Draught Diversions: Mini Brewery Overviews: Chilton Mill, Oakflower, Wild Air

Brewery Spotlight, Draught Diversion

Draught Diversions is the catchall label for mini-rants, think-pieces, and posts that don’t just focus on one beer here at The Tap Takeover. We hope you don’t grow too weary of the alcohol alliterative names we use…

Over the last few months, I’ve visited two new breweries that opened in 2022 and a newer one that opened in 2019. By the time this goes live, I’ll have posted a review from each brewery (Oakflower’s Dew Drop, Wild Air Beerworks’s Outer Dark, and Chilton Mill’s Schwarzbier – Black Lager). I wanted to give a brief overview of these three breweries. I’ll go alphabetically starting with Chilton Mill Brewing in Long Valley, NJ; then Oakflower Brewing Company in Millington / Long Hill, NJ, and close it out with Wild Air Beerworks in Asbury Park, NJ.

Chilton Mill Brewing

Mike Peachy is the owner and head brewer at Chilton Mill Brewing with a similar story to many breweries – he liked beer, got into home brewing, and decided to open up a brewery. Mike is from New Jersey, spent time in New Hampshire where the New England craft beer scene provided Mike with more knowledge and push to open a brewery. In May 2019, Mike opened Chilton Mill in one of the two most popular kinds of locations for independent breweries in New Jersey – a Strip Mall. (The other being an industrial park).

As soon as I entered the brewery each time I visited, I felt welcome in the cozy little brewery. The first visit was during the spring and all the outdoor chairs/tables were occupied, so I enjoyed the Fruited Sour ale inside. The second visit was a cold evening in November and I felt almost like I was walking into Cheers. Not that I was Norm, but plenty of friendly conversation amongst patrons and staff.

What I appreciate the most about Chilton Mill is that despite being one of the smaller breweries with just eight taps, they have a very nice variety. In that way, I’m reminded of Odd Bird Brewing in Stockton. Mike always seems to have an IPA, a fruited/sour beer, a lager, a brown ale. He proudly doesn’t add lactose to any of his beers, which this lactose-intolerant beer enthusiast appreciates! Most of the beers are on the lower-ABV side of things, allowing Mike to showcase his skills in coaxing such robust flavors out of the ingredients he uses.

I’ve only visited twice, but that will be changing.

Some other links of interest and sources of information for this post:

Oakflower Brewing

Oakflower Brewing is the newest of these three breweries having opened late November 2022, but as often as breweries are opening in New Jersey a couple more breweries opened since then. Anyway, Oakflower Brewing Company in Millington, NJ joins a growing group of breweries in Morris County, NJ (Twin Elephant, Highpoint/Ramstein, Fort Nonsense, Glenbrook, Double Tap and the aforementioned Chilton Mill).

Owned by Colin McDonough and his wife Leann, Oakflower opened with 8 beers on draught. Colin brought his brewing experience to the table, he spent quite a few years doing small batches under the Lamington River Brewing banner. They were sort of a “If you know, you know” kind of brewery, more of a home-brewer with a Instagram page if I’m not mistaken.

Be that as it may, the brewery itself has a bright and inviting interior, beertenders AJ and Dani are super friendly. In addition to their Grisette, Dew Drop the review of which I posted earlier in the week, I had their smooth, roasty, and delicious Oatmeal Stout called Ember

Located next to the Millington Post Office and across the street from the Millington Train Station, the brewery is in a great spot and fairly easy to find. That also makes for prime potential customer location with NJ Transit commuters on a Thursday or Friday night. The taproom is bright, inviting, and very clean in appearance. If those first two beers I had from Oakflower are any indication of the quality that will be pouring out of their draught lines, then I suspect the taproom will be quite busy.

Some other links of interest and sources of information for this post:

Wild Air Beerworks

Wild Air Beerworks is a fairly unique brewery for a couple of reasons. For starters, they are in a building previously occupied by another brewery, Dark City Brewing which went out of business. The people behind the scenes, owners, etc, of Wild Air Beerworks are owners of Last Wave Brewing in Point Pleasant (Nick Jiorle, Bert Roling and his wife Dani Roling.) as well as a former brewer from Carton (Doug Phillips).

