Category Archives: United States Brewpubs

STRATOSPHERE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Stratosphere Brewing Company & NJ Wine of the Week - New Jersey Uncorked

MOUNT HOLLY, NEW JERSEY

Residing at a rustic tan brick warehouse, veteran-owned STRATOSPHERE BREWING COMPANY became Mount Holly’s third brewhouse on St. Patrick’s Day, 2023. Entrepreneurial head brewers Christopher Pike (a navy reservist) and Jason Martinez (union electrician) were experienced home brewers way before taking on this venture with the promising slogan: “Elevating the craft.”

A gray concrete-floored high-ceilinged pub with elongated 15-seat oak bar, three overhead doors and several surrounding wood-metal seats, Stratosphere utilizes reclaimed wood for its bar back, corrugated aluminum siding as its frontage and Edison lighting for olden textile charm. Tanks are stationed behind the bars.

During my one-hour stopover on a Friday evening in April ’23, I discovered five rounded draughts.

Stratosphere Brewing now open in Mount Holly, NJ

Mild wildflower honeyed dryness caresses spicy citrus splash and tertiary peach-apricot-pear conflux above biscuity cornbread base of Lhotse Cream Ale, a popular light body.

Briskly sharp NEIPA, Tropical Depression, retained dried-out yellow grapefruit bittering, sweet orange peel zesting and peachy mango tang above dry pale malts.

Peachy nectarine tang and orange-peeled grapefruit bittering juiced-up Barometer Fruit IPA, leaving wood lacquer upon its pale malt sugaring.

Lemon-dried oaken cherry and tart peach souring inundated U.S.S. Nitze, a fruited sour with moderate acidity and no residual sweetness.

Dark-roast coffee bean nuttiness further embittered by black chocolate chalking of Strato Pivo Dark Lager, letting dewy peat slightly sweeten the rigid mocha insistence.

VILLAGE IDIOT BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for village idiot mount holly nj

MOUNT HOLLY, NEW JERSEY

Beneath a green and gold proprietary signpost in a red brick downtown Mount Holly shop, VILLAGE IDIOT BREWING COMPANY came to existence in 2013. A prohibition-styled pub with straightforward homemade artisanal beers on draught, its cozy neighborhood feel gets reinforced by the beautiful antique wood mural (at the 12-seat right side bar) plus olden wood floors, furnishings, booths and tables.

Founded by long-time homebrewers Vince Masciandaro and Rich Palmay, Village Idiot enjoys treating its guests to both “traditional and unusual fun ales.” Each small batch brew emulates from the brew tanks in the back. Former home of Bridgetown Pub, Village Idiot preserved the original tables strewn about the bar.

Visited mid-April 2023, I downed eight fine rounded brews prior to dinner on a sunny Friday afternoon.

Lightly creamed pale malted Hipster Lager combined lemony orange fizzing with mild herbage and musky hop astringency.

Smooth summertime light body, Bridgetown Blonde Ale left mild lemon spritz on its doughy white bread base.

Traditional pale ale, Bike Rail, let brisk floral-daubed lemony orange zesting and astringent wood tones softly rise above dry pale malting.

Lemony banana-clove entry of Folestephaner Hefeweizen sweetened its white-peppered lemongrass zesting.

Nitrogenated Monkey’s Breath Banana Bread placed caramelized banana bread sweetness next to sugar-rimmed cinnamon toasting and stayed not far removed from Wells Banana Bread.

Dry West Coast IPA, Hoptimizer, contrasted brisk orange-peeled grapefruit bittering against peachy pineapple tanginess as grassy hop astringency settled atop mildly creamed pilsner-like malts.

Sweet brown chocolate coated the creamy peanut buttering and honeyed Graham Cracker base of Peanut Butter Cup Porter, recalling Reese’s Puff cereal.

Smoothly creamed Elvis Is In The Building, a chewy peanut butter and banana dessert treat, gained bittersweet hazelnut-glazed cocoa nibs richness.

