Category Archives: United States Brewpubs

DARK CITY BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Dark City Brewing Company Asbury Park beer 8 of 36

ASBURY PARK, NEW JERSEY

After visiting bucolic Allaire State Park for a terse hike, my wife and I happened upon DARK CITY BREWING CO., Asbury Park’s first craft brewery. Taking hold in 2016, Dark City provides a steady stream of consistently rewarding brews handcrafted in the closed-off back brewing space by reserved zymurgist, Steve Bohacik. On my sunny March ’20 expedition, a gamut of rangy stylistic fare captures my palate.

Set in a window-laden tan building along the increasingly popular Main Street strip, Dark City’s elongated wood lacquered serving station (with twelve draught handles) centers the sparsely decorated open space. A bright blue right-walled jellyfish mural adds pizzazz to the pallet-wooded furnishings, saucer-like lighting and pipe-exposed high ceiling. Several community tables fill out the wide expanse (with 2 TV’s on opposing sides).

Grassy lemon-dried moderation, Circuit Kolsch, stayed crisply clean and deliberately understated, leaving compost-wafted raw grain moisture on wispy citric hop tartness.

Dryly brisk Brass Ring Wheat Ale brought citric IPA fruiting and woody Amarillo hop herbage to its floral-bound wheat grass base.

Bound by its sharp orange-peeled grapefruit rind tang an sunny Mosaic-hopped lemon zesting, Blue Bishop IPA with Blueberries let docile blueberry pureeing gain sourer-than-sweet alacrity.

Vinous balsamic-soured green grape esters and spritzy lime zest stayed mellow for white-wined alternative, Mixed Use Sour Ale.

Dewy peat and toffee-spiced dried fruiting enhanced the caramelized brown chocolate sweetness of serenading dessert treat, 1871 Barleywine, a sturdily welcoming strong ale with tertiary sherry, coffee and vanilla snips.

Creamy dark chocolate syruping draped dry bourbon pleasantry and mossy peat for softly creamed barrel-aged anniversary blend, DCBC3, an impressive 13% strong ale with fudged cocoa brownie resilience and bitter vanilla beaning deepening its overall intensity.

BACKWARD FLAG BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Backward Flag Brewing | geekybeergalBackward Flag Brewing Co. - Home | Facebook

FORKED RIVER, NEW JERSEY

Veteran-owned BACKWARD FLAG BREWING COMPANY came to fruition during 2016 when Army Staff Sergeant Torie Fisher’s passionate commitment to craft a stylish array of diverse beers fully blossomed. Military-rooted badges, uniforms and emblems bedeck the right wall alongside the microbrewery’s black American flag insignia, designed to amplify  Fisher’s appreciation for the armed services.

Backward Flag’s current 10-barrel system (as of February 2020) delivers interestingly wide ranging and oft-times non-conformist fare. Since opening, BF has crafted nearly 100 different brews. There’s a flagship blonde ale, citric sour ale, a few Cascadian IPA’s, a fruited cream ale and more on my initial quest.

Lodged inside a tan aluminum warehouse at the northern Jersey Shore town of Forked River, Backward Flag features a lacquered pine serving station with two separate tap setups delivering a dozen different brews. The cement-floored, window-fronted interior includes multiple US flags, a lounge-y couch area, one large community table and brew-tanked back space.

Fisher and I shared a decadent Knob Creek bourbon-aged Oak Armored Ale blend (with oaken vanilla resonance, dry Scotch licks and silken flow) after enjoying the entire lineup this sunny March ’20 winter afternoon.

How Torie Fisher, founder of Backward Flag Brewing, broke into the ...

First up, approachable flagship, Oak Armored Ale, plied oak-toasted vanilla pleasantry to honeyed orange goodness, lemon meringue tartness and scant cherry souring above pastry-like pale malting.

Next, vanilla creamed blackberry subtleties placated dry oak-based Blackberry & Cream, leaving candied fruitcake and honey-spiced mead illusions upon its light earthen musk bottom.

As for the two Black India Pale Ales (a.k.a. Cascadian Dark), Mil-Spec Black IPA left cocoa-dried black chocolate bittering on ashen wood-charred charcoal resin as well as black grape jam, blackcurrant and black licorice snips. For citric-pined West Coast-styled Dope On A Rope, black grape musk gained moderated coffee-burnt Bakers chocolate pungency and slight pumpernickel toasting.

