Category Archives: United States Brewpubs

MC CALL COLLECTIVE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

McCall Brewing's New Taphouse In Breinigsville To Open Saturday, May 28th - Breweries in PA

ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

Inside a gothic dormer-windowed Victorian homestead, Allentown’s charmingly wood-furnished beer cafe, MC CALL COLLECTIVE BREWING COMPANY, opened August 29, 2020 and soon moved to nearby Breinigsville -see photo above. Family-owned and operated by Kaitlin, Chris and Matthew Mc Call, whose colorfully designed array of beers flow from two 12-tap draught stations, this homey neighborhood street-cornered  brewhouse also features fine traditional pub fare, local wines and craft spirits.

Detailing Mc Call Collective’s parlor-like ambience are the standard cafeteria tables, low exposed pipes, steel-framed studio lights, hanging pendant lamps and light Industrial sway. Right side silver brew tanks and a few windowed seats take up the rest of this cozily refined first floor space.

Gathering at the gray L-shaped marble top bar, my wife and I grab eleven brews early in the afternoon during December ’20 at the original site pictured below.

McCall Collective brewery opening Saturday in Allentown – The Morning Call

Mild light lager, the spitefully snickering Lyte Done Ryte, offered a devious alternative to superficial Miller-Coors-Bud fodder. Its pleasantly spiced lemon-sugared spritz picked up wispy white wine esters and grassy hop musk over casual oats flaked graining.

Easygoing autumnal marzen, Better Call Fall, let dewy leafy-hopped foliage settle alongside crisp amber-grained toasting as spicy dried fruiting wavered below.

Lemon-peeled orange tanginess brightened Collective Contributions Wheat Ale, a brisk Mosaic/ El Dorado-hopped moderation hiding bready biscuit malts.

A fleeting corn-malted lemon spurt received resinous Nugget hop herbage and spicy floral accents for traditional cream ale, Shucksquehanna.

Spruce-tipped double dry-hopped West Coast Pale Ale, I Voted Today, contrasted its juniper-nipped hop pining with orange cotton-candied sugaring and wafting floral sweetness above gentle wheat wafer flouring.

Knocking off a cinnamon donut pastry, adjunct blonde ale, Cinnablonde, crossed its initial sugary dough spicing with lactose-soured lemon tartness and delicate citric-hopped astringency.

Tart peach goodness soaked up lemon-soured green grape esters for Peach Hittin’ Dingers, leaving wispy apricot, tangerine and lime nips.

Sessionable Little Lehigh India Pale Ale stayed smooth as lemony grapefruit briskness and mandarin orange tartness invited modest piney hop astringency.

Juicily tropical-fruited ‘hazy’ NEIPA, Lehigh IPA, stepped forward with its tangy pineapple, mango and orange glaze gaining sweet nectarine and tart plantain illusions to push back the resinous piney hop pungency.

Coffee-roasted amber graining embedded caramelized toffee malts for Roast Malone, an adjunct red ale with red and orange fruiting nipping at the mild mocha influence.

Decadent stroop-waffled cookie wafer knockoff, Stroop Kid Imperial Stroopwafel Stout, added dark chocolate syrup to pastry-sugared cinnamon raisin breading, molasses cookie sweetness and mild vanilla creaming.   

SEVEN SIRENS BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Seven Sirens Converts Parking Garage In Bethlehem To Future Brewery - Breweries in PA

BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA

Occupying a spacious 8,500 square-foot converted garage, SEVEN SIRENS BREWING COMPANY came to fruition Valentine’s Day 2020. The Bethlehem-based beer hall’s rustic simplicity gets reinforced by its beautiful antique oak-mantled bar (with old fashion subway tiles and 20-plus draught handles), wagon wheel light fixtures, round metal tables, epoxy floor and exposed pipes.

A sturdy blue-stained concrete bar top complements the ocean blue-lit art display at the aquamarine-walled right side (with skeeball game). A few window seats and community tables fill out the front while brew tanks crowd the rear section. The rooftop beergarden adds extra seating and the Sirens Lair above the brewhouse is available for overnight visitors. A mid-floor open space shows off kegs assembled as a Christmas tree for the upcoming holiday.

Head brewer Joshua Divers was a former Sam Adams Longshot Homebrew competitor whose beers range far and wide from hazy IPA’s to a smoked red ale to a nitro stout and lactic sour on my initial perusal.

Though Seven Sirens is out of its best-selling mainstays, Stargazer IPA, and Hands-Free Satchel Milkshake IPA, my wife and I tried a dozen fab elixirs during our two-hour Friday night stay, early December ’20.