 

 

GRAND STRAND BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for grand strand brewing company

MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA

In a glass-fronted red brick ‘contemporary cottage’ with white soffits and shutters, GRAND STRAND BREWING COMPANY opened its doors in March 2021. Located on Myrtle Beach’s busy Kings Highway in the revitalized Arts & Innovation district, Grand Strand came to fruition less than one year after Tidal Creek Brewhouse (a few miles South) began operations.

An interesting multi-faceted brewery with loft apartment rentals, turf grass lawn with Adirondack chairs, multi-TV sportsbar appeal and good pub food, Grand Strand covers all bases from family friendly neighborhood tavern to destination brewpub.

Its elongated 15-seat wood bar services several black plastic 4-seat tables and a loungey blue couched area with fish tank (next to hovered stainless steel brewtanks) plus the 4 awning-covered deck tables and umbrella picnic tables out front. The interior’s ceramic floor, low hanging ceiling pipes and red brick walls add a certain Industrial flare.

Alongside a well-rounded assortment of homemade beers, Grand Strand also offers fine spirits, wines and specialty cocktails.

On my sunny Tuesday afternoon voyage, April ’23, my wife and I enjoyed ten sturdy draughts.

Easygoing Wingtip Pilsner let brisk Seltzer-like lemon zest serenade slight herbal musk above flighty white breading.

A slightly bitter pale ale with experimental HBC586 hop strain, Flip Flop Hop unfurled mellow lemony white grapefruit bittering, mildly perfume-spiced orange peel sweetness and grassy hop astringency for subtle oated wheat creaming.

Milk-sugared coffee embraced lactic Conway Coffee Blonde Ale, a pale malted moderation with mild creme brulee and caramel latte sweetness.

Toasted amber grains and dewy dried fruiting approached the sugary caramelized malts securing Jolene Red Ale.

Mildly vanilla-creamed banana, clove and coriander plus pastry dough sugaring paced Rainy Day Hefeweizen, leaving slight herbal musk on the tail end.

Buttery caramel dripped into soft-toned Doof Dunkelweizen, picking up distant lemon meringue and fried banana tartness.

Tropical orange-peeled grapefruit, pineapple and mango tanginess gained light phenol hop bittering to contrast the dainty rum sugaring of dry pale malted Sandy Cheeks West Coast IPA.

Lemony yellow grapefruit bittering contrasted sugary tangerine-peach tang of Airbrush Hazy IPA, reaching its delicate oats base.

As for the two sour ales, First Rodeo Smoothie Sour let its lightly acidic lemon-soured plum and pomegranate adjuncts gain briny cranberry and crabapple tartness over sugary pastry dough.

Just as salty, Pavillion Pie Wheel Key Lime Sour stayed dry as mildly acidic key-limed lemon rind bittering countered cinnamon-toasted brown sugaring as distant cologne perfuming splattered sugary lemonade tartness.

TIDAL CREEK BREWHOUSE

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for tidal creek brewhouse

MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA

Encompassing a coffeehouse/brewery, large wood picnic -tabled porch, chaired firepit area, a sprawling beer garden and palm trees, TIDAL CREEK BREWHOUSE started its journey in June 2020. At Myrtle Beach’s newly developed Market Common (formerly used as part of the nearby airport base), Tidal Creek retains a loungey sea shack vibe amongst the newly built small stores, restaurants and townhouses.

Inside the blue-awninged beige aluminum sided brewhouse, an L-shaped ten-seat bar (with cement-lacquered shell bar top) centers the cement-floored shop. There are ten 4-seat tables, hanging Edison lights, a spray foam insulated ceiling and corrugated aluminum walls filling out Tidal Creeks’ interior. Stainless steel brew tanks take up the 3,000 square-foot backspace. Cocktails, wines and pub fare were also available.

My wife and I had some delicious noontime pops during April ’23 visit.

Dry light pilsner, Liberatore, let bright lemon licks dabble with wafting floral spicing and leathery straw acridity over buttered white breading.

Cake-battered banana sweetness and mild clove-coriander spicing picked up a prickly lemon spritz and mild herbage atop the buttery sourdough base of Harmonic Hefeweizen, a delightful traditionalist on par with nearby Grand Strand’s German wheat competitor.

