Category Archives: United States Brewpubs

LOG TAVERN BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Log Tavern Brewing - PoconoGo

MILFORD, PENNSYLVANIA

Alongside the Sawkill creek waterfall near the Delaware River in a gray aluminum-sided log cabin, LOG TAVERN BREWING COMPANY, began its journey on this Milford, Pennsylvania crossroad during 2018. Taking ‘pride’ crafting a diverse range of traditional styles, former home brewer, Ryan Scott, makes some of the area’s most enjoyable tonics.

Log Tavern’s charmingly rustic warmth and earthy downhome conviviality fits the outdoorsman atmosphere local natives and visiting ‘brewpies’ adore. A slate-top serving station with twelve draught lines (and two blackboard beer menus) sling suds for the Yeti-logoed pub. A floor-to-ceiling earth-stoned hearth, round bark-based wood tables and multiple framed pix fill out the cozy lodge-like interior.

A wood-benched side deck with small fire pit plus a separate covered side deck offer plenty of outside seating.

My wife and I share a personal pizza while downing all ten available brews this briskly cool April ’22 afternoon.

Log Tavern Brewing Co. | Milford | DiscoverNEPA

Dry aluminum-cleared light cream ale, Tavern’s Gold, maintained soft grassy-hopped lemon oiling for its corn-husked white bread bottom.

Mild helles lager, Helles Fire, retained a dainty herbal lemon spritz over wispy sourdough breading.

Spritzy lemony orange and tangerine zesting picked up grassy hop astringency for off-dry 570 Pale Ale, pacifying its baked French breading.

Lemony orange-dried herbage awakened Lit Wit, leaving soap-stoned chamomile, sage and ginger all over its perfumed cannabis resin.

Enchanting tropical fruited New England IPA, The Revival, dripped mild lactose upon lemony yellow grapefruit zesting and grassy piney hop bittering as limey guava, mango and melon subtleties enjoin peachy mandarin orange tanginess in the distance.

Another vibrant NEIPA, Milford Mosaic, allowed orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess and ancillary spicy mango-peach sweetness to absorb mild piney hop bittering.

Coniferous hazy IPA, Beyond The Pines, coalesced sunshiny yellow-orange fruiting with lacquered pine tones, sprucy juniper licks, herbal rosemary-thyme minting and floral-daubed cologne wafts.

‘Heavily dank-hopped’ Imperial IPA, Timber Beast, regaled floral-perfumed lemony orange-grapefruit zesting and musky juniper berry bittering for recessive peaty fungi mossing.

Cold-brewed coffee greeted semi-sweet dark chocolate for Pike County Breakfast Stout, leaving black-peppered Brazil nuttiness on its molasses oatmeal spine.

Creamily lactic sweet stout, Peanut Butter Sawkill, spread peanut butter across coffee-stained dark-roast hop bittering with fine results.

 

SLOOP BREWING COMPANY – THE FACTORY

United States Brewpubs,

SLOOP BREWING @ THE FACTORY, Hopewell Junction - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews - Tripadvisor

EAST FISHKILL, NEW YORK

Founded in 2011 by local college pals, Adam Watson and Justin Taylor, SLOOP BREWING COMPANY soon became one of the fastest growing regional breweries, tendering a deal with New Hampshire-based Smuttynose in 2021 to expand distribution even further.

Operating out of a garage before moving to a hilly 19th Century Elizaville barnhouse, Sloop began occupying a 25,000 square foot Industrial warehouse at the cavernous East Fishkill IBM facility by 2018. Encompassing a tan-bricked modern Industrial manufacturing building bordering the mountainous Appalachian Trail, Sloop’s aquamarine sailing compass logo (with golden outlay) imbues the two grain silos welcoming beer hounds to its hallway-bound interior.

Known as “The Factory at Sloop,” this spacious, high-ceilinged, pipe-exposed, sportsbar-like pub features lacquered cement floors, sundry four-seat wood tables and a few community tables. Resembling an ice cream parlor, perhaps, a large marquee sign (with black lettering listing available proprietary beer and local wines) and overhead bulb lights shine brightly at the 10-seat bar.

The wood-lacquered bar top regales embossed circuit boards, microchips and other IBM ephemera in a corky display and strategically placed TV’s show sports while kids play arcade games.

I stopped in for a few pints on a breezy afternoon, March 2022.

