July 10, 2003 -- Recently, as I was about to take my seat for what turned out to be a delicious beer dinner at Tim Schafer's Cuisine in Morristown, New Jersey, I was approached by Dave Hoffman, the enthusiastic co-owner of the Climax Brewing Company in nearby Roselle.

Dave was anxious to know if I had driven to New Jersey or taken the train, and seemed oddly disappointed to learn that I had ridden the rails that day. When he asked me to step outside with him for a moment, I learned why -- in his car, parked right out front, Dave had five half-gallon growlers of his beer, which he had been hoping I would take with me and sample at my leisure.

While I allowed at the time that I could probably manage two of the jugs, I somehow ended up carrying away four. Here's what my sore arms netted me:

Climax Cream Ale is a coppery-gold ale with just a whiff of butterscotch on an otherwise fruity nose. The flavour starts softly with some caramel notes before becoming more assertively bitter in the body, with some fruit lingering in the background. Overall, I thought it was a little too hoppy for the style, but since I'm not the biggest fan of cream ales, I also thought that was a good thing.

The brewery's Nut Brown Ale and Extra Special Bitter were tasted next, and both impressed. The Brown Ale is mahogany coloured with a rich, off-cream-coloured head and hazelnutty aroma. The flavour of the ale reminded me a bit of Newcastle Brown Ale back when it was at its best: earthy maltiness up front, bitter cocoa and nutty malt in the body, along with some minerally notes, and a finish that's dry with just enough hops to clear the malt off the palate.

The ESB offers a slightly leafy, slightly spicy nose with perhaps some apple notes in the background. It starts soft and dry and malty, but gains hoppiness in the body, with just enough citrusy spice and dry leafy notes for the style. Definitely an ale that calls for a contemplative pint or two, as a good bitter should.

The final beer up was the India Pale Ale, an amber coloured brew with a perfumey, fruity aroma holding notes of red apple, pear and tropical fruit. The start brings a light sweetness and some fruity and floral notes before the hops come on with a fairly mellow, British-IPA-style hit of bitterness, grassy and leafy. The fruit stays there, balancing the hops perfectly. Hop heads would look at such an IPA and laugh, but this is Old School Brit IPA, and very well done.

Overall, I was quite impressed by the way Climax sticks to the rules in style and pays homage to the British originals rather than the popular New World interpretations. (Not that there's anything wrong with that…) My sole disappointment was that I was leaving the next day, and while I didn't mind too much hauling around four growlers on a train, there was no way I was going to do the same thing on a plane. But the people with whom I left most of the beer were very happy.

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