Fourth of July weekend we headed to the Jersey Shore for some fun in the sun, friends and casual fist pumping. But we never take a trip without first scoping out the local breweries. I am a huge fan of http://www.brewerymap.com/ which allows you to see the breweries along your route or a radius around your destination. It’s not perfect and you’ll have to do some work like checking days and hours but it’s a good starting off point. We last headed this way in Jersey in October last year and were happy to see some new names on the map. We had checked out the big name Jersey breweries Carton and Kane along with a few others. We didn’t want to overwhelm our non beerventurer friends with our marathon beer tours so we limited it to just three new breweries.
The first brewery we decided to check out was JJ Bitting Brewing Company in Woodbridge, NJ. We decided that this brewpub would be the perfect spot to grab a late lunch and some brews before sitting in traffic with our fellow beachgoers. JJ Bitting is located in an old three story brick building with the brewing taking place on the third floor and the bright tanks in the middle main restaurant. As per usual, Andrew and I ordered a flight of all the offerings to get started. We also ordered some salads and tots from their tot menu which made me realize the world would be a better place if there were more tot menus.
Our flight consisted of Victoria’s Golden Ale, Nit Wit Belgian, Aldahat Amber, Deli Rye, Raspberry Wheat, Hop Train IPA and the Chocolate Cherry Stout. As is the case with many established brew pubs that we’ve visited, the beer for the most part didn’t stand out. Everything was true to style and decent. The only really noteworthy one for us was the Deli Rye. While I am not typically a rye beer fan, this one was very well executed and different from any beer we can remember. It tasted just like liquid rye bread. I don’t know if that sounds appealing to you, but it was really good! Anyways, once the food was consumed and the glasses were empty it was time to keep moving.
Jersey brought the rain big time and welcomed us to our friends house with a lovely downpour. But hey, at least we weren’t the guy driving the open top jeep. Once the rain had subsided, we made our way to Tinton Falls to check out Jughandle Brewing Co. This is one reason why brewerymap isn’t always reliable. Sometimes all the newer breweries don’t show up. But some googling got us to a shopping center where the brewery was located. Unbeknownst to us, Jughandle had its grand opening the week before we visited but walking in we would never been able to guess. Jughandle was a beautiful open space, with big tables and stools along the walls with the brewhouse in the back. We each ordered a flight. Melissa’s consisted of Berlinner Weisse Raspberry, Hefeweizen, Saison, Kolsch and Andrew got the IPA, RyePA, English Bitter and Stout. We were pretty impressed with the selection, especially after learning how new the brewery was. I personally enjoyed the Berliner Weisse. If OEC taught me anything, it’s always get the syrup. Overall, we really enjoyed the brewery and expect them to do well and grow!
Our last brewery of our Jersey shore visit was Dark City Brewing Co. in Asbury Park. This is also a brewery new to the area since our last trip down this way. Once we found some street parking in a particularly sketchy neighborhood we walked into a huge open tasting room. The bar provides ample space to sit and order a flight or a pint or there also tables along the side for a quieter experience. And a huge mural for all your instagramming needs. As is our style, we chose to order two flights to get a feel for this brewery’s style. We settled on Summerfield, Summerfield (Blackberry) One Way Street, Project Belgian Pale Ale, Populous, Charette, Urban Decay, and Born to Ruin. Overall, the beers were pretty solid with a few hits and misses. The Born to Ruin automatically gets bonus points because BRRRRRRUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We both liked Populous, a porter and Urban Decay, an imperial stout which was super potent. Melissa was a little disappointed in the Summerfield and Blackberry variant as we thought there could be a better fruit and sour flavor. There wasn’t anything outstanding but we always like to support new breweries and see how they can evolve.
The next few days were light on the beer, heavy on the beach and had a bit of fist pumping at 2 in the afternoon. Our one trip to D’Jais will probably last a lifetime but hey, we got a free bud light so it could be worse?