Seven Sirens Brewing Company – Beer that sings to you! Seven Sirens Brewing Company  Seven Sirens Brewing Company Case Study | Fromm

Sweet oats sugaring picked up leafy Chinook-hopped oiling for soft-toned Harvey’s Tale, an autumnal harvest ale with desolate orange fruiting slipping into amber-grained Maris Otter malting.  

Another fall seasonal, Where’s My Uggs, a pumpkin-spiced pale ale soaked in rum oak staves, let perfumed ginger cologne upstage cinnamon-nutmeg sweetness and syrupy yam snips.

Cherrywood-smoked maple syruping sweetened alongside bacon-fatty cured meatiness for Liquid Breakfast Smoked Red Ale, a rauchbier-inspired moderation with earthen amber graining and light rye tones.

Wayward wintry-spiced saison, Pardon My French, let candied orange spicing, dry cherry licks and crystal-malted caramelized Scotch licks lay atop biscuit flouring.

Lactic tropical fruit waxing guided Dor Ray Doe, a Session IPA with wafting lemon cologne, delicate white wheated minerality and dry El Dorado/Azacca-hopped sour-candied tartness.

Another sessionable IPA, Smashin’ Passion, spread tart passionfruit goodness all over salted green grape-guava-kiwi tropicalia and grassy pine wisps.

Soft-toned, double dry-hopped Full Battle Rattle IPA brought perfumed citrus alacrity to earthen pine resin that seeped into pilsner-malted white wheat.

Mellow New England IPA, Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy, permitted yellow Pez-candied tartness to saturate mandarin orange, dry gin and herbal licks in a grassy hop setting.  

Smoothly creamed lactose sugaring guarded beige yellow-hazed double dry-hopped NEIPA, Please Scroll Up, allowing juniper-embittered grapefruit juicing to mingle with sour lemon liming and modest peppery spicing.

Yet another hazy NEIPA, Not So Silent Night, a tartly sour ale conditioned on banana, passionfruit and strawberry, put limey pomegranate acidity into its celery-watered herbage while its three adjunct fruits meandered.

Sweet-tart Zangerine Sour, a lactose-aided ale conditioned on tangerine-peeled cranberry, gained lightly salted citrus acidity and Pez-like powder-candied tartness.

Fascinating Irish Car Bomb knockoff, Cormac’s Revenge Nitro Stout, brought fudgy brown and white chocolate creaminess to the fore as caramelized vanilla, dry cocoa, caffe latte, chocolate eclair, creme brulee and black cherry notions circulated.

 

BRU DADDY’S BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Brü Daddy's Brewing | Allentown PA Brewery & Restaurant

ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

Inside an elongated red brick Speakeasy built during 1849, BRU DADDY’S BREWING CO. opened for biz November ’19. Its antique art deco tin ceiling, chalky brick-walled interior and authentic Italian-tiled pizza oven provide perfect Prohibition Era relics while the gated right side beer garden with black metal trellis adds picnic-tabled seating.

Entrepreneurial owner Kevin Ryan, whose high school research project concerned beer fermentation, became a home brewer before handling the large-scale operation at this regal downtown Allentown spot (one block from Fegley’s Brew Works).

Recently, Ryan handed head brewing duties to Todd Reinhart, who’d worked at Free Will and Two Rivers breweries. Using Oxford, Ohio’s Steinkeller Bavarian Bier Hall as its interior design model, Bru Daddy’s liquid fare runs the gamut from German styled creations (a marzen and schwarzbier during this stopover) to Americanized IPA’s, a Belgian quad, porter, nitro cream ale, wheat ale and sour ale.

As I sit at the white marbled bar early December ’20, there are 30-plus tap handles (at two separate stations), a big blackboard beer listing and several TV’s. Near the front window are a few tables and down a narrow hall past the kitchen is the silver tank-laden, cement-floored brew room. A metal staircase leads to the loft dining space.

My wife and I loved the Rocket Root Prosciutto Pizza while consuming eleven delightful elixirs.

BRU DADDY'S Brewing Co. Restaurant - Allentown, PA | OpenTable  Trivia Night at Brü Daddy's

Silken nitrogenated moderation, Oh Jenny Jenny Cream Ale, let muted maize-dried oats pick up sour lemon rot, tart rhubarb and earthen root veg notions.

Traditional German marzen, Vaterfest, stayed subtle as sweet peat mossing, leafy hop foliage and tart orange-rotted fig placate mild vegetal fungi earthiness over Blackstrap molasses-dipped Vienna malting.

Stylishly hybridized wheat ale, American Harmony, lent lime-salted bittering to musky honey blossom perfuming, sweet clover honey mildness and dark floral notions atop wild oats flouring.   

