It’s the first weekend of May, and that means Triathlon season has started in the North East. Naturally, being me, I got drunk about 6 months back and decided yes, I want to start my tri season 2 weeks earlier than usual. While it’s still cold, and my training was mostly indoors… Anyways it’s Jersey Devil Triathlon weekend and we had the entirety of South NJ to hit; because we’ve never hit it before!
Zeds Beer-Bado Brewing (Marlton, NJ)
I wouldn’t quite call this South NJ yet, but our first stop of the trip was Zeds Beer (Bado Brewing). This family and dog friendly brewery in Marlton, NJ has a great floor plan with lots of seating so bring some lunch or dinner when you show up. And bring a dog; they love dogs.
It’s the first brewery of the day so naturally we started off strong with a flight of eight. Let’s highlight our favorite four. Zed’s in De Brouwerij– Witbier, Zed’s in Ireland– Dry Stout, Zed’s on the Liffey– Dublin Porter, and Zed’s in Chillum– SMaSH Gold.
- De Brouwerij: While I can’t pronounce this beer, I can certainly taste the Belgian strong wheat and citrus body with a touch of coriander. Light, refreshing and thirst quenching. Which was perfect because it was rather hot and sunny that afternoon.
- Ireland: This dry stout was a lot more enjoyable on this hot afternoon than I had expected. Usually stout season ends when witbier season begins (BUT IT’S ALWAYS STOUT SEASON ANDREW). The taste was hearty chocolate malts, with a subtle nose of coffee. Our only complaint was the body being a tad thin, even for a dry stout.
- Liffey: Another Irish beverage to make the list, this porter was perfectly roasty. Not super smokey, but just enough to let you know it’s a porter. This low abv porter also had the same malt anemia that the Ireland had in our opinion; too thin of a body.
- Chillum: Now my memory is certainly hazy, but I’m pretty sure that the last time a gold ale made our top 4 list was back in Virginia. In no light heartedness do I tell you that this golden ale was exquisite. Light, little to no bitterness, fragrant aroma and a sweet taste made this the gold standard among golds. If every brewery could master a 6% ale like this, I think beer snobs would really come around to this market.
The other four beers of our flight were all IPAs, and it was kind of disappointing that none really made our top four list. There wasn’t anything wrong with them, but there wasn’t really anything great about them either.
In, out and on the road. Zeds was a good beerventure stop, and also a locals hangout. I don’t think there was anything here that would qualify for beersnob standards but they do make some fancy sounding shandies which sounded interesting. If you’re passing through, or near Marlton, NJ feel free to take a pit stop here. Zeds Beer earns a 3.5 out of 5.
Nale House Brewing Co. (Medford, NJ)
10 minutes away from Zeds in the town of Medford are our next two breweries. First up is Nale House Brewing. My top note from this brewery is that these guys are nuts. The brewer and owner bicker like a married couple; and it’s hysterical. The relationship was remicient of the bartender and owners at Castleburg Brewery in Richmond, VA. Even more fun than the brewer/owner banter were the two navy vets; but swearing like a sailor is usually frowned upon in blogs so let’s get to the beer.
Nale House no longer serves flights on principle; the brewer didn’t think you could fully appreciate the beer in such a small sampling. While we may disagree, we completely understand the where he is coming from. So, we had half-pours of the American Pale Ale, Dark Chocolate Stout on Nitro, and the Belgian Dark Cherry Strong.
- American Pale Ale: My favorite brew of the makeshift flight was a citra pale ale. Pales are not quite an IPA; they tend to be lower malt and hop content. So it was a pleasure drinking a IPA that had come stocked with citra and none of that “filler.” Jokes aside, this pale ale was even enjoyed by Melissa; which is a rarity.
- Dark Chocolate Stout on Nitro: Really no mystery here. Roasty, chocolatey, and super creamy. My only problem with this beer was that it didn’t possess any distinct character to define itself from other well made nitro stouts; perhaps a Belgian Dark Cherry Chocolate Stout next time?
- Belgian Dark Strong: This was Melissa’s favorite of the flight. The complex body had lots of cherry and caramel flavor and stayed on the lower side of the Belgian Strong abv index; an 8.4%.
Nale House has character. The spirited conversations we had with at the bar ranged from gumby suits, to triathlons to how everyone hates hippies. If you enjoy drunken banter and good beer, Nale house is certainly worth your time. They nailed a solid 4.0 out of 5.
Lower Forge Brewery (Medford, NJ)
Leaving the car in the same parking spot is one of our favorite brewery strategies that is seldom deployed outside large cities. So learning Medford had two breweries within walking distance was exciting to say the least.
Lower Forge is quite the opposite brewery culture than Nale House. The atmosphere and room decor was quaint and old western feeling; and there was no comotion from the other patrons. We immediately identified the little Ikea tea light lanterns strewn about; which also make perfect Alexa Dot holders.
While we performed our standard NJ Educational Brewery Tour, we learned that this was a Mother & Son operation. We’ve hit the Father/Son, and Father/Daughter combo before, but I don’t think we’ve ever hit a Mother/Son operation until today. Also, they served flights (looking at you Nale 😉 )
There were eight beers on draft, so we grabbed four interesting sounding ones and went to work.
- Against the Grain Amber Ale was the weaker link in the flight. This beer wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as flavorful the amber that it could have been. There just wasn’t a whole lot of character in this beer; this style usually has more malt flavor than I care to enjoy.
- Next up was the Legends & Lies Belgian Dubbel. Hints of clove was present in the nose, but like the Against the Grain, it just didn’t come through in the taste.
- Sojourner’s Saison was Melissa’s pick for number one. This saison ale was more herbal than fruity, so if you’re into that sort of thing you may have found your number one here.
- My number one pick from Lower Forge hits a little close to home; Vertically Challenged. As someone whose only 5’6”, Vertically Challenged was endearing to me. Also this was an 8% porter served on nitro; and that screams Andrew. It had a fair amount of smoke, and a great amount of dark, roasted goodness. The nitro line did a great job at adding texture, as it always does.
Lower Forge is a nice brewery stop that provides good, but not great beers. If you’re in the town of Medford, we do encourage a visit to both Lower Forge and Nale House, but if you’re in a rush I don’t think you will find anything super interesting at this stop. Lower Forge scores an acceptable 3 out of 5.
Brewer Comradery
“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” – Henry Ford
One thing that always amuses me about the beer sector is competition. Some breweries know their product is superior and the brewers and owners are not afraid to come out and say their local competition is absolute rubbish. These are also the same breweries that only cater to the beersnobs and will not admit to making a drain pour batch. No one ever wants to admit they spent $25 on a busted 4-pack; instead it will become chic, or impressive and the new white whale on the trading circuit. We all know which breweries I’m referring to here in the North East. And yes, I will be the first to admit that I too am part of the problem.
But then we have the polar opposite which I would say represents ~90% the brewers and owners we speak with. These people highly encourage us to visit their competition, and say hi to the other owners/brewers. This type of comradery was displayed by the owners of Zeds, Nale and Lower who all appear to have a great relationship despite being within only a few minutes of each other. So cheers to you three for making more than just money.
