Category Archives: United States Brewpubs

PATCHOGUE BEER PROJECT

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for patchogue beer projectImage result for patchogue beer project

PATCHOGUE, NEW YORK

Just around the corner from Main Street’s established Brick House Brewery & Restaurant in Patchogue’s bustling nightlife community, PATCHOGUE BEER PROJECT opened up January 2019 (and closed 2022).

Brewer Ritchie Italiano and attentive assistant, Ryan Dispirito, create rangy flavor profiles for stylistically enhanced, well polished pub fare at this sparsely furnished small space.

The white subway-tiled siding of the L-shaped quartz topped serving station matches the backdrop scheme holding the twelve central-barred tap handles. Two TV’s sidle the bar and a colorful blackboard displays the current beer list. Its right side blue wall features a yellow-painted Patchogue Indian Chief insignia protecting the windowed brew tanks.

Interestingly, the serving station contains an active beer silo in its belly. And the rear mezzanine area stores a few active stainless silver brew tanks.

My wife and I settle in the midst of the 15-seat bar to consume nine fine brews while the front overhead door stays open for this sunny Saturday afternoon, August ’19.

Image result for patchogue beer project OUTSIDE

Soft-toned light body, Pipe Dream Golden Ale, let mild citrus spicing sit atop dainty pilsner malting, allowing spritzy lemon carbolics to tease its sweet orange peel briskness.

Sour lemon-wedged Copper Beech Kolsch brought grassy hopped herbage and soapy orange tartness to its white bread base.

Lemony banana-clove insistence guided Hugh Hefeweizen, a delectable éclair-headed moderation with vanilla-wafered Graham Cracker sweetness contrasting herbal restraint.

Tangy tangerine sweetness dominated Meandering Blonde Ale with Tangerine, a citrus-centric one-off with spritzy lemon briskness, mandarin orange subtleties and slight phenol hop astringency.

Hazy amber yellow-marbled EZ Swezey New England IPA placed tangy yellow grapefruit juicing just ahead of lemon rind bittering, melon rind earthiness, clementine sweetness and guava-mango-passionfruit tropicalia, picking up recessive pine tones in the wake.

Combining unheralded Waiti, Loral and Falconers Flight hops, Patrick Swhazy IPA eked out sugar-malted clementine, mandarin orange, tangerine and navel orange niceties.

Dewy English-styled IPA, Hop Tonic, brought mossy dried fruited honey malting to earthen gourd, fennel and tobacco illusions.

Dry black chocolatey dextrin malting and molasses oats inundated South Ocean Stout, a creamily silken dark ale with dark toffee, black licorice and tarry coal snips.

Totally delectable autumnal dessert, Pumpkin Patch-ogie, armored its rich brown-sugared pumpkin pie spicing with cinnamon-toasted wheat sweetness, leaving nutmeg-allspice and cardamom illusions all over the place.

patchoguebeerproject.com

HEAVY REEL BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

See the source image

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY

Residing at the first floor of a tan brick split-level edifice on the Boulevard two blocks from the ocean in the vibrant beach town of Seaside Heights, HEAVY REEL BREWING COMPANY opened its doors springtime 2018. A simple 3-barrel nanobrewery in  the heart of the Jersey Shore, brewer Jeff Greco worked at Neptune City’s Little Dog with Jersey icon, Gretchen Schmidhausler, before venturing off on his own.

A li’l slice of heaven, the small floor-tiled pub contains eight silver-backed tap handles at the serving station, four small round tables, a railroad-tied left wall and some fishing photos.

Greco enjoys going just one small step beyond stylistic convention, giving each beer tried on this August ’19 journey a slightly heightened flavor profile. Heavy metal music plays as I imbibe six worthy brews.

First up, spritzy citrus-shined blonde ale, Undefinable Standards, let brisk lemon-limed Motueka hops and sugared orange spicing gently sail atop dry pale malts.

Soft-toned pinkish amber pleasantry, Follow The Iwa, a salty raspberry-induced Berliner Weisse, let sour lactobacillus acidity affect its tart raspberry luxuriousness, leaving mild green apple, cranberry and oaken cherry illusions on the tail end.

