New here from Northern NJ

The Shep and Cloverleaf are fine bars but your new go to craft bar is The Copper Mine in North Arlington. It's less than 2 miles from you and arguably better than both of those other 2 anyway. Also check out Rutherford Wine Shoppe and make friends there and you'll learn about beer fast. Kane and Carton are the 2 breweries in NJ worth visiting and at the moment the only 2 worth visiting. There are new ones opening and a few with tasting rooms opening and a few other good ones further south but too far. Kane and Carton are an hour from you. Also go north into NY to expand the beers available to you. Different states different beers. Good breweries to visit in NY are Peekskill, Captain Lawrence and Rushing Duck. Nikki from Rushing Duck actually bartends at Copper Mine. Her BF Dan is a former Weyerbacher brewer that opened his own place.

Barcade in Jersey City is pretty good and puts together some nice events. Wine and Beverage Depot in Totowa is good but anything limited is hidden and held for its best customers. Super Buy rite in Jersey City suffers from the same problem. Seekabrew.com will will show you what's available in NJ and you can compare any 2 states together to see what breweries are available in both and which different ones are available. Russian River sends bottles to eastern PA but just the sours. Pliny pops up on tap quite often and once a year pliny the younger is available in a few select bars. Phillytapfinder.com for those things. Again PA and NJ see very different beer distribution and generally you have to buy full cases in PA and "bottle shops" are usually deli's and sandwich shops that can sell singles and generally cost more than they should. My favorite is Trenton Road Takeout because it's fairly close and Philly Steaks Wings and Beer is a few miles from there. Shangy's is a great distributor for full cases.

In upstate NY go to Cable Beverages in Bardonia, RT 59 Discount Beverage(cash only) but be careful on IPAs or anything not meant to age. Check dates and if there's no bottling date I'd stay away from those types but great for big ageable beers. Deciccos in Ardsley and Armont are great stores. Armonk now has a bar in the store as well. And my new secret store when I go on an NY run is Foodtown Express in Yonkers. Small but amazing beer section for bombers and 750's. Growler and Gill is also an interesting store but poorly run and expensive.

 

Most would consider Monmouth County "Central Jersey", so, yeah, this is the wrong thread. And it's an oddly shaped and rather large county especially if you're driving through the shopping traffic on the day after Thanksgiving - wouldn't catch me out there. OTOH, if your visiting in-laws and need an escape....

Naming a nearby town would probably help folks direct you better.

F'r'instance, I'm in the SW corner of the county, but probably do more of my beer shopping in Mercer, Middlesex and Ocean counties.

 

Welcome!! I'm I North Jersey (Lodi, Bergen County). I have the good fortune ( when it comes to beer) of working in Manhattan, so I do have more bottle shops at my fingertips. That said, I've almost always been able to find what I'm looking for at Total Wine.

 

Near Belleville or in Belleville? Ever make it over to Belmont Tavern? One of the things I miss about NJ.

 

I grew up around that area and there are a few things I miss; Ralph's Pizza in Nutley, The Franklin Steakhouse (heard it has gone through various owners, changes, closings - real shame), late night munchies from one of the various diners (Lyndhurst, Arlington, Tick-Tock), Rutt's Hut Hot Dogs, and the local bars which included the Coppermine before it was the Coppermine. Was in the area Saturday Night for a friend's birthday and had an incredible dinner in Paisano's in Rutherford, Espresso braised short ribs.

The best beer bars within 20 minutes would be the Coppermine, Cloverleaf and Sheppard (little hike). As people have mentioned, check out Kane and Carton when you get a chance. If you do a lot of dining out at beer bars or buying a lot of craft brews, look into the NJCB card. Costs about $25 but you earn that back within a few months. I actually got that back in one dinner at Morris Tap and Grill.

Also if you like Beer Fest, there are plenty in NJ. There is an international beer fest in Secaucus in January (I think) and the big brew fest twice a year in Morristown. There are other regional ones throughout the state, just keep an eye on NJCB email that lists most of them.

And don't be afraid to travel about 40 minutes north and skip over the border of NY for lots of beer not available in NJ. Cable, Deccico's (various locations), Growler and Gill all have stuff from Alesmith, Bell's, Jack's Abby and Cigar City to name a few. I make the trip once every couple months and stock up. Last time I got lucky and even had a bottle of Cantillon at the bar in the Deccico's in Armonk and picked up bottles from Crooked Stave, Local Option, Evil Twin, and Bells as well as a growler of Jack's Abby Oktoberfest and Bell's Java Stout.

My next stop is to try and hit some Philly suburb bottle shops one day after work since it is only about 45 minutes from my office.

 

I'm right in hasbrouck heights.

 

I'm in Bloomfield so right next door. My top three local places would be the Whole Foods in Paramus (Great Bomber selection), Stew Leonard's in Clifton (Good selection of 6-packs, Bomber's and NJ beer) and Bottle King in Glen Ridge.

Bar wise my wife and I love the Cloverleaf. Great selection and the staff is very knowledgeable. They are always having tap-takeover days (Left-hand, Founders, Pumpkin) which are fun. A couple Saturday's ago we were there having lunch and they tapped a Carton Cask with no notice which was a nice surprise. Their MBA (Master's in Beer Appreciation) is 45 different beers in 9 styles and the PHD program is another 60 during the 4 seasons.

We are also in a good central location for breweries. Last weekend we went down to Kane and Carton which are only an hour away. Cricket Hill is 20 minutes away in Fairfield. Captain Lawrence in NY is only 35 minutes North and if you keep going North another 15 - 20 minutes you can find good breweries like Newburgh, Keegan Ales and Defiant. Philly is only a couple hour drive and will find a ton.


All that being said, since we have a few BAs in the area we should meet at the Cloverleaf for a beer sometime.

 

I went to a couple nicer beer dinners with the late, great Richie Stolarz with Beers International.

 

Sorry, at the Cloverleaf. Great place.

 

John 21 let's get together, pick the date and we can all meet up at the place of your choosing.

 

You forgot about Peekskill which may be the best brewer of all.

 

It was mentioned in my large post.

 

I still haven't made it to Peekskill yet. Every time we hit breweries in that area we usually run out of time or hit a snow storm. I plan to go back to Captain Lawrence in the Spring since I still have 12 beer tokens from their small batch takeover day I need to use. I'll hit both on a Saturday.

 

Don't get too caught up in the buzzed about beers. As you can see from all of the above info, there is plenty of good stuff on the shelf and brewed locally.

 

I say we hit up the Cloverleaf one Saturday afternoon in December. Their Winter Beer menu comes out Dec 1.

 

A while ago a BA did some crazy analysis of beer distribution across the country and they found that the number of beers distributed to NJ is second only to the Philadelphia area, which means many of the best beers in the country are already coming to your doorstep. So, I would recommend trying to resist the urge to trade until you explore what's readily available to you and develop your understanding/appreciation of different beer styles. Your wallet and free time will thank you. Plus, you will find hidden gems and/or local very fresh beers that are as good and sometimes better than the highly hyped beers, in particular hop-forward beers where freshness can be key.

FWIW, I had a brief stint with beer trading a few years ago. After a few trades I concluded the beers I was trading for weren't so much better than my local offerings to justify the expense and hassle. But that's just me...different strokes for different folks.