Sloop Brewing Co. @ the Factory - East Fishkill, NY | USA TODAY Support Local Businesses

Traditional gold cleared light body, Classic Pils, placed corn flaked cereal graining next to musky Noble-hopped herbage and sour yellow-orange fruit spicing.

Soft-toned hazy IPA, Grounded Roots, let subtle mandarin orange, yellow grapefruit and peach tanginess and distant passionfruit-gooseberry snips crawl above its mild grassy-hopped oated wheat base.

Tropical-fruited New England-styled IPA, Gentle Whispers, retained a fuzzy vanilla creamed head for the clean Cryo Citra-hopped orange pith, grapefruit, guava, passionfruit and papaya onrush picking up slight pine resin to its grassy hop stead.

Dry West Coast-styled IPA, Low Turbidity, saddled its orange-oiled lemon lollipop tartness and peachy plum whim with dewy clover-honeyed herbal fungi, resembling a muskier English IPA perhaps.

TWELVE PERCENT BEER PROJECT

United States Brewpubs,

Twelve Percent Beer Project - North Haven, CT - Untappd   Twelve Percent Beer Project | North Haven, CT | Beers | BeerAdvocate

NORTH HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

Home of Quinnipiac University, North Haven’s TWELVE PERCENT BEER PROJECT came to fruition February 2020. Inside a pristine beige-walled manufacturing warehouse, Twelve Percent does a great job of source brewing for new businesses as well as supplementing established brewers’ canned and draught product thru quality distribution.

A palate-enclosed patio with plastic furnishings guides patrons to the entrance door. Inside, the cement-floored pub features a few four-seat formica tables, two community tables, a loungey couch area, pillowed banquet wall unit and two overhead doors.

The left side formica-topped bar offered ten seats and twenty white tiled draught lines. An enormous high ceilinged brewing operation occupies the rear glass-encased section.

A bunch of families with young children seize upon Twelve Percent on a cold Saturday at noon, March ’22.

Twelve Percent Beer Project begins brewing in North Haven

During initial stopover, quaffed Twelve Percent’s proprietary Snappy! American Lager and Connecticut Witbier while purchasing fab brews from Abomination, Skygazer, Fat Orange Cat, Marlowe, Barclay and Timber Ales to go (all reviewed in Beer index).

The sky’s the limit for this ample distribution center with on-site draughts for sale.

NIANTIC PUBLIC HOUSE – 2022

United States Brewpubs,

Niantic Public House  Niantic Public House

NIANTIC, CONNECTICUT

After perusing this Long Island Sound-bound watering hole during 2019, NIANTIC PUBLIC HOUSE grew in brewing capacity if not size. But during my March ’22 revisit, Niantic was filled to capacity on Saturday evening so I only grabbed one excellent stout, but returned for more brews at its 1 PM opening on Sunday.

Inside a shared grey brick building across from the boardwalk, this friendly neighborhood tavern has increased their stylish recipes from a mere two (pale ale and Imperial IPA) just three years hence to a full dozen (including seltzers). There were benches set up outside in the parking lot and the 30-seat wood lacquered right side bar (currently with two draught boards) served the front-windowed community tables and a few left side tables.

Also, the owners have done a helluva job with Niantic’s colorful walled artwork. The backbar’s aqua-geared underwater monkey’s a hoot, the orange octopus-occupied front wall’s a gas and the left side’s large whale mural’s simply marvelous.

After consuming the bold stout Saturday eve, I delved into five delightfully divergent IPA’s, a delicate weizenbock, a Belgian blonde and a Czech pils.

Mild golden-cleared Czech pilsner, Conplan – 8888 Motueka, utilized lemon-limed Motueka hops to enliven its peppery herbal tinge above bread crusted graining (and leaving wispy passionfruit-guava snips).

Lemony banana clove sweetness and navel orange tanginess embraced spritzy candi-sugared Belgian blonde moderation, Dog Pile, picking up ancillary lemon meringue, orange marmalade and orange banana cake illusions.

Soft-toned weizenbock, Brian’s Hops For Hope, let mossy dew drip into sweetly soured dried plum, stewed prune and date above subtle caramel malt sugaring.

Evenly spread grapefruit, orange and lemon spicing perked up Imperial IPA, It Takes A Village, putting a lacquered pine veneer on its pale malt sugaring.

Softer and sweeter on the tongue than Villian, polite NEIPA, Honu Sky, spread vanilla cream across orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess and candied lemon licks.