Easygoing ‘blended saison,’ Oblivion, brought tropical Mosaic-hopped lemon, orange and pineapple juicing to sugary malt spicing, briny barnyard graining and warm French breading.

Murkily hazed orange-yellowed New England IPA, Skin//Bones, provided lactic yogurt-milked grapefruit, passionfruit and gooseberry souring and sharp orange rind bittering, picking up puckered lime acidity and light green peppercorn herbage by the finish.

Utilizing chocolate, coconut and macadamia, sweet Imperial Porter, Staring Into Emptiness In My Eyelids will capture the attention of hearty dessert fanatics. Its toasted coconut alacrity rode above brown chocolate spicing, glazed macadamia sugaring and desolate blackberry notions.

Bringing dry oyster-shelled black chocolate to the fore, 34N 74W Barnegat Bay Oyster Stout retained black-malted molasses bittering to contrast less resilient milk-sugared rolled oats.

In July ’24, revisited Heavy Reel on a hazily sunny Friday afternoon following a sweltering beach swim to down six dandy suds.

Brisk lemony grapefruit zesting and grassy hop astringency dotted mild “hoppy” blonde ale, Midway Beach, leaving dry barnyard graining on its mineralized pilsner malt base.

Dewy Irish Red Ale, Lost & Rendered, placed cellared fungi must inside orange pekoe tea and nutty rye illusions over dry wheat-germed mineral graining.

Soft-toned yellow-hazed Imperial IPA, Zombie Clown, scattered lemon-soured yellow grapefruit bittering and tart guava salting alongside peachy pineapple, tangerine and tangelo tanginess atop dry pale malts.

Smoothie sour ale variant with creamy marshmallow-fluffed vanilla sugaring plied to navel orange pulp, Luvv: Orange Creamsicle, picked up pineapple-juiced bergamot marmalade tartness and lemon meringue piquancy.

Nitrogenated dry Irish stout, Good Rats, retained nutty dark-roast coffee overtones and subsidiary dark chocolate bittering.

Luxurious pastry stout, Straight Drizzle, draped caramel atop toasted coconut and bourbon chocolate richness, gaining luscious creme brulee, vanilla fudge cake, molasses cookie and black licorice licks.

LITTLE DOG BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for little dog brewing

NEPTUNE CITY, NEW JERSEY

Named after a basenji painted on the outside left wall, quaint five-barrel pub, LITTLE DOG BREWING COMPANY, is the brainchild of experienced Jersey brewmaster, Gretchen Schmidhausler. Inside a beige-creamed glass-fronted corner warehouse lot (with maroon and yellow apron) at a quiet semi-Industrial neighborhood, Little Dog came into existence during November 2014.

As my wife and I visit in late August ’19, Gretchen’s getting ready to open shop. A well-traveled brewing veteran, she originally worked at Red Bank Brewery starting in ’96, a large brewery that closed down before America’s Craft Beer Renaissance mainly because the “timing wasn’t right.” She settled into Basil T’s thereafter, establishing a fine line of some of Jersey’s finest beer, including award-winning Maxwell’s Dry Stout.

We grab a seat at the wood-lacquered serving station to try six pleasant draughts from the maroon-backed silver tap handles. One community table and three black plastic tables fill out the front room while the back space contains the brew tanks.

Much like long-time Jersey brewer, Dave Hoffman (Climax proprietor in Roselle Park), Gretchen prefers to craft soft-toned ales that flow gentle on my mind. Each delicately textured elixir features a distinct illusionary design made to be influenced by complementary cuisine.

Image result for little dog brewing

Mildly creamed banana tartness, bubblegum sweetness and clove spicing invited herbal lemondrop minting to caress light-bodied Steinerweiss Hefeweizen.

Classic American pale ale, Duck Boy, brought dewy pale malt spicing to orange pekoe tea-like dryness and light lemon riffs in soft-tongued fashion.

Flagship altbier, Gesundheit!, provided brown tea-like splendor for its lollipop-candied tartness, dried fig stint and baked bread cushion.

Easygoing English-styled IPA, Jasper, let dry pale malting and mossy dew infiltrate grassy hop astringency while retaining mild fruit seduction.

