Plan our road trip. Looking for Duck Rabbit & NJ beers

Duck Rabbit is well distributed in the Pittsburgh area. A short trip off the turnpike in Monroeville is the Gateway Grille who has 4 of their beers (I think I saw 4 tonight when I was there at least). I believe D's in Regent Square also has the lineup available.

 

As of Saturday (the last time they were open) Kane still had bottles available at the brewery. Carton also had cans available of 077XX and Epitome.

 

Bottles only. Don't know if I have ever seen DR in growlers or on tap around here.

 

Pipers Pub (across the street from Fat Heads) typically always has DR milk stout on tap and I have seen people bring in their own growlers and get fills.

 

You can try beermenus to see if Kane is on tap at a liquor store somewhere to fill up a growler. That's the only way to get it outside the brewery.

Carton is hit or miss to find in stores. Most of the time it's in the back and you have to ask for it so your best bet is going to the brewery and stocking up.

 

You should stop in at Pizza Boy on your way to Pizza Boy if possible. They've often got six packs of DR and even better stuff on draft IMO.

 

Yeah! What this guy said. Hadn't even crossed my mind, but you definitely should. Great pie and tons of beer to be had.

 

Should say on your way to Pittsburgh.

 

Some Freudian slips should really be given as much attention as possible.

 

Joe Canal's in Woodbridge isn't far off the turnpike and have Carton and Kane on now at the Growler station. This changes, but they usually have at least one or the other. They also have new NJ brewery Forgotten Boardwalk. I haven't had anything by them, but it's NJ only.

https://woodbridge.jcanals.com/topics/Growlers-g7304160gx

 

I'd be willing to bet that you won't have any luck finding Kane and Carton along that turnpike corridor. At least anywhere that wouldn't waste too much time. You'd need to find a store that has Carton cans - which most likely at this point would just be Boat - that also does growler fills and has Kane on tap.

I would second the Pizza Boy suggestion. It looks like it only adds about 10 minutes to you trip. You may be able to find some Duck Rabbit there, and you most likely will be able to grab Pizza Boy's Sunny Side Up which is crazy good.

 

About a block from tired hands is the beer shoppe Ardmore and they will usually have 4-5 duck rabbit bottles to go in singles and sixers.

 

I would suggest trying beermenus.com to find Kane or Carton - neither brewery is anywhere close to your route and would not be open Sat morning. Right now, Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville has 077xx in growlers: https://www.beermenus.com/places/2250-joe-canal-s-lawrenceville
You could get off NJTP at exit 9, take route 1 south for about 20 mi and stop there - it's easy to pick up your route to Philly/Pitt from there, either 1 South or 295N/95S - I would call first on growlers - they often have Carton Boat in cans.

 

Just got an update from beermenus that Uno's in Hamilton (my go-to watering hole for craft on tap), not too far from Joe Canal's has Kane Hop Lab Wheat on tap - they do fill growlers: https://www.beermenus.com/places/3283-uno-chicago-grill-hamilton-nj

 

Joe Canal's Woodbridge would seem a very good choice, especially looking over that growler list. One warning though, it's on Route 1 between the Woodbridge and Menlo Park malls, and it's the Saturday before Christmas, so be patient.

 

this is true and extremely annoying, especially since Augie is totally against stores doing this. I'm fearful of reporting a store that does this, though, because I fear Carton won't ship them anything in the future. it's the only place close to me that gets anything Carton, i believe.

even worse, there are no fridges in the back, so the only time I was able to nab a 4-pack of 077xx in the past 3-4 months was after it was sitting in the back for a month after some regular customer forgot to pick it up. I had to ask a guy and he was like "yeah, I can sell you this 4-pack but only because the person I was holding it for didn't pick it up." uh, ok. still a fine beer but totally different than what i'm used to fresh.

so yeah, unfortunately i wouldn't expect to find any Carton in stores. Kane hasn't had any bottles in distro for a long time but there are still some bottles of Fall Saints and Malus available at the brewery -- both great beers.

it's getting to the point in densely populated central NJ where the only way to obtain a fresh IPA or limited release is being very buddy-buddy with store managers. I honestly don't have the time to build these relationships for the pure purpose of getting beer so I guess I'm out of luck. I usually get my girlfriend to ask the beer guys if they have a particular beer in the back, and find more success that way for obvious reasons. if i didn't go to their high school or don't chill weekly with them they aren't telling me shit lol.

maybe it's just Morris County that's so exclusive, idk.

 

Yeah, I considered this, and should've mentioned it in my post, but the OP sounded like he'd be through there early and, while slow, shouldn't be too crazy til after 11 am.
I see it as: Get off turnpike exit 9, go thru main st/gill lane and turn left onto Rt. 1. Hit Canals. Continue on 1 south to 287 south for a mile and get back on the turnpike at exit 10. Worst part would be main street by Woodbridge Center and the block before Menlo. But...he'd get Kane and Carton!