SALTY TURTLE BEER COMPANY

United States Brewpubs
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Becoming the first commercial brewery in oceanic Pender County, Surf City’s SALTY TURTLE BEER COMPANY opened its doors during Christmastime, 2017. Inside a tan aluminum-sided cabin on popular Highway 50, the cement-floored Salty Turtle features a copper plexiglass resin L-shaped 12-seat bar (with aqua blue draught board), wood tables, covered front deck and small turfed benches plus sidling slate-floored patio.

A veteran-owned establishment ‘dedicated to serving the local community with artisan-crafted beers,’ the seven-barrel facility is one mile from Topsail Beach. Described as a ‘beach-themed Cheers,’ Salty Turtle grew out of the spirit of homebrewing and their Coastline Kolsch has reached a high level of local popularity.   

My wife and I hit the pub on a hot, sticky Thursday evening, late August ’24, to enjoy nine stylishly proper, conservatively streamlined brews.

Flagship Coastline Kolsch saddled its brisk floral-perfumed lemon musk with grassy hop astringency and white peppered herbage contrasting wheat-flaked pilsner malts. 

Palest golden Kojima Rice Lager plied sweet rice-flaked pilsner malting to lemon lime-prickled yellow grape esters and dried floral wisps. 

Pleasurable summertime Gose, Hwy 50 Tangerine Vanilla, let sea-salted dried coriander, briny lemon souring and Hallertau Blanc-hopped green grape esters reach tart powdered candy midst as oaken vanilla contrasts sugared vanilla over white wheated sourdough base.

Likable iced latte knockoff, Betio Coffee Blonde, burst forth with whole bean coffee overtones, creamy milk-sugared vanilla sweetness and dark nutty splurge, relegating its spritzy citrus splash.

Then came the India Pale Ales. Sessionable aluminum-cleared West Coast-styled Run It Back let floral-daubed lemony orange tanginess, mild grapefruit bittering and piney herbage merge while bolder West Coast IPA, Meticulous, combined lemony grapefruit sugaring with ascending pine tones anchored by honeyed Vienna malts.

The most straightforward IPA, Alligator Bay, sunk lemon musk, grapefruit zest and orange bittering into crystal malt sugaring, profiling tropical Cascade hops against woody Centennial-Columbus hops.      

Slight roasted coffee nuttiness and caramelized Maris Otter malting set the stage for Barnicle Bill’s Brown Ale, leaving mossy earthen residue upon its biscuity bottom.

Roasted chocolate-coffee gained milk-sugared vanilla sweetness to contrast the nutty espresso reminder of Swingbridge Breakfast Stout, a relaxing mocha bound digestif.     

LOST COLONY BREWING – WATERFRONT

United States Brewpubs,

MANTEO, NORTH CAROLINA

Inside a canary yellow sea shanty along the Nags Head Causeway on Pimlico Bay, LOST COLONY BREWING at the waterfront began as a small restaurant in 1995. Started by Paul and Sharon Charron, the colonial-styled downtown Manteo pub, Blue Moon Cafe, added a brewing production facility in 2016. As the newly coined Lost Colony Brewing, the cafe was sold but the facility they acquired along Pimlico Bay remains.

Initially concentrating on British-styled beers, Lost Colony branched out to include a small selection of varied styles. Beside the cozy waterfront, its large brown-benched dock overlooks the bay and sidles Benny Tesoros Pizza and a bakery. There are eight draught handles at the small six-seat, sea-shelled wood bar.

While my wife and I previously consumed some Lost Colony elixirs at the now-defunct downtown location about a decade hence, I discovered a fine dark ale on my August ’24 Outer Banks trip.

Simply named Manteo Porter retained mildly creamed black coffee bittering and charred walnut sear contrasting maple molasses sugaring and dewy peat sneak.      

CASUAL PINT – VIRGINIA BEACH

BEER PUB,

An enviably veritable family friendly ale haven on the outskirts of Virginia Beach in the upscale Princess Anne community, THE CASUAL PINT is buried inside an industrious modern mall. The ‘ultimate neighborhood gathering place,’ this tan columned, cafe-styled “beerstro” features a vast selection of local East Coast beers both on tap and in bottles and cans plus a worthy food, wine and cocktail menu.