A spicier orange-peeled grapefruit tang occupied wonderful Imperial IPA, Knapp Time, a lightly pined medium body with peachy pineapple dalliances.

Candied mango soaked into mossy fungi gunk for NEIPA, MIPA, plying lemony grapefruit souring to its wet hop stead.

The cleanest, brightest, juiciest NEIPA may’ve been Mosaic-Citra-hopped Mystery Of Juiceboxin’, regaling zesty lemon, tangerine, navel orange and clementine briskness as well as mild pine resin and quirky passionfruit-guava tropicalia.

As for the robustly rich 6th Dimension Milk Stout, its coffee-stained dark chocolate syruping seeped into wood-burnt dark roast hop bittering and tarry charred nuttiness.

TAYLOR BROOKE BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

Taylor Brooke Brewery

WOODSTOCK, CONNECTICUT

A unique family-owned homestead featuring a full-scale brewery and winery, TAYLOR BROOKE BREWERY & WINERY occupies two separate farmhouses up a hill in the historic town of Woodstock.

Inside a maroon aluminum barn with towering brew tanks behind a wood top serving station, Taylor Brooke’s cement-floored main pub space placed community tables underneath glass-cylindered Edison lights and exposed pipes hanging from the high ceiling. A mezzanine area stations the original pilot system.

During March ’22 sojourn, my wife and I discovered nine TB brews and brought a few for the road (reviewed in Beer Index).

Locally grown flaked corn gave light lager, Height Of Luxury, its buttered popcorn pep as spritzy lemon fizz crackled beyond its wispily mossy vegetal souring.

Cocoa-dried Czech dark lager, Throes Of Winter, plied sedate honeyed nuttiness to woody Saaz hop astringency.

Vanilla creamed banana and clove sweetness draped bitter orange peel, grains of paradise tartness and white-peppered lemongrass herbage for Bulrush, a fulsome witbier with a sturdy sugared wheat base.

Easygoing Strawberry Milkshake IPA spread milk-sugared lactose all over mildly tart pureed strawberry, tangy ruby red grapefruit and tertiarily sour passionfruit-guava-kiwi tropicalia.

Mixed fermentation farmhouse ale, Woodstock Veraison, pushed brettanomyces acidity and sour wine yeast into apple-juiced petit Sirah, Frontenac and cayuga must plus dry plum whim. A mouth puckering sour saison.

Fermented on proprietary Corot Noir wine and lightened further by spelt-flaked pilsner malts, Harvest Berliner Weiss gained mild lemon souring, vinous red-green grape esters and briny pinot snips.

Another Harvest Berliner Weiss, influenced by Wild Fox Concord-like grapes and sumac, stayed sharply acidic as salty lemon tartness coalesced with tannic grape-plum dryness above earthen leathering.

Smooth dark-roast chocolate malting led lactic nitro milk stout, Stoggy Hollow, picking up molasses-sapped cinnamon bark resin and latent hazelnut, cola and macadamia illusions.

Creamy vanilla sweetness amplified Bigelow Hollow, letting black coffee-dried cocoa and black malt bittering reach the vanilla frontage above oats-flaked caramel malts and distant walnut-shelled pistachio and macadamia snips.

BLACK POND BREWS

United States Brewpubs,

Black Pond Brews            Photos at Black Pond Brews - 2 tips from 86 visitors

DAYVILLE, CONNECTICUT

Next to farmland in the tiny village of Dayville, BLACK POND BREWS currently occupies a red brick-fronted warehouse with a white brick rear entrance and plastic-benched back porch. Named after a local Woodstock, Connecticut party spot, its original pub was in nearby Killington. The new space offers 500% more capacity for the increased beer volume now produced.

Co-owners Mike Tweed and Coby Smith got together in 2010 and soon won a contest with their Machu Pichu Jalapeno Saison. By 2014, they guided a popular local taproom and got serious about expanding operations, moving the tap house in 2021.

Inside a gray cement-floored storehouse, Black Pond’s wood-topped ten-seat back bar is fronted by plastic benches, creating a splendid casual homey feel. The expansive brew tank area actually takes up the anterior space.

Now equipped with a full kitchen, sandwiches, flatbread pizza, weinerschnitzel and bratwurst join the soft-watered suds and serious spirits menu.

