Summery American wheat beer with “coriander and citrus” and puffy white head embraces sunshiny lemon zesting and dried mandarin orange snip above pallid white wheat bed. Lemon juice continuance brings mild acidity and candied lemon tartness adds slight mouth pucker, but coriander spicing lacks.
Overwhelmingly assertive hot peppered collab with Little House Brewing retains true tortilla-chipped, green pepper-spiced, mango salsa likeness minus the tomato sauce. Sea-salted mango souring receives mildly acidic Margarita-like lemon zested key lime bittering and unripe orange snip (plus woody pencil shavings) pervaded incessantly by dry green chili peppering. Suited for hot pepper lovers.
Fulsome hazy golden glowed NEIPA collab with nearby Connecticut brewer, Tox, places subtle Citra-hopped orange peel sweetness, yellow grapefruit zesting and salted pineapple tang next to herbal Galaxy-hopped passionfruit-gooseberry souring in creamy oat milk-sugared setting. Lingered piney hop bittering zaps lactic yogurt-milked tropical fruited finish.
Slushy Smoothie Skygazer collab combines kettle-soured Water Colors’ tartly blueberry-pied chocolate resonance and marshmallow creaming with fruit-looped Lily Of The Valley for mildly acidic, viscous magenta-hued, pastry-like dessert. Ample chocolate blueberry cake/ chocolate blueberry cheesecake resilience gains tart raspberry, boysenberry and blackberry compote influence.
On tap at Jealous Monk, creamy pastry stout aged on pistachio, vanilla bean and cocoa nibs lets syrupy brown chocolate sweeten the load. Mild coffee-roasted espresso milking enhances mocha thrust as black licorice-spiced black cherry remnant joins the fray above honeyed Graham Cracker base.
On tap at Jealous Monk, caramel-candied butterscotch sweetness stays subtle alongside mild fig-spiced cherry tartness and dewy mossing contrasting tannic hop phenols above nutty mocha-daubed Maris Otter malting.
On tap at Jealous Monk, standard doppel places nutty toffee spicing and candied date sugaring above caramelized chocolate malting, contrasting its overall delicate sweetness with brown leaf foliage.
NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT
TOX BREWING COMPANY became New London, Connecticut’s first brewpub, April 2019. Run by a few local ‘curiosity-filled’ beer nerds, Tox crafts many vibrantly sharp IPA’s alongside an eclectic array of stylistic offshoots.
Occupying a rustic cabin with community-tabled front patio, the epoxy-floored pub offers a six-chaired L-shaped serving station, several metal-wood Industrial tables and a fabulous Beer Style map on the right wall. The turquoise-daubed copper patina draught stations match the bar frontage while twisted Edison lights provide cool antiquity and a TV at the bar sits atop the mushroom-handled draught taps. The rear brew room has a raw feel.
During my December ’21 venture, got to try nine impressive suds.
Dry pilsner-malted kolsch, Crocus, let orange-rotted champagne fizz prickle vinous grape, tart cherry and spicy saffron as well as Noble hop herbage in a mild manner.
Dewy dried fruited spicing anchored Mandrake, a heady 9.5% ABV Scotch Ale with caramelized chestnut, praline and almond nuttiness and light tobacco roast.
Sharp flagship IPA, Amanita, brought floral-spiced tropicalia to the fore as mango-candied grapefruit, orange and tangerine tang contrasted piney hop bittering.
Dry soft-tongued NEIPA, Devil’s Trumpet, allowed lemon-candied peach, mango and pineapple tanginess to penetrate mild coniferous pine tones and black pepper whims.
Bright ‘n lively IPA, Eft Citra, let zesty lemon and orange-candied mango, papaya and grapefruit spicing pick up waxy crayon grouting and lacquered pine oiling.
Cocktail-inspired sour IPA, Box Jelly Paloma, based on Mexico’s national drink, plied sea-salted agave to mild limey grapefruit pith bittering for a nifty tequila knockoff.
Briskly sharp Christmas-spiced fruited sour, Lily Of The Valley – Spiced Cranberry Sauce, a distinct Berliner Weiss variant, backed its salted lemony cranberry tartness with orange-peeled cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger seasoning and vanilla-daubed maple syruping.
Another wintry treat, Holly, Holiday Fruitcake Winter Warmer, hurled gingerbread-bound cinnamon, vanilla and almond sweetness at dried fruited nuttiness for a strong 8.5% ABV confection.
Guatemalan coffee roast pervaded luxurious milk stout, Deadly Nightshade, bringing brown-sugared cinnamon spicing, candied hazelnut glaze, vanilla and espresso illusions into the rich java scheme.
Fudgy marshmallow-fluffed brown chocolate sweetness rampages thru brown-sugared candied yam adjunct above honeyed Graham Cracker base of ‘toxic’ 11% ABV winter warming pastry stout. Creamy chocolate-vanilla center gains bruised black cherry, star anise and toffee illusions for perfect sweet-toothed nightcap.
On tap at Jealous Monk, flagship silken straw yellowed moderation combines tangy grapefruit-peeled lemon zesting, limey passionfruit souring and vodka-nipped mandarin orange, peach, pineapple and mango subtleties above lightly spiced, mildly creamed oated wheat base.