Another weekend, another excuse to visit more breweries. At least that was why I agreed to go watch Andrew’s race the Survival of the Mills, a seven stage triathlon in south jersey.
Screamin’ Hill Brewery (Cream Ridge, NJ)
Our first stop was at Screamin’ Hill Brewery in Cream Ridge NJ; a true farm brewery in a barn.
This family oriented, space was packed to the brim with patrons both inside and out. Maybe it was the pumpkin patch and apple orchards, or quite possibly it was the beer. Even the seasonably crappy weather wasn’t enough to deter this large, rambunctious crowd.
The beer: Chocolate porter, Barn Burnin’ Ale, Rye Bullock IPA and Pumpkin Pickin’ Ale. The first three beers were average and there wasn’t much to discuss. The Rye Bullock was a little under-ryed in my opinion, but still a solid beer. The Pumpkin Pickin’ Ale on the other hand, we noted was the best beer there. And quite possibly the main driving force behind the massive crowd. It had the perfect blend of spices; not under powered and certainly no potpourri flavor. For all we know the pumpkins were harvested right out back.
This small barn brewery was a great start to the weekend. While the beer was average, we would like to point out this prime example of a “farm-brewery.” Good beer. Joyous patrons. Large outdoor space and child friendly. Now, we normally don’t approve of children in breweries, but since the bulk of them were outside, this was a non-issue here. Screaming Hill brewery earns a 3.5 carved pumpkins out of 5.
Backward Flag Brewing Company (Forked River, NJ)
Backward Flag of Forked River NJ was quite the opposite of farm brewery. This industrial park brewery maintained the laid back feel of Screaming Hill, but added a military service spin to it. This vaulted ceiling brewery had games and pallet tables strewn about and tons of patches and flags decorating the walls. They had 8 of their beers on draft, but per usual, we could only partake in 4.
Forked River Mountain Stout, Port Arms Porter, Above Standard IPA and X-626 Oaked Ale. The stout and porter were above average stock but the IPA and Oaked Ale were the two shining stars in this brewery. The IPA was essentially a DIPA sitting strong at 8%, and had similar taste to Six Points Resin. The X-626 was an oaked lager sitting at 7% and had strong oak flavor without all of the lager taste that I usually hate. We highly recommend the X-626 if you catch it on draft.
Backward Flag by all means should have been hopping like Screaming Hills on this dreary day, and yet there were a just a few other people enjoying some pints. Maybe it was just the wrong time of day? Backward Flags stand out X-626 and complementing solid lineup earns them a 3.5 out of 5.
Rinn Duin Brewing (Tom’s River, NJ)
Some old school companies have names like “_______ & Sons Co.” A common theme of the yesteryear and inherited family businesses. So we’re never shocked when a family duo opens up a brewery. However, this may be the first time that we’ve encountered a “______ & Daughter Co.” This of course is Rinn Duin Brewing of Toms River, NJ. An Irish themed brewery; if you didn’t already guess.
This 6,500 sq foot behemoth has a cozy, traditional Irish pub interior, and a kilt koozie. Yeah, you heard that right. Kilt koozie. But what about the beer? We had four: Pota Caife Irish dry stout, Ichabods Return Belgian Dubbel, Pine Devil saison and Pilot 100616.
Pota Caife is a dry stout and is not remotely close to a Guinness; so don’t use that as your basis for comparison. It was average, nothing bad about it, but nothing exceptional. Ichabods Return was their seasonal “anti-pumpkin” Halloween beer. Because who isn’t pumpkined out anymore? It’s listed as a dubbel, but it closer resembled a scotch ale with nutmeg and cloves. The Pine Devil is a Belgian saison, although I was hoping it would be a hopped up IPA. Belgian style saisons never really did it for me, but Melissa was a fan. Lastly, the Pilot 100616 which deserves to become a full-fledged, year round brew. I can’t quite describe this beer, so my tasting notes said it best, “If a beer was sangria, this would be it.” Melissa and I gave the beer a 4.75 out of 5.
