PITMAN, NEW JERSEY
Formerly housing the Bus Stop Cafe, Pitman-based HUMAN VILLAGE BREWING COMPANY kept a lot of the nifty walled motifs when they opened up in November 2016. Sundry vinyl albums dot the walls of this boutique downtown nanobrewery with the intimate feel of a cozy public house hosting live speaking events and musical acts.
Head brewer Rich Myers served easygoing, approachable and soft-toned brews at the rear serving station while my wife and I grabbed a small table at the unfinished pergo vinyl-floored venue. However, we missed out on flagship Harlem Shake Singel, inspired by the creamily oats-sugared Belgian-styled Haarlem Bock, which was one of Myers’ earliest inspirations.
Maize-dried moderation, Walking On Sunshine Cream Ale, picked up green peppered lemon spicing and mildly smoked pale malting.
Easygoing Belgian pale ale, Beers & The Bees, brought raw-honeyed Scotch licks to spritzy lemon drop tartness and green grape esters.
That same raw-honeyed graining showed up in Brass Monkey Winter Ale, a mildly spiced white wine-licked moderation with brittle banana-bread base.
Crisply clean Kviek yeast subsumed From The Midnight Sun, a Scandinavian farmhouse ale with barley-smoked toasted breading sopping up dried orange tartness, dehydrated apple musk, juniper-licked hop bittering and soured Vienna lagering.
Perfumed citrus spicing graced Abbey Road IPA, leaving mild juniper-embittered lemony grapefruit zest on its dry plantain bottom.
Sour-nutted chocolate roast nearly hid the lemon-pitted bittering, tart blackberry pucker and rustic leathery bottom scouring Bet On Black Saison.
Coffee-burnt chocolate roast guarded tobacco-soured walnut bittering to the brown toast foundation of Brown Eyed Girl, a middling brown ale.
Brown chocolate-spiced burnt coffee tones gain wood-seared hop char for Cole’s Porter, a lightly roasted moderate-medium body.
Sly chocolate rye malting held oily nut souring in check for Rye Of The Tiger, a slightly vinous stout.