Hybridized East Coast/West Coast styled Simmunition IPA featured dank wood-dried Simcoe hops that promoted orange-peeled grapefruit rind bittering and tangy pineapple juicing over oated wheat.

Tartly lemon-limed tangerine acidity embedded oaken vanilla tannins for Roadside Donkey Tangerine Vanilla, a lactic mouth-puckering sour ale with lightly vinous berry piquancy.

Raspy chocolate raspberry caking punctuated Hearts & Minds Brown Ale, a heavenly creamed mocha-bound dessert treat surpassed only by the even mightier chipotle-peppered cinnamon and coconut conditioned version.

Arguably my favorite, light roast Ethiopian coffee bean serenity seeped into the citrus-backed pale malt setting of S.T.F.U. Pale Ale, leaving mild charred nuttiness and oaken vanilla residue on its back end.

On summertime ’22 two-hour stop-off, my wife and I drank at the makeshift canopied parking lot where a life-size game of Battleship was being waged while finding three previously untried brews.

Lemon-wedged passionfruit bittering and limey guava-gooseberry tartness guided Passion Party, a ‘wild’ sour ale with acidulated malting.

Soft-tongued West Coast-styled IPA, Rock Da Boat, let brisk orange peel zesting, salted pineapple bittering, subtle cantaloupe sweetness and mild tangerine tanginess receive musky black-peppered hop herbage.

Coffee-sugared brown chocolate entry secured Zero Dark Thirsty, a sweet milk stout with soily earthen bottom.

During early January ’23, stopped off once again for seven more delightful afternoon libations at Backward Flag.

Dry lemon spiced light body, Golden Outlaw Blonde, will draw in casual thirsts with its easygoing citrus spritz and serene grassy-hopped herbage caressing musty Bavarian pilsner grain rusticity.

Coniferous citrus-spiced IPA, People And Pondering, placed reserved orange-peeled pineapple tanginess, dry yellow grapefruit bittering and mild blackcurrant tartness above tingly piney sage minting.

Sunshiny NEIPA, Something’s Missing, brought lightly embittered yellow grapefruit and orange rind tanginess plus lemon-limed licks to lacquered pine tones above dry pale malts.

Honoring the annual Army-Navy football game, Historic Rivalry, a juicy NEIPA collab with Pennsylvania’s Tattered Flag, scurrying sharp lemony grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering, white grape tannins, salted pineapple tanginess and tropical vodka snap thru floral-daubed hop pining.

A rare stylistic combo, Coyote Brown IPA, coalesced dark-roast hop charred Cascadian Dark Ale bittering with less aggressive piney citrus India Pale Ale dryness.

Roasted sweet potato influence and ginger-rooted cinnamon/allspice/cumin minting soaked up by milk-sugared vanilla for quirky Mama’s Table, a wintry-spiced potato brown ale.

Backward Flag’s newest offering, Warrior’s Shadow Black Ale, let politely bitter black malting and nutty dark roast hop char invite black coffee, espresso and dark chocolate patronage.

www.backwardflagbrewing.com/

TUCKAHOE BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

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EGG HARBOR, NEW JERSEY

Open in 2011, Egg Harbor’s TUCKAHOE BREWING CO. handcrafts straightforwardly well-rounded brews as well as experimental sours and barrel aged elixirs in a conservatively elegant setting.

Inside a tan aluminum warehouse, the wood plank-floored pub features a beautiful 10-seat mahogany bar with 20 centralized tap handles, several wall paintings and a TV. Pristine wood chairs and tables fill out the spacious interior while the windowed brew tanks don the back space.

A Grateful Dead video plays in the background as my wife and I consume thirteen rangy samplers.

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Mild cream ale, Rural Juror, let fizzy lemon spritz splash its mild cereal graining and grassy hop astringency with ease.

Sweet cereal grains also regaled moderate-bodied Patty’s Pale Lager, leaving subtle lemon-peeled orange pith bittering in the recess.

Caramelized barley roast caressed orange-peeled grapefruit juicing for Anglesea Red Ale, letting mild walnut, chestnut and pecan illusions absorb the back end.

Tartly sour blueberries engaged the sunny yellow fruited bittering guarding Fu Man Blue, a mustily hay-dried, moderate-bodied saison.

Spritzy lemon zest brightened banana bubblegum sweetness for peachy Belgian golden ale, Astute Gentlemen, a welcoming 9% ABV elixir with wispy floral-spiced herbage.

Conditioned on plum puree, Special Magic, a bubblegummy dried-fruited Belgian dubbel, picked up desiccated orange tartness and earthen tobacco crisping over sedate caramel malting.