One of the cool things about Wild Air, at least to this English major and reader of many books, is that names of most beers are some kind of literary reference. Their delicious American Lager, Inherent Vice is a book by Thomas Pynchon, the Baltic Porter I reviewed recently, Outer Dark is a book by Cormac McCarthy, their Cold IPA Unhallowed Rites is a reference to H.P. Lovecraft’s “Horror at Red Hook.”

Image courtesy of Wild Air Beerworks’s Facebook

That naming convention and theme carries over to the brewery itself. The aesthetic is somewhere at the intersection of speakeasy, library, and lounge and the vibe is really chill and relaxed. I don’t recall what the look was exactly when it was Dark City, only that the look is an improvement. Quite frankly, everything about Wild Air is an improvement over its predecessor from the quality of the beer to the people working at the brewery giving off a welcoming vibe.

Something that drew me to Wild Air is their focus on Lagers and Wild Ales, especially the Lagers. They have one or two IPAs on draught, but most of the 16 beers they have available are either Lagers or Wild Ales. When I visited, I had the aforementioned Baltic Porter as well as the Italian Pilsner, Fortuna, which was delicious. There were nice bready elements to it and like all Italian Pilsners, this one was dry-hopped, but that element wasn’t overpowering.

Almost as soon as they opened their doors, their beers were distributed out in stores, which is not something all breweries can say. Granted, the fact that they are an offshoot of an established brewery who has been distributing cans of their beers for a couple of years might help.

The brewery is worth visiting and the beer is well-worth getting into your fridge.

Some other links of interest and sources of information for this post:

Beer Review: Oakflower Brewing’s Dew Drop

Name: Dew Drop
Brewing Company: Oakflower Brewing Company
Location: Millington, NJ
Style: Farmhouse Ale – Grisette
ABV: 3.9%

An extremely flavorful low ABV beer that showcases the brewer’s skill and talent in a very impressive fashion.

From the untappd page for the beer:

Dew Drop is our low ABV, rainy Spring inspired grisette. We start with a base of floor malted pils and plenty of malted wheat, firmly hopped with some lovely Saaz, and then gently dry hopped with Motueka. It brings a great marriage of earthy, floral, and citrus. Dew Drop is highly carbonated and finishes nice and dry, making it all too easy to refill your glass.

New breweries will sometimes stumble out of the gate when they open for the first time. In some cases, the brewers may be working on new equipment, sizing up their recipes for larger batches. I can’t say that is the case with Oakflower Brewing in Millington, NJ. I visited the second weekend they were open and ordered this Grisette. What is a Grisette, though? It is a Belgian style dating back to the 1700s initially brewed to reward and refresh miners. The name “Grisette” translates as “little grey one,” likely a reference to the stone of the mines. Typically, this beer is similar to the Saison style of beer, with a lower ABV (often less than 5% ABV) with a sometimes fruity or tart element from the yeast used in the beer.

Not many breweries are making Grisettes, let alone making it as one of their first beers available to the public. To coax flavor out of the elements while maintaining a strong flavor profile with a low ABV isn’t the easiest task. But in the interest of trying styles I don’t often see (just 6 different Grisettes including this one), I ordered Dew Drop.

The beer I’m given is bright and inviting, yellow-golden with a frothy head. The aroma has a slight bit of funk.

The first sip puts a smile on my face. It is both light and flavorful at the same time. There’s an effervescent element that seems slightly more carbonated than most beers I’ve had. As I continue to drink the beer, I enjoy it more and more as a spritzy, fruity element becomes a bit more pronounced. Not a dominant flavor component, but something tickling the edges.

I’m guessing part of what sets this apart from other farmhouse style ales I’ve had is the Motueka hops. While the Saaz hops are a very traditional hop (they are THE pilsner hop), Motueka is fairly new and from New Zealand. The two hops play nicely together..

I think the most impressive element of this beer is the whole of it. For a beer to have so much flavor at such a low ABV is very impressive. Even more impressive is that Oakflower was open for just a week when I visited and this beer was on draught. Head brewer/owner Colin McDonough was brewing in small batches for a few years under the Lamington River Brewing banner so he’s got some experience. That said, it often can take time for a brewer to adjust to newer, larger scale equipment and the learning curve here seems non-existent. Dew Drop is the kind of beer I’d expect from a brewery that’s been open a few years, not a couple of weeks.

