The Unspoken NJ Breweries (2019)

A good thread to restart thanks

 

Of the two breweries mentioned so far, I don't think that High Point / Ramstein has ever faltered. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in my opinion they were top notch from the get-go. Why they've been so under the radar for years I don't know.

River Horse is a whole different ballgame. Their initial beer were not that good, and then they didn't really get better until around 2000. 19 years later they've improved quite a bit and they're producing some very nice stuff.

 

Thanks for rebooting the old thread! I had some of the Mocha Lisa Porter last week and I liked it, but not as much as I thought I would. I think the beer I had earlier (a really oversweetned wee heavy) may have tainted my thoughts on this beer.

Another brewery that seems to be overlooked is Jersey Girl. I may have mentioned them in that original thread I created, but I've really enjoyed what I've had from them. On the other hand, the beers I've had from them were either on tap or at the brewery because for some reason, they have a strange dating system (one would say nonexistent) for the cans that is not a date stamp, but the stamp of a song title.

 

I found Jersey girl to be extremely hit or miss. I've had some good beers from them, and I've also had beers that tasted like they just steeped 30 year old pennies in vodka for a few weeks.

The first time I went there shortly after they opened is when I was happiest with them. They had this really good molten chocolate lava stout and some kind of kiwi strawberry blonde ale, both were really good. The one IPA they can that isn't rakebreaker is pretty decent, nice tap room as well.

 

I like their Mo Pils; it isn't top tier, but quite tasty nonetheless.

 

Jersey Girls has a great facility and taproom but they have had several brewers come and go. I have found them to have poor qc and their beers dependably substandard. Wish they had spent less on facility and invested more in a brewer with a plan to build something....

 

Going to Marlton for a wedding in April. Plan on going to Tonewood while in the area and possibly Lunacy. Any other breweries down there worth checking out?

 

Zeds is in Marlton. I only stopped there briefly once for a flight but liked what I had.

 

Eight and Sand and Double Nickel have both been stepping it up a bit lately. Not a whole lot in that area.

 

Went to Last Wave today for first time since around when they opened. Really liked the Weat Coast IPA, Mango Milkshake IPA and Porter with coconut I had.

 

Because how many times have all us, upon encountering one more Grodziskie on the shelves, thought:

"Goddam, not another !@#$ Grodziskie. WTF, can't these brewers think of some way to be innovative with this style!

I mean, what am I supposed to do if I want hot peppers in my beer - put them in myself?!"

 

I mean, the two flavors do seem like a natural fit. If the beer is not too hot and the pepper flavor comes through I could imagine it working well. ISO.

 

In looking at the 50 fastest growing breweries in America map posted on the Industrial Arts thread, I noticed that Flounder made the list. How exactly?

 

By having brewed only 250 barrels in both 2016 and 2017? But that's according to the Brewers Association and both figures are foot-noted as "estimate" which seems contrary to the methodology:

So, maybe, they gave the B.A. updated, actual production figures for '17 and '18?

This 2017 article puts their barrelage at the time as "50 barrels per year" and this one from last November confirms they still are "...A hobby for three brothers became Flounder Brewing Co., a Hillsborough craft brewery that produces three barrels at the same time ..."

Not hard to "grow fast" when you begin at such a small starting figure. As noted in the Beer News thread by many poster, large "growth" percentages don't mean much in a segment of the brewing industry where breweries' yearly barrelage figures can range from 0 to 6,000,000.

 

Thank you for doing my work for me. Didn’t even know where to look.

 

Saw the headline. Didn't even consider clicking on that garbage. I cannot think of a single use for the information the article intended to convey

 

Some interesting things going on in the "elder statesmen" breweries...

Beach Haus has a new brewer as of about 6 months ago and the beers they've been releasing since he joined have been getting some good chatter. There's that Peach Milkshake IPA - We Were Made for Peach Other - that people seem to like and a new Pale Ale. I've always loved their location but the beers were usually about average.

Jughandle seems to be getting a decent amount of chatter, too. They've been doing more can releases, I've seen a couple in stores near me in Somerset County. Crimes of Passion, the IPA they were pouring at the Meadowlands Beer Expo back in February was one of the better IPAs I had that day.