Sessionable IPA, Damn The Torpedoes, meshed lemony grapefruit, orange and tangerine tropicalia with piney hop resin above restrained pale malt sugaring.

‘Pungent candied citrus’ enveloped double dry-hopped IPA, Quatrain, absorbing its dank graininess, subtle grapefruit-orange-peach tang and delicate floral nuances.

Robust Steelmantown Porter engaged vanilla bean bittering and oak-charred Scottish peat with dark chocolate syruping for a dewy mocha celebration.

A delightfully unique lactose-aided pastry stout, Lucky Spud, brought its sweet potato adjunct to fudged brownie creaminess and casual cinnamon-coconut seduction.

Briny oyster-shelled Bakers chocolate inundated lightly creamed dry stout, What The Shuck.

Adding mellow marshmallow sweetness to the mix, The Other Side Of The Mountains Stout maintained vanilla-creamed brown chocolate sugaring for its ancillary toasted coconut, toffee and Graham Cracker illusions.

Just as exquisite, laidback barrel-aged version of In the Deepest Ocean Tequila Mole Stout drove vanilla-spiced bourbon warmth into tequila-daubed brown chocolate sweetness.

HIDDEN SANDS BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

 

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EGG HARBOR, NEW JERSEY

Filling out a large 10,000 square foot aluminum warehouse in Central Jersey’s Egg Harbor, HIDDEN SANDS BREWING COMPANY opened January 2018. A multifarious high ceilinged venue with a welcoming ground floor pub, spacious table-chaired mezzanine area (with twelve draught handles) and upper level seating space, Hidden Sands utilizes a freshwater aquifier that provides a clean briskness to each handcrafted beer.

There are twelve taps at the ground level, formica-topped, ten-seat serving station. Antique beer cans line the front wall and a Hidden Sands insignia hangs down on the opposing wall while decorative barrels and five small tables fill out the concrete-floored room.

My wife and I hang around for a few hours, downing all twelve crisply clean watered suds this seasonally warm March afternoon, 2020. Not many breweries offer three pilsner-lagers, but Hidden Sands did.

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Pleasantly mild Bavarian-styled flagship, 800′ Pilsner, brought sugary pilsner malting to lightly salted lemondrop souring and daintily citric Hallertau/Tettnanger-hopped floral spicing.

Sweet orange peeled peach, tangerine and clementine fruiting glided thru mild mineral-grained Noble hop herbal bittering and toasted cereal graining for crisply clean Amber Sands Amber Lager.

Easygoing Hidden Helles Lager placated its tangy peach-tangerine-clementine conflux with moist earthen-grained Noble hop bittering.

Maize-dried pilsner malts crisply engaged light lemon sugaring for The Kolsch, a delicately sparkling straw yellow light body.

Glistening Citra-hopped orange and grapefruit spicing added pizzazz to pilsner-lightened honey wheat as lemon-dropped floral herbage fluttered behind pale yellowed moderation, Pump Handle Honey Wheat Ale.

A milder West Coast interpretation, 107′ IPA let refreshingly citric floral-perfumed Citra-Centennial-Columbus hops enjoin coniferous pine needling and mild juniper bittering to top its dry pale malted spelt spine.

Delicate citrus-spiced tanginess, oats-flaked pilsner malting and relegated piney hop bittering set the stage for straightforward 608′ Imperial IPA.

By blending 608′ with strawberry, tart citrus piquancy and oats-flaked pilsner malts subsumed much of Strawberry Imperial IPA’s floral-bound berry essence.

Kettle-soured compost soiling seeped into tart lemon-candied peach sourness for spritzy white wined Sand Blasted Sour Peach Ale.

Just as approachable, tropical fruited lollipop, Sand Blasted Sour Guava Ale, stayed slightly sour as tart guava salting grazed lemon-candied gooseberry, passionfruit and papaya snips.

Dark-roasted coffee infiltrated smoked maple syrup-draped First Drop Coffee Maple Baltic Porter, leaving rye-dried Black Patent malt bittering on its nutty caramel-burnt dark chocolate bottom.

Creamy milk-sugared coffee crowded roasted chocolate malts for sweet mocha dessert, Imperial Stout, the perfect afternoon delight to close my visit.

Revisited Hidden Sands, May ’23, on a warm Friday afternoon to try six more well-rounded suds.