My wife and I tried all six available draughts on our March ’22 Sunday lunchtime stopover. Remarkably, when I perused Black Pond’s website Feb. ’24, all eight draughts were different.

Part of Black Pond’s rotating sour series, lactose-bound Alice Scooper Fruited Smoothie, let its mildly milk-sugared vanilla creaming pick up confectionery cotton-candied strawberry puree to contrast the briny acidulated malt base.

Tart passionfruit-juiced light body, Captain Misbehavior Gose, allowed lemon-oiled pomegranate salting and mild guava-kiwi tropicalia to sit atop its pale straw white wheat base.

Easygoing Baby Tears, a West Coast IPA, brought mildly perfumed lemony grapefruit zesting and tart green grape esters to corn-dried pale malts.

Delicately fruited It’s Fun To Do Bad Things, a hazy New England IPA, placed subtle grapefruit, mandarin and clementine tanginess next to honeyed peach sweetness and mild piney hop bittering above polite vanilla-creamed crystal malting.

Smoky black malts embittered Pond Factory, a coffee-stained dark ale with dry nut-shelled earthiness.

Sweet-toothed dessert ale, Snack River (Red Velvet Cake), plied sweet brown chocolate fudging to mild vanilla-daubed buttercream frosting.

 

BEAR HANDS BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Bear Hands Brewing Company Image result for bear hands brewing putnam

PUTNAM, CONNECTICUT

Residing in the old New England mill town of Putnam, Connecticut’s BEAR HANDS BREWING COMPANY set up shop during February 2020. A bustling tavern near the historic former railroad station, its friendly neighborhood bohemian feel gets captured by ex-homebrewing married couple, Justion and Kayla Trant. Their compact lantern-lit taproom emulates a cozy streetside low-ceilinged English pub. A metal-furnished gated front patio offers further seating as does the lower-level Prohibition Era-styled Speakeasy.

The wood-floored pub features a few four-seat tables. Glass-encased brew tanks are behind the diminutive, eight-stooled, twelve-draught, rear wood bar. Downstairs at the loungy Speakeasy, an L-shaped, wood cabinet-adorned bar with brass draught board services a couched lounge area (with widescreen TV).

Interestingly, alongside the fine food fare and good beers are flights of whiskey, Scotch and mini martinis.

My wife and I had wings and pizza while downing ten fine offerings in the dungeon-like Speakeasy.

Sourdough-grained pilsner malts and corn-dried vegetal whims soothed The Light Kellerbier, a pale malt-lagered moderation with mild cellar musk.

Sweet rice-caked corn entry gained (9% ABV) malt liquored boozing for Imperial Bohemian Pilsner, Czeching Up, leaving spicy lemon licks on the biscuity bottom.

Dewy amber grains sweetened Irish Red Ale, Drunken Leprechaun Rave, letting melanoidin barleycorn scour its murky red-orange fruiting.

Purplish blue-hued Violet Beauregard’s Revenge Blueberry Ale brought tart blueberry puree essence to spritzy lemon zesting and waxy fruit lacquering over a sugary wheat base.

Jolly Rancher-like Crashing The Party (Oh Yeah!) – part of the Juice Box Sour Series – let lemon-limed candied cherry, watermelon, orange and boysenberry tartness form a lollipop guild.

Limey white peach tang and mild orange juicing set up New England IPA, Show Me Triumph, picking up light pine comb bittering to contrast latent saffron-spiced lemongrass daubs.

Zestful orange-peeled grapefruit bittering and dry piney insurgence anchored NEIPA, King DIPHA, placating peach, pineapple and papaya tropicalia.

Creamy brown chocolate and vanilla sweetness upped the toffee-spiced goodness of Jingers Brown Ale, a sweet-toothed sensation.  

Nutty black chocolate resilience guarded Dessert, a rich Imperial Vanilla Coconut Porter with sweet vanilla-teased coconut milking and burnt coffee reminder.

Confectionery peanut butter cup knockoff, Ermegerd, saddled its bittersweet dark cocoa powdering with oily nuttiness and sweet soy saucing for a full-bodied mocha stout.

 

SHUNOCK RIVER BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

Shunock River Brewery & Village Cafe | North Stonington, CT | Beers | BeerAdvocate

NORTH STONINGTON, CONNECTICUT

Inside a historic maroon-shingled Colonial edifice above North Stonington’s riverside rapids, SHUNOCK RIVER BREWERY & VILLAGE CAFE is stationed at an inconspicuous intersection merging residential neighborhoods.

