I'm only (half) kidding. I like New Jersey. And although I have told my wife that we will never have a New Jersey address, I have some very strong ties to the state. Two of my best friends are residents; one from South Jersey and one from North Jersey. My wife's family has a vacation place in at the Shore, so we have spent a lot of time there during the summers. And my sister-in-law and her husband live in the NYC suburbs.
I feel just about the same way about my personal ties to New Jersey as I do about the beer from the state. I only care to have tried a few beers, but the beers I have tried, I like a lot.
Stats for New Jersey:
Most Well Known Cities: Newark, Trenton, Camden, Atlantic City, Princeton (one of these things is not like the other.)
# of Microbreweries: 6
# of Brewpubs: 15
# of Governors who look like they are either in the mob or in a lot of gambling debt with the mob: 1
# of Brewpubs: 15
# of Governors who look like they are either in the mob or in a lot of gambling debt with the mob: 1
There seems to be a common theme among the Jersey breweries. They tackle the classic styles of beer that are not too far out there on the taste spectrum and then just try to do them really well. I am not sure why, but maybe it's to appeal to a diverse audience, which is something you will definitely find in New Jersey. Could be a coincidence too. I took statistics back in high school and I don't think 6 is a very large sample size.
River Horse is based in Lambertville, which is right outside Trenton. One night I was home alone and I was watching a movie sittin on my couch. I had gotten some River Horse Tripel Horse at my most recent beer swap. I had one then had another over the course of the hour or hour and a half movie. I stood up when it was over and almost fell over. That stuff hits you. It's like 11% alcohol, so I had essentially had 6 Bud Lights. Didn't really realize it till it got away from me a bit. I should have known because there is a strong alcohol taste to that beer. You live and you learn. I like this brewery. I've had several of their beers and never have been disappointed. Their website sucks so I have no background history or distribution info, but I know they distribute at least in NJ and PA. Their label art is pretty cool with the hippos and lettering that looks like it was written by a hippo, or at least someone with hippo hands. Check em out.
Flying Fish is probably the most recognizable New Jersey brewery. They distribute to NJ, DE, MD, DC, and PA. I would say that they are also the most creative of the Garden States craft beer scene. I like their logo too. It's a fish skeleton with two props on it so that it's flying. Get it? They actually also try to make drinkable beers but they are all about trying to pair their beer with food, even giving some beer related recipes on their website. I've had the Grand Cru Winter Reserve, the Farmhouse Summer Ale, and the Exit 4. That is the first in their Exit series, which is a great concept. They make beers inspired by the specific exits of the New Jersey Turnpike. For example the Exit 1 is a Bayshore Oyster Stout, inspired by the bay lifestyle. They make 6 so far in the series and I had the Exit 4 last weekend (American Trippel.) I enjoyed it. Sweeter and smoother than I expect for a Trippel. This is a well run brewery and they are based in Cherry Hill, outside of Philadelphia. So I need to cross the Walt Whitman someday and check out their facility. So do you.
Cricket Hill is based in Fairfield, which is in Northern Jersey, just far enough west that you forget that you are in New Jersey, but not far enough west to escape the accents. Cricket Hill is another one of the breweries that is interested in a middle of the road menu. They don't want anything wacky, they just want to stick to the classics and make 'em well. They call it the gateway philosophy, almost like they want to get your business before you get hooked on the hard stuff and start spending your rent money on $160 cases of 14% Imperial Pumpernickel Stouts. I had them at a beer festival last year, but again, it was a beer festival so no lingering memories about the taste. They have a slick cricket logo and distribute in NJ, NY, Maine, PA, and VA.
Climax Brewing is celebrating 10 years brewing and are a father-son operation based in Roselle Park, which is an NYC suburb. They brew "authentic" beers with simple descriptive names. They distribute in NJ at stores and restaurants. Nothing fancy at all about them.
High Point Wheat started brewing in 1994 as the first American brewery to specialize in wheat beers. Their beers are brewed under the Ramstein name and use only wheat, barley, hops, and yeast that are imported directly from Germany. They are essentially a German brewery that happens to reside in Butler, NJ, and they make traditional wheat beers and lagers. They distribute to NJ, NY, and Eastern PA.
Let's hand out some hardware.
Trailies:
River Horse is based in Lambertville, which is right outside Trenton. One night I was home alone and I was watching a movie sittin on my couch. I had gotten some River Horse Tripel Horse at my most recent beer swap. I had one then had another over the course of the hour or hour and a half movie. I stood up when it was over and almost fell over. That stuff hits you. It's like 11% alcohol, so I had essentially had 6 Bud Lights. Didn't really realize it till it got away from me a bit. I should have known because there is a strong alcohol taste to that beer. You live and you learn. I like this brewery. I've had several of their beers and never have been disappointed. Their website sucks so I have no background history or distribution info, but I know they distribute at least in NJ and PA. Their label art is pretty cool with the hippos and lettering that looks like it was written by a hippo, or at least someone with hippo hands. Check em out.
