Sweet pumpkin pie spicing given vanilla-creamed powdered sugaring and caramelized cappuccino milking that sits daintily on the tongue of enticing dessert. Lactose pumpkin-spiced caramel latte rampage picks up rum cake sedation as well as wintry cinnamon-nutmeg-clove seasoning and confectionery gingerbread cookie minting.
On tap at Taphouse Grille – Wayne, sharp dark-roast coffee bean scrum slams lemon peel rim as dark cocoa, tobacco chaw and charred hop bittering reinforce heavy mocha influence. Mild astringency seeps thru lightly acidic coffee tartness.
On tap at Plank Pizza, lovely peppermint Rudolph variant leaves coffee-stained dark chocolate syrup upon wintry coniferous sprucing and dried ginger leaf peppering, finishing like a frosted chocolate mint brownie or better yet, a Peppermint Patty confection.
On tap at Plank Pizza, delightful ‘black and white milkshake’ knockoff combines syrupy dark chocolate fudging with creamy vanilla resilience. Lactose-aided mocha vanilla richness deepened by milk-sugared hazelnut coffee tones.
On tap at Taphouse 15, autumnal brown-sugared cinnamon, clove and ginger spicing encounters cucumber-watered gourd earthiness and leafy foliage in balanced attack.
On tap at Kitchen & Beer Bar, vodka-licked tropical fruiting receives juicy lupulin-powdered hop oiling, serene floral spicing and sweet gin boozing above mild wheated oats base. Peachy pineapple, mango, orange and papaya tang receives latent piney dankness, grassy astringency and fennel frolic.
OCEAN VIEW, NEW JERSEY
Inside a gray aluminum warehouse right off the NJ Parkway in Ocean View, LUDLAM ISLAND BREWERY opened its doors in 2016. A wood sign with baby blue Ludlam Island emblem guards the entrance to the large-scale microbrewery.
There are large brew tanks serving the silver-topped serving station in the meager cement-floored pub room (featuring five bar stools, slight center table wall seating). Ludlam Island began canning recently. My wife and I tossed down eight worthy brews that displayed colorful flavor profiles on a cool Friday evening, February ’20.
Soft-toned floral citrus tang rode atop herbal oats-dried German pilsner malting for Lawn Chair Hoppy Pilsner, picking up mild melon-guava-gooseberry souring and leathery barnyard acridity.
Easygoing orange-juiced lemon zesting and yellow grapefruit tang fronted Fish Alley IPA, an amber-hazed moderation with sticky pine resin coating its dry pale malt spine.
Lactic vanilla-creamed strawberry bluster hoisted yogurt-soured yellow grapefruit bittering to contrast tangy tangerine juicing for Creamsickle-like dessert treasure, Thickie Strawberry Milkshake IPA, leaving Peach Melba, strawberry shortcake and vanilla cake illusions in its wake.
Tangy yellow grapefruit spicing and light wood dankness marked sunny moderate-medium body Water Guns & Rainbows IPA.
Tropical-fruited DIPA #2, a yellow-hazed New England India Pale Ale, laced tidy gooseberry-guava souring with nestled juniper bittering to contrast mango-salted pineapple, peach and grapefruit tanginess.
Ashen walnut and salted peanut roast gained sour dried fruiting for Bay Muck Brown Ale.
Creamily decadent Double Polar Bear Smoked Vanilla Porter (10% ABV) allowed smoky vanilla beans to serenade hazelnut-glazed brown chocolate sweetness and dried cocoa powdering.
Spectacular Whiskey Barrel-aged Polar Bear Vanilla Porter brought lusciously silken bourbon vanilla sweetness to brown chocolate, dark cherry, toasted coconut and hazelnut pleasantries.
