Departed Soles Brewing Co.

somewhat urban hipster feel. small place. beer was good. i won't rush back but i would return

 

 

Cute tap room with easy access to the ice cream shop!

 

 

 

 

 

After entering the main doors you pass through a common area shared with a gelato shop on your way into Departed Soles (make a note, the bathrooms are on your right). Once inside there's seating on the right, the brewery far down and to the left, and the bar is in front of you up to your right. The list of beers is found grafitti-tagged on skateboard decks attached to a beam (they're not really "tagged" but it sounds better than "painted"). Pick your poison and get in line! Or choose a flight of four (served atop a min skateboard) and get a glass of your favorite after trying them.

The theme is quite urban, and "departed soles" apparently refers to old sneakers! (Skateboard sneakers I'm guessing). It's a cool looking place, but at the same time the decor seems to be trying a little bit too hard. Fortunately the owner and his staff are quite friendly and helpful, and that makes all of the difference in the world. Why more people don't understand that just being positive and nice to people fosters their allegiance I don't know. After meeting these guys I want to support them.

There's no food, it's just a brewery with a tasting room, but they did offer that I could bring in food if I wanted (nice). So on to the beer...

There keep 8 beers on tap, and 2 of them are gluten free. (Apparently gluten-free beer is a big thing, and big enough that Departed Soles has embraced it - I'm not a celiac, but I'm glad that they're offering people who have gluten intolerance a better option). I tried two of their gluten-free beers and liked them both, one more than the other. What I will say though, is that everything being what it is, I liked both of their gluten-free beers better than a lot of others that I've tried, probably because they're loading them up with hops. None of their beers are really overdone though, or at least I didn't find anything that was either too bitter or too malty.

So with a pretty good sense of balance in their beers, how is the balance of their tap list? When I was there they were offering a gluten-free black IPA, a gluten-free floral IPA, a honey blonde, a California Common or "steam beer", an amber ale, a strong Belgian-style ale, a coffee stout, and a root beer version of their steam beer. I think that's pretty well balanced, and my wife who's not really into beer found a few that she'd like.

If you're in Jersey City I'd say it's worth a stop; and even if you're not, it is accessible by public transport.