South Jersey Breweries

Just had a nice post house-hunting session at Tonewood this afternoon. The new DIPA "Improv" is very good. As they continue to expand I fully expect this to become the destination brewery in South Jersey. I also expect they will outgrow their current space within a year or two. It's already becoming pretty insane on weekends.

 

Really enjoyed Ludlam Island Water Guns and Rainbows at AC Beerfest this year. Does anyone know if they can their beers yet? thanks.

 

Not yet. They have bottled a bit of their stouts a couple of times, but that's it.

 

I agree that they have outgrown the location. On a selfish note I miss being able to walk in on the weekend and grab a seat at the bar but I am so happy for them and their success. I think they have nailed it with Fuego.

 

100% filling up a growler on Friday, this thing looks epic! Will give my thoughts to the group at some point.

 

It’s all about preference but that beer looks so nasty. Also beer is about taste not looks though.

 

To you perhaps (but I guess you did mention “preferences”). Some people will buy a beer just because it looks good for some reason.

Personally I’ve had a few Ludlam island beers and liked none of them. I’ll give it a chance if I see it but nothing I’ll go out of my way for. To each their own I guess

 

Bravo Tonewood Brewing. Just noticed "Filled on" dates on the bottom of Fuego cans in the store. One of the best South Jersey breweries just got even better .

 

I think mentally knowing a date can automatically mess with what you think of the beer. It’s over a month old, must not be good syndrome. If it’s a well made beer it will be good longer than a juice only ipa and I don’t know if he masses get this yet. So I am happy too but I hope it doesn’t cause people to not buy them just cause they’re over a few weeks old.

 

I'm visiting from San Francisco, and after hitting the Tired Hands release last night, we headed to Tonewood based on the reviews here. Only had time to have a couple pints, but the place was busy at 9pm on a Wed night, with most seats taken when we walked in. Powder Daze was excellent, not very excited by Lazy Daze, and Fuego was solid. Would have liked to try some of the other stuff, but no time. Picked up a four pack of Powder Daze (dated 4/12 on the bottom, and totally legible!) to take home to CA to share.

 

Aw man I didn’t know powder daze released again. Good stuff. I suggest you drink it quick, the cans I had fell off after a month and a half or so.

 

They have a new IPA on tap, just put it on yesterday. Improv..... amazing brew. Came into town so glad I made it my first stop. Need to find someone who sells growlers in mount laurel so I can go back and get some! Powder daze was really good but improv was on another level!

 

I know it used to be on at Roger Wilco in Pennsauken, not far from Mt. Laurel. I highly recommend checking it out either way if you've never been there. Amazing selection (especially in the walk-in!)

 

thanks for this tip! Grabbed some really good beers in crowlers and cans. Can't believe I've never been to this store! Draft selection was ridiculous

 

That's cool, I'm glad you liked it! They do a really good job of stocking tough to find beers.

Be warned though, that place gets packed on the weekends; especially in the summer when all the shoobies from PA stop by on their way to their summer rentals on the shore. I usually stock up before then or go early in the AM to avoid said crowds. Cheers!

 

I looked at Roger Wilco's draft list this morning as I sometimes stop by there on the way home when I have an easy day at work (like today). 10 out of 14 beers were IPAs with 4 of them being NEIPAs. There's nothing wrong with that, I'm just pointing out what's selling. I see that they have the Firestone Walker Wookus so maybe I'll head over but I'm not sure. On the other hand, they also usually have some smaller, and even limited release beers available that you can't find anywhere else in the area because no one carries them. Finally, if for some reason you're like me and you like weird, usually bad, Russian and Estonian beers they're the only place to get them!

 

wish we had a place like that here in Ohio.

they added a Platform IPA saturday, a Cleveland brewery that I'm not a huge fan of, but the beer is really good. I was really shocked to see it in Jersey because as far as I know they don't distro outside Ohio (I live 30 minutes west and some of their stuff doesn't make it my stores). a little proof of your statement.

 

Yeah I agree, they have a good selection of Eastern European beers, especially Polish beers for some reason. I was at RW on Friday and I picked up a random polish lager called Tatra. It was better than I was expecting. I didn't see any Russian beers actually, not even Baltika (#6 Porter is one of my favorites by them). They also used to sell mini-kegs of Schlenkerla Rauchbier but I haven't seen them in a long time

 

What's the Tonewood can situation like? Thinking about stopping by tonight on my way down to my parent's. Do they regularly have cans available? Also, how's the crowd on a Wednesday night?