Category Archives: United States Brewpubs

ASPETUCK BREW LAB

United States Brewpubs,

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BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT

Grabbing local headlines as the first brewery in Bridgeport since 1940, ASPETUCK BREW LABS take a scientific journey thru zymurgy. Just a few minutes off Route 95 in the southwestern Black Rock district, the spotless white-roomed ‘lab’ creates some distinct beverages.

Borrowing its Aspetuck moniker from ‘a river originating at the high place,’ the 2017-established pub resides inside a gray-bricked warehouse (closing November ’24).

Upon entering the orange door, its plastic-furnished setting featured a ten-stool serving table with eight taps and plain pendant lighting. An acrylic black-lettered brewery insignia stationed atop the draught handles adds tasteful simplicity.

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Brew tanks in the rear served seven well-designed and delightfully quaffable brews this Sunday afternoon in April ’18.

Smoothly sessionable lightweight, Pt. 78 Blonde Ale, draped mild lemony orange spicing over minor wood tones and bready pilsner malts.

Gentle Belgian-styled farmhouse ale, Gray Matter Grisette, laced mildly spiced lemon-seeded juniper bittering with herbal black-peppered rosemary, thyme and jasmine whims above dry wheat backbone.

Yellow grapefruit pith, rind and peel dominated 06605 Pale Ale, a salty-bottomed moderation with lightly spiced mandarin orange, tangelo and tangerine tanginess.

Indelibly mainstream Cosmic Siesta IPA let grassy-hopped tropical fruiting graze lightly pine-sapped Mosaic lupulin powder with a breezy sway as candied orange, pineapple, peach and mango tanginess usurps tart lemon notions.

Just as easygoing, lupulin-powdered Turbidity Lucidity IPA (double dry-hopped) seeped honeyed fruits into syrupy sugared malts as tropical pineapple-grapefruit-orange briskness and fig-dried licks contrasted grassy hop astringency.

Arguably Aspetuck’s finest: halfway aggressive Empirical Evidence Imperial IPA doused juicy lemony orange spicing with perfumed dry hops over buttered biscuit malting in a splendid manner.

For dessert, cautiously rich Chocolate Stout brought dry cocoa-powdered dark chocolate malting to cedar-burnt coffee roasting, picking up toffee sweetness at the finish for contrast.

www.aspetuckbrewlab.com

BREWPORT

United States Brewpubs,

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BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT

Once a thriving brewing community prior to prohibition, Bridgeport’s white-bricked pizza/alehouse, BREWPORT, led by former Bru RM@Bar brewmeister, Jeff Browning, does well paying homage to the glorious past with a new line of original craft beers.

Open during the autumn of 2016 (and just off Route 95 within walking distance of Harbor Yard Stadium), Brewport’s spacious epoxy-floored red brick interior includes a central 30-seat oval bar with metal tap handles surrounded by several bronze-tinned mosaic tables and chairs. Exposed pipes, tin lights and metallic fixtures capture Bridgeport’s steel town history.

Illuminated Elysian, Firestone Walker, Dogfish Head and Boulveard brewery signs hang from a yellow-walled area. Oversized checkers and chess games adorn the separate high ceiling left side room while five booths sit beneath a mezzanine section and a wood-benched enclosed patio exists outside the overhead doorway.

Specialty pizzas all hit the spot with the crowded masses and the draught-bottled beer selection includes several wonderful local and national brands to go alongside Brewport’s nine house beers.

Large brew tanks in the back serve sensational suds this sunny Sunday afternoon, April ’18.

First up, best-selling Blood Orange Blonde brought raw-honeyed astringency to tart lemon-snipped blood orange juicing above fennel-like rye malts.

Next, orange-dried South End Pale Ale utilized lightly pined Chinook hops to embitter the back end.

‘Modest’ Arnold’s Vienna Cream Ale threw dry pale malts at grassy hops and citric-licked maize.

Dry Citra hops informed Seventh Inning SIPA, a tangy lemon-orange-tangerine-juiced medium body with fresh-cut grass astringency.

Perfumed orange peel pervaded intensely hopped beauty, Old News Double IPA, leaving herbal honeyed residue upon its honeyed citrus finish.

Lactic wild ale, Border Walls Blackberry Sour, let juicy blackberry acidity influence puckered oaken cherry, vinous green grape and raspberry vinaigrette tartness.

