Sunday, December 09, 2007

NJ Beer Passport Stop 2: Harvest Moon Brewery/Cafe, New Brunswick

Harvest Moon is a brew pub in New Brunswick. This was my second stop on the passport. Since it is not a brewery tour (where tastings have minimal, if any, cost), I came prepared to spend money.

The food was good. Really good nachos, I had a huge burrito, and my girlfriend enjoyed her entree as well. Since I'm more interested in the beer, though, we'll discuss that. They currently show nine beers on draft, and me and my girl each knocked back three pints of different varieties to sample their wares.

Hops2 Double IPA - Decent hop character, definitely the hoppiest beer they serve. It lacks balance though, there is not a start to the beer to offset the hops, so the finish is not as crisp as I like. 5.5/10.

British Nut Brown - My girlfriend's first beer, and one of the best of the bunch. Nice deep amber color, sweet start, smooth finish. 8.5/10

Jimmy D's Firehouse Red - My second beer, and my favorite of the day. I like balance to beer, and this one delivers a good balance of malt and hops to deliver a sweet start and a crisp finish. 9/10

Elmes' Mild Manor - Mild definitely describes this beer. Very little in terms of flavor. Amber color, but nothing unlike what you can buy in a six pack labeled "Yuengling Lager". Both my girlfriend and I noted that this beer reminded us a lot of Yuengling. Not necessarily a bad thing, since Yuengling is usually my beer of choice, but not what I expected from a craft brew. 6/10

Oatmeal Stout - Good head, very dark in color. Bitterness is definitely the hallmark of this brew, as the pub notes its coffee accents. Once again, this beer lacks in achieving the balance I enjoy, but it is a pretty good after dinner beer to help pack all the food into your stomach. 7.5/10

Full Moon Pale Ale - A reasonable pale ale offering, given mostly towards sweetness. Much lighter in character than most of the other beers we drank, and only the IPA came close in terms of color. Very good initial taste, but not enough hops for my liking. Definitely a beer I would recommend for people who have drank the Bud/Miller/Coors macros and wanted a microbrew that wouldn't overwhelm their taste buds. 7/10