Been coming to the Jersey Shore all my life, and for the majority of my 40 years of Drinking life it has been a beer bars wasteland. Except for import might at the Playpen, you were lucky to get even a Heineken on tap. Lately, the craft beer scene has exploded. From Sea Isle City there are multiple breweries within 30 minutes serving great beer. Most local bars now have multiple craft beers available. I post this while drinking an amazing Dankey Kong from Glasstown Brewery. Please post your transformation stories to support the craft beer revolution.
The same thing is happening almost everywhere else in NJ. The town I live in even has a diner that sells craft beer along with all the other goodies NJ Diners are known for.
I, like you, remember a time when a fairly good beer bar had mostly imports and perhaps a craft brew or two. The usual suspects: Guinness, Bass, maybe Newcastle Brown, and then the holy trinity of Hoegaarden, Stella, and Leffe came in. Along the way Sam Adams went from being the Boston Lager to whatever the seasonal was. And those were the good days when things had started to change!!! Now, in many places at least, it's gone 360˚ - all craft with maybe an import or two, and occasionally a big player like Bud Light to satisfy the masses. Crazy, right?
I spent a lot of my adult life going to long Beach island and the Dutchmans brahaus was the only place for good beers, German imports mostly hefe's thought that was the greatest thing ever. Now there's great beer everywhere. Im thrilled but wish it happened in my 20s. Spent a lot of years on budweiser and Schmidts