Dry rye malts picked up wispy whiskey tones and mild orange-spiced tartness for The Rye Who Loved Me, a 007 martini-like knockoff.

Caramelized cocoa malts led the way for Hartmann Dark Ale, revealing English Brown Ale trademarks such as dark-roasted nuttiness, bittersweet chocolate musk and subdued dried fruiting.

For dessert, dry black-malted Dr. Porter’s Stout regaled chalky dark chocolate, day-old coffee, peat-smoked truffle and charred walnut tones in an English-styled manner.

brewportct.com

CLIFFSIDE BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

Founding brewer, David Durant, opened his friendly neighborhood nano operation October 2017 (and closed May ’23). A pet project, diminutive pub CLIFFSIDE BREWING successfully dabbled with many well-known styles.

Inside a beautiful marble-stoned cornershop, the small open space features six front-roomed wooden tables and an eight-stooled serving table towards the rear (with ten-plus draughts and free popcorn).

My wife and I visit on a drizzling Friday eve in April ’18, trying all eight brews on tap while losing at trivia.

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First up, Mesmerized Witbier layered raw-honeyed sap atop mild orange-bruised banana, clove and bubblegum sugaring as well as sweet Cahllah breading and wispy tobacco crisping.

Next, clover-honeyed(?) Soft Landing gained orange-dried tartness to contrast mild caramel malts.

Soft-toned Enlightenment Fruit Ale brought tangy apricot juicing and mild peach-tangerine tartness to sugar-wafered pale malts and subtle hop astringency.

Tidy moderate-to-medium body, Stonewall Red, offered toasted amber graining to orange-dried apple souring, mild tobacco roast and timidly musky hop astringency.

Springtime comforter, Graceful Shutdown Maibock, upended lemony mandarin orange, clementine and tangerine modesty with soapy pale-malted hop acridity.

Maybe the finest choice on this seasonally cold night, hazily chartreuse-hued Synaptic Misfire Northeast IPA, a creamily malted medium body, gained juicy orange-peeled grapefruit, tangerine and pomelo tanginess.

Sedate Rockslide Brown Ale coalesced caramelized chocolate malting with earthen nuttiness.

For dessert, dry Pinky Out Stout embellished its crisp barley-roasted Bakers chocolate entry and cocoa-powdered tartness with bitter charred hop restraint.

cliffsidebrewing.com

FRONT PORCH BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

Residing at an inconspicuous aluminum-sided industrial mall, FRONT PORCH BREWING opened a month after Wallingford’s first brewery, Cliffside (now defunct), during November 2017 (and closed brewing ops February ’23).

As usual with the Constitution State’s current brewing climate, this independent nano occupies rustic warehouse space. Co-owning home brewer, Jay Flynn, crafts interestingly experimental concoctions ranging from several sour ales to a pale ale, IPA and English dark mild on this Friday eve, April ’18.

Going through the side door, Front Porch’s small white-walled, cement-floored, overhead-doored, community-tabled area features a serving station with eight draught lines, a colorful black-boarded beer list and several outside spirits (whiskey, tequila, cider, wine).  There’s also a tiny porch area with video games.

During my hour-long perusal, quaffed six satisfyingly soft-toned suds.

Approachable moderation, Hand Cannons Imperial Sour Ale, let grapefruit-soured lemon tartness gain light woody hop astringency. Equally affable, Try All & Error American Pale Ale, contrasted dried orange tartness against mild wood-toned Chinook hops, briskly zestful Citra hops and lightly sugared pale malts.

Murkily chartreuse-hued Berliner Weiss, Parti Gal #3, brought salty lemon-limed cantaloupe rind, honeydew-pureed tartness, vinous green grape tannins and mandarin orange subtleties to its delicate white wheat spine.

Durably pleasurable Reverse Mermaid IPA surrounded moderate grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering with grassy hop astringency and pale malt sugaring.

Mildly bittersweet English dark ale, Albedo Mild, winningly combined dark chocolate roast with dewy peat earthiness, black grape tartness and dried nuttiness.

Interesting night cap, I’m Too Cold To Care Imperial Sour Stout saddled Black patent malt bittering with sour coffee-chocolate tones and mildly acidic grape tannins above sourdough rye dryness.

frontporchbrewing.co

ANGRY ERIK BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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HAMPTON TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY

In the rural northwestern Jersey village of Hampton Township, ANGRY ERIK moved from nearby Lafayette to now occupy a maroon aluminum-sided barnhouse at a newish industrial mall area during 2019.