Flying Fish is probably the most recognizable New Jersey brewery. They distribute to NJ, DE, MD, DC, and PA. I would say that they are also the most creative of the Garden States craft beer scene. I like their logo too. It's a fish skeleton with two props on it so that it's flying. Get it? They actually also try to make drinkable beers but they are all about trying to pair their beer with food, even giving some beer related recipes on their website. I've had the Grand Cru Winter Reserve, the Farmhouse Summer Ale, and the Exit 4. That is the first in their Exit series, which is a great concept. They make beers inspired by the specific exits of the New Jersey Turnpike. For example the Exit 1 is a Bayshore Oyster Stout, inspired by the bay lifestyle. They make 6 so far in the series and I had the Exit 4 last weekend (American Trippel.) I enjoyed it. Sweeter and smoother than I expect for a Trippel. This is a well run brewery and they are based in Cherry Hill, outside of Philadelphia. So I need to cross the Walt Whitman someday and check out their facility. So do you.
New Jersey Beer Company is a new company based in North Bergen. Their bottling line is broken, so they are only distributing kegs and only in NJ. You'll have to find them on tap somewhere in the third state. If you ask, you might find a Belgian abbey style session beer called 1787, which is the year New Jersey became a state. I wager that they chose that name because they knew I was writing this blog and they wanted to get mentioned. Thanks for giving me relevant topics, guys, but you're out of luck because I am the only one who reads this.
Cricket Hill is based in Fairfield, which is in Northern Jersey, just far enough west that you forget that you are in New Jersey, but not far enough west to escape the accents. Cricket Hill is another one of the breweries that is interested in a middle of the road menu. They don't want anything wacky, they just want to stick to the classics and make 'em well. They call it the gateway philosophy, almost like they want to get your business before you get hooked on the hard stuff and start spending your rent money on $160 cases of 14% Imperial Pumpernickel Stouts. I had them at a beer festival last year, but again, it was a beer festival so no lingering memories about the taste. They have a slick cricket logo and distribute in NJ, NY, Maine, PA, and VA.
Climax Brewing is celebrating 10 years brewing and are a father-son operation based in Roselle Park, which is an NYC suburb. They brew "authentic" beers with simple descriptive names. They distribute in NJ at stores and restaurants. Nothing fancy at all about them.
High Point Wheat started brewing in 1994 as the first American brewery to specialize in wheat beers. Their beers are brewed under the Ramstein name and use only wheat, barley, hops, and yeast that are imported directly from Germany. They are essentially a German brewery that happens to reside in Butler, NJ, and they make traditional wheat beers and lagers. They distribute to NJ, NY, and Eastern PA.
Let's hand out some hardware.
Trailies:
Best Beer Name: River Horse Hop-a-lot-a-mus (Unfiltered Double IPA)
Best Concept: Flying Fish Exit 16 Wild Rice IPA. Based on the exit where the Meadowlands are, where surprisingly, there is a lot of wildlife. The rice apparently ferments and dries out this beer to let the flavor of the 5 types of hops come through even more. They added a lot of hops with fruity profiles. Sounds too hoppy for me, but I would try it. It's supposed to be paired with spicy food or seafood.
Best Concept: Flying Fish Exit 16 Wild Rice IPA. Based on the exit where the Meadowlands are, where surprisingly, there is a lot of wildlife. The rice apparently ferments and dries out this beer to let the flavor of the 5 types of hops come through even more. They added a lot of hops with fruity profiles. Sounds too hoppy for me, but I would try it. It's supposed to be paired with spicy food or seafood.
Beer That Best Represents Jersey Shore: Cricket Hill Jersey Summer Breakfast Ale
Best Label Art: River Horse
Road Trips:
Take a road trip up the coast on route 9 and stop off at some of the amazingly packed beach towns from Cape May to Atlantic City to the home of the Boss in Asbury Park. Cape May is a clean little family town with very good restaurants and Atlantic city is essentially the exact opposite of that, although there is still good food. You can drive from the bottom of the Garden State parkway at exit 0 (Cape May) to the NY State Line in about 3 hours, without traffic, so you could definitely get to every brewery within a three day weekend if you wanted to do it.
Music:
Gaslight Anthem is from New Brunswick, New Jersey and they opened up for Weezer at a few shows around here this past summer. I have their album The '59 sound, and yeah, they sound a lot like they copied Springsteen, and yes, a lot of their songs have the exact same lyrical and production style but they at least do what they do pretty well. I like the song "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" because it's a slightly slower song which is a departure from the rest of the album.
New Jersey Beer Trail Map
Gaslight Anthem is from New Brunswick, New Jersey and they opened up for Weezer at a few shows around here this past summer. I have their album The '59 sound, and yeah, they sound a lot like they copied Springsteen, and yes, a lot of their songs have the exact same lyrical and production style but they at least do what they do pretty well. I like the song "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" because it's a slightly slower song which is a departure from the rest of the album.
New Jersey Beer Trail Map
Thoughts:
ReplyDelete- First paragraph: BURN, hahahaha. Having worked in New Jersey for a summer, and spent a lot of time traveling around the northern part, it's really not that bad of a state. But I will never understand where the bravado comes from that leads to Jersey Shore, fist pumps, and the rest.
- Hahaha solid "stats" as usual.
- Love the image of you nearly collapsing from a single River Horse.
- You should know all about the Exit 16 wildlife from taking that awkward NJT ride we took with that kid to the Meadowlands where there was nothing to do but comment on the stuff we were seeing out the window.
Rebuttals:
ReplyDelete- I actually really like parts of the state as well. The parts that remind me of other, cooler states.
- It was two River Horses.
- That was an awkward train ride. And it all stems from the fact that you know every person who attended ND when we did. Legitimately every person.