Living in central Jersey

If you live near Rutgers then Kane Carton are not nearly 1.5 hrs away. More like half that. I love in Bridgwater and it takes me about 45 min.

 

I'm walking distance to Carton and I can be in New Brunswick in 35 minutes, not sure why you think its 1.5 hours. Maybe on a Saturday in July.

 

Move?

 

In each subsequent response to your own original thread posting you reference your trips to Vermont. It's starting to feel less like you want an organic craft beer scene to grow in NJ so distribution can be close to your house and more like you want us to know you're a pretentious nonce who finds no issue driving 392 miles to Vermont but won't make the drive to Ocean Township nor Atlantic Highlands.

 

I feel OP. I live in Morris County. getting to Carton or Kane requires driving two hours to and fro, often in traffic. yes, they're great, but I think OP's point is that it would be nice to have a great craft bar or brewery within a reasonable driving distance. not everyone has the schedule that allows them to drive multiple hours whenever they want good beer. also, Kane's growler fills are typically limited to their core four (Head High, Overhead, Single Fin, Port Omna) so once you have those a bunch it's hard to make the drive unless it's the rare occasion where a specialty beer is available for growler fills. no one wants to drive two hours to have a 4oz taster of a new beer and not be able to take it home.

just looked up Demented and it'll still be 40 min away from me :/

just somewhat odd that some highly populated areas in NJ are completely unawake to the craft scene, to the point where Brooklyn Lager is the most craft-centric option at a restaurant/bar and traveling to a good brewery takes multiple hours overall.

I mean I see some people telling him to go to Brooklyn... I think they're missing the point. that's like 90 min each way for him. yes, most people can find a decent spot if they're willing to consider a 90 min radius, but I think in terms of local convenience in central NJ the options are astoundingly lacking.

 

yeah, most people quickly reply "BUT KANE AND CARTON!" whenever ANYONE complains about craft scarcity in NJ, but they really aren't considering that driving two hours on a crowded parkway isn't exactly always worth it if you're just getting growler fills of a beer you've already had dozens of times.

Kane RARELY offers anything beyond their core for growler fills apart from Port Omna Day once a year. Carton does have special releases available for growler fills occasionally but that's about it. is one really going to devote 2 hours of driving to Kane to have 8oz of Overhead w/ different hops that they can't even take home in a growler? if I lived 15-20 min away I would still go just for tasting, but an hour away? nope. I work until 5pm every day and from that point on the parkway is awful and driving to Kane/Carton would take 90 min each way from Morris County -- might as well take a train into NYC at that point. I do enjoy weekend trips to each on occasion, but putting multiple hours of driving on a weekend schedule for growlers I've already had before isn't too enticing.

I'm very fortunate to live near a store that does get Carton beers. I expect their distribution to increase over the next couple of years, but right now it can still be hard to obtain even at stores that do get it -- Boat and 077XX are really the only worthwhile things being bottled/canned in NJ on a regular basis, so expectedly they don't stay on the shelves long. as a result, there is often an extended period between them selling out and the next canning line being released. this wouldn't be a big deal if there were other quality local options in stores, but there aren't, so getting a fresh IPA requires getting something out-of-state that has probably been sitting in a warehouse for a few weeks (NJ also has a weird fad of receiving seasonal IPAs 3-4 weeks after bottling).

more craft bars, breweries, growler stations, etc should be popping up considering craft beer's emergence and NJ's high population density.

you'll find that some people on here are VERY sensitive in regard to criticism regarding the craft beer scene in NJ. I don't know why. some people just aren't capable of viewing things critically and only look at the situation with blind optimism. or they have a very flexible work schedule that provides them with hours upon hours for beer trips, while assuming it's the same for everyone else. it's the same type of people who think there isn't such a thing as a bad local beer, as if a beer is good just because it's brewed local (lol)

most people won't admit that there are areas of NJ that are extremely sparse in craft beer, or that there are some NJ breweries that flat-out suck (a lot of em, actually, apart from Kane and Carton). they get butthurt over that criticism for some reason, assuming the craft scene can do no wrong just because it's their personal hobby.

it just pisses me off that some users are calling you pretentious simply because you're initiating a discussion with valid criticism. they're the pretentious ones tbh.

 

I think that part of your frustration is the limited nature of Carton and Kane's distribution. Kane had limited distribution of their bottled beers prior to having releases at the brewery and I don't think thry distribute bottles anymore. Carton is very small and pretty much running at capacity, but will be expanding soon. The problem they have is purely a supply and demand one. I think Augie was on here saying that the list for new accounts is really long and that they don't want to add any more at the expense of their current accounts.

Other than driving to the breweries, your best bet is to find some good craft beer bars and drink what they have from NJ breweries. You mentioned being between Princeton and Rutgers, so I'm not sure how far it wouod be, but a Brick House Tavern opened up on Rt.1 in Lawrenceville and the tap list looks to be decent.

 

If you take that trip, right down the road is Canal's which gets Carton cans as well as Spell Bound IPA cans. I wasn't a fan of the Spell Bound in cans, but on tap it was decent. Just another NJ option. A little bit farther, but Uno's in Hamilton tends to have a good selection of taps and usually has decent tap take overs.

 

Your not alone man. I have to drive 60 minutes round trip just to get good brews because the two local stores around here WAY overcharge even for local breweries.

I live an hour and half south of Kane and almost 2 from carton
I'm lucky to find carton if at all. But I do get a lot a flying fish distributed around here, hell I've even seen their vans on the parkway and rt 72. Rinn Duin out of toms river get distributed well here though, so it's not so bad trying to find local beers. I understand size and cost determines distribution but being so close yet so far from great breweries is pretty sad. Nothing wrong with a road trip though

 

Like others have said. Joe canals and oak tree discount wine and spirits.
Both are close to rutgers. And imo great bottle shops.
For bars try stuff yer face and the old bay in New Brunswick.

 

No one is going to claim NJ has a great brewing scene, which I think has a lot to do with our liquor laws (in particular cost of a license). However, if you are between NB and Princeton (guessing North Brunswick-ish) you are very near a couple of brewpubs (Harvest Moon and Triumph), Old Bay (which had a great craft program before that was even a word), and some decent bottle shops (cranberry buy-rite on 130 just re-opened and might be the best store in the state). While brewery trips might be lacking, there is a lot to take advantage of.

 

If your area is really as barren as you say it is with craft beer, it seems like an enormous opportunity for a profitable business venture.

An outstanding brewery won't just pop up 15 mins from your house. Great Breweries are few and far in between, even in states that have more relaxed beer laws then nj. So it seems like if one was to open a craft centric beer bar near you, it would do extremely well. If it's how you I I wouldnt be surprised if one opened soon!! ,

 

Others mentioned Spellbound which has some really good stuff - 3 guys with almost 20 years each of homebrewing experience before they opened 2014. Also, not too far from you is Neshaminy Creek Brewing, about same distance as Kane/Carton. And there's Yards and the crazy-good beer scene in Philly. Not barren and not shabby, IMHO.

 

What's the story with Demented? I maybe misreading it, but it seems like the couple mentions of them in this thread come with a little hope/hype of them being the next big thing in the area. Or maybe its just excitement for having a good options in an area that doesn't have much as it is? If there's any inside info on the brewery or the beer I wouldn't mind hearing it (I do like the hours they're talking about being open, much better than Kane or Carton, and its pretty close to my commute home each night).

Oh, I know its a little out of the way for some and they're not your typical beer bar but Gusto Grill almost always has a great tap lineup!