Highly recommended, link to 4.5 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Beer Review: Hardywood Park’s Gingerbread Stout

Beer Review

Name: Gingerbread Stout
Brewing Company: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
Location: Richmond, VA
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double Milk | Imperial Milk Stout with Ginger and Honey
ABV: 9.2%

Christmas in a Glass – it has been said about this beer by others, but it is no less true. A delicious, iconic stout that is a must have during the Yuletide season.

From the Hardywood’s landing page for the beer:

Made with baby ginger from Casselmonte Farm and wildflower honey from Bearer Farms, Hardywood Gingerbread Stout captures the terroir of Central Virginia in a rich, creamy libation with a velvety mouthfeel and an intriguing evolution of notes from milk chocolate and vanilla, to honeycomb and cinnamon, to a snap of ginger in the finish. We hope Hardywood Gingerbread Stout contributes to your merriment this season.

I’ve been circling around this beer for a few years now, going back to 2019 when I featured the beer in that year’s Christmas Six Pack before Hardywood began sending their beers into New Jersey. Just a year later, that changed when Hardywood beers begain appearing on NJ shelves. Since then, I’ve had a few variants: Christmas Morning, Barrel-Aged/Kentucky Christmas Morning, and last year, the Barrel-Aged version of this beer. Now, at last I finally picked up a four-pack of a beer many people put on the “Mount Rushmore” of Christmas Beers.

That’s quite a bit of preamble with perhaps some unfair expectations set on the beer, I realize. Be that as it may, I’ll dive into the beer…

Pop of the can and the beer pours jet black into my Delirium Noël glass. I get strong aroma of ginger coming off the beer, along with cinnamon. In other words, the beer very much smells like gingerbread cookies and Christmas.

I take a sip and gingerbread is the most prominent element of the beer. Shocking, I know. The same is true for the beer itself, very heavy on the ginger, which is to be expected. If you have the least bit of a problem with ginger or gingerbread, don’t go near this beer. Me? I like ginger (the tea I drink has ginger in it) and gingerbread cookies so this is all fine by me. There’s also a prominent cinnamon element to the beer, which nicely compliments the ginger.

My wife leaves out Gingerbread cookies for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve so the aroma and flavor of Gingerbread cookies is one of the elements I most associate with Christmas. As I tasted and enjoyed more of the beer, that Christmas in a Glass theme really hits home. An element of the beer that stands out as the beer warms and I get beyond that wonderful gingerbread element is the honey. Ginger is a potent spice/root that can be quite aggressive, fortunately, isn’t overly aggressive here and that may be due to the generous amount of honey in the beer. That natural sweetness that pleasantly balances out the ginger.

The milk sugar further brings the sweet balance to the beer, plus the lactose adds a silky smooth feel to the beer. The combination of flavors also evokes hints of chocolate and vanilla for a perfect Christmas dessert beer. Bottom Line: The beer lived up to be what I hoped it would be.

Highly Recommended, link to 4.25 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Draught Diversions: Christmas 2022 Six Pack

Draught Diversion, Style in Focus

Here I come a wassailing a wassailing with another six pack holiday feature, this time on Christmas/Winter Holiday beers.

Christmas and the Yuletide season is a time for celebration and family gatherings. It is a time for a specific kind of beer, often with some kind of spice, maybe a big stout, or maybe something with fruits or nuts in the mix. I’ll tell you, having put together a Christmas Six Pack every year since 2017, it is becoming a little more challenging each year to craft a diverse six pack of beers that hasn’t been covered in some form here at the Tap Takeover in the past.

Of course, I haven’t helped myself with whittling the field by doing 12 Beers of Christmas a couple of times (2018 part 1, 2018 part 2, 2017 Christmas Beers of Past, 2017 Christmas Beers of Future), thus removing two posts from the future. Be that as it may, there tends to be a good mix of holiday mainstays each year along with new holiday beers, which is how this pack came into being. As usual, I tried to balance NJ beers with beers that are nationally distributed or at least with large regional distribution footprints.

