HOLBROOK, NEW YORK

One mile down the road from Saint James Brewery in a beautiful beige-stoned Industrial park, 1940’S BREWING COMPANY makes a wide variety of Classic-styled craft brews in their small 5-barrel operation. Opened during 2014, owner Charles Becker’s father used to brew at Rheingold while brewmaster Jon Bregel proves to be a resourceful zymurgist.

The brewery’s prominent front-windowed sign welcomes patron to the rustic two-room setting. The light brown walled serving room featured a wood finished wraparound bar with golden 1940’s emblem above 15 tap handles plus Edison lights and cornered flat-screen TV.

A separate side room had community tables and barreled stools.

A friendly, relaxed atmosphere was shared by a full house this rainy Saturday afternoon, May ’18. I grabbed a middle seat at the bar and consumed thirteen well-balanced brews. I bought a crowler of 1940’s flagship Wicked Chowdah IPA for the road (reviewed in Beer Index).

Daintily lemon-candied Bohemian Blonde provided a fine light-bodied opener with its grassy hop astringency bringing proper acridity to its oats-flaked white wheat graining and sweet crystal malting.

Tart blueberries sweetened a tad for Sapphire Squeeze Blueberry Ale, where sour lemon tartness battled back dry chocolate malts above its Bohemian Blonde base.

Just as easygoing, Hefe Injustice, left its stylish banana-clove sweetness upon doughy French-breaded crusting and soapy carbolic spritz.

Plain raw-honeyed Oh Bee Have Cream Ale let grassy hop astringency upend sour lemon rot and light herbal notions.

Dry-hopped lemon and orange souring regaled Vienna Waits For You Kolsch.

Strawberry-laden Hipster Weisse coddled its spritzy sour lemon salinity with perfumed dry spicing and tart cranberry snips, finishing with a puckering strawberry lucidity.

Caramel-toasted Starboardown Irish Red glided spicy red cherry, red grape and raspberry illusions into crisp tobacco-roasted earthen dew.

Brisk West Coast-styled Airfield IPA brought orange-peeled grapefruit tang to light pine tones and caramel-spiced pale malts.

Affably soft-tongued Column Shifter Double IPA retained a juicy grapefruit, orange, tangerine and pineapple tang over barley-roasted Maris Otter malts.

Pleasantly hop-roasted Change At Jamaica Black IPA balanced dried fruited tartness with dark chocolate malts.

Black-malted dark chocolate and coffee saddled semi-rich Brunch Porter, a cookie dough-bottomed medium body with tertiary black cherry-pureed nuttiness.

Dry Sinners Mass Oatmeal Stout affixed moderate dark chocolate and vanilla bean bittering to raw molasses-backed oats. Its nitro version obtained black cherry, cola nut and espresso subsidies for the dry mocha rhapsody.

1940sbrewingcompany.com