We (well I) woke up bright and early Saturday morning and promptly kicked Melissa out of bed. We wanted to get down to Cape May and get some sightseeing in before our hard day’s work started. On the way down, we worked up a small game plan and decided to start with Cape May Point to see the lighthouse, and the beach. After that we went to check out the quaint little seaside town of Cape May; which we highly recommend visiting. The little town is full of boutique shops, candy stores, and ice cream. I finally managed to find a new wallet that I was happy with and it only took me six+ years to do it. If you end up in the town of Cape May, you must hit the Cape May Peanut Butter Company; if you love all things peanut and wont die from an allergy of course. One thing we certainly didn’t count on doing this morning was waiting in a bread line.
Cape May Bread Lady Stand
While in route to the beach, we passed a line of people outside a tiny shack. It was just before 9 am, and we were extremely curious about this odd phenomenon, so we googled. To our shock, this was no can release for the latest juice bomb or crazy bourbon aged sour beer; it was a breadline. The Bread Lady of Cape May sells her limited stock of fine, artisan breads a few times a week during the warmer months. We purchased two loafs (Sweet Potato, and Raisin & Sage), as well as a chocolate chip muffin and craft catnip for our cats. Needless to say these dense loafs were expertly baked and extremely delicious. The muffin was quickly devoured by Melissa. This was undoubtedly an enjoyable experience that we highly recommend if you can get down that way during the summer months.
Her shed opens at 10 am, and she is usually sold out of everything by 10:30 am. If you plan on picking up a few loafs you should certainly get there early if you want your top picks, or really want anything at all because her stock does not last long at all.
Queue Soviet Russia jokes.
Cold Spring Brewery (Cape May, NJ)
Our first brewery of the day resides in Historic Cold Spring Village (https://hcsv.org/visit/), just north of Cape May. This recreated town pays tribute to the 1800s, rural communities that used to dot Southern New Jersey. As a person who loves history, it was hard to pass up on touring of this beautiful town, but as I said above, we have work to do.
Interestingly enough, Cold Spring Brewery was developed as a not for profit entity; pretty sure the first NFP brewery we’ve ever been to. Its purpose is twofold; generate revenue to help sustain the Historic Cold Spring Village, and to make delicious beer in an educational setting. Not that we don’t get enough beer education in this state (am I right NJ?).
Being this was our first brewery of the day, and it was super nice outside, we grabbed two flights of 4, and took in some sun in their spacious, enclosed lawn which was complete with cornhole. Of the 8 beers, 6 of them were below average to average tasting on our palates. I’d imagine this was to cater to the average person who would visit a historic town and not really developed for beerventurers.
The two beers we did enjoy, we enjoyed immensely. The Candelight Golden Ale, and the Cresse American Wheat. Yes, in the past two days we’ve had two really good golden ales make the blog. Maybe it’s just a South Jersey thing? The Candelight was remarkably refreshing, and had a slight tart to it that made for an excellent finish; perhaps it was infected with a wild yeast strain. The Cresse American Wheat had a much more creamy body, but that same tart finish as the golden ale. These two refreshing beers combined with a sunny day was a great change of pace; breaking up the North Eastern cold snap.
While I don’t want to discount the brewery, I do want to stress that neither a beerventurer or snob will find much here. Just average, refreshing, clean beers. However, if you’re down that way and want to take in some history I’m sure you will enjoy your time here. Cold Spring, our first not for profit brewery experience, earns a 2.75 out of 5.
Cape May Brewing Company (Cape May, NJ)
I don’t think I mentioned this yet, but it’s Cinco de Mayo; and I’m the idiot who booked a race the day after. Luckily, Cape May Brewing Company was conveniently located next to the TACO SHOP; quite literally next door. The TACO SHOP had some delicious cinco specials that paired perfectly with the beer.
