GLASSBORO, NEW JERSEY

In the heart of Glassboro serving dedicated brew hounds and attracting local Rowan University students, AXE & ARROW came into existence April 7, 2019. Head brewer, Greg Fletcher, learned his craft in Colorado before partnering with likeminded entrepreneurs, Josh and Krystle Lockman. The gallant trio then designed their seven barrel brewing system at bustling Glassboro Town Square, a pedestrian-friendly midtown patio garden.

The wood-toned studio-like interior has plenty of open space and includes a raw pine-walled 12-seat bar with 20 tap handles and raw pine-walled backing contrasting the stark black tile ceiling and green walled side wall (with 2 TV’s). There are several bark top seats fronting the bar while silver brew tanks bedeck the rear.

My wife and I were Axe & Arrow’s first patrons on our noontime February ’21 Saturday journey.

There were three resilient golden hued or hazed New England-styled pale ales (two of the India pale variety) on hand for survey.

Soft-toned pale ale, Shattered Ceilings, brought sunny citric IPA fruiting to the fore as zestful yellow grapefruit and orange rind bittering contrasted subtle floral-perfumed spicing.

Musky lemon-dropped grapefruit bittering lingered gently above lightly creamed crystal pale malting for Nor’Easter, a hazy NEIPA with mild bark-dried grassy residue.

Another hazy NEIPA, crisply clean Brew Dragon, surged forth with lemony grapefruit peel and pith bittering retaining a mild hop char over delicate flaked oats.

A richer grain-hopped roast inundated bronze cleared Imperial IPA, The Axe, a stylish East-West Coast hybrid with moderate piney bittering spackling tangy orange briskness and tertiary pineapple-grapefruit daubs.

Lemony orange zesting picked up lightly lingered yellow grapefruit bittering for Azacca White Ale, leaving white-peppered herbage and prickly pear tartness near the white wheat spine.

Easygoing ambrosial sour ale, Pineapple Fluff, let zesty pineapple tartness engage powdered sugar marshmallow sweetness while its candied Pez-like lemon-limed pucker escorted mandarin orange/ clementine snips.

Herbal lemon-rotted musk countered the banana-clove whimsy of Squeaky Wheel, a huskier-grained hefeweizen.

Dewy sweetness encountered dark toffee sugaring to contrast the coffee-stained tobacco roast of Stubborn Goat, a dark-fruited weizenbock with truffle-like fungi molding.

Delightful dessert, Hardwired, a hazelnut coffee-enriched porter, gained toasted coconut sweetness, mild pecan buttering and distant cola nuttiness.

Though its peanut-buttered cacao powdering’s nearly lost in the mix, Black Gold Oatmeal Stout maintained a weedy earthen char that saturated its vanilla-beaned maple oatmeal spine and citric Cascade hop wisp.