3RD WAVE BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

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DELMAR, DELAWARE

A few miles from the Maryland border just off Route 13 in a nondescript brown aluminum double-wide trailer, 3RD WAVE BREWING took over the space previously occupied by Evolution Brewery (before its great expansion) during September 2012. A cozy cubbyhole-like pub with 8-seat tasting bar, a few stool tables, glass-encased brew tanks, low drop ceiling and wall-strewn surfboards, 3rd Wave concentrates on providing stylishly efficient and well-rounded brews covering a wide spectrum of flavors. And a makeshift patio with picnic benches and cheap party lights attracts the summer beach crowd. My initial visit came in April ’16.

Ostensibly a flagship offering also available in bottles, 3rd Wave 1st Wave IPA tendered a sharp citric-spiced Cascade hop bittering and subsidiary floral-fruited frolic above its crisp barley base. A tad more aggressive, Bombora Double IPA brought its brisk yellow grapefruit tang to the piney hop bitterness contrasting sugary crystal malts.

Sour champagne wining embraced North Bay Sour IPA, a lightly pungent brettanomyces yeast-infected wild ale with lemony grapefruit tartness cresting over acidulated malts.

Like a tart cherry lollipop, More Cherry Lager retained its moderate red cherry sweetness above astringent hop spicing and wheat-honeyed spine.

Sinewy honey sweetened Shoreline Honey Ginger Cream Ale, a delicate ginger-spiced moderation, gained spritzy orange tartness.

Using Big Barrel Bourbon Belgian Quad as its base, 3rd Wave 136 Strong Ale, aged in Cruzen rum barrels, let its lemony orange marmalade tang absorb crystal malt sugaring.

Charcoal-smoked dark roast coffee and dark chocolate syruping received bittersweet blueberry puree lacquering to create the rich ‘n creamy Blue Balls Blueberry Porter.

Dark-roast coffee affluence also pervaded Dawn Patrol Coffee And Cream Stout, a full-bodied mocha dessert for hearty thirsts.

During June ’16 revisit, found five more previously untried libations.

First up, soft-toned light body, Beach Juice Berliner, brought stylishly salty lemon-limed tartness to woodruff syruping, leaving a mouth-puckering lactobacillus sourness at the finish.

Mild Beachbreak Apricot Wheat allowed polite apricot sweetness to pick up fig-dried hop astringency above its honeyed Graham Cracker base. A powdered orange tang reinforced crisp Gibson Orange Wheat, a spritzy seltzer-like moderation with navel orange, clementine and tangerine influence.

Lovely Sandstorm Belgian Tripel coalesced tangy orange sweetness with rum-spiced banana daiquiri boozing and candi-sugared pineapple-mango-cantaloupe juicing to contrast mustily sharp resinous hop bittering as well as salty black-peppered herbage.

Just a tad stronger (at 8.6% ABV), Upstream Strong Ale’s brisk IPA fruiting and bark-dried hop bittering picked up sugared spicing to rally its pineapple, grapefruit, orange, peach and lemon illusions.

 www.3rdwavebrewingco.com

 

BLUE EARL BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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SMYRNA, DELAWARE

Inside a beige aluminum industrial warehouse close to a large Walmart distribution center in the American Revolution-formed village of Smyrna, praiseworthy BLUE EARL BREWING was established during 2014 and opened for business May ’15, becoming Delaware’s seventh brewery. Entrepreneurial guiding light, Ron Price, a former home brewer, runs this huge 11,000 square foot operation (with plenty of room for expansion).

Combining Price’s love for (mostly) strong ales and the Blues, his pristine sienna and pale blue-walled tasting room features a pink guitar and other instruments strewn across the duct-exposed, high-ceiling interior. Three community benches and several wall-countered stools sit across from the 10-seat wood-laminated bar.

On my May ’16 one-hour stopover, I got to sample eight exquisite elixirs, though missing out on what may become Blue Earl’s flagship beer, tropical citric-pined medium body, Walking Blues IPA.

Starting with three fine Belgian-styled offerings, the lightest one, Honeysuckle Rose (Belgian Blonde Ale), brought lemon pepper-glazed honeysuckle sweetness to lemony orange zest, peated malt dewiness, dry Hallertau hops and green grape snips.

