Tag: Flounder

Draught Diversions: NJ Brewery & Beer Check In

Brewery Spotlight, Draught Diversion

Draught Diversions is the catchall label for mini-rants, think-pieces, and posts that don’t just focus on one beer here at The Tap Takeover. We hope you don’t grow too weary of the alcohol alliterative names we use…

Is the bubble bursting or is the NJ Craft Beer landscape simply maturing? Read on for my take on the subject…

That’s been a “hot topic” of discussion in beer circles, and NJ Beer circles specifically. The third NJ brewery over the last 12 months has closed its doors, in one definition of the phrase. More specifically, these are the first three breweries to open after the 2012 laws passed to have closed. Earlier in the year (April 2019), Rinn Duin brewing became Toms River Brewing. Demented Brewing in Middlesex closed at the end of April 2019 after about a month of very public drama on social media. This past week/early June 2019, Common Sense Brewing in Bordentown closed and is in the process of being purchased/taken over by Tindall Road Brewery out of Robbinsville. Tindall Road didn’t have a location but their website claims the brewery to be active “since 2017” which is probably when they established the name.

Three brewery changes in a few short months is worth noting. One is a blip, two is a little more thought provoking, but could three be a pattern? Or could it just be a coincidence. I’ll provide my perspective of these three brewery changes below.

Demented Brewing Publicly Implodes, Closes

Demented’s closure was the most visible closure in NJ Beer (Beer Advocate forum discussion), it was also one of the first to open and close since the 2012 law passed that enabled breweries to have taprooms and serve beer on premise.  Demented Brewing established themselves in 2015 in Middlesex, NJ where the closest brewery was Harvest Moon Brewpub in New Brunswick. In other words, an area without a nearby brewery. They made some good beer, with some beers that were well-above average (by my ratings, over a 4-bottle cap rating on untappd). Cypress Brewing in Edison, NJ opened around the same time and were the closest brewery, but not exactly convenient for folks looking to make a visit to both breweries. Put it this way, you’d have to get on a congested highway and drive over 10 miles to get between breweries, they weren’t close to each other like the three breweries in Hackettstown, some of the NJ Shore breweries, the breweries in Hammonton, or even the Mount Holly breweries. In short, Demented was largely successful because they were relatively uniquely located and produced better than average product. Kegs were in bars in Central New Jersey and cans and 22oz bottles could be found in bottle shops since they had a distribution deal. In other words, it seemed like they were growing naturally at a nice rate.

Personally, I liked Demented quite a bit and had a quite a few of their beers, visited Demented probably as much or more than any of the NJ breweries since they were a mile or two from where I worked, close to where a few friends live, and close to my brother-in-law’s house. My first review here on the Tap Takeover also happened to be of one of their beers. In participating a few NJ beer online circles (NJ Craft Beer, reddit/njbeer, and Beer Advocate’s “Mid-Atlantic” forums), the consensus about the beer seems to be that it was good enough that Demented could have had a relatively lengthy lifespan. NJ Food writer Pete Genovese anointed Demented the best brewery in NJ when he did his Best Brewery tour in NJ. While that selection was rather controversial, at the very least, the “win” gave Demented some attention.

Demented Brewing’s problems were financial in nature in that they had difficulty paying taxes and didn’t always pay their employees. No matter how good the product is, the government won’t let you continue if you don’t pay your taxes. The employees won’t want to keep working if they don’t get paid. Just watch Bar Rescue. Sadly, some good people were working at Demented. Demented also had two annual Bottle Clubs – one for sours, one for stouts – almost like a subscription. Many who paid up front will not see the beer they paid for and will likely not see that money again.  All told, a sad end to what was a pretty good thing.

Rinn Dúin becomes Toms River Brewing

I knew very little about Rinn Dúin brewing aside from knowing they opened in 2014 at the early stages of the NJ Craft Beer boon. This was just 2 years after the big 2012 law passed. Their focus was on English and Irish styles as the name Rinn Dúin might imply and the brewery even temporarily closed in mid-2018 at one point. Having started in 2014, their reach in the State didn’t quite expand the way some other breweries who started at the time did, or even to the extent that Demented did who started a year later. In other words, much of what I say here relative to Rinn Dúin is from a bit of a remove.

