Craig Gardone

Grolsch Premium Lager Gardone

Crisp and clean Pilsner. Floral and lightly spicy hop profile. Refreshing.

Backwoods Bastard Gardone

The sweetness is more of a maple syrup or a brown sugar than a deep caramel for a wee heavy. Great wood notes. An enjoyable winter sipper.

Rübæus Gardone

A tad heavy handed with the fruit, but I am coming up on my previous score for this one. Lots of really fresh raspberry flavor with a hint of the pie crust like finish of the malt trying to break through.

Grolsch Premium Lager Gardone

A little overly carbonated. Crisp Pilsner malts with a faintly sweet flavor. Firm herbal hop flavor with a L-M bitter finish. Creamy, but a little carbonic bite.

Kriek 100% Lambic Gardone

Not as tasty as a plain Gueze. Dry bitter cherry. Great fruit notes.

Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS) (2019) Gardone

Back to back with 2018 KBS. Heavier. Sweet. Definite syrup sweetness. This has an appeal, but KBS might be the winner on balance.

Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) (2018) Gardone

Coffee! Surprisingly light from Bourbon county stouts. Really tasty at this age. Drank in 2023.

French Toast Bastard Gardone

Sharpening chisels, so this is an after-work treat. Served at 65f. WOW! Rich and luscious. Sweet without being cloying. Long vanilla note at the end. Brown sugar sweet malts. A nice lingering bitter to balance. Beautiful brown and clear. REPEAT!!!

French Toast Bastard Gardone

Holy cow! Cinnamon. Vanilla. Brown sugar malts that morph into the flavor filled finish. Base beer is somewhat masked (love me a good Scotch Wee) this is like a pastry stout. Boozy just like you want them

Chocolate Cherry KBS Gardone

Rich and smooth. A tad sweeter than the original. Cherry coming through nicely at the end.

120 Minute IPA Gardone

Holding up nicely. Great treat. Deep caramels. 2017 vintage, so it is right at the peak. Delicious!

Chocolate Cherry KBS Gardone

45 IBUs? Really? A nice rich stout base with a heavy hit of chocolate malt and a moderate cherry note. Boozy!

Chocolate Cherry KBS Gardone

Base beer cannot be beat. Chocolatey notes are best. Cherry is sweet and appears in the middle of the sip.

Backwoods Bastard Gardone

Booziness and alcohol heat from the bourbon barrel almost overwhelms what should be the caramel sweet goodness that is a Scotch Wee. Somewhat enjoyable.

KBS Hazelnut (2022) Gardone

Nice, but that hazelnut flavor is a little over the top and has an artificial aroma and flavor due to the high rate of addition.

Backwoods Bastard Gardone

Creamy texture. A more subtle caramel flavor. Bigger hoppy finish. Some sweet woody notes at the end.

Frootwood Gardone

KBS Hazelnut (2022) Gardone

KBS must have been bought out by Big Hazelnut and were forced to put in 5x what the recipe calls for. Tasty, but the unmistakable aroma and flavor of Hazelnut is affecting my neighbors beer across the street.

Frootwood Gardone

Fruity. Very non-beer like. Getting a lot of woody notes tonight. Drink warm.

Frootwood Gardone

Kind of turning on this one. Almost like a spiced cider than a beer. Mild and tasty. Low carb.

KBS Hazelnut (2022) Gardone

The toasty and coffee notes really seem to accentuate the hazelnut. Not subtle. The coffee flavors hang with the hazelnut throughout the finish. Slightly sweet. Nice, but I would tone the hazelnut down a bit. Tastes artificial.

KBS Espresso (2021) Gardone

Big coffee aroma. Smells like a very dark roast. Malt body dominated by coffee. Ease up a thousand next time. I guess it holds true to the espresso name vs just coffee. Rich and flavorful. Boozy. Very low carb (I would boost a bit). Did not get bourbon.

Nemesis (2021) Gardone

I get this more like a porter with some rum-barrel like notes. Not necessarily like a barley wine with that roasty content. Nice bitterness to stand up to all that malt and booze. Not undesirable.

KBS Cinnamon Vanilla Cocoa (2021) Gardone

Cinnamon is really popping this time. Vanilla is secondary. Delicious as it warms. Nice full carbonation. Silky and rich.

KBS Cinnamon Vanilla Cocoa Gardone

Nicely balanced. Big boozy stout up front. Coffee comes in next. Right on coffee’s heels are the cinnamon and vanilla. Long caramel and cinnamon finish.

Backwoods Bastard Gardone

Caramel and sweet malt body, but not heavy. Boozy barrel notes in the finish. High carbonation lightens up the whole experience. Really enjoyable.

SeaQuench Ale Gardone

Sitting in Newark with few good options. Figured this was a Gose, but the can did not obviously disclose. Prominent lime and salt. Margarita-like. Delightfully salty. Great pick with seafood or Mexican.