‘Beautifully complex’ Odd Quad of Todd, a candi-sugared Belgian dark ale conditioned on Iraqi date syrup, brought crystal malt-spiced raisin, plum and fig to caramelized date in a soothingly dried fruited glaze.

Tropical fruited New England Pale Ale, Soldiers & Sailors, unloaded orange-juiced mango, guava and pineapple tanginess all over grassy hop astringency.

Flagship double dry-hopped NEIPA, Haze Daddy, retained a mellow grapefruit-juiced orange rind bittering, pine-licked grassy hop astringency and spicy crystal malt tingle.

Zestful Imperial IPA, Grandaddy Haze: 2nd Edition, let candied orange, salted mango and tangy pineapple reach tropical effervescence above its gentle wheated oats base.

Lactic Imperial IPA, Center Square “State Of Mind”, engaged yogurt-milked souring with low-key peach and mango pureed adjuncts, gaining citrus-juiced piney hop resin at the brisk finish.

Tart oaken cherry-pureed cranberry juicing graced mildly lactic Sour Senorita: Cran-Cherry, an effervescent sour-candied sucker with hard cider hints.

Dark-lagered bittersweet chocolate malts and roasted hop char combined with withered dried fruiting for satisfying schwarzbier, Black Sheep, leaving day-old coffee tones upon the chalky mocha backend.

S’mores-like lactose porter, Camp Sandwich, conditioned on Madagascar vanilla and cocoa nibs, wedged marshmallow-toasted chocolate sweetness into its honeyed Graham Cracker base for a decadent vanilla mocha dessert treat.

TWO TON BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

KENILWORTH, NEW JERSEY

Occupying an unfinished white brick-walled warehouse in the Central Jersey Borough of Kenilworth, TWO TON BREWING originally came aboard as gypsy brewers in 2014 (utilizing Climax and High Point), opening its current taproom facility during 2018.

Two Ton’s raw one-room space features a 12-plus draught board at the bark-sided mahogany serving station, a few wood tables, several silver brew tanks, an overhead back door (leading to the makeshift beer garden) and exposed ceiling ducts.

Owned and operated by brothers Matt and Jim and their Cubs-rooting father, Mario “Doc” Barbiere, Two Ton’s family trio crafts enjoyable one-offs and some recurring brews, leaning heavily on crisply clean IPA’s.

At the patio-furnished beer garden, I quaffed all available tapped fare, picking up a bottle of the fabulous lactic-aided Field Artillery Russian Imperial Stout (reviewed separately in the Beer Index) during Sunday afternoon pre-Halloween ’20.

About Us — Two Ton Brewing

 

Nifty autumnal seasonals included dewy cereal grain-spiced Octbroberfest, a sedately appealing marzen with maple oats sweetness contrasting its leafy hop herbage. Also, dry Booing Pumpkin gathered gourdy ginger-spiced pleasantries, meshing mild brown-sugared nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice seasoning with sweet potato, acorn squash and buttercup pumpkin illusions.

Elegantly smooth Wrought Gold Blond utilized fruity English ale yeast to secure its polite lemony blood orange tartness and dry hop spicing above sweet doughy pilsner malts.

Liberated Lispering Gardens Saison spread floral cologne-perfumed bruised lemon tartness across pine-lacquered lavender oiling atop earthen barnyard leathering.

Soft-tongued Citra/Loral-hopped Robot Insurance New England IPA retained a juicily dry tropical fruiting above delicate crystal malts, mildly astringent grassy hop herbage, mikld pine tones and wafting floral nuances, bursting forth with tangy lemon-peeled grapefruit, navel orange, pineapple, mango, honeydew, peach and tangerine regalia.

Zestfully sharp Diamond Star Halo NEIPA let lemony grapefruit and orange rind bittering deepen its dry frontage, picking up peachy tangerine illusions above its pale malt spicing.

Another New England-styled IPA, The Fiffer, allowed limey coconut-milked grapefruit and orange rind bittering to accrue pine lacquered juniper musk.

Rummy coconut toasting sweetened confectionary nitro smoothie, Identity Crisis Coconut Brown Ale, a delicious dessert treat.

Creamily rich Extra Special Chocolate Vanilla Stout crammed Madagascar vanilla bean sugaring into Dutch cocoa splendor, bulking up its dry dark chocolate rummage with cedar-burnt cumin spicing and cayenne peppered coconut snips in fine dessert fashion.

Ancient Blues music was playing on the loud speakers when my wife and I revisited Two Ton, February ’21 to try a few more worthy suds.

Maize-dried herbal perfumed hops and mild lemon spicing dotted mild grain-husked muskiness for Crispy Boi, a moderate German-styled pale lager.

