The Alementary Brewing Co.

Visited on a Saturday evening.

Tucked away on a small side street, parking is located across the street in an unmarked lot. I actually was not sure if I parked in the appropriate place. Outside of the place looks really cool. Large logo on the side of the building, clean, and welcoming. Upon entering the door, you notice very tall ceilings, a clean appearance, and a couple of large high top tables through the middle of the tasting room. Tables could easily fit 8 or so.

You approach the bar and immediately notice there are no barstools. Which was ok for me in this instance, as I had been driving for a few hours and wanted to stretch my legs. Brewing operations are to the left of the bar behind glass doors. Two TV monitors behind the bar with the beer menu, half on one and half on the other. An eclectic group of beers on tap; I got a sampler of the mild, gose, pale ale, and ipa. I found all of the beers to be lacking some punch in the flavor and aroma department. Approachable beers, decent vibe.

On the Hackensack tour, part 2. I was here for the first time back in September of ’18 with Brophy & I remember there being an ESB up (Hello, Extra Social Beverage), and some other things outside of the sad hazy, pastry, & sourz unholy trinity that filled me with joy. I’ve dropped in a few times in between then & now, sometimes with the unusual suspects for a beer & White Manna one-two. The scene seen again most recently a Sunday or so ago and again the other day to update these old scribblings…

Single room space with an ‘L’ bar to the rear; glossy wood plank topped, rusting stainless steel base, and a piping foot rail. Seating for exactly none as you know there’s a pandemic on, right? Barback wall is alt colored horizontal wood plank with 8 non-descript tap handles extending from the wall (with the gauges above in a mini-Torst Flux Capacitor kind of way), a cylinder upright duo countered off to the right along a handpump and a crowl crimper on the other end. ‘NY Red Bull’ bar towel above the taps and a logo Alementary sign above that with flats to both sides; one of them shows the tap list via an Untapped board (beer, style, ABV, & pricing for a short and full pour, and crowl where applicable). Glassware countered and shelved below for the easy grab.

Concrete floors, and the ceiling done up wood boards with slight spacing, a single spinny, a small disco ball, and a cool can opener wind chime. White walls with wood trim save the glass front ‘artist’s studio’ brewery on the end, and the wall of plastic clover with a neon up front. Bright colorful local art for sale on the far wall on this recent revisit; portraits (Lt. Uhura, David Bowie, Adam Ant, Stevie Nicks, Edie Sedgwick), and not. Beer equipment patent sheets framed, a Hackensack map from 1896, a letter from Albert Einstein to FDR from 1939, and over there (me, pointing), a ‘Kennedy Assassinated!’ Daily News front/back page headline from 1963. Phat wood pillars behind the bar that used to be pasted with mostly Bergen County Fire, Police, & EMT department patches; now they’re on the crossbeam overhead. 3 prong filament bulb lanterns on piping over the bar, single filaments mounted on the far wall, and sunken spots ceilinged. Merch and to-go goods coolered in the front corner. A dozen barrel tables and 3 picnics about the bar area and into the brewery room itself, + the bar counter ledge on the far wall below the art.

Small outdoor space between buildings; theirs and someone else’s. I’d been out here once or thrice before during ‘outside only Covid good times days’. A dozen & a half tables; barrel & picniclike, some under awning or umbrella.

9 beers up; I may have taken in a few (Oktoberfest, Marzen, 5.8%, nice malt backbone, she’s good; Low Earth Orbit, Oatmeal Stout, 6.7%, smooth, pleasant; Spotted Dog, Nitro Cream Ale, 4.5%, easy, lightly hoppy, tasty; Solar Flare, IPA, 6.5%, melon, melon, melon, damn). Solar Flare, IPA, & Oktoberfest were the best of ‘em.

On my recent return, I played the shorty game (Hackensack Lager, Helles, 5.4%, nice Helles, an easy drinker, also on cask which did not suck; A-Game IPA, 6.2%, not too hazy, nice bite, floral even; Random Placement, Pale Ale, 5.5%, fruity, good hoppiness, a solid Pale Ale; A Vast and Terrible Magic, fruited Sour, 5%, is all strawberry tart love; Figgy Pudding 2023; Rum Barreled aged Barleywine on fruit, 9.1%, is a big fruitcake, smooth & boozy; Arecibo, Imperial Oatmeal Stout, 10.5%, coconut & coffee. Hackensack Helles & Random Placement, Pale Ale for the wins.