Tart cherry sugaring glazed the honeyed wheat base of Cherry Amber Sands, a fruited cereal grain-toasted amber lager variant with mild orange-tangerine tang and candied apple whims.

Tart strawberry twang snuffed limey woodruff syruping and lemony Citra-hopped zesting of Strawberry Wheat, a salt-prickled summer ale with minor phenolic alkalinity.

Another stylistic variant, Sandy Blues Kolsch, allowed brown-sugared cinnamon toasting and mild blueberry souring (plus licorice licks) to penetrate its delicate Noble-hopped herbage and pilsner malt grist with unlikely Christmas spicing.

Lemon-candied orange mimosa and strawberry daquiri tartness gained mild sour acidity for Strawberry Lemon Orange, a fruity pale-malted wheat ale.

Spiking its golden ale with Belgian yeast funk, Belgian Sands slightly veiled its coriander-spiced orange tang with white-peppered fungi as distant Chardonnay wining and banana daquiri daubs melted thru briny Salty Dog vodka licks.

Nitrogenated Rum Barrel Aged Imperial Stout brought oaken vanilla tannins to its dry rum influence, dryer burgundy-bourbon auxiliary and dewy truffle-like mossing above musty dark chocolate base.

During early October ’23 revisit, discovered six more Hidden Sands elixirs, including three citric soft drink-inspired ales based on previous recipes.

Inspired by fructose-salted Tang sugaring, Witty Orange (a White IPA blending Belgian Sands Golden Ale with 107′ IPA), spread powder-candied navel orange tartness all over, leaving spritzy lemon soda and peachy apricot daubs on the tail end.

Mixing Belgian Sands Golden with juicy orange, Citrus Wit let its orange Tang frontage receive Pez-like candied powdering and slight coriander spicing.

Mingling 107′ IPA with tangy orange as well as tangerine sweetness, green mango salting and tart lemondrop souring, Orange IPA relegated its piney hop dryness and pilsner malted spelt base.

Mellow mango-juiced habanero peppering teased Spicy Mango Pilsner, a nebulous soft-toned light body.

Gingery cinnamon bark outdid brown-sugared pumpkin spicing and zesty orange peel sweetness for daintily crystal malted Autumn Equinox Ale- Amber, a spicy autumnal moderation with truffly gourd licks and tertiary cardamom, mace, sage and basil nips.

‘A twist on traditional Sand Blasted Sour,’ blush pinked amber-hued Watermelon Splash had Jolly Rancher candied tartness and watermelon Warheads souring.

On July ’24 jaunt, tasted two easygoing fruited brews.

Slightly sour strawberry tartness laid atop white wheat wafering for washed-out Strawberry Wheat, leaving cucumber-watered watermelon rind earthiness in its wake.

Mild summertime spritzer, Lemon Shandy, retained brisk powdered lemonade tartness and fizzy soda sugaring.

SLACK TIDE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

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CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, NEW JERSEY

Inside a tin-roofed, stone-based, tan aluminum barn house mall at Cape May Court House, SLACK TIDE BREWING COMPANY opened for biz during December ’15. Using locally sourced natural ingredients from the Cape May region, this three-barrel outpost owned and operated by brothers’ Jason and Taghd Campbell crafts well-rounded diversified suds.

Slack Tide’s nautically-themed tasting room features an six seat, eighteen-tap serving station with a pristine white-tiled blue wall backdrop. The cement-floored pub also contains nifty palate wood accents, fourteen chaired tables, a centered blackboard beer list and one TV. Several silver tanks, wood barrels and a canning line dot the rear.

Located on Route 83 Just Minutes from Sea Isle and Avalon ...  Bell Buoy - Slack Tide Brewing Company - Untappd

First up this sunny February ’20 afternoon, ‘easy drinking tropical fruited’ moderation, Schoolie Pale Ale, brought sharply citric IPA briskness to the fore as spritzy lemon zest brightened grapefruit rind bittering, orange peel sweetness and pineapple tanginess above the lightly spiced salty bottom.

Then came a string of variegated India Pale Ales starting with centrist moderate-bodied flagship, Tipsy Dipsy, a durable Citra-hopped Imperial IPA (with well hidden 8% ABV) boasting lemony orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess, tart pineapple salting and subtle peach, nectarine and clementine illusions alongside lightly creamed vanilla-dabbed pale malting.

Possibly as popular, dry West Coast-styled IPA, Angry Osprey, serenaded piney grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering with salty mango, lemony herbal notions and grassy hop astringency.  