Sharp IPA-like fruiting and oily pine resin gave a moderate bittering to Breezy Blonde Ale, plying dry orange rind and grapefruit pith zing to latent floral herbage.

Streamlined Imperial IPA, Mean High Water, combined candied pineapple, grapefruit and orange tanginess with light herbal spicing and resinous pine remnants over crystal malt sugaring.

Equally approachable New England IPA, Bogey Bomb, let candied pineapple, sugared orange and tart lemon fruiting pick up mild sweet spicing over lightly creamed oated wheat pasting.

Mildly embittered NEIPA, Beam Reach, places spritzy grapefruit-peeled orange, pineapple and mango tanginess next to New Zealand-hopped guava-passionfruit souring above oated wheat complacency.

Piney citrus fruiting and floral-spiced herbage permeated Grand Strand, a West Coast IPA draping lemony orange, grapefruit and tangerine tanginess thru honeyed pale malts.

Coffee-stained dark chocolate led Backwater Brown Ale, leaving cola nut, waddleseed, hazelnut and candied molasses snips on its dewy earthen bottom.

Dry espresso-milked black coffee fortified Pollywog Porter, picking up setback peanut-walnut illusions and mild Blackstrap molasses bittering.

Nutty chicory coffee surged ahead of coconut, pineapple and black grape fruiting for Tradewinds Tropical Stout, gaining bittersweet dark chocolate influence.

 

 

 

 

 

SEVEN SOUNDS BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Visit Elizabeth City | Tourism for Elizabeth City, NC - Seven Sounds Brewing Company

ELIZABETH CITY, NORTH CAROLINA

Along Elizabeth City’s downtown riverfront in an old hardware building, SEVEN SOUNDS BREWING COMPANY occupies a restored red brick dockside venue opened in the winter of ’22. A panoramic rooftop deck captures the still beauty of the Pasquotank River and the brick-walled pub room utilizes reclaimed wood and old beams to retain a vintage southern charm.

Seven Sounds’ cement-floored metal and wood furnished pub (with scattered beer barrel seating) settles below the pipe-exposed high ceiling. There are twelve draught taps at the pine lacquered L-shape bar.

In April ’23, my wife and I grabbed a few deck seats outback to quaff five ambitious stylistic creations on the riverfront.

Seven Sounds Brewing Company | Reception Venues - The Knot

Lemony passionfruit souring and salty guava tartness engaged Sea Of Love Pale Ale.

Matching its stylish banana-clove sweetness to crusty sourdough breading, Easy To Love Hefeweizen maintained a creamy vanilla-daubed eclair froth.

Mild ghost pepper heat tailgated the dark chocolate-roasted hazelnut coffee bluster of Nell Cropsey Ghost Pepper Porter, an applewood-smoked full body.

Mildly creamed milk-sugared coffee sweetness overlaid cocoa-dried dark chocolate bittering of lactic Front Porch, a milk coffee stout with distant cinnamon, anise and hazelnut wisps.

Luxurious Barleywine soaked rummy raisin, plum and dried cherry into candi-sugared crystal malting, picking up latent sweet burgundy spicing.

GHOST HARBOR BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Ghost Harbor Brewing Company | Wedding Venues | Elizabeth City, NC

ELIZABETH CITY, NORTH CAROLINA

At a historic retrofitted livery stable, Elizabeth City’s GHOST HARBOR BREWING COMPANY sits smack dab in the boutique-shopped Pailin’s Alley downtown district – a place perfectly suited for old pirates singing sea shanties. Opened in December ’18, but at its current larger locale since 2021, Ghost Harbor was the first microbrewery licensed in this historic Albemarle municipality.

Just up the street from waterfront Seven Sounds Brewing, the rustic cement-floored pub is owned by head brewer, Thomas Reese, a durable craftsman who has ‘draughted’ a few dozen one-offs and several recurring brews in the first five years of operation.