From what I was able to surmise from some online posts, it seems they went bankrupt, but made good beer, just not styles that were lighting the world on fire.

I don’t know how embedded in the local bar scene Rinn Dúin was, whether they were able to get the kegs into bars in Toms River and neighboring locals. I assume they were since they’d been in business for nearly 5 years before changing over to Toms River Brewing. They may have done some brewery-only or super-local bottle/can releases, but they didn’t seem to expand beyond Ocean County, NJ from what I was able to observe. Rinn Dúin did seem to have a nice partnership/business relationship with local minor league baseball team Lakewood Blue Claws, which is the kind of thing you’d hope to see between “small” businesses.

Scrolling through Rinn Dúin’s facebook page, it appears they were fairly active in the community, had yoga nights and musicians; many things a lot of successful breweries do. On the other hand,, not many people were talking about the brewery outside of an occasional mention in a thread like “Unspoken NJ Breweries” in the Beer Advocate discussion forums (and the updated/2019 thread). As recently as February (two months prior to the name change/takeover), this brewery was still making and pouring beer as Rinn Dúin, whichh is when I had their tasty cream ale Sweet Nothing at the Meadowlands Beer Expo.

I think the name change is good and gives the brewery more of a local flavor. There was a press release earlier in the year about the buyout that reads a bit on the corporate/business side with talk of a “vertical integration plan.” The original name, Rinn Dúin, while not bad might work in a more mature beer landscape or even a beer landscape from the early 90s. Much as I enjoy a Guinness and a good Irish Red Ale like Great Lakes’ Conway’s Irish Ale, Irish/English styles aren’t the most popular/sought after styles. I realize Rinn Dúin had a more diverse output than that. Again, my observations are from quite a distance and relatively superficial.

What I can say about the name change / re-branding / relaunch is from a similar remove, but the observations are positive. Toms River Brewing is already canning their beer with canning giant Iron Heart Canning. They’ve been relatively active on social media and it looks like there’s potential for this brewery. With Icarus Brewing in somewhat nearby Lakewood (14 miles away), visiting one of these breweries might compel people to visit both breweries.

Common Sense Brewery Closes, Purchased by Tindall Road Brewery

This is the most recent brewery closure and marks the third over the last four months. I do have some more knowledge of Commons Sense Brewing than Rinn Dúin, at least. I visited Common Sense in November 2018 as part of my birthday brewery tour. In fact, Common Sense was the last of six breweries our group visited that day. The brewery looks great from the outside, is extremely well-placed in downtown Bordentown, NJ (a very underrated downtown), and has a very nice and inviting taproom.

But then you get the beer.

I had a flight and what I had was subpar, at best. A very thin Porter that tasted on the edge of being skunked, a decent Pumpkin Ale (helped by the spice rimmed glass) and what, in hindsight, seems strange – two brown ales. Brown ales are fine, in general, but not a style that you’ll typically see more than once on a daily taplist from a brewery. One of the brown ales I had was OK, but the other was outright undrinkable. Easily the worst beers I had that day out of the six breweries, but to be fair, three of the other breweries are relatively established award-winning breweries (Spellbound, Neshaminy Creek, and Village Idiot) and one a well-respected “elder statesman” of NJ brewery (Forgotten Boardwalk) so the comparison may be a little unfair. On the other hand, bad beer is just bad beer no matter how you cut it.

Common Sense was open for less than two years. If some of the comments on social media from locals and people who claim to have relatively intimate knowledge of the brewery are to be believed, than it seems like there was almost a Bar Rescue situation going on with at the brewery. People giving beer away, monetary issues, and a lack of knowledge about making good beer and running a business.