Dry pine lacquering enjoined zesty orange-peeled lemon zest and yellow grapefruit rind bittering for double dry-hopped NEIPA, Neutral Buoyancy, a lactose-teased medium body with mild hop bittering and earthen compost surfacing latently.

Another New England IPA, The Ridge, loaded oaken vanilla-laced lactose upon tangy yellow grapefruit-juiced orange rind bittering as well as sour gooseberry-guava-passionfruit illusions, dainty peach-tangerine-mango spicing and light herbal peppering.

Mild coriander-spiced orange zesting gained vanilla-creamed banana and clove sweetness for amber-clouded Belgian Blonde, Bell Buoy, leaving a daub of salty white-peppered basil and dill herbage upon the gentle sourdough base.

Then came a cast of stellar stouts.

Nitrogenated Monkey Face Stout, a dry Irish Stout, retained mildly creamed nut-charred dark coffee roast and Bakers chocolate bittering.

Creamily milk-sugared French roast coffee and Vermont maple syrup combined for sweetly soothing Imperial Breakfast Stout, Morning Bite, leaving dark chocolate, maple oatmeal and toffee subsidies to fight back its lightly embittered tarry hop sear.

Like a vanilla iced coffee, lusciously decadent sweet stout, Manatee Milk, utilized Columbian coffee to amplify its Madagascar vanilla bean bittering, milky lactose-sugared chocolate syruping and spiced toffee nicety.

AVALON BREW PUB

United States Brewpubs,

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AVALON, NEW JERSEY

At the tony white sandy beach town of Avalon, ‘upscale casual gastropub,’ AVALON BREW PUB, was established in 2016. Specializing in efficiently traditional mid-range beers and serving sumptuous cuisine in a demurely sophisticated atmosphere, Avalon’s high profile ocean visibility makes it a prime summertime hotspot.

A small cement patio with hot weather furnishings and a couch leads patrons to the exquisite porcelain-tiled wood floor pub. Edison lights dot the ceiling alongside unique silver keg tops. There are fifteen dining tables, an eight-stool marble top bar with two TV’s, an aqua blue-painted backdrop with white Avalon insignia and a windowed brew room.

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Mild Bohemian-styled Chill Pils, placed subtle grapefruit, pineapple and orange zest next to delicate lemongrass herbage above dry pale lagered malts.

Expansive grain-toasted amber ale, Healing Sun, took on piney orange-red-yellow fruiting and dry pine resin for a vibrant IPA-like moderation.

“Sharp, twangy” witbier, Belgian Beach Bum, retained a charmingly seductive orange-peeled coriander spicing reinforced by chamomile, lemongrass and cellared funk subsidies.

Amber grain-toasted crisping and dry hop phenolics plied Red Session Ale with brisk grapefruit-orange-peach tanginess, pastry-like pale malting and dried maize astringency.

Floral citrus-spiced West Coast IPA, We Don’t Play, a brisk hometown favorite, let orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess gain pale malt sugaring in a moderate-bodied setting.

Sessionable IPA, Cooler By A Mile, a hoppier version of We Don’t Play, allowed floral-perfumed citrus zest to graze its grassy wet-grained finish.

GUSTO BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

The exterior of Gusto Brewing Company's North Cape May location Image result for gusto brewing

NORTH CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY

Taupe mall-bound GUSTO BREWING COMPANY began its journey December 21, 2018. Since then, the venturesome seven-barrel/seven-fermenter nano beerhouse has turned out over 75 different brews in fifteen short months ‘keeping it small and keeping it weird.’

Gusto head brewer Dan Petela began experimenting as a homebrewer for seven years, bartending at nearby Cape May Brewing before manning Gusto’s tanks. His glass-encased brew room turns out surefire suds for the ten draught taps at the fifteen-seat, concrete-topped, glass-crushed serving station in the brown vinyl-floored, baby blue-outlined pub. A mezzanine provides grain storage and a mill room.

I surveyed nine fine offerings during my one-hour, chilly afternoon perusal late February ’20.

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Sunny lemon zest adjoined lightly spiced grapefruit and orange briskness, winey green grape tartness and herbal wood tones for oats-based As The Crow Flies Pale Ale, the most approachable brew on hand.

Precariously offbeat pale-cleared turnabout, Soft Handshake Lager, a dry-hopped moderation, soaked Merlot grape esters in sour gooseberry-guava tropicalia, limey lemongrass herbage and harvested dill over its gentle white wheat bed – going way beyond stylistic tradition.

