Man Skirt Brewing

Saturday out and about day with special guest starts M & D, who ditched their kids on her parents and have come out for beer, hooray! Met at the last place, now we’re on to this place, which would be the ‘two’ in the ‘old Hackettstown one-two’, as it is here in town, anyway. Just a guess, but it must have been a bank once ago ‘cause there’s a vault behind the bar and it’s not like the price of hops has risen that crazily…

Large rectangular room. Concrete floors around a center 2 tone tiled area, and an ornate pressed tin ceiling with strung egg lighting across the room. A large sprawling Octopus mural on the blue center on gray rear wall. White walls to the sides with logo’d vertical center 4x8 windows on surrounding bubble glass sections to the ceiling; 3 on each side. Some painted mural things about the place between the windows, and a draft board blackboard framed (beer, style, ABV, & pricing in mostly 4 sizes; 9oz, 13oz, 16oz, & 20oz). I, myself, am a big fan of ‘the shorty’.

‘L’ shaped penny panel under laminate topped bar with a lip, panel base, and foot bar to the rear. Seating for 7 on leather wood chairs. Adjacent jockey box counter space with snacks and soft drinks below. Cans coolers behind the bar, and shelving alongside on the barback wall with many styles of growlers and glassware. 2 towers of 4 behind the bar, a panel of 8 on the back wall, and another 8 on the bar.

A small brewing system penned the length to one side (yes, there’s an octopus riding one of the tanks), with many a-brewery sticker pasting the half wall, and shirts on the glass panel above. Long shared tables across the floor proper (make new friends!) and 2 long lows along the far window wall + 4 hightop raised roundys.

13 beers, a nice range of styles (Czechs and Balances, Czech Pilsner, 5%; Better Than Pants, English Bitter, 4%; The Great Porter, American Porter, 5.5%; Imperial Progress, Imperial IPA, 8.2%; Pints and Needles 1, Black IPA, 6.5%; Pints and Needles 2, Strawberry Blonde, 5%; H-Town Helles, Maibock, 7%; Rose Madder, Irish Red Ale, 5.5% Hackettstout, Dry Irish Stout, 4.5%; Fancy Pants, Rye English Ale, 4%; Chowder Head, East Coast IPA, 6.7%; Summer Crush 2.0, Watermelon Wheat Ale, 5.9%; May’s Maize, Mexican Lager, 5.5%), and a single seltzer (Let’s Get Fizzical, Hard Seltzer, 5%).

Had a few shortys because I could (Pints and Needles 1, Black IPA, hop, yep, roast, yep, solid; Better Than Pants, English Bitter, it was, well, bitter, bready, an easy drinker; Czechs and Balances, Czech Pilsner, crisp, clean, pleasant; Summer Crush 2.0, Watermelon Wheat Ale, generally not my thing but this one was good; Pints and Needles 2, Strawberry Blonde, nicely tart, well done). I’m thinking Better than Pants English Bitter, and Pints and Needles 1 & 2 for the wins. I don’t know what I was thinking not getting in on that Porter and Dry Irish Stout.

There is an upstairs event space visible through the peekaboo window from down here. I will go on walkabout and assess the situation. Okay, so guess what’s going on up there? Tattoos. Wait, what? Yep, tattoos be happening. Now back downstairs and through to the rear. Upwards of a dozen tables out back and down the alley for the sitting at.

Caught a couple of good beers here today. Comfortable place in a ‘you had a few beers and got a tattoo?’ kind of way. Chill crowd. I’d do this again.

This brewery is located on the main street (Route 46) in downtown Hackettstown. It's housed in a former bank building that offers light, airy space with high ceilings but it's a nice change of pace from the typical industrial space in which most breweries seem to be located. The swag is kept in the old bank vault. There is an outdoor seating area in the former alleyway beside the building. Man Skirt is popular with locals which creates a nice vibe. The staff is friendly and if it's not too crowded you can talk beer with one of the brewers. Man Skirt brews a variety of styles that are somewhat atypical, including a really tasty ESB, a good Porter, Wee Heavy, and Stouts during the cooler months. This alone should make Man Skirt a brewery to seek out. As a bonus, it's within walking distance of Czig Meister and a short drive of Jersey Girl.

 

Prime location right on the corner of Main Street & Grand Avenue in the middle of Hackettstown. Large, open, bright space with brew kettles, fermenters and other brewing equipment along the wall to the right as you walk in. A small bar to back left corner where you can order and drink your beers while standing or bring them back to one of the many tables set up in the middle. The vibe inside is extremely laid back, despite being fairly empty on a Friday afternoon at opening. Good indie rock tunes being played, though I didn't recognize the band. Service from the bartender was attentive yet not overly friendly. I started chatting him up though and was very eager to tell me about the beers bubbling away in the fermenters. About 8 beers to choose from with a good range from a blonde ale to a bitter to a porter and hoppy pales as well. You can get any of the beers in various sizes from 4/8/12/16 oz as well as growler fills. They had a couple of bottles for sale and 6-packs of The Great Porter to take home. A friendly joint that I'll be returning to again for sure.

 

Old bank building with a decent size bar and many table to enjoy their beer. Staff is friendly and there's eight or so of their beers on tap. They had some in cans for sale too as well as growler fills. Nice place to try some brews.

 

Decent beers but nothing to rave about. Very good location right in the middle of town with lots of food choices nearby. I have visited 3 times so far and they've never had more than 3 beers on tap. I'd like to see more aggressive pricing, charging $6 for a 14 oz shaker glass pour AT the brewery is a little nuts, this is not NYC (in fact I can find beer cheaper in NYC!). They do at least participate in the NJ Craft Beer Club, 10% off, it's not much but it's better than nothing.

The original Hackettstown brewery. Very inviting location right on Main Street. Site of a former bank, open brewery area set off from numerous tables and finished by a penny decorated bar. When I stopped by there were 5 beers on tap, and the satff let me sample one they pulled out of the tank that day. Nicely priced sampler lets you check each style out - really nice variety including a blonde, dunkelweizen, porter, IPA, and a rauch. Friendly informative servers, will tell you about each of the beers. Definitely worth a stop.

We have 3 craft breweries in Hackettstown. This is my go to place. Joe (owner/brewmaster) always make people feel welcome. His beers are outstanding. Love this place!!!

Old converted bank into a brewery, nothing too special to really look at here. They have a few beers on tap that aren't mind blowing but aren't bad either. The service is very good.

 

 

 

Visited the brewery before I had a gig to play and I'm glad I did. Had a tasting of the four ales on tap and they were all fantastic. This brewery does a good job of brewing "English/British" style ales, in which I mean they pack a lot of flavor into 4%/5% ale. The tap room is really relaxed and inviting with both a standing bar area and tables. The brew equipment is in the room for anyone to see, and there is a self guided tour with labels to explain the brew process. Wish I lived closer because I really enjoy their brew, especially their porters and their bitter, which is a style I do not get to drink that much.