A high ceilinged cement-floored open space with 14-seat wood-topped serving station, stooled tables and random barrels, Angry Erik’s pristine yellow-walled interior also features a massive bar-centered brewery banner, cool end-of-bar serpent and at least 12 tap handles.

A maroon-umbrellaed, slate-pavered side deck with plastic furnishings offers plenty of outside seating along the hillside.

A host of patrons greet my dog Roscoe upon my initial August ’19 sojourn. My wife and I will quaff five previously untried suds while grabbing a few seats on the deck midafternoon.

Dryer than expected, Belgian Abbey singel, Hand Of Tyr, brought mild raw honeyed bittering and tart fig-date-apricot dried fruiting to its relegated beet-sugared pecan glaze.

Honey-spiced tripel, H2 Ale with Honey & Hibiscus Tripel, reeled in its unassuming 10% ABV to reveal vibrant citrus tanginess, gentle hibiscus tropicalia and subtle floral herbage.

Hybridized Belgian-styled India Pale Ale, Fjord Crosser, retained a dryer wood-toned citrus bittering as lemony grapefruit-seeded desiccation and grainy pine rusticity picked up sweet honeydew, tart lychee and sour gooseberry undertones.

An interesting black ale/ Maxwell Heavy Scotch Ale blend, Shady Max coalesced its dewy Scotch-fruited tobacco leafing with cocoa-dried black patent malts in a well-conceived manner.

Best bet: glorious Bourbon Barrel-aged Vangandr, a 2019 version of Belgian brown ale aged in sweet bourbon, regaled sharp-spiced cherry, banana, toffee, raisin and coconut luster as well as peated whiskey persistence.

EARLY ANGRY ERIK ARTICLE PRIOR TO HAMPTON MOVEImage result for angry erik building

LAFAYETTE, NEW JERSEY

Directly off Route 94 in the rural Western Jersey town of Lafayette, ANGRY ERIK BREWING is a small, successful, independent business ready for imminent expansion. Since opening in 2014, the entrepreneurial husband-wife tandem of Erik & Heide Hassing have taken their steady offering of one-off beers and seasonal repeats statewide and beyond.

Relishing the cool “Don’t Get Mad, Get Angry” slogan and utilizing a thrasher-wielding dragon Viking insignia, Angry Erik boasts a “constant variety of beers to quench every craft beer lover. Inside a red-tanned light Industrial complex, its eight-seat bar features several tap handles and a blackboard listing draught selections while three wood tables line the left side. In the back brew room are two plastic picnic tables for further seating.

Just ten miles away from Sparta’s beer-centric Krogh’s Brewpub and Mohawk House Restaurant, Angry Erik’s ever-changing beer menu moves faster than a speeding bullet.

On my celebratory 4-20 visit during 2018, the entire menu changed from a mere two weeks hence. I got to quaff five previously untried suds before heading East at sundown.

First up, Angry Erik’s easygoing Belgian What? Belgian Blonde let spritzy orange-peeled grapefruit, pineapple and lime zest gain moderate Amarillo piney hop bittering above oats-dried wheat malts.

Next, ‘seductive’ elderflower-enhanced The Dainty Viking Blonde Ale brought tart citrus-spiced Chardonnay buttering to subdued pale malting, though its rustic dried flowering seemed overwhelmed.

Tidy IPA, To Taste (Hoppy Heide #4), spread moderate yellow grapefruit bittering across spritzy pineapple, peach, orange and tangerine tanginess above crystal malt sugaring.

Politely hop-headed IPA, Hop The Fence, brought sweet ‘n sour grapefruit tones to ashen pine resin and plasticine-grouted clay hops, gaining tertiary peach, pineapple and orange juiciness at the moderately bitter citrus finish.

For silken Valentines Day-inspired dessert, Cordially, Cupid Porter regaled prominent Black Forest cake sweetness thanks to tartly sweet ‘n sour black cherries and sugary chocolate-cocoa fudging.

www.angryerik.com

B.J.’S RESTAURANT & BREWHOUSE

United States Brewpubs, , ,

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NANUET, NEW YORK

One of the largest pub chains in the land of plenty, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse began in 1978 as a humble West Coast business doing a Southern California twist on Chicago-styled pizza.