Mossy earthen dew gathered musty cellar funk to contrast the toffee-like Maris Otter malting of Cool Hand Lucas ESB.

Dewy English IPA-like rye malting advanced Switch Pop Shove-It , leaving earthen herbal fungi and minor pine resin upon zesty orange, dried lemon and melon rind.

Dryly citric-piney Slam Poet IPA scattered spritzy lemon zest across yellow grapefruit and orange rind bittering as well as salted mango tanginess, relegating its honeyed oats spine.

Sugar-spiced citrus juicing paved the way for Said The Joker To The Thief IPA, scattering lemon peel bittering across mild grapefruit, navel orange and clementine tanginess as well as wispy herbage.

Dried fruited candi sugaring gave cilantro-seeded Blackbird Fly Dark Saison the appeal of a  Belgian dubbel, posting prune, plum, raisin and currant notes for its dewy peat bottom.

Decadent chocolate and ‘sultry vanilla’ headlined Little Spoon: Swoon Edition, a mocha-creamed oatmeal stout with Bakers chocolate, cocoa nibs and light-roast coffee tones settling atop caramel-burnt maple oats.

Dark maple syrup coated wood-burnt black chocolate and dark-roast coffee for Oliver Bright’s Maple Caper Imperial Stout, a hazelnut-glazed barley roaster with black cherry snips. 

COHO BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

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CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, NEW JERSEY

Just off Route 9 inside a red cinder-blocked, bay-doored, light industrial warehouse in Cape May Court House, COHO BREWING CO. celebrated its first anniversary January ’20.

Situated only a few miles from Cape May Brewing and 7 Mile Brewery, Coho crafts some of Jersey’s finest, well-rounded beers.

The creation of 1982 Wildwood High grads Karen Buckingham and retired cop Mike Johnson, their simple concept was to get non-beer drinkers to enjoy approachably flavorful fare. Buckingham had hired Johnson in the past to do barbecues when he was a kitchen-bound home brewer.

She asked the reluctant Johnson, “If I buy big boy toys, will you brew for me?”

Thereafter, Coho Brewing came to fruition. Brewmaster Justin Low (formerly of Dock Street and Westchester’s Iron Hill) stepped onboard to set up equipment and was key to coordinating development. He’ll soon help in the Imminent expansion thru Coho’s right side wall.

The cement-floored pub house features an L-shaped fifteen-seat bar with fourteen centralized tap handles, three wood community tables, overhead door and high ceilings. The brew tanks are set up next to the serving station and a TV hangs from the front mezzanine.

Taking a cue from the Court House moniker and Johnson’s stint in law enforcement, Coho’s beers often have criminal justice system tag names.

My wife and I explore Coho while conversing with Buckingham-Johnson as the pub packs up on Saturday afternoon Leap Year ‘ 20.

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Respectfully “duping” Prism Shandy Blonde, Spatter Pattern Blonde Ale utilized sweet ‘n sour blood orange puree to elevate its lemon candied Radler-like soda fizz and ripe tangerine tang above white-sugared pale malt spicing. Previously, Spatter Pattern’s Blonde Ale base underscored 5-0 Pineapple Ale (while a future offshoot, Apple Cinnamon, is in the works).

White-peppered banana, bubblegum and clove saddled moderate-bodied Hung Jury Hefe, bringing slight vanilla creaming upon sweet orange peel and earthy herbal subsidies.

Crisply clean Finnish farmhouse ale, Chalk Outline Sahti, stayed subtle as rye-honeyed pale malts gained peppery banana-clove subtleties and mild juniper berry bittering.

Caramelized vanilla creaming engaged Nineteenth Amendment Dubbel, a candi-sugared delight with dainty Banana’s Foster, crème brulee, stewed plum, spiced fig, spruce tea and toffee illusions.

Combining Hung Jury Hefe with Splatter Pattern Blood Orange Blonde Ale created Mistrial, a spritzy Radler with sweet honeyed wheat, lemon bruised ginger and wispy banana-clove tones relegating its blood orange tartness.

Merlot wine-barreled blonde ale collaboration (with nearby Jesse Creek Winery), Thin Blue Vine let tannic purple grape esters pervade oaken cherry, white pear and lemon-soured blackberry wisps.

Dewy floral citrus pleasantries daintily suffused Indian Trail Pale Ale, buttressing limey orange-dried coconut and pineapple tropicalia with dank wood dryness.