Rinn Duin Brewing felt like a little pocket of Ireland in the middle of New Jersey. The pub-atmosphere was missing an actual brew-pub, otherwise it would have been perfect. 3 out of 4 brews were above average and the kilt koozie was really funny. This brewery also produces a beer for the sole distribution to a local restaurant down the road. Rinn Duin was a craic time and earned itself a solid 4.25 pints out of 5.
Artisan’s Restaurant & Brewery (Tom’s River, NJ)
Finally, the last stop of our night before the big race, Artisan’s Restaurant & Brewery in Toms River, NJ. This brewpub was on the swanky side, not quite Trap Rock style swank, but never the less of a higher quality food than your average brewpub. We figured this was as good a place as any for dinner so we settled on some pre-race pasta and a flight of beer.
Light ale (blond), 15th anniversary kolsch style ale, Oktoberfest, Hop Harvest IPA, Weizenbock and Pumpkin ale. All of these brews were average with the exception of the weizenbock and the pumpkin; which were slightly above average. Our tasting notes didn’t really highlight anything too exciting from any of these brews. But we did get a can of Space Otter by Mispillion… which we’re sad to report was really the highlight beer of this brewpub. But in Artisan’s defense, Mispillion does make some world class beer.
Our meal and the can of Mispillion was really the highlight of this brewery. The food was great but the beer was only on par. They did have a vast selection of guest brews. When you look at the place, and its clientele you understand that beer is second and the top shelf liquor and family style dinner is first. Artisan’s earned a less than satisfying 2.5 out of 5.
Survival of the Mills – 7 Stage Triathlon
Melissa has advised that I skip the race day recap of the Survival of the Mills 7 stage triathlon, so I guess I will take her advice and sum it up in one simple sentence: Cold as balls during a hurricane. But, the finish line had kegs of free Allagash beer! Where could you go wrong?!
Pinelands Brewing Company (Little Egg Harbor, NJ)
Pinelands brewing company of Little Egg Harbor, NJ had the classic industrial park small town brewery feel with a curious bartender and small system. We’re also a fan of the town’s name. The Pinelands refers that specific geographical part of NJ, and seems more red-necky than your average coastal NJ town. Which isn’t a bad thing if you’re from east-bum-f*ck NY like yours truly.
The bartender upon arrival greeted us in pleasant fashion and was very detailed on the beers he was about to serve us. So, our natural response was that “oh, he must be a brewer or owner.” And we were dead wrong. Instead he told us a long winded tale on how he is not the owner or brewer, so don’t complain to him if you don’t like the beer. But shhhh, he secretly helps *wink*.
Our flight of four had Evan John Vanilla Bean Porter, 08087 Smash, Blueberry Blonde Ale and Cocoa Vanilla Pale ale. The vanilla bean porter wasn’t very vanilla, or really that much porter either. It was a very mild drink. 08087 Smash was their mosaic hopped IPA that was a great beer. Very crisp and citrus. Melissa even enjoyed it more than the usual IPA. The Blueberry Blonde Ale was Melissas favorite and very fruity. Some blueberry style beers have a noticeable fake blueberry flavor, this was not one of them. Last up was Cocoa Vanilla Pale Ale. This was a weird combination, that worked in our opinion. It was very reminiscent of a cream soda, except with more alcohol.
Pinelands brewing company has some good things going for it. Decent sized space, good beer, a lovable bartender and a crowd of regulars. The beer was good, but not great. The only beer that really stood apart from the flight was the vanilla pale ale. Pinelands earns a 3.25 out of 5.
Garden State Beer Company (Galloway, NJ)
Garden State Beer Company was a huge open space taproom in a standalone building that was probably some sort of restaurant or diner. This brewery also had two bars, great chalkboard art and was currently hosting a “Sip & Paint.” Which we did not partake in… Melissa was kind of disappointed we missed out.