Opened during 2016(?), Rockland County’s premier BJ’s location sits in Nanuet a mile up from the incomparable Growler & Gill. Inside a large open space with brick-walled high ceilings, prominent 20-seat bar, lower level dining booths, educational ‘Brewing Process’ mural and back kitchen, this cavernous sportsbar is nearly packed on a Tuesday evening during February 2018.

Alongside its national standard fare such as BJ’s Blonde, Piranha Pale Ale, Harvest Hefeweizen, Jeremiah Red and Hopstorm IPA are homemade root beer, cream soda and ciders.

My wife enjoyed Harvest Hefeweizen, a spritzy stylish moderation with lemony banana-clove-bubblegum conflux gaining herbal hop resin above vanilla-creamed sourdough flouring.

I downed light-tongued Tatonka Stout, an éclair-headed black chocolate-y dark ale with creamy coffee nuttiness and dried cocoa resilience given a lightly creamed nitro feel.

During December ’22 Sunday dinnertime perusal, enjoyed fruit-spiced Belgian winter celebrator, Grand Cru, a subtly complex nightcap with burgundy-wined dried fruiting, sweet banana bubblegum sugaring and orange marmalade tartness given mild botanical herbage as well as proper phenolic alcohol astringency.

BJ’s light pub menu includes pasta dishes and entrees as well as its well-known pizza.

During early October ’24 Indian Summer revisit, discovered two nitro dark ale variants and one rewarding IPA.

Briskly hop-forward India Pale Ale, Hopstorm, allowed floral-perfumed pine resin to seep into dry lemony grapefruit rind and orange pith bittering over sugary pale malts.

The nitro version of PM Porter retained silken creaminess as wood burnt dark-roast hop char grazed nutty coffee and black chocolate bittering.

Perhaps even better, Tatonka Stout – Nitro loaded sweet chocolate onto walnut-hazelnut coffee and bruised black cherry.

I returned one month hence to help BJ’s celebrate its silver anniversary with premier limited edition 2024 variant, 25th Annual Grand Cru. A Jamaican rum-spiced fruiting brightened the frontage while fungi botanical herbs fluttered thru banana puree, lemon meringue, Amarena wild cherry, orange liqueur and melon ball pleasantries.

SAUREZ FAMILY BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

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LIVINGSTON, NEW YORK

Inside an old freestanding red brick building just south of the town of Hudson on the rural back roads off Route 287, Livingston’s SAUREZ FAMILY BREWERY crafts some of the East Coast’s finest lagers, pale ales and saisons since opening June ’16.

Its large white room setting features three massive store front windows, five community tables, wall-bound art deco and high ceilings, creating grandiose splendor from simple auspices. Behind the small serving station lies a refrigerator area and the brew tanks.

Former Hill Farmstead brewer, Dan Saurez, not only crafts wholly approachable, crisp, clean and brisk brews, but each of the four previously untried brews I quaff on this sunny Sunday afternoon, December ’17, maintained an uncompromising originality and majestic aura.

First up, hoppy spelt-grained pale ale, Homespun, aligned tangy grapefruit, lemon and orange juicing with vinous green grape tartness in a fresh mineral-watered setting that gained straw-dried astringency.

Next, splendid wheat pale ale, Crispy Little, brought zesty lemon, grapefruit, orange, pineapple and peach tanginess to perfume-spiced hops and oats-dried wheat cracker malts, gaining the slightest vinous grape perk.

Countryside farmhouse pale ale, Big Night Saison, let subtle brettanomyces funk affect vinous green grape tartness as well as lemony white peach, pineapple and mango subtleties plus lemongrass-peppercorn snips to its grassy barnyard bottom.

Arguably the best selection in a fine field, Bandwidth, a highly approachable pale ale, plied sweet orange-tangerine-peach tanginess, zesty lemon spritz and mildly creamed cotton-candied sugar malts to  grassy hop resin.

www.suarezfamilybrewery.com

SLOOP BREWING COMPANY (2011-2018)

United States Brewpubs,

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ELIZAVILLE, NEW YORK

A true backyard farmhouse brewery in the agrarian community of Hudson Valley hamlet, Elizaville, SLOOP BREWING COMPANY has gained a solid reputation since its modest 2011 auspices (becoming a mega microbrewery in 2018).