Intricate Heavenly Joy (Dubbel) layered candi-sugared yeast with toasted caramel malts, subtle citrus hop tones and dried-fruited cherry, plum and raisin illusions. ‘Complex’ Stardust (Tripel), a deceptive 9.5% ABV medium body, hitched its freshly-squeezed orange and lemon tang to white-peppered sugar spicing and terse fig-raisin nuances.

Elegantly detailed Trouble In Mind (Doppelbock) placed crystal malt sugaring and barley-toasted toffee sweetness above reluctant date and fig undertones in a rich, yet understated, manner.

Spicy rye malts inundated Gnarly Red-Eyed Rooster (Imperial Red Rye Ale), a fruity medium body with woody Chinook hops and tropical Cascade-Citra hops illuminated by tangy ruby red grapefruit zest as well as scrappy apple, peach, apricot and tangerine illusions.

Velvety Big Boss Man (Barleywine) allowed tropical fruited sweetness to inundate its chewy caramel-toffee sugaring and cereal-grained malting for a strong 10% ABV uplift.

On the dark side were two well-executed potions. Mightily mocha-smoked Blue On Black (Smoked Porter) retained bold black chocolate-syruped coffee richness above wood-burnt hop char. But best of all was Top Of The World (Imperial Stout with bourbon vanilla beans). A thick and chewy 9% ABV libation, its prominent bourbon vanilla sweetness gained syrupy brown chocolate licks, roasted caramel sugaring, hazelnut coffee riffs, light espresso dabs and vaporized dried fruiting.

Presently, Gnarly Red-Eyed Rooster is available in 22-ounce bottles while Walking Blues IPA and Honeysuckle Rose are marketed in 6-packs.          

blueearlbrewing.com

DOGFISH HEAD BREWERY – MILTON

United States Brewpubs,

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MILTON, DELAWARE

Standing head and shoulders above all their fabulous Delaware competition, DOGFISH HEAD BREWERY is the long-lasting brainchild of highly respected and dutifully diligent brewmeister, Sam Calagione, a worldly zymurgist whose capacious Milton-based complex continually expands to meet international demand for his luxuriously ‘off-centered ales for off-centered people.’

In a multifarious art-deco New World designed complex just off the beaten path in rural colonialist Victorian haven, Milton, the incomparable Dogfish Head compound contains a roomy brewpub, bottling plant, red-bricked warehouse and several large grain silos. A rust metal treehouse sculpture with winding steps guides privileged customers to the laithe wood-fronted tasting room (with several barrel tables, a quartz-countered bar top and large exposed ducts). A food truck serves bratwursts, but will convert to Cuban sandwiches, Curry Chicken Salade, Reuben and chili menu June ’16.

On my pleasurable mid-afternoon April ’16 venture, I sampled two previously untried elixirs, one enhanced fruit ale and a cask version of one fabulous milk stout.

Firstly, stylistically superior Firefly English Pale Ale delivered oats-sugared Maris Otter barley malting to dewy peat earthiness, grassy hop astringency and floral lemon drops, staying mildly creamy to its mossy finish.

Next, approachable Alternative Takes #1, a sharp piney fruited Imperial IPA, parlayed its tropical pineapple, papaya and passionfruit adjuncts into lemony grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering, leaving a distant apricot tea remnant.

By upgrading Dogfish Head Aprihop with mango and ginger, the resulting apricot-dried Imperial IPA really gains vigor, from its syrupy peach sugaring, honeyed melon sweetness and cantaloupe-juiced mango tang to its mellow herbal-hopped scamper and bitter grapefruit respite.

For dessert, the lactic coffee bean-enhanced cask version of Chicory Stout hit the tongue softly with its lightly creamed dark-roast coffee entry, heavenly milked espresso undertones, roasted chicory influence and peat-smoked innuendo.

During January ’20 revisit, consumed four brews available onsite only (as of this date).

Rustic light-bodied pre-Prohibition lager, Corn Stalker, allowed oats-dried maize astringency and cereal-grained barleycorn grist to pervade lemon-rotted hop bittering.

Peculiar sour IPA, Kernel Haslet, let bacterial brettanomyces funk soak into lemony perfumed white grape esters, dry lime zest and tangerine snips over its corn grit adjunct and oats-flaked pilsner malting.