Opening its doors November 29, 2019, Shunock Brewery added a wood-fired pizza oven a year hence. A cozy nanobrewery with small left side brew tank section across the diminutive six draught bar, its windowed frontage features several barrel-top tables while the waterside covered deck provides Edison-lit wood benches for further capacity.

An old hardware store converted into a friendly local cafe, SRB offers casual rustic Americana. Vintage mushroom boarding consumes the chestnut-columned interior and olden wood cabinets adorn the bar.

During my March ’22 one-hour journey, ate green peppered onion-topped pizza with wife while imbibing six approachable suds.

Dry citrus-spiced Eldorado Pale Ale let subtle lemon rind and yellow grapefruit bittering contrast tangy tangerine and mandarin orange misting above musky wood-toned herbage.

Utilizing local pumpkins, moderately maple syrupy North Stonington Pumpkin Ale picked up daintily autumnal cinnamon-sugared nutmeg seasoning for its brown-sugared pumpkin pie dalliance.

Easygoing IPA, River Monster Bitch, brought mild Mosaic-hopped lemony yellow grapefruit bittering to lightly pined Simcoe hops and dry pale malting.

Lactose-laden milkshake IPA confection, Orange Creamsickle, hid its vanilla-creamed orange tartness and lemon meringue piquancy behind dry hop astringency.

Local honey paraded thru lightly maple molasses-sapped Honey Maple Brown Ale, leaving nutty mocha remnants.

Dark chocolate glazed dewy English-styled Cocoa Nib Stout, picking up faded maple walnut coffee tones and sweet hazelnut snips.

MC ALLISTER BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for mc allister brewing

NORTH WALES, PENNSYLVANIA

Completely redesigning and renovating the same blush pink-fronted commercial industrial space defunct brewery, Prism, previously occupied, MC ALLISTER BREWING COMPANY crafts some of the most expressive beers in Pennsylvania. Re-creating a loosely defined Speakeasy feel, this tidy North Wales pub came to fruition December 2018.

Dedicatedly detailed co-owners Mike and Kate Mc Allister got inspired to open their own small brewery during a honeymoon trip to Denver’s Great Ameircan Beer Fest. College friend, Seth Montz (a former military man) then joined the married couple (a cop and nurse) on their nostalgic zymurgic venture, niftily capturing the spirit of yore.

A rustic warehouse turned into a Prohibition Era saloon, this nifty watering hole features a sidewinding 20-seat mid-space mahogany bar with twelve-plus draught handles. Its snazzy original wood floor, reupholstered wood booths, olden red brick walls, exposed ceiling pipes and four front tables retain a certain antiquity.

When the weather’s fare, there’s a roomy metal-furnished front deck with siding for extra seating. A small billiard-centered game room’s to the right upon entering and the brew tanks are behind the bar.

McAllister Brewing Company (North Wales, PA) – Straight From The Tap

My wife and I chow some beer-cheesed pretzels while dabbling with a dozen dandy delectables early February, ’22.

Judiciously combining stylish orange-peeled coriander spicing with tangy peach zest and banana pureed clove sweetness, fulsome witbier, Movin’ To The Country, heightened its fruitful fortitude with spritzy red cherry, pineapple, pink grapefruit and strawberry illusions plus random cucumber-humidified watermelon rind snip. Highly recommended.

Dewily soft-toned yellow-cleared German pilsner, Gras Mahen, let dry perfumed citrus musk seep into lightly spiced cereal graining.

Dryly citric-spiced Winter Lager plied its sharp orange-peeled cinnamon stick adjunct and nutty cocoa tones to subtle woody Chinook/Simcoe-hopped bittering.

Bubbly orange-juiced champagne spritz pervaded Mimosa knockoff, Baller Beermosa, a Citra-hopped moderation with an Orangina soda twist.

Tart blood orange adjunct gathered citric-derived tangerine, clementine and mandarin juicing for Hindsight, a sugary pale malted NEIPA.

Sharp grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and dry wood tones informed Shovel Buddy, a briskly moderate Citra-Apollo-hopped New England IPA.

Packing a punch while retaining a mild mouthfeel, multi-hopped Imperial IPA, Blackthorn, mingled waxy grapefruit-peeled tangerine, mandarin orange and tangelo oiling with resinous dank wood tones and musky grains.