Inside a red-bricked shop with mauve-walled side entrance, its green awning protects the umbrella-seated alleyway.  Upon entering, the glimmering stainless steel bar top provides a clean, efficient feel.

There are several black-chaired community tables and two-seaters filling out the pub and the stark black ceiling carries exposed pipes and caged Edison lights. The brick-walled bar back features sixteen bronze-piped tap handles leading to a cold storage system serving the left side brewtanks easygoing fare.

I sank six demure draughts during my April ’23 stopover, then got Vito Italian Pilsner, Gypsy Tears Pale Ale, Blair’s Fall Wheat Ale, That Girl Liz IPA and Mulligan Dry Irsih Stout (reviewed in Beer Index) to imbibe at Myrtle Beach two days hence.

Ghost Harbor Brewing Company

Spritzy lemon fizzled alongside sugary bubblegum for Ghost Heavy Pilsner, a sweet breaded lightweight.

Not far removed, fizzy lemon drops trickled onto herbal licks and spicy snips for sessionable Apollo Golden Ale.

Toasted grain sweetness, roasted tobacco crisping and mild hop astringency girded Mystery Of Nell Cropsey Amber Ale, picking up subtle red and orange fruiting.

Americanized pale yellow-cleared wheat ale, Blair’s Fall (also reviewed in canned version), retained a salty lemon spritz and mild orange-plantain-quince conflux above white wheat breading.

Polite white grapefruit, mandarin orange and pineapple tropicalia led Wight Of The Wild White IPA, a cross between a debonair hop-forward IPA and a coriander-spiced witbier.

Sharp citrus spicing saddled Nautical IPA, leaving lemon zest, yellow grapefruit bittering, brisk orange peel sweetness and salted mango-pineapple tanginess upon lightly creamed oated malts.

QUIRK WORKS BREWING & BLENDERY

United States Brewpubs,

Quirk Works Brewing & Blendery

DANBURY, CONNECTICUT

In a heavy industrial section of Danbury, Connecticut, QUIRK WORKS BREWING & BLENDERY opened its side doored entrance April 29, 2022. A half-mile from Charter Oak, Quirk Works is Danbury’s second brewery.

Occupying a sleek overhead doored silver aluminum warehouse, Quirk Works’ manufacturing fixtures anchor the pub as the butcher blocked serving station provides spring-handled pipe fitted trays of beer for people at the olden lacquered wood community tables (with antique copper pendant lighting). Paved alley way seating’s also available.

Brewer Rick Cipriani ‘formulates ideas’ and skirts some traditional brewing techniques tinkering with hybrid styles. Former owner of nearby Brewster, New York’s Bull & Barrel, Cipriani brought his experienced hands-on approach to Quirk Works, where exotic infused beers and a rainwater-derived Belgian-influenced IPA are the new normal.

On my early March ’23 stopover, I grabbed a few inventive beers for the road reviewed below.

Image result for quirk works brewery

Sessionable clear golden helles lager/ light pilsner blend, Impractical Logic, a heartier cellared zwickelbier, utilized whole grain oated Cheerios cereal to promote its baked breaded base as presumable Noble hop herbage outdoes New Zealand hop gooseberry-guava souring and muskily floral lemon licks.

Mild apple, pear and tangerine tanginess picked up laidback earthen hop astringency for lightly caramel creamed Interchangeable Fate Irish Red Ale, picking up latent chestnut-pecan sliver.

Buttery oats-flaked red wheat anchored the raw-honeyed sourdough base of double dry-hopped NEIPA, Spontaneous Rhythm, undercutting its spicy orange-tangerine tang and tannic green grape esters.

A better NEIPA choice, partly sunny Cracker Perfection shines lemony yellow grapefruit zestiness on mild evergreen pining as salty pineapple-mango-guava tropicalia and light spicing beckon atop dry pale malts.

Musty oaken barrel aging gave Aged Beauty Imperial Old Ale its dry bourbon, whiskey and rye edge as peat-smoked barleymalts guard ancillary caraway seeded pumpernickel breading and pine nut buttering against rustic brown leaf astringency.