Cologne-perfumed lemony herbage fronted spry blonde ale, Local Girl, a whimsical delight with pithy fennel, ginger and pencil shavings illusions.

Dark chocolate syruping sweetened the milk-sugared coffee flow confronting subtle ground coffee bitterness above charcoal-stained hop oiling for Seafarer Dry Stout, leaving weedy black tea musk upon its mossy bottom.

www.littledogbrewing.com

BONN PLACE BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Bonn Place Brewing Co. - Distillery Directory & Distillery Map

BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA

In the midst of Bethlehem’s South Side at a former garage, corner cafe-styled BONN PLACE BREWING COMPANY came to fruition autumn 2016. Formerly residents of Weehawken, co-owners Sam and Gina Masotto moved to eastern Pennsylvania to set up shop at the beige freestanding building now housing their entrepreneurial business.

An assistant brewer at Newburgh, Chelsea and New Jersey Beer Company, Sam also tended bar for popular Manhattan watering hole, The Pony Bar. Originally learning the art of brewing from a Mr. Beer kit, he became obsessed with cask ales on a European stint and developed a few regal English bitters.

Inside the friendly red brick-walled Bonn Place confines, an L-shaped 10-seat bar with eight tap handles pours a variety of delicious suds from the left side steel tanks and oak foudre. There’s side entrance barrel seating, a windowed front table, industrial pendant lighting and a wooden wheeled chandelier as well as a few cornered tables with olden mirrors to complete the cozy interior.

On my Saturday afternoon August ’19 journey I discovered seven Bonn Place brews.

Softly creamed nitrogenated flagship, Nemo Dark & Mild, gathered mossy brown tea earthiness for subtle dried fruiting and chalky chocolate malts.

In homage to Boddington’s Pub Ale, smoothly eclair-creamed Mooey Ordinary Bitter brought dewy moss sweetness, fertile fungi musk and subtle citrus spritzing to its buttered biscuit base in easygoing fashion. Utilizing the same dewy malt base, lemon soda-like summertime softie, Mooey The Radler, left an herbal-spiced remnant.

Orange-juiced yellow grapefruit brightness fronted Moteuka-hopped pale ale, Don’t Look At Me, a candy-glazed moderation with sugary pale malts.

Dry-bodied hoppy wheat ale, Pretty Cool Dad, connected lemon-dried tartness to tea-like dewy earthiness and raw mineral grain resin.

Wood-smoked dark coffee roast contrasted milder pale-malted yellow fruiting for Some Pig Upon Monocracy, a well-designed mocha-induced pale ale.

Guest brewer: Sweet milk chocolate-y Imperial Stout, Stickman Breakfast For Dummies, retained toffee-sugared cinnamon and curry spicing to entice its milk-sugared brown chocolate frontage.

www.bonnbrewing.com

LOST TAVERN BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for lost tavern brewery

HELLERTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

Not far from the Lost River Caverns in Lehigh Valley’s Saucon Valley, LOST TAVERN BREWING opened this first location in the borough of Hellertown July 1, 2016 (with a taproom outpost launched in Bethlehem 2019). Inside a red-bricked gray stucco corner building with Lost Tavern insignia above black aproned canvasses on the main thoroughfare, this metal-wood furnished pub serves a stylistic variety of beer, specializing in expressively individualistic India Pale Ales.

The Industrial brick-walled interior features a 15-seat half-octagon bar with eight taps and seating across the way and at the elongated rear dining hall. A food truck services local patrons with great pizza.

An outside front deck with slate top community seating as well as six four-seat tables and several stooled tables gets packed on my early Saturday afternoon sojourn, August 2019.

Crisply assertive, yet easygoing softie, Main 2 Main Pilsner, placed doughy wheat next to hay-like oats to underscore its herbal lemon spritz.

Dry pale wheat ale, Grace, brought zesty orange-peeled lemon meringue tartness to mild pretzel-like doughy breading and herbal-spiced whims.

Lemon zest, bruised orange and sweet banana surged for honey-dripped Belgian Ale, Odd Fellow, leaving peppery spicing on the baked bread back end.

Easygoing sour ale, Double The Jams: Strawberry Cherry Rhubarb, retained oaken cherry bitterness, strawberry puree tartness and lactic vanilla yogurt milking.