Approachable yellow-hazed flagship, Hazeas Corpus NEIPA, a concise Cascade-Mosaic-Citra-hopped moderation, brought coniferous pine needling to juicy grapefruit, pineapple, tangerine, mango and peach tang as well as salted orange spunk.

Quirkily unconventional stylistically, floral-perfumed cologne spicing and sprucy juniper bittering inveigled zesty lemon-limed orange juicing for muskily bold Juror No. 1 NEIPA, leaving herbal lemongrass, candied grapefruit and pine oil on the dry pale malt back end.

Aged in white oak staves and soaked in Back Bay Bourbon, Speakeasy Blonde Ale retained a rummy bourbon vanilla lilt for its lemony white wine spritz and delicate dry pale malts.

Aged in rum, embraceable spice ale, NOI-Not Guilty By Reason Of Insanity, let mild spruce-tipped juniper bittering contrast vanilla-creamed Jamaican allspice as well as ginger-snapped cocoa residue.

Dark-roast chocolate and dried coca nibs fortified Overruled Porter, sweetened by hazelnut-glazed maple oats at the richly dense mocha finish. By the way, mixing vanilla cream soda with Overruled Porter creates a deliciously creamy milk chocolate shake with molasses, toffee and gingerbread snips.

 

LUDLAM ISLAND BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

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OCEAN VIEW, NEW JERSEY

Inside a gray aluminum warehouse right off the NJ Parkway in Ocean View, LUDLAM ISLAND BREWERY opened its doors in 2016. A wood sign with baby blue Ludlam Island emblem guards the entrance to the large-scale microbrewery.

There are large brew tanks serving the silver-topped serving station in the meager cement-floored pub room (featuring five bar stools, slight center table wall seating). Ludlam Island began canning recently. My wife and I tossed down eight worthy brews that displayed colorful flavor profiles on a cool Friday evening, February ’20.

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Soft-toned floral citrus tang rode atop herbal oats-dried German pilsner malting for Lawn Chair Hoppy Pilsner, picking up mild melon-guava-gooseberry souring and leathery barnyard acridity.

Easygoing orange-juiced lemon zesting and yellow grapefruit tang fronted Fish Alley IPA, an amber-hazed moderation with sticky pine resin coating its dry pale malt spine.

Lactic vanilla-creamed strawberry bluster hoisted yogurt-soured yellow grapefruit bittering to contrast tangy tangerine juicing for Creamsickle-like dessert treasure, Thickie Strawberry Milkshake IPA, leaving Peach Melba, strawberry shortcake and vanilla cake illusions in its wake.

Tangy yellow grapefruit spicing and light wood dankness marked sunny moderate-medium body Water Guns & Rainbows IPA.

Tropical-fruited DIPA #2, a yellow-hazed New England India Pale Ale, laced tidy gooseberry-guava souring with nestled juniper bittering to contrast mango-salted pineapple, peach and grapefruit tanginess.

Ashen walnut and salted peanut roast gained sour dried fruiting for Bay Muck Brown Ale.

Creamily decadent Double Polar Bear Smoked Vanilla Porter (10% ABV) allowed smoky vanilla beans to serenade hazelnut-glazed brown chocolate sweetness and dried cocoa powdering.

Spectacular Whiskey Barrel-aged Polar Bear Vanilla Porter brought lusciously silken bourbon vanilla sweetness to brown chocolate, dark cherry, toasted coconut and hazelnut pleasantries.

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THE REFEREND BIER BLENDERY

United States Brewpubs,

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PENNINGTON, NEW JERSEY

A magical place for sour ale heads looking for aggressively sophisticated and spontaneously fermented oak barrel-aged wonderment, THE REFEREND BIER BLENDERY began its journey to success in 2016. Creating authentic Old World lambics in a professional brown stucco Industrial complex at the one mile square mid-Jersey borough of Pennington, The Referend is the brainchild of its master bier blender, founder James Priest.

A Chicago native whose past includes a stint at Maine’s Baxter Brewing, Priest works in conjunction with local brewers to produce wort for Referend’s cellared sour ales, using locally sourced fruits for several intriguing coolship-inoculated offerings.

A beer bottle collection lines the centering metal crossbar and exposed pipes fill the black ceiling of this small barrel-decked tasting room (with one community table and two wood laminated four seaters). There are five tap handles and three casks at the makeshift bark wood serving station and bottles are available to go.

Barrelhouse blues piano artists of yore play on the stereo while I indulge my senses during an initial February ’20 draught perusal.

