GOBLET BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

BENSALEM, PENNSYLVANIA

Mischeviously eclectic head brewer, Jay Grosie, and co-owner Mike Lock, began their journey at Bensalem’s BROKEN GOBLET BREWERY during 2014. Residing at a white stucco bricked warehouse, the concrete porch-fronted pub also presents live music and entertainment. A black overhead door and side entrance (with black awning) welcomes patrons to Broken Goblet.

Utilizing a heady four-vessel ten-barrel system, the spacious Mixing Room event space (just across the street from the Delaware River) began operations here in 2018. The newly installed taproom, completed in ’24, features a white-marbled fifteen-seat bar with several square red cushion-chaired tables, a cozy lounge area and pipe-exposed high ceiling.

A concrete-grounded, aluminum-furnished front patio adds extra seating. Windowed brew tanks at the rear service the four tap stations (with four separate tap handles each). And a melange of Chinese lanterns hang from the ornamental centralized chandelier.

Upon my early February ’25 noon trip, I consumed three varied blonde stouts, a pastry stout, a pale ale, two NEIPA’s and a sour IPA. Presently, Trauger and Lucky Cat breweries craft their fare at the Goblet.

Glimmering yellow fruit spicing brightened Black Shoes Pennsylvania Pale Ale, a mild Nugget-hopped rye wheat-malted summertime easygoer.

Sunshiny lemon-licked grapefruit bittering joined tangy pineapple and tangerine zesting as the musky compost waft consumed the sugary pale malting of Cloudy Juicy Hazy, a splendid tropical Imperial IPA.

Tart pineapple zesting gained caramelized brown sugaring and mild vanilla spicing for Pineapple Upside Down Cake, a confectionery double dry-hopped NEIPA with slight lemon meringue, guava, mango and cherry snips.

Lactose-sugared raspberry puree induced sour IPA, Deathclaw Juice Raspberry, gaining herbal hop respite and bubbly lemon spritz atop blonde ale malt base. OK, but not as convincing as the previous two India Pale Ale variants.

Dry roasted coffee caressed the mild oaken vanilla bittering of ‘white stout,’ The Ghoul, a devious dark ale deferring any dark chocolate sway.

Brown-sugared bacon glazed the powder-sugared vanilla coffee sweetness of Chocolate Bacon Blonde Stout, a white chocolate-centered pastry-styled medium body with chocolate donut, lemon custard and toasted cinnamon wisps.

Out of this world fruited blonde stout, Strawberry French Toast, melted clarified butter atop eggy strawberry pureed toast, leaving powder-sugared vanilla creaming to further sweeten the delightful brunch barrage.

Lactic pastry stout, Fritz’s Stickybun, took brown-sugared vanilla creaming and Tiramisu confections to its dark chocolate base, letting light peppermint and allspice illusions inside.

WARWICK FARM BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

On a picturesque 22-acre Bucks County plantation, WARWICK FARM BREWING COMPANY is situated at a white 5,000 square-foot farmhouse with pine paneled walls and bulky classic wood furnishings. Opened 2021 in the small village of Jamison, the charming family owned and operated microbrewery offers a well rounded selection of carefully crafted suds oft-times using proprietary hops and local ingredients.

At the beautiful stone-fronted bark-topped serving station, there are two tap boards and twenty draught lines along the gray-tiled side wall. There’s a TV over the fireplace and another at the opposing wall. A large wraparound closed-in porch with plastic and wood tables and chairs offers exquisite views of the Pennsylvania hillside.

My wife and I stopped by at noon on a Saturday in January ’25 to indulge in a few Warwick Farm elixirs.

Stylishly dryer Kolsch plied parched barnyard hay astringency to herbal lemon musk above a slim white bread base.

Brisk Warwick Witbier relied on coriander-cracked orange peel sweetness, picking up wispy clementine, peach and grapefruit illusions to contrast light white peppering.

Semi-sweet dried fig clustered musky earthen graining for Bock, leaving whimsical dry sherry, rye and toffee snips at lightly caramelized dried fruited finish.

Weedy nitrogenated Irish stout, Galway, let bitter dark chocolate resin consume tarry black coffee, charred walnut and peaty soy wisps atop barley-flaked black malting.

For an awesome nightcap, sipped Banana Split Milk Stout, a vanilla-creamed brown chocolate sweetie with brown-sugared maple oats sidling pureed banana. Mild gingerbread whims and recessive jellied red grape/ blueberry tartness skim rich chocolate banana caked dessert treat.

BITCHIN’ KITTEN BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

MORRISVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA

In the dapper Bucks County borough of Morrisville near the Delaware River falls across from Trenton, BITCHIN’ KITTEN BREWERY set up shop in 2019 after founder Michael Crosson took second prize in a craft brew competition. A casual cat-themed pub with upscale pub fare, Bitchin’ Kitten specialized in ‘big’ hybridized elixirs with offbeat complexities.

Inside the red brick, blue awninged, epoxy floored professional building, there are front windowed chairs plus wood tabled benches leading to the twelve-seat bar (with tin-encased Edison lights). An alleyway beergarden patio provides seating in good weather. ‘Dazzling cocktails’ and local Crossing Vineyards wine are also available.

My wife and I gathered at the cozy two-seater along the left wood paneled wall to quaff a tidy fruited wheat beer and an expansive confectionery stout on a cold winter night, January ’25.

We took home a host of fascinating brews (reviewed in Beer Index) including Freya’s War Cats Norwegian-style Hazy IPA, Dew Claw West Coast IPA, Adventures In Scouting Peanut Butter Brown, Adventures In Scouting Cinnamon Roll Winter Warmer, St. Nick Claw-Us and stone fruited Sourpuss Sour.

As for the tapped suds, tart raspberry puree nestled perfumed boysenberry, strawberry and blackberry illusions plus cucumber watering for dry moderation, Boujee Cat Raspberry Wheat, picking up a ticklish lemon fizz.

Bold dessert nightcap, Wu Dat Bananas Foster Pastry Stout, draped brown-sugared fried banana sweetness with caramelized vanilla and toasted cinnamon while retaining syrupy dark-roast chocolate incisiveness and minty iced coffee smidge.