Continuing our beerventure takes us out of Cape May proper and into Cape May county.
Meet the Campbells
Back at ColdSpring we noticed a group of orange shirts just walking through the door just as we were walking out, and we noticed them again at Cape May, and then again at 7 Mile. Being the conversalists we are, we just had to know what was going on and if we were actually being stalked. The eight Campbells were on a short family beerventure in South Jersey, and they made group t-shirts to commemorate their alcoholic excursion. Why haven’t Melissa and I thought of that? After 7 Mile, we were to see them four more times. This family of beer enthusiasts made our weekend, so cheers to the Campbells.
Bucket Brigade Brewery (Cape May Court House)
Breweries are now around 10 minutes apart from each other, and it isn’t lost on me that I have a race tomorrow morning; bright and early. But, there is still more work to do before we turn in for the night. Bucket Brigade of Cape May Court House was next on our list; and I believe it’s a reference to old-time firefighters.
The brewery had large open bay windows in the front, and the bar in the back. So we went to take our mandatory tour and grab a quick flight. This brewery tour came in the form of a coaster, and was certainly the shortest tour we’ve had thus far. The flight came in an actual bucket and in no particular order we had…
- Pry Bar IPA: Despite it’s malty amber appearance, Pry Bar was surprisingly light IPA that came in at 7%. I couldn’t quite place the hop profile as it wasn’t very hoppy at all. It would probably be a great intro to IPAs for the hop inexperienced.
- Halligan Hefeweizen: Run of the mill hefe that hit all the right notes. Banana, clove, light body with a ever so slight tart on the back. Rather enjoyable; as most hefes are.
- Five Bugle Belgian Golden: A medium malt forward beverage, that looked and tasted more like a lager than a Belgian.
- Mud: Something we’ve only seen once or twice before; and Genny Cream is the only name that comes to mind. Thats right, Mud is just a mixture of the bitter ends of the beer that couldn’t be kegged. The flavor is always changing, making this a fun brew for the local chemists to discern the leftover mixology.
Bucket Brigade is a nice little spot to hang out with friends, and grab a bucket of beer that isn’t a in a Corona bucket. While we did enjoy the brews, there wasn’t anything on the menu that would have made us a repeat customer for a return trip down south; but dont let that stop you from visiting. The bucket brigade was called to the scene but the only managed to save three fifths of the house.
Slack Tide Brewing Company (Cape May Court House)
Parking is often a problem for inner city breweries, but every now and then you encounter a brewery in the middle of nowhere with terrible parking. Slack Tide Brewing Company, also of Cape May Court House earned the distinct title of worst parking on this trip. Not to mention there was no AT&T service either.
Super bitterness aside, Slack Tide had 12 drafts available and some live music in the back room. So we grabbed a flight of 4, and we went to join the Campbells in the brewhouse and listen to some music.
- El Pescado: Listed as a refreshing Mexican style lager, and while I’m not entirely sure what makes it a Mexican style, I can certainly vouch for the refreshing part. It has relatively high marks on untappd (3.9) for your run of the mill lager, but Melissa and I settled that the real figure is closer to a 3 out of 5. Perhaps a bit of lime or a kick of spice would make this brew a bit more interesting.
- Thermocline: The NE DIPA juice bomb. There was a smooth, unfiltered and citrus party in the front, with a not so subtle bitter bite in the back. If they found a way to balance out the two distinct profiles a bit more I really think Slack Tide would be on to something fantastic here. Thermocline is good as it stands, but I believe they can improve on the recipe.
- Tail Rope: The first Wee Heavy of the trip came in dead center of the normal ABV range; 6-10% and wasn’t overpowering in either the caramelized wort or the raw alcohol flavor. The sweet notes were equally balanced out the a small presence of booze, and roasty/smokey flavor. I needed a change to the line up, and Tail Rope provided me with a flavorful palate relief.
- Tackle Box #4: A really dank, hazy concoction that was hopped to all hell but was my favorite beer of the flight. Up until I tasted Tackle Box 4, Thermocline was the front runner. Judging by the name, TB4 appears to be a rotational, R&D beer. And if thats the case, Slack Tide really need to work this variant into this standard flagships. This beer is certainly hovering in the grey area that is no mans land between the Beerventurer recommendation vs the Beer Snob recommendation. If you’ve tried it, and you’re a beer snob, tell me what you think because I really want to know.
Now I may have been a little short with Slack Tide at the get go (with the no parking or cell service) but I would like to say that the brewery itself is certainly accessible, not off the beaten brewery path, and is certainly worth a stop. Pescado wasn’t really anything to write home about, but Thermo, Tail Rope and Tackle Box were certainly in the above average category. Secure the poop deck and plot a course to Slack Tide to plunder 3.85 doubloons out of 5.
Ludlam Island Brewery (Ocean View, NJ)
Technically not on an island, Ludlam Island Brewery of Ocean View, NJ was its own tropical paradise just south of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge. And I say tropical in it’s loosest sense; it had a food shack out front serving up some tacos, fun Cinco de Mayo hats and photo op station, and a mounted 8-point Buck trophy over the crowler station.