I only learned about Tindall Road Brewery a day after I learned of Common Sense’s closure, so hopefully there’s a positive outcome for whatever this brewery ends up being called. Third State Brewing who celebrated their fourth anniversary this month (June 2019), less than 10 miles away in nearby Burlington, helps to make this area a soft destination for beer fans. Tindall Road has been posting some of the progress of their takeover on their facebook page.

Side note – interesting naming for the two closed breweries – Demented and Common Sense. Almost a harbinger of things to come.

All is Not Dire, Quite the Opposite!

Despite these three brewery closures, I would argue that the bubble is not bursting at all as some might argue. I would even suggest that the “bubble” metaphor isn’t appropriate at this point and rather landscape is appropriate. A landscape implies a longer life span while a bubble implies something not very long-lasting. Quite simply, the New Jersey Craft Beer landscape is maturing. While there have been small independent breweries and brewpubs in the state for twenty or more years like High Point/Ramstein, Cricket Hill, Harvest Moon Brewery (where I had my wedding rehearsal dinner) and so forth – the landscape was really reborn, or reseeded to continue with a landscaping metaphor, with the aforementioned 2012 law change.

What happens when things mature? Things fall off, things change, things evolve – people lose their baby teeth, caterpillars weave a cocoon around themselves and emerge as a butterfly. The independent/craft beer scene is doing just that, I’d posit. Breweries not strong enough to survive and going by the wayside could even be seen as a healthy feature of something that is maturing and evolving. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if, before the year ends, another brewery or two goes through a closure/buyout/takeover like the three I highlighted in this post did..

You could also call this a “Brewing Darwinism” of sorts – the strong breweries are surviving, breweries like Kane Brewing, Carton Brewing, Icarus Brewing, Cape May Brewery, River Horse, and Flying Fish of the NJ beer scene. Hell, Cape May split into two companies, a brewery and a distributor. What further shows the strength of the NJ Beer Landscape is how some of the breweries that have opened are from people with experience at breweries like Kane, JJ Bittings (one of the oldest brewpubs in NJ), and Flying Fish. Additionally, breweries like Lone Eagle (Flemington), Bonesaw Brewing (Glassboro), and Mudhen Brewing (Wildwood) are attracting brewers with experience at leading, respected breweries like Dogfish Head, Founders Brewing, Victory Brewing, Funky Buddha, and New England Brewing Company to brew beer in New Jersey, brewers who have received awards. With just over 100 breweries in New Jersey, that is still a relatively small number of breweries compared to the population of the State.

Just two weeks after Demented closed in Middlesex, Jersey Cyclone opened about a mile or two away in Franklin Township/Somerset, NJ. Having visited Jersey Cyclone three times since they opened on May 4, 2019, I can say that I’m pretty impressed with their output, but more about one of their beers later in the week.

It isn’t just Jersey Cyclone having recently opened. Breweries continue to open in New Jersey on an almost weekly basis. Equally as important to a maturing landscape is that existing/established breweries are expanding – Flounder Brewing in Hillsborough is moving to a barn (or group of barns) not far from the current location that will provide them far more space. Angry Erik in northwestern New Jersey just moved into a facility they built after about five years in an office park. Lone Eagle in Flemington is expanding, by constructing and another building for manufacturing on their lot. There’s been word for at least a year that Conclave Brewing in Raritan/Flemington increasing capacity. Perhaps the most exciting thing for many NJ beer fans, longtime mainstay Bolero Snort is in the middle of building their facility in Carlstadt, NJ after years of gypsy brewing.

So yeah, the New Jersey Beer landscape is maturing, evolving, and still growing and healthy DESPITE the most recent legislative roadblock thrown in front of the breweries. But that problematic legislature is another topic.

At this point in the NJ Beer/Brewery landscape’s maturation; however, breweries more than ever need to produce better than average beer, not just passable beer. They need to brew beer that makes people come back for more. This is, of course, in addition to being smart about owning a business. Because the NJ Beer Consumers palates are maturing alongside the brewery and beer landscape.

