Tap into Stouts and Porters from Local Breweries

By Catherine Galioto ~

The lions of March mean a sudden snow or a drenching chilly rain, and that plus the grey skies and still-barren branches are enough to demand the spring season snap forward. But it’s also high time to check out a winter beer before the arrival of lighter, crisper ales, IPAs and shandies.

Until then, drink in a thick, dark, porter or stout — local breweries on the Jersey Shore have some really interesting, nuanced ones.

But if you are thinking these brews are a local version of Guinness, you’d be wrong, as Jersey Shore’s area breweries have turned out flavors rich with notes of coffee, chocolate, coconut, bourbon — even spicy peppers — with the wonderful dark malt and barley bases these styles of beer are known for.

Here’s what you can find nearby, locally made.

Let’s start over at Last Wave Brewing Co., Bay Avenue in Point Beach. Billed as “deeper & darker than your thickest winter wetsuit,” their 5/4 beer is a chocolate coffee stout, at respectable 7.1% ABV and 40 IBU. Their Right Coast beer is also on tap now, a toasted-coconut flavored porter. There’s also their Chop Hop Porter, which throws in a sizeable flavor of hops into the mix. Check out their current lineup and tasting room hours at https://www.lastwavebrewing.com/the-beers/.

At Frye Brewing on Bridge Ave in Point Boro, saddle up to the tasting room to try a traditionally brewed Irish and English style stout. Called The Dark, it boasts a head “so thick you can float a bottle cap” on it. Give it a try at https://www.fryebrewingcompany.com.

Icarus Brewing Co., Lakewood, has some great porters and stouts they’ve offered up this season, and be sure to get them before they’re gone. Check out King Arthurs Steed (toasted coconut), the Yukon Cornelius Coffee Porter, Sleep Disorder Porter with its coffee and toasted coconut kick, or the Kalashnikov Russian Imperial Stout. Icarus is at https://www.icarusbrewing.com.

Rinn Duin, Route 37 West in Toms River, has its Hibernian available from the tasting room much of the year. It’s a creamy, Dry Irish Stout, with great roasted, chocolate and coffee flavors pouring out. The tasting room also offers some interesting randals and one-offs of its stand out beer, the St. John’s an Irish Red Ale. Currently there’s a habenaro pepper St. John’s, a cherry, and espresso version. The current tap list is at https://www.rinnduinbrewing.com/brews.html.

Now let’s check out some Monmouth area breweries.

Over at Beach Haus in Belmar, this time of year is not just for stout, but its Parade Day Irish Coffee Stout. So named for that special time of year where everyone in town (and coming from all over the state) are Irish for the day, on the day of Belmar’s massively popular St. Patrick’s Day Parade (it was March 4 this year). To see what’s on tap at Beach Haus, visit https://beachhausbeer.com/brews/beers/.

Jughandle Brewery, in Tinton Falls, is not to be missed with one of the largest number of stouts and porters of any entry on this list. Check out Booskerdoo Breakfast Stout, made with the local Booskerdoo Roaster’s coffee (there’s also a nitro version of this), or the coconut vanilla porter, Baltic porter, the dry Irish stout, or the Twoo Wuv — a stout with raspberry. For the latest news from Jughandle, visit https://www.jughandlebrewing.com/beer.

Little Dog, Neptune City, makes its specialty a well-round variety of handcrafted, small-batch brews, including German-style ales and special seasonal beers. We have veteran brewmaster Gretchen Schmidhausler at the helm, offering up the Seafarer’s Stout, a dry, Irish stout at 5 percent ABV. There’s also Winter Hottie, a chocolate porter brewed with cinnamon and three varieties of chili peppers. Both on tap right now in their tasting room, visit https://www.littledogbrewing.com/ to learn more.

Dark City Brewing, Asbury Park, lists its porters and stouts on its seasonal beer list, so get them while you can! There’s the Urban Decay stout — a dark, roasty “chewy” stout — and the Populous, which is a porter made with coffee from the neighboring Asbury Park Roastery. Check out https://www.darkcitybrewing.com/beer/.

Asbury Park Brewery has its roasted stout year-round. A dry Irish style stout with mild sweetness imparted by roasted malts, check it out at ABV 4.9 IBU 29.8. There’s also lots of live music to check out at the brewery, which hosts plenty of up-and-coming local acts in their tasting room. Give them a buzz at https://www.asburyparkbrewery.com/.

One of these beers, ice cold, will certainly warm you up and refresh on these final winter nights.