Visiting NJ from Chicago area in approx. 2 weeks. July 25-27th. Looking for shopping/trading ideas

Not going to find heady or hill farmstead at any stores in NJ.

 

http://www.seekabrew.com/distro/compare.html

 

Neither of these reach the southern half of Vermont, much less Jersey.

Head down to Kane on Saturday afternoon.

 

I agree with previous post, try to get down to Kane. It should be about 45 minutes away, and they always have alot of great stuff in the tasting room. Kane is Nj and essentially draft only. Dont miss out on head high and overhead while there. If you are ok travelling with growlers (not sure how you are travelling) they are a good price here.

New Bruns has an ok Brewpub in Harvest Moon. Don't fret if you cant get there. For dinner, Old Bay has some decent food (get the stuffed pork chops) and a few decent taps. World of beer is new, and i dont know much about it.

There are a few pretty good beer stores around. Joe Canals in Woodbridge has a good selection, but I dont know what you cant get in Chi town. Flying Fish brewing may be easy to find, and if so grab their Exit 4:Rice Double IPA. Other than that, if you cant get Brooklyn Brewery, grab a 4 pack or two of Blast. Just make sure you check the bottling date on both of those.

Enjoy your trip

 

Are you trolling us? I live in New Jersey. If you can find a store that has those things here, let the rest of us know!

But in all seriousness - with regards to the rest of your requests:

1) Check out World of Beers, Stuff yer Face, or George Street Ale House for good craft beer selections in NB. You can check out their beer lists online first.

2) Harvest Moon (right in New Brunswick) is an okay brewpub with a great food selection - they do growler fills and their quesadilla of the day cannot be missed

3) As the previous posters said, Kane and Carton are the two best breweries in Jersey, but they are a hike away from New Brunswick - I think 45 minutes is an underestimation

4) Hearthstone Grill in Jamesburg isn't far and is a very small brewpub that has surprisingly good offerings sometimes. Unfortunately, they don't always have something good on hand. Growler fills available.

5) Wine World and Marketplace Wine and Spirits are the two best liquor stores in the immediate area in (East Brunswick) although the Cranbury Buy-Rite is better but farther.

6) PM about any trades you might want to do. I can bring plenty of local stuff up to you, including Carton Boat Beer and growlers from Tired Hands in PA. I'm also near Flying Fish if you want some extra fresh growlers (but their stuff is relatively available all over the state).

7) Finally, I wouldn't mind an excuse to head over to Kane or Carton and then head over to you for a trade, but I can't guarantee you what either of those places will have available in two weekends. Definitely some good IPAs and Stouts for sure, but not sure what else. I also have some cellar stuff I might be willing to trade

 

You've received some pretty good advice, I would also add that sours in this area are severely lacking. I doubt you will find much in the way of sours that you can't get in Illinois. Carton makes a few, but they are not bottled/canned and are going to be very hit or miss. (They did can their Berliner, but it was brewery only and all gone.)

Weyerbacher's (from PA) anniversary beer this year is a sour wheat with Mango which is pretty good. Also, their Riserva is pretty good. Neither is going to blow you away, but solid sours. Tired Hands makes some great beer, but you are going to need to either travel a decent distance or find someone to trade with.