Quirk Works Barrel Aged Rye Golden Ingot Belgium Tripel – CraftShack - Buy craft beer online.Out of Stock – Page 115 – CraftShack - Buy craft beer online.

Rummy whiskey sweetness absorbed the candi-sugared dried fruiting of Golden Ingot Belgium Tripel (Barrel Aged Rye), leaving oaken vanilla, dry bourbon, butterscotch candy and Chardonnay illusions on the busy fusel backend.

Boozy butane-like Golden Ingot Tripel (Barrel Aged Single Malt) let its single malt Scotch whiskey entry receive sedate caramel, vanilla and varnished wood tones, but its burnt rubber sulfites will preclude all but the heartiest liquor lovers.

CHARTER OAK BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for charter oak brewing danbury

DANBURY, CONNECTICUT

Entrepreneurial couple Scott and Michele Vallely originally introduced a few gypsy brews crafted at other local brewers’ facilities under the CHARTER OAK BREWING COMPANY banner way back in 2012 before occupying the present 10,000 square-foot Danbury space they’ve now operated since June 2018.

Given a light industrial post-modish setting, Charter Oak crafts a rotating lineup of beers that usually stick to specific stylistic parameters but sometimes tweak details. Thier 1687 Brown Ale and Wadsworth IPA remain year-round flagship offerings.

Inside the spacious brewhouse, an enormous beige-walled brewing area includes a few small round tables for patrons playing indoor frisbee while the much smaller gray-walled main barroom presents a ten-seat cement-topped serving station (with decorative wood kiosk) and metal-wood chaired tables. Picture-framed stencil drawings of animals (and one of Scott) line the front wall.

I enjoyed ten rounded beers on my March ’23 Friday evening journey.

Image result for charter oak brewing danbury

Lemony mandarin orange spritz and dry grassy herbage picked up sparkling champagne surge for Easy Riding Kolsch, a Hallertau-hopped moderation.

Toasted amber graining anchored Pale Mild Amber, gaining slick orange oiling and dry lemon spicing.

Brown-leafed hop astringency contrasted light caramelized fruiting and pine nut buttering of Steam Lager, a hybridized California Common lager.

Dried orange, tangerine and clementine gained dewy moss for Wadsworth IPA, a West Coast-styled medium body with crisp tobacco and mild wood tones.

Zestful orange-peeled grapefruit and pineapple tanginess spruced up Juice God NEIPA, dropping moderate piney bittering and grassy herbage above buttery oated wheat malts.

Salty cherry tartness and lightly acidic lime-soured grape tannins sported Gose – Tart Cherry, an acidulated malt-backed sour ale.

Dry cellared fungi and apprehensive fruiting connected for Saaz/Hallertau-hopped Biere De Garde.

Nutty chocolate-spiced maple molasses seeped thru 1687 Brown Ale, leaving pecan, almond and chestnut upon its lightly pined Cascade-Centennial-Columbus hop earthiness.

Dry bourbon and oaken vanilla tannins prodded Bourbon Barrel Aged Brown Ale, relegating burgundy-port wining and sugared nuttiness. 

Rummy molasses-sweetened cocoa engaged Midnight Rider Porter, a creamily mocha-bound barley-roasted full body.

BAD SONS BEER CO.

United States Brewpubs,

2 Derby favorites join forces as Roseland's pizza coming to Bad Sons brewery

DERBY, CONNECTICUT

Residing at an old red brick warehouse in the Lower Naugatuck River Valley, BAD SONS BEER CO. opened in the summer of ’17. Taking its independent spirited ‘true grit’ motto as its commanding slogan, Bad Sons specializes in varied India Pale Ales but aren’t afraid to dabble in lagers, porters, etcetera.

A green-framed wood door with yellow greened hop design welcomes visitors to the raw, pipe exposed, high ceilinged industrial pub. The red brick-walled floor-to-ceiling windows and die-cast iron wheel ornament contribute to Bad Sons’ archaic rusticity.