On to the Six Pack!

Alpha Klaus (Porter – American) | 3 Floyds Brewing | Munster, IN | 7.3% ABV

Image courtesy of 3 Floyds Brewing’s Twitter

3 Floyds is one of the great midwestern breweries, they brew largely hop-forward/hop-aggressive beers. Like many breweries, they offer a seasonal spate of beers, including this Christmas Porter.

What 3 Floyds Brewing says about the beer:

Alpha King’s festive cousin. A big American Xmas Porter brewed with English chocolate malt, Mexican sugar and, of course, tons of strange American hops…

Blue Christmas (Sour – Fruited Gose) | Brix City Brewing | Little Ferry, NJ | 5.5% ABV

Image courtesy of Brix City Brewing’s Facebook

I’ve included lighter ABV beers in my Christmas posts previously and this one can work, too. Blue Christmas is a very popular Christmas song and the fine folks at Brix City have played off of that with this holiday-inspired Gose!.

What Brix City Brewing says about the beer:

We hope your white Christmas brings you cheer, but if you’re like us you don’t mind a little Blue Christmas… Blue Christmas is our holiday Gose brewed with both Lactose & Fleur De Sel and conditioned on a ton of fresh Spruce Tips & Blueberry Purée.

Notes of blueberry pie filling and jelly donuts with a touch of fresh spruce in the finish.

Brudolph (Stout – Imperial Double / Milk) | Ludlam Island Brewing | Ocean View, NJ | 10% ABV

Image courtesy of Ludlam Island Brewing’s Facebook

Ludlam Island brews a “Brudolph” every year, or has for the last few years at least. The recipe and beer changes slightly with each incarnation, this year’s (2022) seems to evoke oatmeal raisin cookies. I’ve only had one beer from the South Jersey brewery (their Helles Lager) since they increased their distribution footprint, so perhaps this one will show up near me before Rudolph makes his annual journey leading Santa’s sleigh.

What Ludlam Island Brewery s says about the beer:

This year’s holiday offering is our thick milk stout loaded with heaps of oats, raisins, and just the right amount of cinnamon reminding us of baking with our grandmoms right around the holidays!

Santa’s Little Helper (Stout – Imperial/Double) | Port Brewing Co. | Philadelphia, PA | 10% ABV

Image courtesy of Port Brewing’s Instagram

For a few years, I was getting this stout around Christmastime, the years before I was on untappd, and just after I joined. I haven’t seen it lately, but I remember loving this big, boozy stout. Port Brewing also brews and distributes a barrel-aged version, which I had about a decade ago and that one is even more elusive these days since I’m not sure if Port Brewing is still distributing into New Jersey. Regardless, if you see either the standard or barrel-aged version, grab it.

What Port Brewing says about the beer:

Santa knows who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. This is one seriously naughty but nice beer.

Santa’s Little Helper, our Imperial Stout, starts with an emphasis on dark cocoa and roasted coffee aromatics. The finish lends hints of sweet crystal malt, warming tones of alcohol and a touch of hops, making a perfect accompaniment to leftover fruit cake and sugar cookies.

Cherished Festive Brown Ale (Spiced / Herbed Beer) | Spellbound Brewing | Mount Laurel, NJ | 7.1% ABV

Image courtesy of Spellbound Brewing’s Facebook

Spellbound brewed an “Oatmeal Raisin Cookie” Brown ale for years. They’ve recently undergone a slight rebranding and I suspect this is the replacement beer. Regardless, I’d wanted to try their Oatmeal Raisin Cookie for a few years and this one looks quite tasty, too.

Spellbound Brewing says this about the beer:

A fall/winter spiced ale with notes of cinnamon, raisin, oats, clove and malt.

We call it Cherished because it is released for the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years holidays. Some of our most cherished days of the year.