 

Draught Diversion: Styles in Focus – Berliner Weisse

Draught Diversion, Style in Focus

Draught Diversions is the catchall label for mini-rants, think-pieces, and posts that don’t just focus on one beer here at The Tap Takeover. We hope you don’t grow too weary of the alcohol alliterative names we use…

Since I reviewed a Berliner Weissbier earlier in the week (White Birch Raspberry Berliner Weisse), I figured I write about the style in more detail. As the name would imply, the style originated in Germany like many styles of beer, Berlin specifically. As it so happens, the previous two styles upon which I focused originated in Germany, too (Bock and Dunkelweizen). I didn’t quite plan that, but clearly my leanings towards German styles is more evident than ever. Be that as it may, the “Weisse” is a reference to the color of the beer, often a pale white, and not the wheat. When served at breweries in Germany, the Berliner Weissebier is traditionally served with sweet syrup; (and likely still is) Raspberry and Woodruff for Red or Green respectively. Woodruff is a flower extract whose syrup is also used for brandy, jelly and soft drinks. I had a couple at local breweries (Jughandle and Flounder) and both offered Raspberry, as well as Lemon and Elderflower syrups.

 

Although some breweries have the beer as part of the year-round portfolio, the beer is a great summer style as evidenced by the seasonal nature of probably the most well-known Berliner Weisses produced in the US, Dogfish Head’s Festina Peche. It is also one of the most long-standing beers in their line-up, appearing annually in the summer since 2007. It has been too long since I’ve had this one, but I could go on about Dogfish for quite a long time.

I like to think of the Berliner Weissbier as a cousin to the (currently) more popular and prevalent Gose style ale. As I said in my review this week, both are sour ales with German roots, both have some wheat component in their malt bill and most varieties of both have some kind of fruit additive to balance out the sour and tart nature of the beer. One of the primary differences is that most, if not all, Gose beers have salt added to the brewing process where the Berliner Weisse typically does not have the salt. I like both styles quite a bit, but if I were to hand a person unacquainted with sour beers, or even wary of sour style, one to try, it would definitely be a Berliner Weisse. It is more approachable and less face-puckering than a Gose.

Dear Victory Brewing: Please bring this beer back

For the Berliner Weissbiers I’ve had and seen in bottles/cans, many have had some kind of fruit syrup/puree flavoring component. A couple of years ago, one of my favorite breweries, Victory Brewing, brewed and bottled a Berliner Weisse as part of their experimental Blackboard series which was brewed with Elderflower. I would love for this to make some kind of return from Victory. One of NJ’s iconic breweries, River Horse, brews a tasty Cherry Berliner Weisse, too.

Some other Berliner Weissbiers I’d like to try:

Like the great majority of beer from The Bruery/Bruery Terreux®, this beer is available only in 750ml bottles and draft

 

Last year and a few weeks ago, I wrote about summer beers and I touched on a couple of Gose beers, but I now realize Berliner Weisse style should have received some attention and at least one slot in the 2018 Summer Sixpack. One of the best-selling and best rated beers over the last couple of years is Dogfish Head’s SeaQuench Ale, a beer lauded for how thirst-quenching it is. Although categorized as a Gose on untappd, SeaQuench happens to be a blend of three German styles including Berliner Weisse.

For a quick reference here is a List Berliner Weissbiers on Beer Advocate and a more exhaustive overview of the style over at All About Beer.

I’ll end it with this – give a Berliner Weisse a try if you happen upon one in your local brewery, see one on draft at your favorite bar/taproom, or if you see one on the shelves of your bottle shop. It is a classic style with much appeal and with an ABV often below 5%, it shouldn’t set you off your rocker too much..

Draught Diversions: May 2018 Six Pack

Draught Diversion, Monthly New Brews

Draught Diversions is the catchall label for mini-rants, think-pieces, and non-review posts here at The Tap Takeover. We hope you don’t grow too weary of the alcohol alliterative names we use…

May was a long 31 days, with business travel overtaking much of the month. However, that travel did expose me to some beers I otherwise would not have been able to enjoy as those breweries don’t distribute into NJ. Despite that, I managed to have a few good NJ brews, too. The trek through the IPA section of the beer landscape continues as the style dominates this month’s post once again.