Salty dog knockoff, Cap’n Vic’s Salty Dog Gose, possessed crisply clean limey sea salting and lemon-twisted vodka briskness.

Buttery jasmine rice adjunct and tamped down hop restraint mellowed out juicy-fruited Super Saiyan Wild Rice IPA, as grapefruit-peeled mandarin orange and tangerine zesting enjoined candied pineapple tartness.

Lupulin-powdered herbal citrus zesting fronted NEIPA, Brothers From Another Mother, bringing bright grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering to grassy hop astringency.

Rounded amber-cleared Imperial IPA, Hammer & Ale, combined orange vodka punch with candied Gummy Bear tartness and rummy molasses sweetness above pastry-like malt sugaring.

Creamy caramelized wheat malting fortified Laird’s Wee Heavy, a heavenly Scottish ale with spiced toffee, roasted tobacco, dewy peat moss and almondine wine serenity.      

ELICIT BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for elicit breweing

MANCHESTER, CONNECTICUT

“Restaurateurs at heart and beer drinkers by liver,” ELICIT BREWING COMPANY began proving that motto November 2019. Inside a spacious red brick warehouse right along the Adams Mill Trail in Manchester, Connecticut’s rural wooded area just outside its small urban center, Elicit pairs brewer Brian Ayers’ wonderful rotating liquid fare and fab one-off concoctions with respectable pub food.

A large front deck and even roomier rear Beergarden (with spiffy Marilyn Monore wall painting, two firepits, patio furnishings and stringed Edison lights) surround the epoxy-floored, high ceilinged millhouse. Combining a beer hall, cocktail bar, lounge and arcade, Elicit offers fifty draught lines (with a bakers dozen home brews plus several local elixirs) at its white marble-topped bar.

A comfy foyer welcomes patrons to the sportsbar-like brew house. Right side community tables and high-back seating are available and to the left are windowed brew tanks and a separate kitchen. The brick walls are decorated by dramatic curved PVC beams. Several games sidle the main space.

My wife and I grab pizza and tacos for dinner while consuming thirteen rangy suds at the Beergarden September ’20. The following day, we took the dog for a walk along the river-bound Adams Mill Trail.

Elicit Brewing in Manchester opens with food, cocktails, karaoke and arcade games - Hartford Courant

Corn-sugared lemon snips and floral perfumed spicing seeped into musky wet grains and herbal Tettnanger hops for German-styled Das Crisp Boi, a fine pilsner-Vienna malted pale lager.

Lemon-spiced crystal malt sweetness and grassy hop astringency plied Resilience Pale Ale, leaving a trail of guava, gooseberry and green grape tartness.

Spiced red-orange fruiting gained toasted caramel sweetness and a nutty remnant for Speling Bee Champion, a durable misspelled red ale with pithy lemon and tangerine peel illusions.

Stylishly dryer due to Hallertau Blanc-hopped green grape esters, Hefe Lifting brought mild white-peppered herbage to standard hefeweizen banana-clove spicing.

Juicy pineapple puree tartness embittered the lemony banana-clove expectancy of Yodeling Cherubs Pineapple Hefeweizen, a sharply tropical fruited offshoot of Hefe Lifting.

Lemony grapefruit zest brightened its bittersweet peach adjunct for crisply clean Doin’ Just Peachy, a spritzy fruited wheat ale with mild wood lacquering seeping into the honeyed wheat spine.

Lemon-soured green grape esters fronted Little Bo Blanc, an herbal Hallertau Blanc-hopped saison with leathery barnyard acridity countering the sweet wheat base.

Pink Himalayan sea-salted  gose, Dueling Libations Margarita, sprayed freshly-squeezed blood orange-pureed key lime tartness atop Tequila-twisted agave for a perfect cocktail re-creation.

Lactic Dueling Libations Pina Colada unleashed creamy vanilla sweetness upon lemony orange zest, pineapple puree and coconut rum nearly as convincingly as its Margarita competition.

Sunny tropical fruiting gained honey-spiced pale malting for Drink This Outdoors, a sessionable IPA with yellow grapefruit, orange, pineapple and peach luster.

Extraordinary Marriage Counseling Double IPA stayed briskly clean as rummy pineapple-coconut tropicalia sweetened its lemony orange zesting and tangy peach reminder above sugary pale malts.

Black-malted dark chocolate dryness embellished Eligible Bachelor, a mildly nutty brown ale with light coffee roast.

Freeze-dried coffee tones led Nostrovia!, a slightly bitterer Imperial Stout with ashen walnut contrasting glazed hazelnut sugaring beneath the java surface.