Shiner Holiday Cheer (Wheat Beer – Dunkelweizen) | Shiner / Spoetzl Brewery | Shiner, TX | 5.4% ABV

Image courtesy of Shiner Beer’s Facebook

Shiner is one of the more widely distributed beer brands in the country. I’ve been seeing this beer in the stores for years, but never pulled the trigger on it. Although pecans are quite popular (part of why I’m including the beer here), I’m a little hit or miss with them. Nonetheless, I would like to try this beer at some point

What Spoetzl/Shiner says about the beer:

A Bavarian-style Dark Wheat Ale, Dunkelweizen, brewed with Texas peaches and roasted pecans. The malty flavors are enhanced through the use of malted barley and wheat. And Kräusening ensures a smoothness that makes the subtle peach and pecan flavors all more satisfying.

That’s another Christmas Six Pack in the proverbial Yuletide fridge. Any particular beers you’re looking forward to trying or enjoy during the Yuletide season?

Beer Review: Outer Dark from Wild Air Beerworks

Beer Review

Name: Outer Dark
Brewing Company: Wild Air Beerworks
Location: Asbury Park, NJ
Style: Porter – Baltic
ABV: 7.8%

A complex, delicious ark lager whose deceptively smooth taste belies its ABV.

From the untappd page for the beer:

A dark brown hue and notes of rich cacao and fresh roasted coffee makes this cold-fermented porter the perfect option for the cold nights ahead.

When I learned that the old Dark City Brewery location was going to be taken over by people from Last Wave Brewing, I was excited. I’ve enjoyed all the beers I’ve had from Last Wave and frankly, I had a less than great experience in my one visit to Dark City. What had me even more thrilled when I learned Wild Air Beerworks would be focusing (not exclusively) on Lagers and Saison/Open Fermented beers. Of the three beers I’ve thus far had from Wild Air, part of me landed on reviewing this one because I was the very first person to check in the beer on untappd.

So…here we are again with a Germanic Dark Lager. Yes, a Baltic Porter is indeed a Lager because it uses cold-fermented lager yeast. Named for the region in which the style was originally produced (countries like Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and especially Poland, among others), the beer is essentially the lager answer to Imperial Stout. I’ve reviewed a couple and had a few over the years here at the Triple T and as with some of the other Dark Lager styles I’ve featured, I’ve found myself particularly drawn to this dark lager.

But what about this beer, Outer Dark? How does a relatively complex style from a new brewery rank? I’ll try to tell you below..

I’m a little surprised, initially, at the look of the beer. Most Baltic Porters I’ve had have been quite dark, leaning more towards black than brown. This beer is a very murky looking brown. Quick whiff…smells fine

First sip is roasted elements, with cocoa and hints of chocolate being most prominent. There’s a thickness in the body of this beer that I appreciate, but aside from that, my initial impression doesn’t lead me to think this has as high an ABV as it does at 7.8%. One thing I appreciate is an element that isn’t present. Licorice is sometimes a prominent flavor in Baltic Porters. I DO NOT like licorice so I was very pleased that there was no licorice element in this beer.

The more I drink from the glass, the more impressed I am with this beer and the more robust the flavor profile reveals itself to be. The cocoa becomes more prominent / present and hints of coffee emerge, which is nice. I try to avoid coffee because it wrecks my system (even in the small amounts that are in coffee beer), but I love the flavor and a beer like this – where hints of coffee are present thanks to the malts – is very pleasing. As it warms a little bit, the flavors become robust and it feels like it is a touch sweeter.

Wild Air Beer Works is off to a fantastic start with their beer and if this Baltic Porter is a sign of the fun things to come, more of their beer will find its way into my fridge.

Recommended, link to 4.25 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Draught Diversions: November 2022 Six Pack

Draught Diversion, Monthly New Brews

Draught Diversions is the catchall label for mini-rants, think-pieces, and non-review posts here at The Tap Takeover. We hope you don’t grow too weary of the alcohol alliterative names we use…

November still has some lingering Oktoberfest beers on shelves and in refrigerators, pumpkin beers are still acceptable, but Stout season is in full effect. November 2022 happened to be another month of beers that proved challenging to bring down to just six. Of course the fact that my wife brought me to the “Pittsburgh invades Philly” beerfest as a birthday complicated matters in the best of ways. Lots of good beers from that beerfest, one of which makes this month’s six pack, but beers from Dancing Gnome, Stick City, and Gristhouse all stood out. I happened to visit a couple of breweries this past month, too. Mostly locals and usual haunts like Conclave Brewing, Jersey Cyclone, Readington Brewery, as well as Chilton Mill, Kane Brewing, Bar Hygge, and Wild Air Beerworks. More on Wild Air in a post in the future, though.

