Beer in the Woods

To be blunt, it’s embarrassing that I haven’t written up a microbrewery besides Argilla at Pietro’s Pizza when beer is one of my favorite things about food.  What makes this worse is the fact that Delaware and its surrounding area are full of breweries, some of which distribute nationally (Yuengling and Dogfish Head, for instance).  This article is the beginning of my efforts to fix that, starting with a nanobrewery with a kick-ass location—if you can find it.

Tucked away in the woods of Yorklyn, Delaware and snuggled up to the First State’s border with Pennsylvania lies an idyllic little beer garden, serving only beers brewed in the renovated snuff mill complex which Dew Point Brewery calls home.  The tasting room is on the second floor, above the brewery proper, and the decor meshes with the architecture delightfully. A long wooden bar dominates one wall, with high tops lining the other side of the room.  The vaulted ceiling makes the narrow room feel much more spacious, and gives sound a delightful resonance off the polished wooden walls, floor, and ceiling.

Outside, string lights line the pathway around the building, connecting the tasting room and parking lot.  On the far side of that path, and under the fairy lights, a partially covered beer garden complete with little stage and scattered comfortable outdoor seating.  When you order your beer, the tender will ask “Inside or outside?”  It’s a nice option to have, particularly in nice weather.

The beer itself showed passion and creativity, though Morgan wasn’t crazy about her New England IPA.  Her standards are, of course, as high as the Green Mountains, but it was the texture that really put her off.  I thoroughly enjoyed my pint of “Nit Wit,” Dew Point’s take on the classic Belgian Witbier.  It’s a safe choice for the unadventurous beer drinker, and the proprietary spice blend gives it a winey quality that—from the two beers I tasted—evokes Dew Point’s particular style as well.  To be clear, that’s not to say I recognized that phenolic (winey) profile in Morgan’s beer.  It’s like how an author’s style can be consistent between different serieses; I’ll recognize Dogfish’s beer in a blind test because there are unique steps to their brewing process that give all their beers a feel they describe as “analog.”

My experience at Dew Point was delightful, but truncated by a busy night at the restaurant where I work.  I walked up to the bar at last call, and my respect for restaurant industry workers superseded my awareness of what it was I was actually ordering.  Just a couple sips into my Nit Wit, I realized I wasn’t going to have a whole heap of things to say about it because, well, it’s perfectly acceptable: a 4 on my Untappd profile.  It shows proficiency in making beer (I’ve had brews that were too adventurous), yet didn’t evoke anything in particular that I’ve had before.  I’ll be revisiting Dew Point with a bit more time in order to try a more diverse spread.  With the degree to which I enjoyed this pint-size experience, I literally can’t wait to go back with a DD so that I can really, truly see what precisely Dew Point has to offer.  I have high, high hopes.