SRO at Mohawk House

I purposely left my home in Perth Amboy later than the 6 PM start time of this Unusual Tap Takeover to allow the usual traffic on 287 and 80 to thin out.

The good news is that my strategy pretty much worked on 287 and for much of 80. The bad news--for me, not for Steve Scro, however--was that all that traffic had seemingly decided on the Mohawk House as its destination. The line of cars parked on both sides of Rt. 517 leading up the mansion on the hill had me doubting that I'd even get in.

Fortunately, the valet parkers at Mohawk House are rather creative in their solutions to an overflow of cars, and the missus and I walked right in at about 7:45. As we hung an immediate right into the bar area, it was clear that the 44 beers on tap from fifteen different tri-state area breweries had attracted so many people that I probably couldn't have fallen down if I wanted to. And there were more people outside around the fire pit and more playing bocce ball. And even more dining throughout the other seven rooms of this massive place. That's barman John above handing me an excellent DIPA called SixPoint Puff.

I immediately--and literally--ran into Heide Hassing, brewmistress of Angry Erik Brewing who's doing such wonderful things with beer over in nearby Lafayette. Heide had two beers pouring last night, her big ABV (10.8%) Angry H2Ale aged in sauvignon blanc barrels, and her nearly as big Wolves Among Sheep Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (ABV 10.1%). With a long drive home ahead of me on the dark roads of northwest Jersey, I decided to enjoy those when I can from the comfort of my own Barcalounger.

The bartenders and servers were moving as efficiently as possible, delivering libations and victuals to the throng, and it was only the blessing of Father Gambrinus that allowed me to find a single open seat at the bar. The missus and I flipped a coin for it, and she won. Hey, equal rights are equal rights, right?

But in reality, everyone who attended won, because the 44 beers offered provided something for every taste from Hoppy to Sour to Malty to Belgians to Crisp and to Roasty. Tania, above, handed the missus a Demented Vila, a delicious 4.8% Witbier.

The missus raved about her Crispy Brussels Sprouts and my flatbread pizza was excellent. However, we also grabbed one of Steve's Wood-Fired Pizzas as we were leaving, and that was nothing short of phenomenal.

Normally, my stops at the Mohawk House center around where my motorcycle takes me that day. So I'm generally "in the area."

But, to put it bluntly, for me to drive 75 miles one way to get to a beer bar, it had better be worth it.

Steve Scro's (L.) Mohawk House is surely that. If you've been there, you know what I'm talking about. If not, you should go to experience what I'm talking about.

And, like me, you'll likely repeat the immortal words of Arnold Schwarzbier: "I'll be bock."

Cheers!

The PubScout