LABYRINTH BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Labyrinth Brewing Company

MANCHESTER, CONNECTICUT

Three ‘beer wizards’ control the tanks at Manchester, Connecticut’s LABYRINTH BREWING COMPANY, a rustically retro warehoused brewpub opened autumn 2018.

The natural elegance of the hard wood floor, the antique charm of the exposed brick walls and the post-Colonial design of the factory-like wood ceiling (with exposed pipes) provide a casual warmth deepened by the lounge-y back cornered gas fireplace section.

A large wood slab-lacquered L-shaped bar spreads across the entranceway seating and the main space – where bottled Edison bulbs wind around a wagon wheeled overhead panel in glorious olden pub fashion.

I conversed with Adam De Laura, one of the entrepreneurial brewers at Labyrinth, mid-September ’20, while Steely Dan played in the background, quaffing nearly all the available brews.

LABYRINTH BREWING COMPANY Trademark of Labyrinth Brewing Company. Serial Number: 88339399 :: Trademark Elite Trademarks

Easygoing lemony orange-spiced Athena’s Wit allowed delicate floral sweetness to seize upon coriander-spiced chamomile herbage above its white wheat base.

Mellow dried fruited nuttiness anchored Mr. Dunkel, a dewy chocolate-malted Munich-styled dark ale with fading fig-dried pecan finish.

Fulsome Red Ale, Electrum Tears, placated chestnut-shelled pecan tones, tart red-orange fruiting and crisp tobacco roasting with leafy hop foliage.

Piney citric East Coast-styled Pan’s IPA brought floral-perfumed grapefruit, orange and lemon zesting to its moderate wood-lacquered hop bittering.

Flagship New England India Pale Ale, Turbo Love Juice, let lemony pineapple, orange and mango tropicalia inform its spritzy tingle as hop-oiled bittering contrasted crystal malt sugaring.

Silken NEIPA, Hesperia, let its mildly embittered grapefruit peel frontage gain sour lactose milking  and wispy mango snips over acidulated pale malting.

Another NEIPA, hazily yellow-marbled Champion Of The Sun, brightened the tongue with spryly embittered pineapple-juiced grapefruit tanginess and salted mango-guava serenity, gaining yogurt-milked lactic acidity at the lightly spiced tropical fruit finish.

Raspy orange-peeled tangerine tartness consumed Siren’s Song Orange Tangerine, a superb fruited sour ale with lemon-limed salinity atop its delicate white wheat spine – recalling a spritzy Orangina soft drink.

BROKEN SYMMETRY GASTRO BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

Broken Symmetry Gastro Brewery - Restaurant | 5 Depot Pl, Bethel, CT 06801, USA

BETHEL, CONNECTICUT

Inside a maroon cabin (with forest green base) that served as a former Bethel train depot, BROKEN SYMMETRY GASTRO BREWERY started slingin’ suds March 2018. Specializing in varied one-off brews and delectable San Diego-styled Mexican food, Broken Symmetry sports fourteen tap handles and a mezzanine level kitchen.

Its cozily clustered interior features a stainless-steel slate-topped bar, two community tables, side-walled dining spots and rear five-barrel brewing system. Clear individually designed Edison lights hang from the rustic vaulted wood beam ceiling. A right side patio and railroad seating area fill out the pub space.

My wife and I grab four home brews plus tasty burritos, tacos and nachos during our mid-September ’20 perusal. And I got a few growlers to go (also reviewed below).

Broken Symmetry Gastro Brewery

Fair light-bodied opener, Aztec Sky Pale Lager, permits mildly lingered wet-grained musk and dry maize astringency to puncture its cloy pale malting.

Heavy herbal influence beckons for muskily spelt-grained aluminum yellowed light body, Wheat Ale with Spelt Malt, masking sour lemon licks.

Mild pineapple tartness greeted lemony orange zest for Solar Sail New England Pale Ale, a mildly lactic tropical fruited tonic.

Waxy yogurt-soured pineapple, gooseberry and guava tartness grazed vanilla-creamed crystal malting for Nimbus NEIPA, a dry-bodied hazily golden Imperial with juicily citric hop bluster and dank pine resin.

Bright IPA-like yellow grapefruit zesting and grassy-hopped juniper bittering embellished saison-related spiced orange sweetness, herbal farmhouse acridity and herbal sage licks for Farmhouse Style Double India Pale Ale, a sharp stylistic combo worth exploring.

Zestful Belgian-styled golden strong ale, Attraction Tripel, retained lemon meringue, peach melba, Bananas Foster and spiced orange serenity over salty herbal-peppered pilsner malting.

Rich Square Of Ten Quad let rum raisin and fig sweetness seep into maple-molasses-sapped chocolate malts, leaving subtle cardamom, cola, chestnut and Scotch licks in the recess.

