LOCAL BEER ONLY! (a beer experiment)

define local...

 

This is a really cool idea. Cheers to you man.

 

Then make sure you keep in mind that not all NJ beers are brewed there. If Carton (for example) brews in MA, it's mentioned on the can.

 

I welcome this challenge. Surly, Summit and Schells might already get 80% of my business.

 

Good for you

 

I already drink about 50% Texas-brewed. It wouldn't be too tough to go 100% for a month, but I'm not sure Texas beer is lacking attention. Jester King, Saint Arnold and Lone Pint (mainly just Yellow Rose) suck up a lot of the attention here on BA.com, but that doesn't bother me because it doesn't seem to be to the detriment of our other breweries.

With all that said, I understand the desire to let people know about the locals you love. I've posted a healthy selection of Texas stuff on New Beer Sunday in part for that reason. So I'm curious to see some of New Jersey's finest ... show us what you got!

(and here's my first Tejas contribution ... a seasonal pils from Karbach in Houston, about an hour, 15 minutes from my driveway -- can we call that "local"?)

 

Hooray for New Jersey!

 

I could name a damn good lineup of beers from NJ brewers not named Kane or Carton:
Magnify- Search Saison
Magnify- Vine Shine ipa
Ramstein- Winter Wheat
River Horse- Oatmeal Milk Stout
Flying Fish- Exit 16 Dipa
NJ Beer Co. - Weehawken Wee Heavy
Rinn Duin- Pota Caife Irish Dry Stout
Brix City- Just Another Double IPA
And that's just from beers I've tried, which excludes all of the great beer from Spellbound, Tuckahoe, Glasstown, Cypress, and a few others.
I love Kane and Carton as much as any NJ beer lover, they're probably my favorite 2 breweries. But there is plenty of great beer being brewed in the state right now and I think it's safe to say that things will only get better from here on out.

 

I will most certainly not be joining in...

 

Alesmith for starters, and Bruery to finish off....

 

This is an interesting idea. I could easily go a month drinking only NJ craft beer. 5 brewpubs all less than 1/2 an hour away. 4 or more bars that have NJ beers on tap close by. 3 or more breweries a short drive away. I'll think about it.

 

One of the guys I work with is drinking only Arkansas beer for a YEAR. Not sure I could do that in this state (or any state). He's made it about seven months so far. The only exception is when he travels, he only drinks beer from the state he's in. No thanks. No way I could pull this off.

 

I think I could probably get by for a month on TG, Millstream, Backpocket, and Exile. I'm hoping that once Singlespeed gets their expansion up and running, we'll start to see some of their products on the shelves here.

 

Really great concept, OP. I've got too much hoppy out of state stuff in the fridge right now, plus a trip to Tree House in a couple of weeks to pull this off in May, but I may give it a shot in June or July.
With Tired Hands doing weekly can releases it wouldn't be too tough for me.
I look forward to following your progress.

 

Add Bent Paddle and Indeed and that's 95% of my business.

 

I would do a month with only New Mexico beers if I didn't have a ton of beer from everywhere else that I need to drink by July 1.

 

I can do that for New England. Not sure I'd want to for just Massachusetts. There is plenty of beer brewed here, but I have regular access (via a house in VT) to Vermont beers, and have no interest in avoiding those. Then again, all of New England would still be much smaller than CA, TX, FL or some other places.