SixPack_2022-Nov

Let’s dive into the November 2022 Six Pack …

Boos (Untied Brewing Company) | Pumpkin / Yam Beer | 3.75 Bottle Caps on untappd

Untied_Boos

I don’t go for the Pumpkin beers as much as I once did, although I still enjoy them. I was interested in Untied’s take on the style because I’ve enjoyed most of their beers. This was a pretty good take, good spice blend even if I found the nutmeg to be overpowering. Untied also makes an “Imperial” version of this beer as well as a Barrel-Aged version. I may have to try the Barrel-Aged version in the future.

Oktoberfest (Birdsmouth Beer) | Märzen | 3.75 Bottle Caps on untappd

Birdsmouth_Oktoberfest

Birdsmouth Beer is one of the newest breweries in New Jersey, started by a former brewer from Kane. That’s a pretty good pedigree. What I like is that they only brew lagers so I’m going to have to make my way down there at some point. My dad visited and brought back some of this excellent Oktoberfest, which considering it is one of the first beers brewed by Birdsmouth is impressive. Hell, it is impressive regardless of the “age” of the brewery.

Cherry Bomb (Bar Hygge/Brewery Techne) | Sour – Fruited | 4 Bottle Caps on untappd

TechneCherryBomb

Brewery Techne is the latest brewery venture from vaunted NJ Brewing legend Tom Baker. The brewery is inside Bar Hygge, in Philadelphia. My wife took me there for my birthday, the food was excellent, the space had a great vibe, and this cherry sour was quite tasty. There was a good balance between sweet and tart and it was a nice beer to accompany my meal.

Deep Island (Brew Gentlemen) | Stout – Imperial / Double | 4.25 Bottle Caps on untappd

BG_DeepIsland

This beer was part of a birthday celebration, too. As part of my gift, my wife took me to Broken Goblet Brewing who was hosting the aforementioned “Pittsburgh invades Philly” beer fest. I had quite a few good beers that day, but this was the standout and the only beer I wound up getting two pours. Not small pours, the fine folks of Brew Gentlemen filled up the taster glass both times. This imperial stout was very decadent and had the perfect amount of coconut in the mix. I was told they bottle a barrel-aged version for their anniversary beer. I wish I could get some of that.

Stingo Ate My Baby – Barrel Aged (Conclave Brewing Company) | Strong Ale – English | 4.25 Bottle Caps on untappd

20221123_190110

Since Conclave expanded a couple of years ago, I’ve enjoyed their experimental styles and beers off the hop-forward path. This one is a perfect example. A “Stingo” beer is a English Strong Ale aged in Oak of some kind, originated by Samuel Smith’s Stingo. For a local twist, this beer was aged in Applejack Brandy Barrels from Laird’s (out of NJ and the first distillery in the US). This was a very unique beer, I can’t say I’ve had many that tasted quite like it – strong malt giving off toffee and caramel vibs, decent hop presence, and a nice finish from the Applejack brandy.

4018 (Kane Brewing Company) | Stout – Imperial / Double | 4.5 Bottle Caps on untappd

Kane4018

I say it a lot here at the Triple T, but for my money, Kane makes the best barrel-aged beers in NJ and I’d put their mastery at this art/skill alongside national leaders like Firestone Walker. I had a few Kane Beers in November since I visited the brewery, but this one stood out. Their anniversary beers are always a treat, I’ve probably had about half of the anniversary beers they’ve brewed over the years. This one emulates an ice cream dessert, since it was conditioned on Madagascar Vanilla, Maple Syrup, Cacao Nibs and Waffle cones. Before that, the blend as aged in multiple bourbon bottles. This was a thiccc stout that was delicious and decadent. At 13.1% ABV, I wound up sipping this over the course of about an hour.

A couple of beers were stinkers this past month, but mostly really good stuff.