Despite having 8 drafts and 2 cask beers available; our flight seems a bit biased. We had Fish Alley IPA, Wrestling Moves IPA, Fish Alley IPA and Fish Alley IPA.
- Fish Alley IPA: This is the O.G. of the Fish Alley beers we had in our flight. Low bitter, slight citra flavor. Not a whole lot of flavor to hit the palate, just a hazy sweet IPA that sat at a nice 7%.
- Wrestling Moves IPA: An oat based IPA with the familiar profile of Mosaic and Azacca hops. As advertised, the beer was certainly a “hop forward” IPA that hop heads should choose over Fish Alley. Even against the two cask beers below, this was my favorite of the flight.
- Fish Alley Chili Lime: One of the cask variants of Fish Alley. This variant was conditioned on chilis and limes producing a pungent spice. Ludlam could have probably eased up on the chili, as this thing really set your mouth a blaze. But it was Cinco de Mayo, so it was certainly thematic. I didn’t get a whole lot of lime out of it, so the balance could certainly be tweaked in future batches.
- Fish Alley Mango Smoothie: The other cask conditioned variant. I’m not sure if the brew was also dry hopped, but the bitterness seemed to be stronger than either the base beer or the Chili Lime. The mango did show up to party, and provided a great balance to the IPA. Even Melissa enjoyed the IPA despite the additional hoppy notes. We will certainly look forward to future casks from Ludlam after these two experiences.
We struck up a conversation with an older group of gentlemen about beer, racing and the Yankees. I’ve discussed the beer above, have zero interest in the Yankees (thats Melissa’s territory) so all that’s left is the racing. Peter and his pal put on a great charity run on Memorial Day weekend, so if you’re a local or will be down in Ocean City, NJ during any Memorial Weekend, you should consider racing in the Memorial Beach Challenge obstacle course. (http://www.memorialbeachchallenge.com/) Normally I’d love to partake but we’re flying out to Cincinnati Ohio this weekend. Maybe next year?
After Peter left, two more guys sat right down wearing motocross armor and had apparently ridden 20 some miles through the woods to get here for beer. Without a doubt, the local patrons of Ludlam are by far the friendliest and approachable group of people we met on the trip; with the exception of the Campbells of course.
Ludlam has that back water charm, and local feel that makes me miss my home brewery. Also these IPAs are top notch; well technically 1 original was top notch, 1 original was average and the 2 variant one-offs were major improvements to the average base beer. I expect these crazy flavorful casks run year round and cater to the seasonal styles; so without a doubt we recommend stopping here. Don’t bother renting a boat to get to this landlocked brewery but you certainly bask in the glow that is 4.5 out of 5.
Glasstown Brewing (Millville, NJ)
The last brewery of the night brought us near the race site; Glasstown Brewing of Millville, NJ. Housed in an old military style barracks, the brewery wasn’t much to look at from the outside and I wasn’t even sure which one of the old military surplus buildings it was after pulling off the main road, but the gravel parking lot outside one of the buildings was completely full so I assumed we were in the right place.
The interior of the brewery was pretty standard; wood tables, short bar, 13 drafts on tap, tons of merchandise and one Big Ass Fan(TM). We perused the board and selected Danky Jr, Big Breakfast, Nightcap and Super C. There was also a self serve popcorn machine so we helped ourselves and got to work.
- Danky Jr: The fun pun on Donkey Kong Jr was a piney session IPA (5.5%) that scored modestly on the palate. The session style is one of those in between beers. It was certainly hoppier (and more bitter) than a traditional pale ale, but not as full bodied as a true IPA. Danky hit the session marks, but was mostly forgettable.
- Super C: The Centennial and Citra hopped IPA had a Contra label and was more along the lines of what I was looking for from the hop department. I wouldn’t call this a juice bomb, as the citrus wasn’t overpowering. The bitter was also well within tolerance and it might be a great introductory IPA to get your Coors Light friends into the real beer scene.
- Nightcap: On the low side of the Tripel ABV spectrum (8.7%), this bright yellow trip was sweet with hints of spice. The malty body was not nearly as caramelized as the Belgian Dark from Nail House, but it was an enjoyable tripel nevertheless.
- Big Breakfast: Breakfast in a glass. I know I’ve said that sentence before, but I only say it when I mean it. Heavy coffee and maple flavors permeate the porter in this thick bodied beer without any of the chalky mouthfeel that porters can sometimes produce. Without a doubt this was the best in flight from Glasstown.
Glasstown may have an unattractive appearance on the outside, and kind of in the middle of nowhere location across from the Millville executive airport, but it is a great stop. The tap lineup is diverse, three of the four beers sampled were well above average in our opinion, and the bar was bumpin. Take the layover in Millville and stop at Glasstown because this brewery earned 4.25 free inflight drinks out of 5.