After entering Cape May Brewing Company of Rio Grande, NJ (yeah, Cape May Brewing isn’t in Cape May proper. It threw me off too.) you take a silly interactive, self guided tour where you can pretend to be beer. We have photographic evidence that Melissa would make a good beer. After the obligatory shenanigans that is the NJ state beer-education law tour, you get your hand stamped and proceed to fill out some flight cards because at the end of the day that’s what we’re all about; the flight. And conversation. And food.
We were not surprised by the 15 drafts on tap, but we were pleasantly surprised about the 3 soda taps. Since we’ve had Cape May beer before, we went with a flight of 4 that we’ve never had and shared a table with a lawyer and his wife; who I later convinced to become a triathlete.
- Cape May Stout: Our least favorite beer from Cape May. At only 5%, this stout just kind of blends in with its other average peers. Nothing really crazy going on here.
- Harmonic Rhythm: A ginger and lime ale that provided a nice balance to our tacos. Melissa’s complaint was that it did not provide enough lime. Mine was that it needed more ginger.
- Beaches N’Cream: Tied for first on our flight was a peach puree IPA with a great tropical punch. As this was an IPA, Melissa didn’t care for the careful blending of Azacca and Amarillo and only enjoyed it for the peach notes.
- Foreshore Shandy: A cherry limeade beer that that was meant for the beach. Just do yourself a favor and try it.
Cape May Brewing was a party. The crowded establishment had plenty of styles on draft to satisfy everyone in your party, and soda for those who don’t drink beer. We really only disliked one of the beers in our flight, but we’re certain that the this was only a minor deviation from their usual high quality. Cape May Brewing Company of Rio Grande, NJ received a 4.25 out of 5 on it’s geography exam.
7 Mile Brew (Rio Grande, NJ)
7 minutes away from Cape May was the 7 Mile Brewery & Tap Room. 7 Mile boasts that is has one of the largest tap rooms in NJ, and I think they earned the bragging rights. There was also plenty of outdoor seating behind the brew system, and the mandatory tour. But this brewery has to be big considering they have 21 drafts available on tap and distribute to most of south NJ.
The 21 draft selection was overwhelming but we somehow managed to pick a flight of four, and two side beers; because indecision. Our top four picks were from least to most favorite:
- Walter (WW): To our surprise, this 8% brew was the more refreshing of the two IPAs we had at 7 Mile. Completely smooth with hints of pineapple and not overly bitter. Certainly well constructed and worth a full pour or a fridge 4-pack.
- Blockchain: The hoppier and more pungent of the two IPAs while standing at only 6.6%. Huge blast of citra and simcoe but coming at the cost of more bitterness.
- Trippel 7: 11% of malty goodness and the first Belgian Trippel worth mentioning of our trip thus far. I really have nothing bad to say about this sweet and “thicc” beer other than it fell short of our number 1 spot.
- BB-8: Just a small caveat before the BB-8 review. We did try, but were not overly thrilled with BB-8’s base beer; Se7en. The saison was just average; like a 2.5/5 average. But they turned their average base into an extraordinary blackberry bourbon barrel aged fruity funk that satisfied this bourbon loving beer drinker. Even Melissa found the combination of fruit and bourbon to be near perfect. Many comments on Untappd are calling for this in wine barrels and while I can certainly get onboard with that logic, I wouldn’t sacrifice the bourbon if customers had to choose the next aging process.
We also met the head brewer of 7 Mile who used to be a resident of Virginia Beach and is a huge fan of both Rip Rap Brewing Co. and Young Veterans (see their reviews here: https://www.beerventurers.com/norfolk-va-breweries/ and here: https://www.beerventurers.com/virginia-beach-breweries-minus-beach-part-1/ ). The VA native regaled us with stories of his beerventures, and his current endeavor to bring the best beer he possibly could to south NJ. We think it’s going well thus far.
7 Mile Brewery of Rio Grande NJ did not fail to please. Four out of the six drafts we tried were well above average, with the BB-8 being something really special. If you’re passing through the area we certainly recommend this stop and we expect greater things to be there when you do. This beer will take you 6.3 miles out of 7.