Nutty mocha and sour dried fruiting saddled mossy First Love Brown Ale, allowing black grape, fig and prune desiccation to flourish below the surface.

Confectionery sweet-toothed brown ale, Campfire S’More, loaded yummy vanilla-sugared marshmallow, toffee and butterscotch above its honeyed Graham Cracker base.

Dry cocoa-beaned dark chocolate syrup draped Porter’s Porter, leaving coffee-burnt vanilla tannins on its bitter back end.

Buttery Chardonnay wining, creamy banana liqueur and burnt orange murk grazed tripel-like malt liquor, Clown Puncher, a Scotch-licked, corn-liquored 9% ABV strong ale.

For an early nightcap, rich bourbon vanilla-creamed brown chocolate sweetness anchored Sir Fuzzy Pants, a burgundy-licked bourbon-aged Imperial Stout with hazelnut-glazed pecan, almond, praline and coconut niceties.

PERKIOMEN VALLEY BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

Perkiomen Valley Brewery – Nick Media Productions

GREEN LANE, PENNSYLVANIA

Renegade spousal-owned multifaceted nanobrewery, PERKIOMEN VALLEY BREWERY, honors the local pre-prohibition brewhouse that served 20,000 yearly barrels at its 1919 peak while celebrating the antique artifacts PVB’s former drive-thru bank left behind. A comfortable family-friendly tap room embracing individuals with mobility and sensory issues, owners Kelly and Tom  Weiss have raised two autistic sons who now ably assist this idiosyncratic community haven.

Opened June 21, 2019, the Weiss family’s already crafted 115 sundry brews since inception as of my one-hour visit, early February ’22. An experienced gardener, Kelly’s specialty is foraging for natural ingredients and harvesting botanical herbage for the uniquely eccentric homemade brews emulating from the basement fermentation tanks and the original pilot system situated in the main pub area.

Inspired by John Troegner (Troegs Brewing founder) while on an exploratory brewpub journey, PVB also took inspiration from Illinois’ fabulous farmhouse brewery, Scratch. Two of their best selling flagships include Sadie’s Dandelion Amber Ale and Honeysuckle Golden Ale – both way more offbeat, involving and creative than their staid amber-golden stylistic design.

Wanting an exterior feel, there are LED lights on the blue-grey ceiling, a patio-like porcelain tile floor, sensory room kiosk and fireplace dotting the eight-seat bar. My wife and I conversed with Kelly at one of the cozy outdoor tables while downing nine diversified offerings.

Grand Opening: Perkiomen Valley Brewery; June 21st (Green Lane) - Breweries in PA

Foraged hickory bark toasting and brown-sugared molasses sweetness paced Shagbark Old English Ale, an interestingly offbeat and stylistically advanced Extra Special Bitter with toffee-spiced marshmallow snips lacing dewy Marris Otter malts.

Another distinctively divergent ESB, Bees Knees, a lactic ‘bee-balm’ botanical brew, saddled English tea earthiness with frankincense, sandalwood and cinnamon bark enticement.

Honey-perfumed dandelion sweetness subtly serenaded the juniper-berried citrus zing of Sadie’s Dandelion, a uniquely foraged amber ale with dry Chinook hop wood tones.

Finnish-styled farmhouse hybrid, Sahti To Me, utilized Kveik yeast to promote orange-oiled  pekoe tea, dried fig, bergamot and papaya fruiting in a raw-grained barnyard setting.

Dryly tannic Sequoia-tipped amber grains and mild peated whiskey tones steadied Sequoia Pale Ale, leaving lemon-oiled orange fruiting on the back end.

Dry Noble-hopped Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Ale let tart strawberry rhubarb buttering sink into biscuity kolsch-like malts, picking up mild cranberry-pomegranate souring.

Spruce-tipped pine musk seeped inside grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and the ‘sturdy grain bill’ of Spruced Up Double IPA, a 90-minute-hopped beauty anchored by caramelized pale malting.

Toasted coconut draped the dark chocolate bittering of Kelly’s Gone Coco-nut, a coffee-nutted porter with latent earthy soiling.

An interpretation of an ‘old local dark ale,’ PVB Porter leaned on dry black malts to embitter the peaty earthen scorch, wood-burn hop char and soy sauced fig souring reinforcing syrupy dark cocoa richness.  