A dozen cool ghoulish hop-handled draught taps, sidled TV’s and brewery stickers crowd the 30-seat bar. Wood-metal chaired tables fill out the cement-floored front end while brew tanks are staged in the rear where a black and white Bad Sons insignia lines a side wall . A small kitchen serves fine pizza. A green aluminum-sided picnic area with blue-chaired firepit and benches offers further seating.

At noon in early March ’23, I grabbed a seat at the wraparound wood top bar with decorative bolted Edison light panels to down a few suds.

Taproom - BADSONS Beer Co. - Brewery in Derby, CT

A lemony Chardonnay effervescence gave Light Rider Lager its spritzy phenolic entry as Noble-hopped herbage, pale malt pasting and delicate spiciness emerged.

Dry pinkish amber blueberry gose, Violet’s Demise, caressed its candied blueberry tartness with salty lemon-soured pomegranate bittering. 

Lemony passionfruit, pineapple and guava tartness and mild blood orange tanginess imbued Spring Trainer Fruited IPA, a mild springtime potion.

“Crushable” East Coast-styled Roller Coaster IPA let crayon-waxed lemony orange peel zesting pick up moderated floral herbage and slim pine tones in a grassy Comet-Galaxy hop whirlpool.    

Sticky cannabis resin snuck into the perfumed pineapple, orange and grapefruit tang of Hypnotic Dank IPA, retaining a mild dry hop bittering.

Intensely Citra/Mosaic hop-forward NEIPA, Doobious, stayed juicy as lemon zesting perked up pineapple, orange, tangerine, clementine and cherry fruitiness over dry pale malts.

English dark malts and earthen hops frontloaded Bad Billy Brown Ale, scurrying nut-roasted burnt caramel treacle.

Mild coffee-roasted dark chocolate consumed Storm Born Baltic Porter, leaving molasses and toffee sweetness to defend the astringent hop phenols grazing its ice cold lagering.

REVERIE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Reverie Brewing Company

NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT

Inside a blue brick warehouse behind a storage center in Newtown, Connecticut, REVERIE BREWING COMPANY came into existence March 25, 2019. Ably crafting several beers on the stylistic outskirts and others well within range, the expanding neo-mod pub recently put in a new event area, Coopers Hall, for its fourth anniversary.

Several stooled wood benches and five stooled tables get served by the pristine wood lacquered serving station. An orange crossbar above the right side brew tanks includes a black lettered Reverie signpost and exposed pipes line the black ceiling. The parking lot’s filled with benches and stringed Edison lights. Hard ciders are also available.

I settled in on a Friday afternoon in March ’23 to try four rangy suds going from carrot-infused sour ale to soured saison to New England IPA to nutty brown ale. In the Beer Index, there are several Reverie’s I bought for the road reviewed.

What's Happening – Reverie Brewing Company

Murkily yellow-hazed Garrett Carrot, plied sour lemon acidity to carrot-juiced cara cara orange tang and light ginger, fennel and cinnamon daubs for a novel root vegetable-backed eccentricity.

Spritzy lemon-limed grapefruit, mango and pineapple juicing picked up dank pining for Waterfall IPA, leaving mild guava, peach and tangerine tanginess in the lightly creamed oated wheat distance.

Sour yellow fruiting embossed Futz Saison, contrasting its musty fungi herbage and barnyard acridity with laidback honeyed red fruit spicing.

Chalky chocolate and oily coffee guarded the charred nuttiness of Chock Full O Nut’in, a dewier brown ale.  

 

BLUEJACKET

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for bluejacket brewery

WASHINGTON DC

Impressive Navy Yard-bound brewpub, sportsbar and restaurant, BLUEJACKET, was established in 2013. Inside a century-old factory with heavy industrial metal, steel columns and commercial grade windows, this red mammoth brick-based DC warehouse features a street level bar, two windy mezzanine levels and towering brew tanks everywhere.

The large wood-floored main dining room offers several community tables and semi-private booths serviced by the 20-seat silver-topped bar (with 22 homemade and 28 guest draughts).

Brewing director Ro Guenzel (formerly of Colorado-based Left Hand and Great Divide) has a flare for crafting a wide variety of traditional stylistic fare. There’ve been over 200 different beer recipes used in Bluejacket’s ten year stint. Cocktails, Scotch, rye, bourbon and wine are also available.