 

CLEMSON BROTHERS BREWERY @ GILDED OTTER

United States Brewpubs,

Clemson Bros. Brewery Announces Acquisition of The Gilded Otter   Clemson Bros. Brewery purchases Gilded Otter in New Paltz

NEW PALTZ, NEW YORK

The former home of Gilded Otter was bought out by CLEMSON BROTHERS BREWERY in 2018. Retaining Gilded Otter’s beautiful wood designed stone interior, this New Paltz landmark provides a casual lodge feel that’s essential to the bucolic forest-laden Catskills surroundings. Central brew tanks service the front bar, side-walled tables, bronze-tanked serving station, mezzanine seating and outside deck.

Upon September ’20 visit, tried two rangy dessert beers after one bold morning time eye-opener.

Black patent malted-dark chocolate bittering gained an espresso-nipped cocoa nibs resilience and walnut-burnt hop char above the molasses oats base of Monday Morning Breakfast Stout, leaving latent anise-dried bourbon wisps when warmed.

Almost re-creating a blueberry muffin, Blueberry Gunx Pale Ale lacquered its honeyed wheat pancake batter with blueberry puree tartness above mild dewy hop earthiness.

Pina Colada-like cocktail, I Dream Of Coconuts Cream Ale, regaled coconut-toasted pineapple tanginess and cotton-candied marshmallow goodness with mild lime-rimmed Margarita salting underlined by nearly cloy sponge cake, vanilla cake, overripe cantaloupe, confectionary butterscotch and buttery toffee sweetness.

 

TWO WEEKS NOTICE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Two Weeks Notice Brewing Co. plans to open 'by late summer' in West Springfield - masslive.com

WEST SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS

Described as a ‘punk rock space’ with a serious ‘resignation theme,’ TWO WEEKS NOTICE BREWING COMPANY began operations about a year before opening its pub in West Springfield May ’19. Urging its minions to ‘quit what doesn’t make you happy or fulfilled,’ this unique bohemian outpost occupies a nondescript industrial storage container-fronted warehouse just a mile-and-a-half from the State Capital.

A black awning with white Two Weeks Notice insignia leads to the foyer entrance. In the low ceiling cement-floored main space, a beautiful blackened gray marble lacquered L-shape bar (with ten draught lines, Edison lights and prominent beer listing) consumes the right wall while a benched dining area and tented side deck provide seating.

A seven-barrel brewing system run by lankily musicianly head brewer, Mark Avery, is in the rear.

I stopped by on a rainy Wednesday afternoon late August ’20 to try two interesting one-off brews while picking up a few more for off-site consumption.

Easygoing New Zealand-hopped pale ale, Stealing Happy Hour, brought lactic yogurt-like souring to puckered guava-gooseberry tartness, tannic green grape esters and zesty yellow grapefruit bittering over delicate oats-flaked white wheat in a crystalline watercress setting.

A zesty lemon thrust blazed thru kettle-soured Severance Package #6, resembling a hard-candied watermelon Jolly rancher given orange-tangerine lollipop licks and mild vanilla-extracted bittering.

Two Weeks Notice | The Worthy Brewfest

I quaffed the following super suds in can at home a few days hence.

Though TWN is currently out of flagship, Resignation, its other year-round India Pale Ale, West Side Rig Slide IPA, proved worthy. One of Two Weeks Notice’s best and boldest ‘hop-forward ales,’ utilizing Vic Secret, Citra and Motueka hops, its profound yellow grapefruit luster, oncoming passionfruit blast, juicy pineapple splatter and ripe orange tang gained sticky pine lacquered grain alcohol musk over super-sugary pale malt spicing.

Crisply clean light-bodied PTO Pilsner brought mildly tart lemon spicing and sweet corn-sugared crystal malting to a spritzy head in straightforward fashion.

Soft-toned citric farmhouse ale Punch Card Grisette retained a flattish dry mouthfeel for its tart raspberry adjunct, recalling a salty lemon-fizzed sour raspberry spritzer with mild  barnyard acridity and latent cherry-cranberry riffs.

Unbalanced lawnmower beer, Perfect Review Batch #15 Kolsch, slapped vinous white-wined cider souring and wavered herb-spiced citrus tones above sourdough-breaded pilsner malts.

Crisply vigorous West Coast-styled Sticky Note Pale Ale allowed piney hop resin to usurp its dry juniper-nipped grapefruit and orange bittering.

Feathery Perfect Review Batch #17 IPA, a golden-hazed New England-styled charmer with lemony grapefruit-seeded bittering softly caressing tangy orange-spiced sugaring, let distant grassy-hopped cannabis oiling seep into the salty bottom of its fizzy placidity.