Then came the six stylistically intriguing, wholly assured IPA’s to really brighten the sunny day.

Sessionable IPA, Drizzle, coalesced Mosaic-Citra-Amarillo hops to prompt lemon-juiced grapefruit-orange-peach-tangerine tanginess and mild wood tones.

Tropical fruited New England IPA, Party On Main, brought cherry, berry, mango and pineapple juiciness to mild oats-sugared malts.

Another NEIPA, Music In The Park, blended orange-juiced Mandarina Bavaria hops with estery grape-soured Hallertau Blanc hops and gooseberry-limed Cashmere hops atop its floral-spiced grassy bed.

Crisply ‘citrus-forward’ Imperial IPA, The Steel, utilized Mosaic-Centennial hops to fashion its lemony grapefruit-orange tang, mild piney bittering and light herbal tinge.

Brut champagne yeast guided dry-hopped Brut By The Foot: Peach, a mildly creamed peach puree-sweetened sparkling wine alternative with lightly embittered yellow grapefruit zesting and wispy green grape esters.

Vigorous milkshake IPA, Lost In The Mix: Kiwi Strawberry Daiquiri, let rummy vanilla sugaring douse its lemon-juiced strawberry and kiwi tartness as well as its tangy mango-pineapple-grapefruit tropicalia, picking up lactic yogurt souring at the finish.

Finally, ‘hearty chocolate stout,’ Silent Partner, caressed its dark mocha mass with spicy dark fruiting, dry burgundy and black licorice above its earthen bottom.

www.losttavernbrewing.com

FUNK BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for funk brewing emmaus outdoorImage result for funk brewing

EMMAUS, PENNSYLVANIA

Inside a bright red brick garage-doored warehouse, the seemingly inconspicuous railroad-bound taproom for FUNK BREWING packs up bright ‘n early this Sunday at noon, August ’19. Having discovered three of Funk’s liquid gems in the recent past (piney tropical fruited Silent Disco; limey fruit-juiced Tumbleweed Pale Ale; autumnal saison Falliage), I was already intrigued by their well-designed, wide-ranging fare.

The rustic brick-walled, cement-floored pub features a simple aluminum serving station with twelve stools, theatre lighting, blackboard beer list and small TV. A hidden right-walled glistening Funk sign, a few metal-stooled tables and exposed pipes at the tan ceiling fill out the small room. Large silver tanks to the left and rear carry today’s four previously untried beers (plus a half-dozen more).

Several patrons grab seats at the rear covered deck, a spacious retreat on this sunny day. A train blows its loud whistle as I down the sassy suds.

Up first, Bikes Lemon Radler loads lemonade upon salted white wheat breading and herbal citrus hop dryness, bettering similarly profiled shandy’s.

Offbeat golden treat, Slurp Rice Lager, let sweet-spiced toasted rice and soba buckwheat contrast its straw-dried leathering above mellow chestnut roast.

Circuitous West Coast IPA, Citrus, brought slightly hazed East Coast IPA spirit to the mix as sour white grape, gooseberry and guava fruiting serenaded orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess and piney hop splurge.

Dark-roast coffee beaning settled way above the dried-out lemon musk of Crumpets Coffee Blonde, leaving a crisp tobacco roast at the back end.

Nearby Elizabethtown houses the purplish Funk Brewing, a second location, in its downtown section.

HOP HILL BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Hop Hill Brewing | Bethlehem PA

BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA

A tan aluminum garage-doored warehouse hosts HOP HILL BREWING COMPANY,  a worthy red brick-walled, cement-floored nanobrewery within Bethlehem’s rural southern Lehigh University radius opened February 2017.

The unassumingly spare red brick-walled pub features an aluminum-sided L-shaped 16-seat serving station with 12 aluminum tap handles, stringed light bulbs and a stucco left wall. A makeshift front patio with benches fills up during my early afternoon August ’19 stopover as I consume eight well-designed offerings.

Photo of Hop Hill Brewing Company - Bethlehem, PA, United States

Hop Hill’s lightest brew, dry-bodied cream ale, Drinking Games, linked sugar-salted lemon spritz to grassy hop astringency and musty pale malting.