Founders Adam Watson and (brewmaster) Justin Taylor began operations while maintaining day jobs and expanded to a full-sized microbrewery soon after.

Specializing in India Pale Ales and a few sours, Sloop’s fare retains a clean mineral-watered crisping that’s conducive to making real fine East Coast IPA’s.

Inside a gray 19th century barn house on the 134-acre Vosburgh Orchards, Sloop features a farmstand with local goods to complement its sturdily fine brews.

Olden lights decorate the centralized serving station (with its lacquered tree bark top and white-lettered wood-planked Sloop Brewing sign adding antique splendor). The 10-draught back bar also includes various wood plaques listing each proprietary beer.

A bigger second Sloop spot in Fishkill is due to open, April 2018.

“Classy” Rosé IPA let delicate rosé whims caress wispy Malbec red wine juicing and vinous green grape tannins as dry Nelson Sauvin hops brought latent tropical tones.

Closer to a pale ale, Segal Bomb IPA regaled a light citrus fruiting and mild candied spicing as herbal hops left oily foliage on tertiary mango-papaya-pineapple tropicalia.

Daintily delectable Super Soft IPA (with its Teddy Bear-rainbowed insignia providing visual pleasure) relied on tangy grapefruit, peach, mango, pineapple, orange and tangerine salience, light dry wood tones, subtle hemp-oiled hop musk and gentle spicing.

Spicier (No) Santa IPA retained a well-balanced citric hop briskness and refreshingly crisp grapefruit, tangerine and orange tang. Like most Sloop brews, it’s totally smooth and never over-the-top.

www.sloopbrewing.com

HUDSON BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

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HUDSON, NEW YORK

Inside a rustic cement-floored industrial warehouse, evolving ‘destination farmhouse brewery,’ HUDSON BREWING COMPANY, has helped revitalized this small Columbia county city.

Formerly a well-respected local nanobrewery stationed just across the railroad tracks from its new location, Hudson Brewing moved to its new Front Street digs May, 2017, and continues to craft six staples alongside exciting new recipes for their growing fan base.

Owner PJ Birmingham recently hired 27 year-old brewing guru, Aaron Maas, an acquaintance through several mutual friends.

With a twelve-seat crushed-metal bar at its core, this features twelve draught handles, a wood-boarded beer listing Behind the bar are the windowed brew tanks serving tonight’s fare this brisk December ’17 eve.

Though I miss out on the popular Irish Red Ale, there are eleven different draught beers consumed during my two-hour closing time stint.

Light-bodied staple, Shadie Sadie Cream Ale, caressed dry pale malts and popcorn-like maize rusticity with grassy hop astringency.

Mildly citrus-spiced Wayward Woman Kolsch let grassy hops contrast sweet breaded pale malting.

Dewy ESB brought moderate dried fruit spicing to leafy hop astringency and dainty brown tea illusions.

Tobacco-roasted Altbier benefited from wispy chocolate and rye malting.

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Called a ‘Sierra Nevada with a burst of flavor,’ approachable Proprietors Pale Ale’s candy-spiced orange, peach, apple and tangerine tang picked up grassy hop resin.

‘Basic’ Widows Walk IPA stayed stylistically prim as gently-spiced grapefruit, pineapple and orange briskness gained subtle piney hop bittering and mild grassy notions.  

Floral-perfumed yellow grapefruit spicing fronted dry rye-malted Rye To Me Rye IPA.

Brisk piney tropical fruiting inundated Beached Whale New England IPA, where grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering picks up lemony hop phenols to contrast sweet peach-mango tang and prickly floral spicing.

Honeyed nuttiness casually affected English Brown Ale, a moderate-to-medium body with drifting molasses, caramel and chocolate truffle dollops.

Dark chocolate malts crested atop Burnt Caramel Porter, letting caramelized molasses contrast its light wood char just beneath the mocha surface.

For dessert, Tainted Senorita Mexican Coffee Stout allowed its cold-brewed coffee tones spread across dark chocolate malts and dark roasted hops, gaining light vanilla, espresso and cacao nibs tones by the finish.

www.hudsonbrew.com

CROSSROADS BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

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ATHENS, NEW YORK

Just a few miles from the Rip Van Winkle Bridge on the west side of the Hudson River lies the historic town of Athens, New York, home to friendly cornerstone pub, CROSSROADS BREWING COMPANY.