I’d like to recommend The Referend to any serious wine lover as well since many ‘blends’ create fermentable sugars, sparkling grape esters and tartly puckered malic acidity.

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For starters, grabbed spontaneously fermented witbier, The Blue Book, a sharply sour blueberry-fruited ale with mild chamomile florality seeping into vinous Sauvignon Blanc/ Cabernet Sauvignon resonance and mild pinot noir sedation above oats-flaked pilsner malting.

Its unique red grapefruit hue gave leathery oaken cherry-soured A Ghost Is Born a distinct visual aspect to go alongside its cognac barrel-aged brandy, rosé and Grand Marnier subtleties.

Utilizing sour cherries and tart raspberries, ruby red-hued Berliner Messe: Kyrie brought lactobacillus acidity, horseblanketed barnyard acridity and dry oats-spelt graining to its puckered cherry-raspberry piquancy and whimsical lemony cranberry tinge.

Serene sour saison, Mont Sainte-Victoire guided muskily leathered white wine acidity and lemon-soured orange juicing into dry buckwheat-rye malting.

Spontaneously fermented golden ale, Ice-Nine Riesling, brought brisk white grape-perfumed Riesling ice-wine juicing to acidulated pilsner malts in a mildly acidic setting.

TROON BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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HOPEWELL, NEW JERSEY

Inside a white back house with green trim on the bucolic Double Brook Farm grounds, TROON BREWING came to fruition during 2015.

Though Troon is a microbrewery, there’s no onsite taproom. Instead, its fulsome brews are available at Brick Farm Tavern – a cavernous Old World manor on the cavernous estate with exquisite wood furnishings, upscale cuisine and classy liquor selection.

Gathering all the pastoral splendor western Jersey has to offer, I quaffed four tapped Troon’s at Brick Farm Tavern, February ’20, grabbing a tabled seat at the bar in front of the large stone hearth.

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Conditioned on lemon zest, wonderful lactic kettle-soured Aviaphobia brought salty mango and strawberry adjuncts to piquant orange-juiced pulpiness above tart yogurt-milked acidulated malts.

Succulent hazy beige-yellowed Caught In The Trees IPA, conditioned on vanilla, maintained a pastry-like powdered sugaring for its sweet orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess, leaving orange-caked pineapple frosting on the flaky fruit pie-crusted finish.

Sharply citric-spiced, saffron beige-hazed It Fell On Deaf Ears Imperial IPA brought fresh pine needling to juicy lemon, grapefruit, orange and pineapple tanginess.

Lovely milk chocolate sweetness pervaded confectionary dessert, Humdrum Existent Imperial Stout, bringing subtle cream-sugared coffee, burnt caramel, toffee and dried cherry illusions along for the cheery chocolate finish.

 

RIVER HORSE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

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EWING, NEW JERSEY

Just a few miles from Referend Bier Blendery, Ewing’s RIVER HORSE BREWING COMPANY expanded into this space from nearby Lambertville in 2013 (see old factory site pictured below). One of Jersey’s first microbreweries, starting out during 1996, River Horse changed ownership in 2007 and became the state’s second largest brewery behind Flying Fish.

Residing in a pristine beige-stoned professional Industrial warehouse with pressed aluminum top, head brewer Chris Rakow operates the eleven 40-barrel fermenters, four 100-barrel fermenters, a cold-filter water tank and bottling-canning system at the roomy high-ceilinged backspace.

Celebrating ancient Egyptian brewing heritage with its hippo-laden beer designs and logos, River Horse’s popular, diversified lineup is led by Belgian-styled flagship, River Horse Tripel Horse (reviewed in Beer Index). Now distributing bottles and cans into New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, their new 25,000 square-feet facility has capacity for even more expansion.

During my sunny February ’20 afternoon jaunt with wife and dog, discovered a few new River Horse elixirs while seated at one of the seven barreled tables fronting the small serving station.

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Briskly rustic German-styled The Peoples Lager brought grassy oats-dried minerality and mild barnyard leathering to lemon-rotted herbal astringency.

Brewed specifically for onsite quaffing, Imperial Oatmeal Milk Stout upped the rich brown and dark chocolate syruping and burnt caramel fudging for its maple oats-sugared hazelnut sweetness, picking up slight black cherry tartness in 14% ABV setting of luxurious full body.

Creamy brown chocolate fudging contrasted bitter hop-charred dark cocoa syruping for bold mocha treat, Chocopotamus Stout, a delightful nightcap.