Beer Trails: Nine-Day Thanksgiving Feast

November 19: Enjoyed 381 Main’s November Winter Fest in Little Falls, NJ, this Saturday, featuring Jersey brewers’ elixirs tapped or bottled. Owner Steve Baskinger’s made this lounge-y hangout the perfect sports bar for craft beer enthusiasts. Alongside New Jersey Beer Co’s Matt Steinberg and Carton co-owner Augie Carton, I consumed three previously untried libations and one wee fave.
“There’ve been a few brewery events like this, but this type serves all Jersey brewers in one spot,” promoter John Fladung boasted.
East Coast Brewery’s Beach House Winter Rental, a dry schwarzbier, benefited from chocolate-malted cola nuttiness and dark-spiced cocoa dusting, differing dramatically from River Horse’s Belgian Freeze Winter, where candi-sugared black cherry, raisin and prune secure musty cellar pungency. Carton’s Come Out And Play widened its common lager tag, flaunting spicy dried fruits and dark chocolate resin. NJ Beer’s previously tried Weehawken Wee Heavy attenuated more fully, yielding a heavier mocha profundity and richer bourbon-sherry whir.