Inside an old opera house and furnished with vintage décor, this reliable downtown spot opened in June 2011 and has become a nifty staple for its sleepy riverside village.

On a snowy afternoon, December ’17, during Athens annual Victorian Walk, a few horse-drawn buggies pass by while my wife and I go to grab seats at the simply gorgeous mahogany bar (with centralized blackboard beer menu, 12 tap handles, two TV’s, shelved books, growlers and scattered paraphernalia).

The right side windowed brew tanks and backroom kitchen service the bar as well as the wood tables along the front and sides. As a salute to olden New York macrobrews are wall-hung serving trays advertising iconic staples such as Pabst, Genesee, Ballantine, Rheingold, Schaefer and Hedrick.

Besides the nearly dozen proprietary beers on draught, there’s one cider, a few wines and several spirits available alongside silver vessel-contained Rum Punch.

Crossroads Brewing Company | New York by Rail

Having previously quaffed Crossroads’ Mc Ginn’s Scottish Ale, Outrage IPA and Brady’s Bay Cream Ale, I settle into seven new discoveries.

Thrifty pale ale, Nine Lives, contrasted candied pineapple-peach-tangerine tanginess and sweet Maris Otter/Crystal malting against resinous hop dankness, picking up groaty oats at the waxy finish.

Centrist caramel-roasted Brick Row Red let spiced red fruiting gain earthen autumnal foliage, sweet amber graining and nutty notions above its biscuit base.

Easygoing moderation, Lane 4 Session IPA, brought brisk grapefruit and orange peel tanginess to honeyed pale malts and moderate Citra hop bittering.

Tangy orange, tangerine and lemon zest lifted Hemming & Hawing Double IPA, an Eldorado and Nelson Sauvin-hopped medium body with mild pale malt backdrop.

Kettle-soured Short Tart & Handsome (a collaboration with Albany Pump Station) retained a slightly vinous dry hop veneer as lemon-soured green grape tannins and strawberry rhubarb tartness enhanced its latent lactobacillus assault.

Dry espresso-roasted Black Rock Stout allowed Baker’s chocolate bittering to pickup minor wood-charred earthen soiling.

And broad-ranging winter warmer, Yukon Cornelius, let its apprehensive brown-sugared molasses sweetness, glazed pecan sugaring, light cinnamon-ginger-cardamom spicing and tea-leafed tobacco crisping gain a minty gingerbread snap atop its buckwheat-floured bottom.

www.crossroadsbrewingco.com

RIP VAN WINKLE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Angela's is now Rip Van Winkle

PALENVILLE, NEW YORK

Just down the road from happy hippie haven, Woodstock, after breakfast at tiny café, Shindig, and a quick trip to Bearsville Theatre, my wife and I visited RIP VAN WINKLE BREWING COMPANY during a snow-filled Saturday in mid-December ’17. Formerly known as Angela’s Italian Bistro, this traditional family-styled restaurant/ brewpub serves homemade pizza and Mediterranean cuisine to go alongside more than a handful of proprietary beers.

One hundred miles north of New York City in the bucolic pine-laden Catskill Mountains at the tiny hamlet of Palenville, this gray doublewide house-styled pizza and beer joint is easy to reach via Route 287.

We grab a few chairs at the oak-topped central bar in the Tap Room to try all seven proprietary brews currently available. Brewtanks are stationed in the rear while an open kitchen sidles the bar and two separate wood-furnished dining areas go to the left and right. A bronze faux-tin ceiling classily encases the bar area.

First up, reliable Mountain House Helles provided raw-honeyed lager yeast for muted citrus spicing and light grassy hop astringency.

Next, approachable Palenville Pale Ale let semi-sweet orange, red and yellow fruiting pick up subtle hop astringency and grassy earthiness over a raw-honeyed pale malt base.

Then, traditional autumnal moderation, Oktoberfest, brought leafy foliage to spice-tingled citric licks and light wheat graining.

Polite Rip Van Winkle Wit placed perfumed herbal spices across Belgian candi-sugared crystal malts and honeyed banana illusions.

Sweeter and more complex, Fawn’s Leaf Belgian Dubbel loaded sweet-honeyed cherry, peach and nectarine fruiting alongside toasted amber grains and mild wood tones.