Delightful Medieval Dutch-styled Koffee Koyt utilized pilsner-malted white wheat and lemony Hallertau hop musk to back up its light-roast Guatemalan coffee tumult as well as cocoa-shelled Madagascar vanilla beaning.

Heavenly Knob Creek bourbon brought light oak-charred bourbon vanilla sweetness to dry whiskey tones for Assemblage, a barleywine-stout mix draping dark chocolate syrup upon tertiary maple syrup, burnt caramel, toffee and espresso nuances.

On a clear sunny Monday in November ‘ 21, revisited mammoth microbrewer to try five newly designed elixirs.

Rustic clear straw Czech-styled pilsner, Blue Hen, brought barley-husked spelt, alfalfa, maize and wild oats to lemon-peppered Saaz hop herbage in a damp earthen manner.

Crisp Bavarian pilsner, So Flo, brewed at Dogfish Head’s Miami brewery, placed dainty floral-spiced lemon herbage alongside wet grain musk for light-bodied splendor.

Summery fruit ale, Tango Crush, let briny mango souring and tart tangerine zesting gain lightly embittered lemony grapefruit and orange zesting over silken pilsner malt base.

Centrist hazy IPA, Replicant, gathered ripe grapefruit-seeded orange and pineapple bittering for mild piney hop resin above gentle pale malts.

Cold-brewed milked coffee expanse guided Istanbuldozer, a mocha-laden milk stout with mildly creamed black chocolate, dark cocoa, nutty espresso and spicy toffee illusions.

www.dogfish.com

ARGILLA BREWING CO. @ PIETRO’S PIZZA

United States Brewpubs, ,

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NEWARK, DELAWARE

Boasting the simple slogan ‘tasty suds and laidback grub,’ Newark, Delaware-based nanaobrewery ARGILLA BREWING CO. may’ve come into fruition during February 2012, but brewer Steve Powell’s father manned Pietro’s Pizza since 1978. Starting with a home kit brewing system ’round 2008, Powell became increasingly interested in designing craft beers, inspired partially by Anchorage, Alaska’s Moose Tooth Pub & Pizzeria and Washington State’s eclectic breweries. A former Iron Hill brewer, Powell’s general fare is soft-toned, daintily expressive and well-rounded, pairing well with the tremendous assortment of pizza pies offered.

Inside the red-bricked Meadowood Mall, Argilla celebrated its fourth anniversary recently. A small stage with pink couch and beer list line the right side wall while left side seating and wooden booths surround the central food and bar area. Windowed brew tanks at the left rear served seven approachable ales on my April ’16 lunchtime sojourn. My wife ordered the delectable Arugula Pie to go with my house-brewed samples. Waylon & Willie, Johnny Cash and several other country artists play in the background while several locals start to arrive.

It’s worth noting that Argilla also has a refrigerator full of respectable bottled-canned Delaware beers from Dogfish Head, Fordham & Dominion, 16 Mile, Mispillion River, Third Wave and Blue Earl (all of which I found later on this fun-soaked statewide journey).

For starters, easy drinking Blonde On Belgian brought brisk lemon zest to mandarin orange tartness, coriander-spiced banana sweetness and candi-sugared crystal malts. Next, sweet-honeyed Session Pale Ale mixed lemony grapefruit souring with mildly bitter orange rind tang. Just as mild, raw-honeyed Golden Goldings gained a subtle lemon spritz over bready malts, herbal hops and vegetal hints.

Bettering those delicate choices was soft-toned Meeting House Pale Ale, the nitro version of Session Pale Ale. Its lemon-pitted grapefruit and orange tartness gained prominence above doughy English yeast fermentation.

Dried oats anchored mildly embittered Toatally Falconer Oat IPA, a polite lemon-limed spritzer with astringent hops guiding piney grapefruit pith briskness to the surface. ‘Fruit juiced’ Flute Luplin, a wildflower-honeyed Imperial IPA, delivered a delightful citric punch above creamy pale malts as its lemony grapefruit and orange tang quietly surged.

Before hitting the road, lovely oats-flaked dry body, Sin City Stout, contrasted light coffee and cocoa bittering with medium-roast brown chocolate sweetness and wispy dried fruiting.

By June ’16, Argilla will expand brewing operations from 1.5 barrels to a 3-barrel system.

www.argillabrewing.com