We had four brews at Garden State: SMASH Pale ale, Leeds Point Wicked Porter, Headless Hessian Pumpkin Ale and Nucky’s Imperial IPA. SMASH cascade pale ale was an average pale ale. Leeds porter was also your average porter; smoky + coffee. Headless pumpkin was in my opinion a pumpkin beer done right; it didn’t have that white girl starbucks pumpkin spice latte taste. This was Melissa’s favorite beer of the brewery. But Nucky’s is where it was at. This “intensely hopped” double IPA had full on citrus and pine flavor and didn’t have the over boozy flavor of some double IPAs. Granted it was only 9%, but still, it was extremely well done.
Garden State Beer Company had two average hits and two direct hits if you’re an IPA and pumpkin fan. This brewery is also positioned near Atlantic City, so if you’re headed in or out of AC this place is a good stop. We give it 3.5 amateur no you can’t sell that on Etsy paintings out of 5.
Tuckahoe Brewing Company (Egg Harbor, NJ)
Tuckahoe is just a short trip away from Garden State Beer company, and also just outside of AC. This please spots a great tap room and is owned by “3 teachers, and that other guy.” They had a ton of beers on draft but like most breweries we could only partake in four.
Upon entering you’re prompted to take a self-guided tour of the facility and read the instruction cards. The most important part of this tour is to actually take the card, because this is your ticket to drink and their way of complying with NJ’s dumb education session law.
From worst to best: Persistent Illusion Pale Ale, Tis the Saison, Kid’s Table Milk stout and Quatrain IPA. The first two beers were immediately forgettable and blended in with your average pale ale and saison. The milk stout was only slightly above average and was creamy and sweet as a milk stout should be. Quatrain on the other hand was a great IPA. Very juicy and sweet. Sitting only at 6.7%, this beer could be enjoyed by the pint.
Tuckahoe had a dozen or so of their own beers on tap including the Beauty of Tarth, which we should have gotten. 3 out of 4 beers were average, and the IPA was greater than average. If you’re around the area, Tuckahoe is a great stop. The large taproom is well furnished and can cater to larger groups, but is not nearly the size of Garden State. Tuckahoe earns three and a half Stark children’s heads out of five. Jon Snow doesn’t count.
Ship Bottom Brewery (Beach Haven, NJ)
We decided our last brewery of the trip was Ship Bottom Brewery on Long Beach Island in Beach Haven NJ. Being on an island, this was not the easiest brewery to get to. Good thing we were going late in the day in the off season, because this would not have been a fun trip with a bunch of beach goers. The cons of going in the offseason is that many places were closed for the season severely limiting our food options. But the brewery was open for business, and we made it just in time. We ordered our usual flight and of course it came on a surfboard.
Beach Patrol Hefeweizen, Blueberry Bikini Bottom Wheat Ale, Ship Wreck Pear Saison and Chinugg Firreal! The hefe was not very hefe at all. The banana nose was kind of there, but the pallet was more or less just beer. The blueberry wheat was also only ok in the nose and didn’t follow up in the pallet either. Especially compared to the Pinelands version we had earlier.
The Pear Saison was opposite on the other hand. There was almost no nose, but the pear was moderately in there along with some other unidentifiable fruit or spice; obviously Mel’s favorite. We couldn’t quite pin the exact flavors. This is one of the few brews we’ve ever had with pear so we give them two thumbs up for the attempt. Lastly, the Chinugg was your slightly above average IPA. It was well bodied, palatable and had a great smell. It just wasn’t anything too special.
Ship Bottom Brewery is a haul to get out to already and it would certainly compound the issue during beach season. If you’re already on the island, go grab a flight of some easy beach drinking brew, if not, we don’t really recommend the trip. For avid beerventurers, don’t make the trip as you’re not going to uncover any treasure at this 2.75 doubloon brewery. However, don’t let this score deter you if you’re already on the island. They make average beer. Our parting thought on this brewery is that the pear does intrigue me on what their summer offerings might be; so if you’re around LBI give them a shot and let me know how it went.
-Andrew
