Tag: Troon Brewing

Drink Review: Cranberry Sauced from Sourland Mountains Spirits

Beer Review

Name: Cranberry Sauced
Brewing Company: Sourland Mountain Spirits
Location: Hopewell, NJ
Style: Craft Cocktail (Gin & Cranberries)
ABV: 8%

A delicious, refreshing, cocktail that is a perfect balance of flavors.

Sourland_CranberrySauced

From the Sourland Mountain Spirits’slanding page for the droml:

Just in time for the holidays, our debut canned cocktail features a refreshing blend of our 12 botanical flagship gin, farm-fresh New Jersey cranberries, rosemary, honey, and lemon. Just chill, shake, and pour over ice. Each pack includes 4x 12 oz cans.

Tasting Notes: fresh cranberries, rosemary, honey, lemon

Let’s try something a little bit different, shall we? As much as I enjoy beer, I do enjoy spirits, too. Last year for my wife’s birthday, I took her on a tour and tasting at Sourland Mountain Spirits in Hopewell, NJ*. We had a fantastic time, our tour was lead by owner Ray Disch who also happens to be a co-founder of Triumph Brewing. We had a fantastic time, due in large part to Ray himself, who was entertaining, knowledgeable, and gregarious. Essentially, everything a small business owner should be as the public face. Sourland also makes some tasty spirits and cocktails.

*The distillery happens to be on the same farm Troon Brewing, which I didn’t initially realize.

Cranberry happens to be one of, if not, my favorite fruit (as I noted in recent beer review). NJ happens to be one of the largest producers of the fruit in the State of New Jersey. When my wife and I learned they released their first canned cocktail, which highlights the tart fruit, we wanted to give it a try in the spirit (pun somewhat intended) of supporting small business and a business we like a lot (despite Gin not being a spirit I typically seek out). Also, this is a perfect holiday drink!

One thing I learned on that tour about a year ago is that gin is the base, or starting spirit, for many other spirits, so it makes sense that Ray and his cocktail sorcerers would utilize gin in their first canned cocktail. Gin is also quite popular.

I don’t typically go for craft/canned cocktails, but “Cranberry Sauced” from Sourland Spirits might change that. Along with delicious and copious cranberries, this drink has honey, lemon, and rosemary mixed with their tasty gin. Per the directions on the can, I gave it a shake and filled up my glass with the cocktail.

That was a nice little kick! Again, gin isn’t a go to for me, but I do get that as a prominent element of the drink. My wife caught more of the cranberry, but she’s not into cranberry quite as much as I am. I gave the drink a splash of Cran-Mango juice and boy-howdy does that bring some nice balance to an already tasty adult beverage. If gin is your thing, then maybe a shot of gin could be added for an extra kick. Regardless, Sourland has crafted something really special with this drink.

Cranberry Sauced is a delicious, FUN, and refreshing drink and a nice change up from what I normally enjoy. This is a perfect holiday drink, given that cranberries are often associated with fall/winter holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. I can’t recommend this tasty treat enough.

Highly Recommended. If this beverage were on untappd, I’d probably rate it at 4.25/4.5 out 5 bottle caps

Draught Diversions: October 2020 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…

Shorter days, darker nights, and cooler temperatures arrive in October. Bigger beers begin to dominate the shelves in October although seasonal creep for Christmas Beers is also the norm now as favorites like Tröegs Mad Elf began appearing in the middle of the month. October 2020’s six pack includes beers from long time favorites, one new brewery, and a brewery I should be seeking out more often. A variety of styles this October; a couple of IPAs, a couple of dark beers, and a barleywine. Let’s dive in, shall we?

I Voted (Troon Brewing Company) | IPA – American | 4.25 Bottle Caps on untappd

Troon brews some of the most sought-after beers in the State of New Jersey, with a reputation for big stouts, kettle sours, and hazy hoppy ales. (They rarely call their beers “IPA”) So when I took my wife on a wonderful socially-distanced tour of Sourland Mountain Spirits (on the same large farm complex), I had a pour of this beer at the Brick Farm Tavern (also on the big farm complex). This beer is a delicious, hazy IPA with a magnificent blend of hops. Now that I know how close Brick Farm Tavern is (which is a person’s best shot at getting a Troon beer), I’ll have to stop there in the future.

HopCyclone Hazy DIPA (Tröegs Independent Brewing) | IPA – Imperial / Double New England | 4.25 bottle caps on untappd


It has been far too long since I had a new beer from Tröegs and I haven’t had a new IPA in my fridge for a while. HopCyclone ticked off both of those boxes and is an outstanding New England style IPA. There’s a blend of four hops in this beer, Citra, Sabro, Sultana, and Simcoe, which are a great combination. I like Simcoe quite a bit and that seems to shine through really nicely, overall the beer has pleasant hints of citrus, peach, and pineapple. Plain and simple, HopCyclone is a great beer.

Workingman’s Dublin Porter (Toms River Brewing) | Porter – Other | 3.75 Bottle Caps on untappd

Tom’s River Brewing keeps impressing me. This is an Irish-inspired Dublin porter, which isn’t a surprise considering the brewery’s roots. Madagascar Vanilla beans and local honey add another layer of flavor to the beer. What those adjuncts do in this beer is soften the bitterness of the coffee, for an overall tasty beer.

Whip (Carton Brewing Company) | Pilsner – Other | 4.25 Bottle Caps on untappd

Sully photobombing this shot. Pilsners, especially great ones, are perfect for sitting on the porch relaxing while your dog keeps watch over the yard.

Carton has been brewing and canning a series of Pilsners over the past few months, this one they are calling an “American Pilsner.” I call it a delicious Lager/Pilsner. There’s a very clean flavor profile with the core four elements of beer working in harmony. This maybe the lightest yellow pilsner I can remember having, but damn if it isn’t a fine beer.

Chocolate Caramel Cookie Sharing Size (Free Will Brewing Co.) | Stout – Imperial / Double Oatmeal | 4.5 bottle caps on untappd

Free Will Brewing has a taproom in Peddler’s Village in Lahaska, PA and during the month of October, there was a socially distanced haunted walking ghost tour called Murder Mystery: Homicide and Hauntings from Without a Cue, which was a blast. Of course I grabbed a beer from Free Will, this is their Hallowe’en beer, four different stouts inspired by popular Hallowe’en candy. This one is inspired by the famous “right cookie” and “left cookie” brand and was an outstandingly balanced sweet stout, brewed in collaboration with Breweries in PA. Cool label art, too

Helldorado (2017) | Firestone Walker Brewing Company | Barleywine – American | 4.5 bottle caps on untappd

Firestone Walker calls this a “Blonde Barleywine,” I call it an outstanding barrel-aged big beer. Firestone Walker has such skill with barrel aging so when I noticed a local shop had a 3-year old barrel aged barleywine from these masters of blending and barrel aging, there was no way I was NOT getting myself a bottle, especially at a $9 price tag. This is one of the best barleywines I’ve ever had. The beer has a strong bourbon aroma and the flavors that emerge include vanilla, chewy hops, toffee, and caramel. Simply an outstanding beer.

Another solid month overall for new beers, I could have easily highlighted 8 to 10 beers this month. Only one real drainpour, a Salted Caramel Pumpkin Ale, which was disgustingly oversweet.