Sweetly tart key lime-pied Belgian Saison contrasted lemon-candied banana sweetness and coriander-clove spicing against salty barnyard acridity.

Straightforward flagship moderation, House IPA, stayed simple as lemony orange tanginess and piney hop resin settled gently above caramel malt sugaring.

Perfumed citrus hops enlightened Hop Sloth IPA, revealing navel orange, yellow grapefruit and peach juicing above herb-speckled pale malts.

Juicy-fruited Brut IPA, Hop Siren, let its sweet champagne spritz and green grape tannins absorb dry pale malting.

Milk-sugared coffee awakened Protocol Porter, a delightful toffee-spiced java-bound brunch treat with dry black licorice snips.

Harmonious coffee-roasted breakfast calling card, Morning Blonde, draped roasted mocha malt goodness all over its mild lemon rind bittering.

Lovely bourbon barrel-aged Morning Wood caressed its roasted coffee bean splendor with sweet butterscotch-candied bourbon wining, leaving cream-sugared marshmallow, coconut and pecan illusions in its clean vodka wake.

Home

LIQUID STATE BREWING COMPANY – ITHACA

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for liquid state brewing

ITHACA, NEW YORK

Inside a white brick warehouse in Ithaca’s West End District just a half mile down the street from Lucky Hare, LIQUID STATE BREWING COMPANY came to fruition October 2017. Taking the space of an old laundry facility, Liquid State’s entrepreneurial brewsters, Ben Brotman and James Tielens (former Cornell Lab biologists) craft comforting New England-styled IPA’s and Euro-styled pilsner-lagers as well as sundry stylistic one-offs at their windowed backroom brewing station.

A family friendly pub with Skee-ball plus video and board games, Liquid State’s ten bench tables recall a high school cafeteria. Its pristine 15-seat wood lacquer-topped bar features 20 draught handles and many growlers.

After swimming at Buttermilk State Park, my wife and I (with Roscoe the dog) head to the covered cement-floored back patio to consume five of the fifteen available draughts this hot July afternoon, 2019.

First up, effervescent straw-paled moderation, Yard Lion Hefeweizen coalesced lemony clover-honeyed banana tartness with mild coriander-clove spicing and herbal lemongrass snips.

Sedate Daypack Saison cushioned its lightly soured lemony grapefruit-orange bittering with black-peppered coriander spicing and salted mango tartness above sugary pale malts.

Caramelized plum sweetness anchored rich La Trapeze Dubbel, a creamily mocha-malted medium body with dewy peat earthiness contrasting latent candied fig-date sugaring.

Juicy fruited Liquid Crush New England IPA, a milky beige yellow-hazed beauty, brought lightly vinous grape acidity and lactic gooseberry yogurt souring to tangy grapefruit, orange, tangerine and cantaloupe serenity.

As for the one dark ale (besides the untried light-bodied Stache Black Lager), robust Stray Dog Porter placed toffee-sugared brown chocolate sweetness alongside hop-charred coffee roast, leaving subsidiary cola, walnut and hazelnut illusions plus dried prune swoon on the nutty mocha molasses tail end.

LUCKY HARE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

See the source image

ITHACA, NEW YORK

In the newly renovated Press Bay Alley micro-retail center in downtown Ithaca, LUCKY HARE BREWING COMPANY began operations at this second location (the first is in nearby Hector) during April ’19.

A humbly pristine, white-walled, 200 square-foot tasting room with only four taps and no seats, its charming elegance lies in its immaculate petite splendor. Red plastic furnishings are set up in the cement-floored alley just outside the tap house’s overhead door for sunny day relief.

Entrepreneurial head brewer Ian Conboy, a marine scientist by trade, loves exploring the full range of beer styles and this sunny Saturday in July ’19 he had on hand one juicy IPA, a coffee-smitten Blonde Ale, a champagned IPA and a milk stout.

Juicy tropical-fruited year round West Coast IPA, Falcon Punch, a sunshiny dry-hopped moderation, brought zesty lemon pith bittering plus tangy orange-peeled grapefruit, peach and mango resilience to lightly lingered resinous pine above caramelized pale malting.