Pale aluminum-yellowed Fake Saturday Session IPA stayed crisply clean as brisk yellow grapefruit fizzing gained tingly mandarin orange snip and light white peppering over bready pilsner malting with affable light-bodied simplicity.

Ambitious dessert treat, Pink Slip Milkshake IPA, brewed with lactose and conditioned on mango-pureed strawberry, brought milk-sugared vanilla creaming to heavenly strawberry shortcake sweetness. its tart mango and strawberry adjuncts gained zesty tangerine, spritzy orange and tangy lemon cake splendor.

SKYLINE BEER COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Brew Dog of the Month: Vic of Skyline Beer Company | Mass Brew Bros

WESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS

Bringing ‘good vibes’ to the Bay State’s Pioneer Valley, SKYLINE BEER COMPANY began slingin’ suds in Westfield during December 2019. A cafeteria-styled tan paneled refuge perfect for families and friends as well as voyaging beer aficionados, Skyline’s rangy brewpub offerings go well with casual pub fare.

Previously, Skyline operated in downtown Westfield, converting a 32-seat coffeeshop into a craft beer bar carrying the best local beers and selling beer supplies. At this friendly epoxy-floored farmhouse outpost, the quaint pine-barked polyurethane bar (with top shelf liquor competing with 12-plus taps) services three windowed corner pews, two large community tables, a right side dining area and spacious outdoor deck. Spiffy orange-red-floored brew tanks regale the rear and stakes were placed where the inevitable backyard expansion will begin.

Head brewer Dana Bishop concentrates on more traditional styles such as pilsners and stouts while assistant Lisa Pac pushes for ‘outta the box’ sour ales – kinda going outside Bishop’s comfort zone. Meanwhile, experienced chef, Dan Osella, delivered delicious wings and a marvelous Caprese sandwich to my wife and I during our late August ’20 dinnertime sojourn.

Happily, we discovered twelve irresistible brews, well-balanced and creatively detailed, before heading out.

Skyline Beer Company - Takeout & Delivery - 10 Photos - Beer Bar - 98 Southwick Rd, Westfield, MA - Restaurant Reviews - Phone Number - Yelp

Brusquely musky moderation, Noble View Pilsner, retained earthen grain must for its mild herbal-tinged lemon pith bittering expiditiously.

Maize-dried lemon rot scoured lagered yeast moderation, Landscape Kolsch, leaving a barnyard-leathered Noble hop kale trail.

Clean-watered pineapple puree briskness embellished citric Mosaic hop sunshine and piney Eldorado hop resin for Summa Slammah Pale Ale, brightening its sweet ‘n sour pineapple tartness with tangy lemon-peeled grapefruit zesting.

Tart lemon-swirled raspberry pureed fruit ale, Raspberry Jam, gathered green grape, cranberry and oaken cherry souring to elevate its candied raspberry theme over delicate white wheat malts.

An even fruitier experience, Strawberry Fields, spread tart strawberry jam atop cinnamon apple sweetness, cranberry bittering, boysenberry buttering and Graham Cracker sugaring.

Soothingly tropical-fruited Imperial IPA, Cobble Mountain Critter, allowed dry-hopped grapefruit-peeled orange zest to enrapture spiced peach-mango sweetness as dank hemp resin spread across its grassy basin.

Brilliant NEIPA, Fire, amplified zesty lemon luster and grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering above mild pale malt sugaring, relegating its sour strawberry rhubarb tinge.

Fabulous Pina Colada knockoff, Escape IPA – Milkshake, brought mild lactic souring to salted lemony pineapple and coconut puree tartness as well as pink guava snips, rummy Margarita licks and resinous pine tones in a creamy vanilla setting.

Subtle blood orange tartness picked up spritzy lemon-limed salting for Margarita-soured Berliner Weiss, Blaze Orange, a gently woodruff-syruped cocktail.

Lemon-limed white wining absorbed raspberry vinaigrette acidity and dry limestone salting for beet red-marbled Triple BerryTrail Mix, a fruited sour ale with tertiary blueberry tartness and hard cider bite.

Dry Irish “Goodbye” Stout let coffee-stained dark chocolate, cocoa and carob pick up lightly walnut-seared hop bittering and raw-honeyed oats toasting.

Bitter coffee-induced dark chocolate black malting gained brown-sugared maple oats sweetness for Bumby’s Black Oat Imperial Stout, grafting hop-charred nuttiness onto its mocha-spiced finish.