Was standing at the bar as owner Blake cracked an old Special Delivery #5; a Biere de Garde with Cherimoya (um… nobody makes a Biere de Garde) and the Laniakea (BBA Russian Impy Stout), both of which he was kind enough to dole me out some of. That Biere de Garde was a big beer but damn tasty tasty.

Marjie’s got a spot to the rear of the room, but seems to be hanging up front greeting this Sunday afternoon. What up, dog? It’s a fun crowd here today; an excellent group of regulars. We are however, getting into some ugly Rangers/Devils smack talk territory. There’s a lot of hating on the Rangers. It may be due to the Devils currently sucking, not sure, but sure. Got to see Richard’s rules (which all seem reasonable enough as he sounds like a mess of a regular. I used to know a Hal like that. Remind me to tell you about ‘the social contract’ sometime).

And my most recent drop in the other day. Oh, that’s right, they have cans. Had both Farmhouse offerings (Gift in Kind, collab with the CIA, Saison with Quince, Mirabelle Plum, & White Peach, 4.8%, and Triple 7’s, 7th Anniversary collab with Czig Meister & Twin Elephant, Saison with lemon zest, dark wheat & Calypso hops, 4.8%). The Triple 7’s was the better of the two, me thinks.

Am talking with the beer people here and they are on point. Two breweries in town; me thinks this one is the stronger suit.

I met some of the folks from Alementary Brewing Co. at Gun Hill, so really wanted to get out for a try. The tasting room is in a small, light industrial park close to downtown Hackensack, with very nice ambiance inside and out. The service staff are very friendly and chatty; service is from a 25' bar area. The beers are rock solid and package beers available. The SS Victoria, an AAPA served from a cask, was absolutely amazing. Mothers' milk, if I may be so bold. The vibe struck me as a mix of serious imbibers and folks our for a little fun; the group next to me was looking up lemurs on Wikipedia (not sure why, but something you do not hear every day). Liked the locale, liked the vibe, liked the staff, liked the beer: I will be back.

This small brewery is located north of downtown Hackensack and rather hidden on an industrial street, which gives it a distinct Jersey feel. The tasting room is small but ample with both large and small tables and a nice bar area. The staff is very friendly and eager to talk beer with you. It's low key and homey. It seems to attract a crowd of devoted locals and beer geeks visiting. I've had several Alementary beers in cans or in restaurants with mixed results but what I had on draught was quite good; I was pleasantly surprised. While the brewery distributes cans to my area I plan on returning to the tasting room again as it was a very nice experience.

 

 

 

Cool taproom in an odd section of town. Parking is kind of odd but there is a map on the brewery's website that is worth checking out. Inside you'll find several tables and a long bar with no seats/stools. Bartenders were friendly and attentive.

The taps change regularly and there is something for everyone to enjoy. I really appreciate that they put out German style lagers because you can't get them everywhere. Hackensack Lager, their Helles, is always on-tap with usually another type of lager or two, plus the occasional stout, an English mild on nitro, a barleywine, and of course IPAs.

Every Friday they set up a Randall and do some interesting variations on existing beers. The first time I went it was Kardigan (their Altbier) through a Randall of smoked cherrywood chips. They then took a glass, lit some fresh cherrywood chips, and put the glass upside down over the wood chips for a few seconds until the glass filled with smoke. Then, poured the smoked beer into that glass. Delicious!

The beer isn't world class, but it is above average and the selection is great. They have cans to go as well. Worth a stop for sure.

 

 

Friendly staff, great beer. An awesome tap room with a great vibe. Parking can be a little tricky (there's a diagram of where you can and can't park on their website). The beer is really good and is only getting better between batches (A-Game is an example of this). I also appreciate the variety of styles they have available on any given day.

 

 

 

 

Production brewery with a local bar vibe. Regulars happy to meet new people, and visitors eager to return for some tasty treats. Tap list to accommodate any preference of style, while still rotating the choices around to keep things from becoming mundane. Happy to call this North Jersey beer and drinking it with pride.