Dryly effervescent Brut champagne-styled IPA, Golden Pony, let green grape esters relay lightly vinous tongue-tingling sparkling wine illusions to kettle-soured citrus tones.

Roasted Ethiopian coffee mellowness engaged medium-bodied blonde ale, Blonde Moment, leaving espresso tones on its distant yellow-orange fruiting and bitter hop-charred singe.

Lactic cocoa-powdered milk stout, Milk Milk, retained dry Baker’s chocolate and black coffee tones to contrast fudgy mocha molasses syruping at the thin finish.

www.luckyharebrewing.com

HOPSHIRE FARM & BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for HOPSHIRE FARM AND BREWERY

FREEVILLE, NEW YORK

A few miles northeast from Ithaca in an agrarian pale green vinyl-sided farmhouse, family-owned HOPSHIRE FARM & BREWERY opened in 2013. One of New York’s first farm breweries, Hopshire’s roadside hop bines lead to its front-doored central bar. Co-owners Randy Lacey and Diane Gerhart also grow their own barley and make honey on the orchard-laden land.

The L-shaped serving station features twelve draught handles and the left-side brew tanks mingle with bench seating. A green and white right-side tent offers splendid pastoral outside seating.

A new marbleized vinyl-floored right room with A-framed Cathedral-like ceiling and seven cafeteria tables gets used for special events and music specials. On this initial July ’19 visitation, we grab a seat in this stately room to try all seven draughts available while our dog, Roscoe, plays with a friendly mutt.

Image result for HOPSHIRE FARM AND BREWERY

Lemon-wedged banana and clove fortified mild herb-backed Love Inn Ale Hefeweizen,  a pleasurable lightweight ‘channeling the Summer Of Love’ in winsome fashion.

Tart raspberry puree regaled Brambles Raspberry Wheat Ale, leaving mild lingered hop astringency upon the soft wheat bed.

Raw-honeyed astringency mellowly pasted Beehave Honey Ale, a treacly blonde ale with bready barley base.  

A sharp yellow grapefruit tang provoked heady beige yellow-hazed New England IPA, Haze In The Hollow, a fizzy spritzer with sunshiny citrus spunk coming from its brisk Citra-Mosaic-Galaxy hop rasp.

Dewy springtime moderation, Shire Scottish Ale, a nutty brown ale hybrid, brought roasted tobacco crisping and mossy peat earthiness to honeyed dark chocolate malting.

Another ‘hearty brown ale,’ Abbey Normale, utilized dark Belgian candi syrup to sweeten its caramelized raisin tartness and mild licorice tones against sedate peppercorn pungency.

Milk-sugared dark roast coffee serenaded blonde coffee stout, Beautiful Buzz, a Maris Otter malt-sweetened mocha dessert beer with a slight lemon twist.

THE NORTH BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

See the source image

ENDICOTT, NEW YORK

Ten miles west of Binghamton, Endicott’s THE NORTH BREWERY opened in 2013, one year after Water Street Brewing became the area’s first modern brewpub (and closed 2024). Owner Zach Pedley’s a serious stout aficionado crafting some ‘extreme ales,’ winning Best of Tap New York’s statewide competition in 2017 with heavenly richly God Complex Cerrano Pepper Mocha Hazelnut Coffee Stout.

A makeshift caged-in black metal-furnished Washington Avenue patio leads into the small two-room pub. Edison lights adorn the concrete slate-topped bar with eight red brick-walled draught handles and the white-tiled floor contrasts the raw wood furnishings and reclaimed palate wood right wall. The bronze tiled ceiling features solid mahogany columns while a few windowed tables and sundry TV’s sprawl across the front room. A crazed lunatic and black & white octopus adorn the right side and back wall.

The current 5-barrel brew system and a canning line inundate the back room.

Zach’s got the Blues on the radio while I consume six well-designed draught beers slightly stretching the experimental spectrum during July ’19.

Image result for the north brewery endicott ny Image result for the north brewery endicott ny

Soft-toned The Mexican Smoked Wit (with Lime) brought cologne-perfumed oiling and smoked Cherrywood acridity to subtle orange-peeled coriander, picking up tart lime resilience.