NEW CITY BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

new city brewing  New City Brewing | Valley Beer Trail

EASTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS

In the same dusky warehouse facility as Abandoned Building Brewery and INSA marijuana dispensary, NEW CITY BREWERY began brewing Jamaican-style hard ginger beers in 2013 and opened this mill-based locale during 2015 before expanding its recipes to include non-ginger offerings. An inconspicuous black awning with white New City lettering fronts the red brick edifice housing this large microbrewery.

New City’s Cathedral ceiling, expansive dining space, aluminum-stooled L-shaped bar, oaken wood splendor and exposed pipes provide chilling rusticity. The community-tabled patio with red-stamped concrete floor offers plentiful outdoor seating. And the pavilion walkway and park behind the lot offers casual charm. I perused New City during August ’20.

New City Brewery

Cane-sugared ginger sweetness received salted lemon-limed juicing for New City Hard Ginger Beer, attaching its initial bay-leafed gingered citrus rush to pineapple-splashed white pepper heat and recessive maple sapping for a nifty Jamaican ginger beer.

Ginger-spiced Moscow mule knockoff, New City Mule, retained a clean vodka nip in fairly authentic manner. Light white pepper heat lined the salty cocktail confection best served over ice.

Dry light-bodied wheat ale, Summer, let lemony mandarin orange subtlety coalesce with piney citrus-splashed effervescence, leafy hop foliage and tart apple-skinned quince blintz.

A fruitier version, Blood Orange Summer, embellished its adjunctive tart blood orange splash with perfumed tangerine musk, mild grassy hop astringency and dry pale malting.   

Easygoing Berliner Weiss, Bramble Weiss, the ‘brewers fruitiest sour ale,’ leveled off spritzy raspberry and black cherry tartness for lemon-limed brambleberry sourness atop lightly salted white wheat malting. A positively laidback summertime soft drink.

Tart green grape esters gain sour lemondrop influence and grapefruit-pineapple-tangerine notions for Local Harvest Farmhouse Ale. But rustic herbal spicing and whiskey-soured cider slipstream falter at the wet-grained barnyard basin.

Sessionable Fenway Froth Session IPA gave its spicy grapefruit-peeled orange rind presence a bright floral bouquet, leaving piney Ekuanot hop resin to contrast the delicate crystal malt creaminess.

Equally approachable Citra-Mosaic-Simcoe-hopped Valley Flyer Hazy IPA brought tangy orange-peeled grapefruit zesting and advertised ‘clementine, apricot and papaya’ smidge to dry wood density and herbal respite in mildly bitter manner.

Tarry black-malted dark chocolate bittering paced Pioneer Valley Porter, leaving hop-charred blackstrap molasses, cinnamon bark and burnt walnut illusions to contrast less profound almond-hazelnut pasting.    

WHITE LION BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

White Lion Brewing Company | Brewbound.com

SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS

In the heart of Pioneer Village’s capital city, WHITE LION BREWING COMPANY became Springfield’s first modern brewery in late 2020. Right off Route 90 in the rear of the UMass Center, this capacious sportsbar-like brewery is owned by local entrepreneurial publican, Raymond Berry, a well-respected urban revivalist.

Upon entering, White Lion’s extremely long left side bar services glass-windowed Main Street tables, a VIP lounge and a few chaired tables. Its silver-barreled platform brew tanks are set behind glass. Manned by skillfully rounded brewmeister, Mike Yates (formerly of Amherst and Berkshire breweries), this mass appeal upscale gastropub’s black art deco ceiling, exposed pipes and roomy elegance give the mall-bound joint a mod Industrial feel.

I bought a few White Lion offerings for the road during August ’20 – while the place was still getting finished for late autumn opening.

Flagship Citra-Mosaic-hopped 2.0 Pale Ale retained laidback grapefruit-orange tanginess  and delicate quince-grape-melon hints for wood-dried grassy hop astringency above white breaded pale malting.

Sunny yellow grapefruit-embittered orange peel tang consumed juicy Galaxy-hopped medium-full body, Galaxy IPA. Briskly sharp citrus zesting gained dry pine-toned juniper bite to contrast spicy pale malt sugaring.

A wonderful collaboration with Trillium (brewed at White Lion), fudgy caramel-burnt cocoa nuttiness led the way for Black Is Beautiful Imperial Stout, a toffee candied chocolate dessert with rummy bourbon vanilla specs and cinnamon-allspice-anise seasoning contrasting dark chocolate-y black coffee bittering.

Its flavor profile was amplified for adjunct-laden  Black Is Beautiful Imperial Stout (with Papua New Guinea Vanilla Beans) as dark chocolate-fudged vanilla bean creaming squared off against milk-sugared coffee surge as bitter tar-like hop char contrasted ancillary toffee spicing and peanut-oiled almond, hazelnut and coconut snips. (The Trillium brewed version is listed separately in Beer Index).