Magnify Brewing Company

Yep, third time’s the charm. I think the first time out was with (Evil) Davo some years ago, and then maybe last time J & D were up. This time, it’s a solo Saturday post work fact finding mission. I ran 280 up to get here, something I will never, ever do again because, fuck, and navigated the industrial complex starting with not full on missing the entrance off 46. And now I know to go to the first break, bang a right, and then another right, so I’ll be good for the fourth time around…

Set up in the middle of the parking lot with cornhole & tables umbrella’d up there, but it’s plastic cupville, man, so I opted to venture inside. It’s a single space, narrow but deep. Off to the left, a straight concrete topped bar with a blue-gray panel base and foot bar. Seating for none (get your beer, then stand clear). Stainless ‘T’ tower with 5 logo handles + 3 more on an upright trio alongside below the bar. 3 tank slushie machine on the other end of the bar. Just don’t look at it and it won’t bother you. 5 compromised vertical mirrored panels on the barback wall (how/why does that happen to mirrors?), glassware & growlers shelved forward of there and some merch, too.

Concrete floors, corrugated ceiling with ducts & noise panels, and a stucco framed bar area walls below cinder block uppers. Front wall windows slide open for the passing through of slushies. Nope. Back end of the bar wall is done in blackboard with taps & cans listed in alt colored chalkings (beer, description, ABV, $ and to-go pricing, where applicable).

4 shorty tables on shared benching penned in light blue wood, a hightop forward stooled, & a small 2-seater just inside the door. Alt height drop gumball lamps tracing the bar, a 3 sized trio cluster up front, pan lamps over the adjacent hightop, and mounted swing balls along the wall. Plants hanging in the windows. ‘Craft Beer’ neon above the overhang, framed pieces (single label prints, a ‘Class of 2015 Beer Advocate article piece’, a label collage, and another Beer Advocate piece), a Magnify Brew Co sign made from cut up license plates, and old Essex County map from 1850, and another logo piece to the rear.

8 beers on tap (DDH Babysitter, DDH Session IPA, 4.2%; Vine Shine, IPA, 6.5%; Working from Work, Imperial IPA, 8.9%; Lurching towards the Sun, Triple DH Imperial IPA, 8.5%; Extra Delightful, Imperial IPA with Cherry, Marshmallow, Vanilla, Almond, & Lactose, collab with Carton, 8.5%; Lap of Luxury, TIPA with Lactose, 10.5%; Fit for Royalty, TIPA, collab with Tin Barn, 10.5%; Chubby Bunny, BBA Imperial Stout with Chai & Marshmallow, 12%) + 4 can pours (Smoothie Sour, Fruit Punch Sour, & Ice Cream Smoothie Sour varietals that may not bode well on tap. Or in life) and a pair of slushies (melted pulp and pineapple cream pie seltzer). So, yeah, 8 beers on tap; 7 hoppys and a pastry.

Pours in 9oz shorty and 14oz full pours (I play shorty when I can). It's a hazy, adjunct, pastry, slushie, smoothie house and I'll skirt them best I can to make due as I do. Started with DDH Babysitter, clean, non-hazy, a real easy drinker, it’s a solid Session beer. And then Vine Shine, also not hazy, pleasantly piney, citrus, It’s a good beer. Okay, I’m 2 for 2, but I fear it’s all hazy from here. But then I discovered a surprise can pour while perusing their website that they didn’t have listed on the big board, Raw Essentials, Helles in oak, 4.9%, Nice Helles, I am win!

Yes, there’s a brewery and it’s back there (me, pointing). Service was attentive, engaging, and polite (other than holding out on the secret Helles). Chill crowd, at least indoors. Not a place where I can do a session as I’m limited by style tolerance, but it was good for a drop in and grab a few.

 

I go here all the time to get some beers.

The vibe here is pretty solid. You can go there whether you want to pick up a couple four-packs, have a couple drinks with your friends, or have a relaxing afternoon with the family, vibe is chill all the time. While they have a tasting room, a carryover from COVID is that they continue to cordon off a few parking spots on nice days for an outdoor experience.

The quality of the beer is always high and is always fresh. They have a very strong following in the area, so turnover is high, even on their flagships here. They are constantly doing one-offs and other rotational series, so watch their social media feed for new releases to get their quick before it sells out. I enjoy their various beer names and their labels look nice in my label collection.

The service is friendly and quick. While I have been grabbing and going recently, I have never had to wait very long at the window - quick enough to add at the end of a run to home depot without anyone really saying anything except for the case of beer I bring home.

The beer selection is a little limited since they stick to what they are good at - IPAs, NEIPAs, sours, and the occasional stout. Do not expect to find much outside of those varieties here, but you can bet that the beer will be high quality and great tasting.

Just a walk up window currently in a nondescript strip mall/industrial kinda parking lot situation.