My wife and I consumed a dozen Bluejacket brews while visiting on a sunny Saturday afternoon, March ’23.

Image result for bluejacket brewery

Bone-dry German pilsner, Love Cats, utilized floral citric-herbed Loral hops to provide a clean crisping for its musky mineral graining.

Another Bavarian pils, Self-Portrait, lifted lemon-dropped Hallertau hop herbage above dainty cracker-like pilsner malts.

Easygoing light-bodied aluminum yellowed rice lager, Gan Bei, retained a fizzy Saaz-hopped lemon spritz and herbal lemongrass minting atop rice-dried spelt graining.

Mild grain musk and sour lemon coalesced for cellared lager, Lost Time Kellerbier, a delicate moderation with slight vegetal tinge.

Flagship Lost Weekend, a rounded hazy IPA, let light vanilla creaming seep into salty yogurt soured milking, waxy tropical fruiting and dank pine resin – leaving ancillary guava, gooseberry and grapefruit tartness as well as peachy tangerine tanginess on its oated wheat base.

Tropical hop bomb, Smile In Disguise, another hazy New England IPA, regaled orange-peeled pineapple, grapefruit, peach and mango tanginess plus brisk lemon zesting over crystal malt sugaring.

Milk-sugared vanilla sweetened tropical fruited sour, Strangers In Paradise, picking up minor citric acidity as its salted mango, guava and passionfruit illusions and wispy green grape esters linger softly above acidulated pale malts.

On to the dark ales. Roasted nuttiness and soy-sauced brown rice combined for They Both Met Dark Lager, letting cola, walnut and Brazil nut illusions flutter before getting soapy.

Bittersweet chocolate and dark caramel received tobacco-roasted earthen mossing for Chimbley Sweep, a viable schwarzbier.

Soft-toned Eton Rifle Brown Porter had a nitrogenated smoothness as its coffee-dried nut char encountered desolate dried fruiting.

Mexican chocolate, cassia bark, vanilla beans and cacao nibs informed Mexican Radio Sweet Stout, bringing mild ancho chili heat to its molasses oats spine.

Brown chocolate-y milk-sugared coffee guided Sugar Snow Imperial Stout, gaining maple molasses, hazelnut paste, cinnamon bark and gingerbread niceties.

 

VALOR BREWPUB

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for valor brewpub

WASHINGTON DC

Across the street from the marine barracks in the Navy Yards of Washington DC, veteran-inspired VALOR BREWPUB opened to the public September 2018. Jeff Hancock, co-founder of nearby DC Brau, emerged as brewmaster in 2022.

An English cavern-like restaurant and brewery with a prohibition era speakeasy appeal, the patriotic 2,500 square-foot pub features a 20-stooled right side copper top bar with seven taps, two brewtanks and two TV’s alongside the red brick back wall. A few four-seat tables along the left wall plus an outside front patio allow for more patronage. Glass-encased brew tanks are in the rear.

Caged Edison lights hang above the bar and exposed pipes give the low-ceilinged taproom a certain rusticity.

My wife and I settled in at noon on a sunny Saturday in March ’23 to imbibe five rounded brews.

Brisk Bavarian kellerbier, Moonbeam, let herbal-perfumed grapefruit, orange and peach spicing receive musky hay acridity above its lagered pale malt base.

Honey-fruited Shellback Amber Ale retained sweet cherry, berry and fig spicing as well as bourbon vanilla whims over treacly molasses toastiness.

Lemon-soured herbage and grassy hop astringency placated Blue Nose Kolsch, a tidy moderation with humble white wheated pilsner malts.

Dark candi-sugared syruping draped the brown-sugared raisin, fig and date sweetness of Valor Belgian Holiday Ale, picking up mild cinnamon, candied orange and glazed pecan licks.

Dry cocoa-powdered Bakers chocolate fortified Pollywog Porter, leaving milk-sugared coffee tones and wispy cola nuttiness on the backend.