A small black metal-fortified front patio welcomes patrons to the pristine epoxy-floored, high aluminum-ceilinged pub. There are 35 draught handles at the rear left bar (listed on the large blackboard) and TV’s all around for those sitting at the few high tables and four-seaters.

I slurped down nine fine brews on my late August ’24 journey before headin’ home to Jersey from the Carolina coastline – all reviewed in Beer Index. These included Delaware’s Dewey Secret Machine Pontoon Punch, New York’s KCBC Deadpoodle Hazy IPA, Hampton, Virginia’s Nost Lady Hefeweizen, Hampton, Virginia’s Capstan Solo Voyage Singel, Virginia Brewing’s Free Verse NEIPA and Elbow Patches Oatmeal Stout , Chantilly, Virginia’s Mustang Sally Paradise Stout and Chesapeake, Virginia’s Big Ugly Barrel Aged Rum Barleywine (plus the updated Elysian Punkuccino).        

OLNEY TAVERN

BEER PUB,

OLNEY, MARYLAND

Residing at a storied 1920’s era haunt in the Delmarva village of Olney, red brick-walled village-squared OLNEY TAVERN serves flatbread pizzas, soups, salads and entrees alongside sundry local beers.

A varnished wood-topped bar with twenty seats centers the quasi English-styled pub. There are stained pine-planked draught lines, several surrounding booths and tables and a white tile ceiling with four TV’s atop the bar.

My wife and I tried Tradition Willie Irish Red, Caiseal Treat Me Wrong Imperial IPA, Sycamore Mountain Candy IPA and Momac Craney Island Brown Ale (reviewed in Beer Index) during sunshiny dinnertime stopover on the way to the Carolina Coast.

CYPRESS ROOTS BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

POCOMOKE CITY, MARYLAND

Opened June ’24 in the central DelMarVa town of Pocomoke City, CYPRESS ROOTS BREWING COMPANY rocks the Eastern Shore of Maryland with a small, eclectic blend of slightly offbeat, yet stylishly mainstream, handcrafted ales. 

Led by co-owners Warren Willey (head brewer) and Jessmin Duryea, Cypress Roots strives to create an ‘individually built, unique fingerprint’ on the local beer scene. Willey learned how to brew with a humble hefeweizen kit before deciding to start up a small brewpub.

A red brick walled, concrete-floored, wood slat-ceilinged pub with lacquered tan concrete top bar, windowed tanks and eight tap handles, Cypress Roots also boasts a rustic reclaimed wood tap list and large stein collection. There are several metal-wood seats and a few front windowed tables for thirsty patrons.

As my wife and I settle in with Willey and Duryea, they mention a new bock recipe they’re assembling on a five-gallon scale while I down six diverse suds.

Mild Session Wheat draped lemony floral perfuming and crisp cucumber watering over oats-dried white wheat doughing.  

Fruity Pebbles with a salty Tang soft drink backdrop, Pocomoke Punch American Wheat picked up mild redcurrant snips above a soft wheat underbelly.

Bolder than its stylistic competition, Cypress Red Ale let mildly creamed caramel malting sweeten the dewy dried fruited center, submerging its dry Bakers chocolate bittering.

Another stylishly bolder brew, Carpe Noctem Black IPA allowed tarry pine and syrupy dark chocolate to embitter its ultra-dry yellow grapefruit and orange rind conflux and charcoaled black grape wisps.   

Authentic Brit-styled dark ale, Riverside Brown Ale, saddld its soft-watered coca powdering with reserved nuttiness, mossy dew and weedy residue.

Sweet milk chocolate contrasted coffee-burnt dried cocoa for Dividing Creek Oatmeal Stout, swerving thru maple molasses oats and recessive hop char.   

FOUNDERS KBS SPICY CHOCOLATE 2024

Beers A-Z,

Thickly creamed ’24 version of barrel-aged Imperial Stout utilizing coffee, chocolate and chili pepper spicing proves to be resilient nightcap. Luscious mochaccino, cappuccino, caramel latte and espresso serenade secures mildly fudged mocha thrust across light bourbon vanilla depot as recessive black cherry, red licorice and molasses candy illusions add further luster.