Friendly staff, high quality beer in tall cans in four packs to go...no consumption allowed.. these guys are making high quality/highly flavorful and interesting NEIPAs and stouts/sours...well worth a visit to support these guys/gals and their efforts to produce the goods for local and regional fine beer enjoyers...get over there and buy some four packs!

I took a trip out to Morris County, NJ, and saw the opportunity to stop in at Magnify Brewing. Because of the COVID-19 lockdown, they are currently only open for carry away bottle and can sales, but do not serve or allow consumption on the premises yet. Sales are entirely at the service window, all done with impeccable attention to social distancing and safety. I made sure to do my part with a solid purchase. The staff were friendly. I cannot wait to return and review them once they are fully open for business again. Looked like a fun spot -- will be back soon.

Small little tasting room that their website at warns potential customers may be hard to find. It wasn’t obvious, but not that hard with GPS, either. The way we came, I think you can miss a turn.

Seats about 25 with a bar that can support about 10. There website indicates they aren’t big and large parties should call ahead. Staff was smiling and friendly and quick to help, even if the bar was a little crowded. The place was a little loud, more due to acoustics than pure noise level.

Beers were pretty solid, though heavily weighted towards new school hazy, oat/wheat-added, dry-hopped IPAs. These were “varied” by that fact some had lactose and vanilla. There were a couple of sours and a stout (pastry), at least. Not sure if this is normal or not, but I’d guess yes. They had half their menu to go, so if that’s par for the course, it is pretty convenient if you find a beer you like.

So, a little place where the focus is on tasting the beers (i.e. no games or books around). And though the beers fall into a small range, they’re pretty good representations of the styles.

 

Excellent beer and friendly service, not the easiest place to find and the internet stated service only in cans which is definitely not true. Excellent draft service in glassware

 

Great place in an odd location, but it works. Friendly staff, awesome beers, and so close to home. Highly recommend to visit and take canned beers home.

 

Small, working brewery with a small bar / tap room attached to it. Friendly, knowledgeable staff. Consistently exceptional, adjunct free IPA’s on tap and in cans, usually has 3 new cans of new beers every week. Amazing. Occasional releases of very good imperial stouts, saison, and barrel aged beers.

 

 

 

Amazing beer!!! I have only had a couple I don’t like. Fantastic IPAs and Double IPAs. Smooth finish on all of their beers. One of the best in NJ

 

 

 

 

Cool little brewery in what looks to be an industrial park off Rt. 46. Quite unassuming in appearance from the outside, it's all brewery inside. There are a few tables, a moderate size bar with huge chalk board showing their offerings. Service has been prompt, friendly and knowledgeable each visit. Gets tight in there when lots of people (30-40) are present. Worth a visit for the awesome brews they're turning out!

 

 

 

Cool spot within something like an industrial park. It looks like a store front from the outside but once inside you are within their taproom. There are some tables to sit at along with a bar with a decent amount of seating. The brewing area isn't far from the taproom and you can see the workers doing their thing while you enjoy your beers. The service is friendly. The selection was pretty solid the day I stopped in. The only thing was that the place wasn't air conditioned, so it was pretty warm inside. However, it's a great spot to check out.

 

Magnify is in an industrial complex off of Route 46. It's a small, laid-back spot. Very good hoppy beers, and above average beers across styles. Not quite on Kane's level, but close. A top 5 NJ brewery.

 

 

 

 

 

Small in size but big in beer stature.

This is a tiny location based in an industrial park area that resembles a strip mall out front. The front portion of this nano brewery is a tasting room with a bar and some tables. They will fill growlers and howlers from other breweries (which is awesome) and have glassware swag available. There were many local craft beer geeks sitting at the bar that knew each other when I was there. The relevance? They obviously are producing some really good beers that keep bringing people back. I tried some of their beers for the first time at the Extreme Beer Fest in Boston this past year and was blown away. I stopped for growler fills this past week while in the area on business - not disappointed. Magnify is producing a quality product and will definitely be going back when in the area again.

If you are ever in the North Central NJ area and are a beer geek, this is a must stop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solid beer from time to time - Flashbacks Are Forever is exceptional. However, certain bottle prices ($13 for 16oz of Point of Divergence) absolutely aren't worth it.

Also, expect to be treated coldly and unresponsively if you aren't a regular. They have no interest in talking about their product or space apparently; several members of the staff were extremely dismissive the two times I've been. Customer service needs SERIOUS work. Patrons should not feel unwelcome and uncomfortable at a brewery. Bartender was routinely attending to friends and regulars and being outright dismissive of new patrons.

Perhaps they should make it invite-only if exclusivity is so important to management. The beer is what saves this place, though it's not good enough to warrant rudeness.

Now quality control is also an issue, with several releases plagued with diacetyl and carbonation issues. Not really worth visiting at this point with much superior competition around. Check the Magnify thread if you want more elaboration beyond my words.