WHIPPANY, NEW JERSEY
At a former flooded red brick post office in the Morris County town of Whippany, DOUBLE TAP BREWING opened its doors Labor Day, ’22. Inspired by Morris County’s colonial heritage and Ben Franklin’s description of New Jersey as “a keg tapped at both ends” by New York City and Philadelphia, Double Tap’s the brainchild of homebrewers John Coyle, Todd Townsend, Chris Mock, Jared Dougherty, and Jeff Mauriello, who met at regional homebrew competitions.
Steppin’ up to the eight-stooled stamp-pressed wood top bar, there are twenty-plus draught handles plus one pull-handled tap. The epoxy-floored pub also includes wood-metal tables, a loungey couch area and back-roomed windowed brew tanks.
Pendant lighting fills the one-room space and opposing TV’s at the bar show today’s pro football games. Blues music by Johnny Winter, BB King, and more plays as I consume all sixteen beers Double Tap had to offer on this cool Sunday afternoon in November ’23.
Easygoing cream ale, Friday’s For Da Werkas, let lemony grapefruit effervesence pick up mild herbal hop musk contrasting sweet corn sugaring under its fluffy vanilla-daubed head.
Another splendidly effervescent lightweight, spritzy Italian pilsner, The Boot, brought lemon-candied souring and mild floral-spiced herbage to muskily grained pilsner malting.
Festive light-bodied Oktoberfest, Take Me To Your Litre, tucked mild lemon musk inside grassy hop astringency contrasting its softly creamed honeyed Vienna malting.
Tropical fruited wheat ale, The Wheatorious P.O.G., snuck guava, passionfruit and orange adjuncts into its soft oats spine, leaving ancillary grapefruit-pineapple bittering and salted mango-kiwi snips at the powdered candied Jolly Rancher finish.
Pineapple habanero wheat ale, Tropic Heat, received mild habanero peppered heat for its tangy pineapple ripeness and floral citrus scurry.
Utilizing a piney citrus West Coast IPA recipe, Wren Song Pale Ale placed subtle dry lemony orange bittering above sugary pale malts.
Best selling Bent Brim Hazy India Pale Ale relinquished vibrant tropical fruiting as advertised Galaxy-Citra-Strata-hopped pineapple, mango and melon juicing, tangy orange-peeled grapefruit briskness and candied gumball souring retained dank pine-lacquered cannabis resin.
Another hazy IPA, Monotone Pilot, coalesced tangy tangerine, sour guava and citric passionfruit above lightly creamed oated wheat.
“Tropical flora” engaged smoothly clean NEIPA, Flood Plain, guiding orange-peeled grapefruit, pineapple and tangelo tanginess into mild piney bittering over vanilla-creamed oats.
Sessionable IPA, Low Hanging Fruit, merged lemony passionfruit, tart tangerine and white peach above fluffily oated wheat creaming.
Uniquely unconventional Basil Hayden bourbon-barreled saison, Postmaster General, let perfumed gin botanicals and buttery Chardonnay wined green grape tannins receive dry rustic barnyard acridity, finishing with a slight bourbon whiskey whisk.
‘Smooth brown ale,’ I Got A Rock Great Pumpkin Ale, allowed chai tea spicing to infiltrate caramelized pumpkin sweetness, anise-cologned vanilla tannins and dark chocolate whims.
Bettering most nebulous schwarzbier competition, Tightrope combined cocoa-powdered chocolate malting with earthen wood, burnt cedar, pine nut and Brazil nut illusions.
Wood-aged schwarzbier, Oakrope, sent mildly creamed dewy peat, oak-toasted rye whiskey and nutty wattleseed snips to a dry chocolate stead.
Fluffily creamed nitrogenated English pub ale, Nigel’s Daily (cask style), let dewy peat mossing and Fuggle hop herbage reach cardboardy caramelized wheat malts.
Lightly charred dark-roast coffee imbibed English-style porter, Nitro Pessimist, leaving walnut-seared dark chocolate on its nutty backend.