CO-HOPS BREWERY & CANNERY

United States Brewpubs,

Co-Hops Brewery; Pennsylvania's First Craft Beer Incubator Opens In Hatfield - Breweries in PA

HATFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA

Taking up 10,000 square feet at a beige brick-fronted Industrial mall in Hatfield (a northwest Philly suburb), versatile independent enterprise, CO-HOPS BREWERY & CANNERY, came into existence during autumn ’21. Pennsylvania’s first full service contract brewing facility opened for public consumption, the proprietary craft beer haven crafts beer for many local startup homebrewers, even creating a few of their own liquid product alongside fine fanfare from Sutton, Radiant, Loso, Bucks County and Langhorne, to name a few.

At Co-Hops, entrepreneurial veteran brewer, Joe Modestine, offers methodological advise, equipment and spirit to the ensuing zymurgic denizens getting readied for regional distribution. His family ran a successful saloon before he began brewing in his garage prior to founding nearby Doylestown Brewing in 2011 .

Modestine prepares kegged and canned suds for on-site/ off-site consumption. The bright blue-floored brewing space backs an inconspicuous serving station inside the beige-walled, high-ceilinged, overhead-doored warehouse. There are tables and benches neatly placed across the ultra-clean cement floor pub.  A small left side lounge with small wood tables and couch serves as a dinky private space while a picnic area with firepits provides outside quaffing.

I consumed three original Co-Hops brews and a few days hence some worthy canned ‘gypgy’ brews by Radiant, Sutton, Steel City, Loso and Like Minds (reviewed in Beer Index) while perusing Co-Hops early February ’22.

Brisk lemon-limed Cashmere hops meet floral-herbed Loral hops for Co-Hops Hazy Pig, a sessionable hazy India Pale Ale with lively tangerine tanginess and resinous pine snips above sugared pale malts.

Bright orange, tangerine and grapefruit tanginess guided spritzy Hatfield Haze, a lightly herbed New England IPA gaining mild mango, guava and starfruit tropicalia.

Dark chocolate syrup draped salty peanuts and sweet coconut for Co-Hops Hawaiian Stout, a dewy full body with distant cold-brewed coffee, espresso and spiced toffee illusions.

IMPRINT BEER CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Imprint Beer Company | Hatfield, PA | Beers | BeerAdvocate ReinBro - Imprint Beer Co. - Untappd

HATFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA

Specializing in ‘lusciously thick stouts to mind melting fruited sours,’ IMPRINT BEER CO. is certainly leaving its unique mark on North Penn Valley’s tiny borough of Hatfield since opening, January 2018. Famous for their neverending line of thickly pulped Schmoojees, basically fluffily creamed marshmallow fruited ambrosia salad knockoffs, these ambitious zymurgists craft some of the most diverse brews north of Philly.

Located at a brick Industrial mall, Imprint’s cement-floored pub sits adjacent to the Quality Tank Solutions brewhouse. Several four-stooled metal tables, wooden benches, front-walled barrels and a kitchen kiosk fill out the rustic overhead-doored tasting room where large silver tanks take up the backspace.

Founding brewer, Ryan Diehl, realized he had to immediately expand his space after operating a small one-barrel nano. Now a mid-sized microbrewery, Imprint’s equipment includes its original 7-barrel fermenters (bought for its first expansion) and a newer 15-barrel system plus an experimental stainless steel brite tank.

HOME

My wife and I try a mild pilsner and lager before grabbing a few impressive stouts, then get a bunch of canned goodies for the road (reviewed in Beer index).

Zesty dry-hopped lupulin oiling gave Czech-styled pilsner, Citra-Galaxy Wallpaper, its mildly bitter IPA-like lemony orange-peeled grapefruit splurge, delicate peachy pineapple tang and clean Seltzer briskness receiving muskily floral-spiced herbage above milled grain malting.

Another cleanly dry citric-bent moderation, Game Face Helles Lager, retained spritzy grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering for pale lagered mineral graining.

As for the two richly creamed stouts, lactose-bound Vanilla Rye Imperial Stout boasted chewy Madagascar and Mexican vanilla luxuriance for its nutty rye-spiced black chocolate density.

Richly rewarding confectionery milk stout, Dunkable Nilly, let Nilla wafer sweetness entice resilient vanilla ice-creamed brown chocolate milking as tertiary bruised black cherry, toasted almond and praline illusions reached its fudgy vanilla mocha finish.