Lightly acidic Nelson Sauvin-hopped Taddy Mason IPA plied green grape esters and sour gooseberry tartness to floral-daubed wood tones before brisk yellow grapefruit tanginess ascends above the fray with a latent mandarin orange twist.

Milk-sugared mango and coconut perked up Bikini Tops NEIPA, leaving mild grapefruit bittering, zesty pineapple tanginess and lemondrop tartness at the bright tropical fruited finish.

Coffee-roasted nuttiness anchored hop-charred Ink Coffee Stout, inducing espresso macchiato and milk-steamed latte tones as well as tertiary black cherry, blackberry and blackcurrant wisps.

In its indelible nitro version, Ink’s softer éclair-creamed mouthfeel relinquished windswept espresso, dark chocolate and mochaccino elegance.

Creamily rich ‘pastry stout,’ Lil Klouds, draped black chocolate syrup upon milk-sugared coconut, vanilla and marshmallow adjuncts with profound intensity. Its dried cocoa finish reinforced the dramatic mocha sway. Excellent nightcap!

Stopped back at North Brewery, June ’24, to down six more satisfying suds on the way to Ithaca.

Wolves Pale Wheat Ale variant, Wolves With Rind, tossed dry briny lime rinds into the white wheat mix, affixing mild agave-daubed tequila licks to the zesty citric spritz.

Offbeat India Pale Ale, Tarlow & Tarlow, skirted convention, furrowing herb-spiced vermouth botanicals thru perfumed orange oil musk, green grape esters and white grapefruit tang.

Dewy soft-toned amber graining rode atop smoky chocolate malting of wee heavy Deathclaw Scotch Ale, picking up subtle black plum, almond, chestnut, toffee and cigar leaf restraint.

Dry nutty coffee and dark chocolate imbued nitrogenated Indigo Irish Stout, leaving tarry wood-burnt hop roast and recessive dried cherry tartness upon weedy moss backdrop.

Though its honeyed Graham Cracker influence stayed recessive, assertive vanilla bean bittering lingered by the nutty espresso-dried coffee ground bluster of Sicko Mode, a luxurious vanilla stout.

Black coffee creaming and dark milk chocolate syruping settled atop nutty cocoa resilience of Furiosa Imperial Stout, a bold full-bodied nightcap.

northbrewery.com

WATER STREET BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

See the source image

BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK

Around the corner from Galaxy Brewing in a metal-welded Industrial building with steel-doored storefront, WATER STREET BREWING COMPANY began operations in 2011 – approximately one year before nearby Galaxy and Binghamton breweries opened (and closed 2024). Homebrewing couple John and Michele Bleichert currently run a 7 barrel system spread between glass-encased bronze tanks and a few right side silver tanks.

An intimate bistro-like pub, Water Street’s linoleum-floored wood tables are scattered along the front and left side with Edison lights lining the long wooden bar where two tap stations with eight draught handles each disperse the sassy suds. Fine homemade pub fare goes well with the rounded beer selections. I sojourned to Water Street July ’19.

See the source image

Receding banana-clove sweetness confronted lemon-rotted mandarin orange souring and herbal whims above sugary Graham Cracker wheat malts for generic-named moderation, Hefeweizen, a slightly more adventurous stylistic changeup.

Dry English mild ale, Lucky Corbie, brought raw-honeyed grassy hop acridity, horse-blanketed hay astringency and mild herbal perfuming to toasted caramel malting.

Stylishly bold India Pale Ale, Smash And Grab, let brisk Mosaic-hopped grapefruit, orange peel, mango and peach tanginess saturate its moderate grassy pine bittering above caramelized Vienna malts.

Sour gooseberry and white grape tannins plus mild grapefruit rind bittering bumrushed Triple Trouble NEIPA, a lactic juicy fruited medium body with subtle sugar-spiced lemony orange tang.

As for the dark ales, dry hop-charred walnut bittering lightly counters sweet hazelnut-macadamia-almond triage for Hellcat Brown Ale.

Roasted chocolate and caramelized nuttiness anchored Thousand Year Porter, receiving a dewy peat mustiness at the finish.

Mildly fudged chocolate milk stout, Slugworth’s Revenge, gained vanilla, dried cocoa and brownie tones above molasses oats malting.

waterstreetbrewingco.com