RAHWAY, NEW JERSEY
Right in downtown Rahway not far Union County Performing Arts Center and a historic Jersey reformatory, WET TICKET BREWING started slinging suds at its Main Street location December ’16.
Inside a store-windowed neighborhood shop, Wet Ticket’s friendly serving center belies its huge gray-floored operational brewing backspace (with three community tables between tanks, stout barrels and kegs).
There are fourteen taps at the rustic stainless steel-topped, metal-seated, L-shaped serving station while the opposing left wall features a surfboard and snowboard and mod art. Front window seating is also available at the friendly town pub.
Brewer Tim Pewitt’s brusquely robust stylistic endeavors included two yummy stouts and a porter alongside three briskly clean IPA’s, a distinct kolsch and easygoing pilsner this sunny February ’20 afternoon.
Sessionable clear-paled light body, Perfectly Played Pils, placated its gentle oats-dried pilsner malting, delicate maize-dried leathering and sweet rice nicety with modestly herbaceous Noble hop musk.
Just as smoothly tranquil, Kolsch Ale, sustained a crisply clean watered flow with subtle lemon-dried tartness linked to freshly mown grassy hops, mild lemongrass herbage and frisky fungi fringe in a briskly incisive manner.
Well-balanced amber-bronzed Imperial IPA, Dream Ticket, thrusted forth with zesty grapefruit and orange peel sunshine, allowing perfume-oiled pineapple, peach and tangerine tropicalia to seep inside dewy pale malts.
Polite amber-hazed New England IPA, Fully Juiced, revealed zesty grapefruit, orange and pineapple vibrancy for its wispy vanilla yogurt milked souring.
Lactose-aided NEIPA, Galaxy Shaker, lifted salted mango-grapefruit zesting and floral-tinged pineapple-peach-passionfruit tang above vanilla-creamed pale malt sugaring (leaving an herbal tinge on the juicy fruited finish).
Richly dark-roast nuttiness anchored Pecan Porter, contrasting cedar-seared walnut char with maple molasses-sugared tobacco roast over dark chocolate bittering.
Black-peppered cocoa nibs serenaded Mexican Chocolate Stout, a maple oats-sugared mocha treat with ashen hop bittering and warming cinnamon cocoa finish.
Nutty cocoa-driven Imperial Oatmeal Stout let sweet milk chocolate goodness and maple oats sugaring contrast embittered Blackstrap molasses-draped dark chocolate syruping in fulsome mocha setting.