On the dark side, sturdily medium-bodied Kiskatom Brown Ale let mild chocolate-cocoa chalking lightly affect burnt caramel sugaring before receiving an ashen nuttiness that increased the light-roast hop bittering.

Finally, dry Peek-A-Boo Porter draped dark chocolate malts and toffee notes atop earthen hops.

ripvanwinklebrewery.com

BRAINDEAD BREWING

United States Brewpubs, ,

Deep Ellum's Braindead Brewing Will Reopen This Weekend Amid Dispute Between Its Owners - Eater Dallas

DALLAS, TEXAS

Open during 2014 (and closed November ’21), Dallas-based BRAINDEAD BREWING quickly became friendly competition for neighboring Deep Ellum Brewing.

A no-frills pub with a mind-blowing 30-plus taps of proprietary beers and ales, Braindead’s best fare may well be the one-off barrel aged elixirs, robust Imperial Stouts and brettanomyces-laden sour ales.

Serviced by an 18-stool polyurethane-wooded bar with diamond plate backing and unique refrigerator-doored tap mounts, this roomy freestanding site also features a spacious front deck with fireplace and umbrellas as well as a street-side black railroad engine.

Several wood tables and booths plus two vast community tables and stacked liquor barrels consume the interior. Illuminating palletized drum-shaded lamps light the facility. In the back, large brew tanks hold the serious suds I’ll quaff with my friend, Jeff, during a 2-hour stopover, November ’17.

Out of the four ‘Core’ offerings, only Gritz, a pre-prohibition-styled cream ale, will be missed.

Zesty beige-yellowed dry-hopped wheat ale, Nimbus, brought lemony grapefruit tanginess to grassy herbal notions.

Pleasantly off-dry Red gathered raw-honeyed grapefruit tartness, crisp cereal grain toasting, mild grassy hop bittering and quaint candied spicing.

Approachable Imperial Pale Ale, P-Wing, let sweet honeyed malts contrast piney hops while orange-juiced tangerine and peach tanginess briskly surfaced.

Fruit Loops-like Belgian Pale Ale, Fumble Brag, allowed dry-hopped floral fruiting to access herbaceous whims as sugared grapefruit, orange and white grape spicing took hold.

Leafy Octoberfest, Gemutlich, let dry fig-apricot fruiting lightly creep into biscuit-y cereal malts and astringent hop resin.

Elegantly tart saison, Good Morning Dave, brought limey grapefruit souring to horse-blanketed hay dryness.

Distinct compost-wafted sour ale, Dr. Dreipricot, regaled orange-peeled apricot puree with sour-candied lemon peel bittering over wild oats.

Softer thirsts should imbibe the three lagers found on this initial perusal.

Simple Mexican Dark Lager, Cerveza Oscura, a mocha-malted moderation with muted mango fruiting and mellow toffee hints sufficed. As did light Polish-style pilsner, Exhausted Nihilist, musky malt liquor-like fodder with mild grassy-hopped astringency and biscuit-y malts. Another, wildflower-honeyed Honey Lager, stayed dry as floury grist consumed grassy hop astringency, unripe fig tartness and herbal notions.

Things got much more interesting with the complex dark ales to follow.

Easygoing Export Extra Stout coalesced mild espresso bean, dark chocolate and chalky cocoa bittering with dried black currant spicing above dark toffee malts.

Mincemeat-like Imperial Stout, We Own The Night, draped bitter Blackstrap molasses over spicy dried fruiting, dark chocolate malts, cold-brewed coffee tones and tarry hops (gaining tertiary tobacco chaw, maple oatmeal and  walnut illusions by the bittersweet mocha finish).

On the sweeter Imperial Stout side, creamily resilient We Own Brunch poured Blackstrap molasses and dark chocolate syrup atop sweet vanilla, sugared coffee, maple oats and cinnamon spicing, leaving slight burnt wood notions at the back end.

Luxurious Imperial Wheat Porter aged in bourbon, Hammer Of The Gods 2017, seduced its creamy chocolate-coated sweetness with bourbon, burgundy and port tones as well as vanilla-sugared cinnamon and nutmeg spicing.

Didn’t get to try these barrel aged elixirs: Given To Rye To Rye Brown Ale aged in Whiskey barrels; red wine-barreled raspberry-pureed Sexport Stout; oak-aged Memory Hole Barleywine; bourbon-rye-barreled dubbel, Priory Of Orion.

www.braindeadbrewing.com