Flying Fish is continuing to make interesting beers. Though I didn't have a chance to try it, I heard good things about the Irish Potato Candy Stout from a couple of people. The Double-Fishted DIPA and Tropical Tradewinds Wheat are their latest brews, has anybody had those?

 

I liked Jughandle when we visited.

 

Flying Fish, dating from the late 1990s - OK but Jughandle and Beach Haus - "elder" ? I mean, OK, NJ's brewery scene took awhile* but the brewery should at least be "over 21" to be considered elderly...

*(Well, save for short-lived and often forgotten Vernon Valley [later Clement’s] which opened in '87.)

 

How many NJ breweries or brew pubs were around 21 years ago? Beside Flying Fish I know The Ship Inn, Trap Rock, and Climax. I'm not sure about River Horse.

 

I thought River Horse pre-dated Climax but I could be wrong. Also, when did Krogh's put in their brewing system?

 

JFC !!! "Irish Potato Candy Stout"? I guess you've got to do what you've got to do to stay in the market and make money but Flying Fish always used to be a very traditional brewery.

No offence to anyone who likes them but I'm way over these pastry and dessert beers at this point.

 

Just Googled River Horse, it opened in 96.

 

Yeah, I'd have to dig through a lot of "hard copy" files but it seems like there were mostly brewpubs in 1990s. Triumph was an early one that you missed above - supposedly they did a lot of the political legwork to legalize brewpubs, but Ship Inn beat them to the opening since it was already an established business as a bar/restaurant.

But there were a lot of "come and gone" brewpubs, a few up by you in "north central" Jersey, one in Trenton in a cool old bar, one down around Egg City Harbor, etc.

Also breweries in Red Bank, in Hoboken, "Blue Collar" in Vineland, Heavyweight in Ocean...

I seem to remember that Climax was the first brewery after Vernon Valley?

 

I have a Garden State Craft Brewers Guild tee shirt from 93 or 94. It lists10 brew pubs, Basil T's in Red Bank, Bernardsville Stone Tavern and Brewery in Bernardsville OOB, Gaslight in So Orange, Harvest Moon in New Brunswick, J.J. Bitting Brewing in Woodbridge, Long Valley Pub & Brewery in Long Valley, Pizzeria Uno Chicago Grill and Brewery in Metuchen OOB. The Ship Inn Restaurant and Brewery in Milford, Trap Rock Brewery in Berkeley Heights and Triumph Brewery in Princeton. Only 5 breweries are listed, Flying Fish in Cherry Hill, Hoboken Brewing in Hoboken OOB, Jersey Jim's Brewing in Hillsborough OOB, Red Bank Brewing in Red Bank OOB and Riverhorse in Lambertville. I guess Climax and Heavyweight and others weren't members of the guild.

 

Yeah, those are some of the "north central" brewpubs I was trying to remember...

Damn, Pizza Uno, J. J. Bitting and Harvest Moon - those were the Middlesex County breweries I probably visited the most when I lived up there.

I think Climax (Dave Hoffman) stays out of the org's? And "93/94" might have been too early for Heavyweight?

 

Heavyweight started in1999

http://www.beerscribe.com/baker.html

 

I got my dates wrong Trap Rock did not open until 96 so the t-shirt had to come after that.

 

Same for me. Had my wedding rehearsal dinner at Harvest Moon ages ago, too, since my wife and I met at Rutgers and got married on campus at Kirkpatrick Chapel.

Sadly, Uno closed a couple of years ago and is now a Tilted Kilt (which has a decent selection of NJ brews).

 

Tilted Kilt is already out of business at that location

 

I'd heard they shut down the in-house brewery but thought the PU restaurant stayed open. (I hated that pizza, only stopped in for a beer while reading a copy of the free beer paper while coming or going on Rt. 1). So, both Uno and Tilted Kilt are closed. I guess I haven't been to Joe Canal's or Vintage Vinyl up there for awhile...

 

How are those Double Nickel lagers? Anyone try them?

 

You might say I enjoyed the Pilsner https://thetaptakeover.com/2017/12/12/beer-review-double-nickel-brewing-company-pilsner/

I had the Vienna Lager on draught and it tasted skunked, but it was likely an older keg

 

Their vienna lager is one of my favorite lagers.