Bock Bier (von Trapp Brewing) Bock – 3.75 bottle Caps on untappd

I wrote about Bocks in April and have been on the hunt for this bock specifically since then as it I’ve seen good things about the Vermont brewery’s interpretation of the style. The beer is quite tasty, has a lot of the lager characteristics, but with an added caramelly flavor that was really pleasing.

Floridian Hefeweizen (Funky Buddha Brewery) Hefeweizen – 4 bottle Caps on untappd

I was in the Miami area for business in early May and was really, really hoping I could actually get out to the Floridian brewing institution that is Funky Buddha. The schedule didn’t allow, but the hotel did have their flagship Hefeweizen on tap and I was extremely pleased (despite the overpriced $11 cost of pint!). That being said, Floridian Hefeweizen is a really delicious interpretation of the classic German wheat ale. I’d have this in my fridge in regular rotation if Funky Buddha distributed into New Jersey.

Punk in Drublic (Stone Brewing) India Pale Lager – 4.00 bottle Caps on untappd

Of the beers I had in May, this one might be the most surprising. Stone’s beers generally don’t align with my palate as I stray away from West Coast IPAs, but this was in a cooler at a friend’s party so I figured I’d try it. Boy was I pleased. I thought it tasted like a Pilsner with a pleasing malt roast so the beer went down really easily. I haven’t had too many IPLs outside of this one and the IPL Yuengling produced a few years back, but I’ll go for more now if I see them.

Fresh Squeezed IPA IPA – American – 3.50 bottle Caps on untappd

On draft at Holsteins Shakes and Buns Las Vegas in the Cosmopolitan Hotel

Sometimes a beer just isn’t right for you. With the name of this beer, I was expecting more of a citrusy/juicy profile, but the beer had more of a West Coast piney flavor. It wasn’t a bad beer, just not to my taste and probably the “new” beer of May I enjoyed the least. That said, a 3.50 rating on untappd is still a decent beer.

Moon Door (Conclave Brewing)– 4.5 bottle Caps on untappd

Conclave’s logo for the beer on top, the beer freshly poured from a growler filled hours prior

Conclave has yet to disappoint me with any of the more than dozen beers I’ve had from them. This IPA features a more experimental hop (007Golden Hop) as well as Mosaic hops for a beautiful, citrusy IPA that is a perfect summer IPA. When I filled up the growler, I was chatting briefly with co-owner Carl and he said that’s one of the things they try to do with their IPAs, take a hop they haven’t used and brew it along with a familiar hop and Mosiac is a fairly prevalent, versatile hop. This is a beer I could drink all afternoon long. I brought a full growler to a small Memorial Day party at my parents’s house and the growler was finished in about 15 minutes. So. Damned. Good. Easily my favorite new beer of May.

Queen Genevieve. (Flounder Brewing Company) IPA – Imperial / Double 4.25 bottle Caps on untappd

Flounder is one of the smaller NJ breweries, one of the earliest microbreweries and one of the breweries closest to me, all of which I laid out in my post featuring the brewery. I also know a few of the folks who work and brew there. Since coming around on IPAs I’d been looking forward to trying this beer, the first the brewery canned and boy howdy is it a delicious, juicy IPA. All the great citrusy flavors and hop notes are present as the beer is a great example of an IPA in the “New England” style. Plus it has a great can design and is brewed in honor of brewer Brad’s grandmother. You’ll want this one if you see it on tap near you in New Jersey.

Draught Diversions: St. Patrick’s Day 2018

Draught Diversion

Draught Diversions is the catchall label for mini-rants, think-pieces, and posts that don’t just focus on one beer here at The Tap Takeover. We hope you don’t grow too weary of the alcohol alliterative names we use…

If Oktoberfest is the Fall holiday for beer, then St. Patrick’s Day, the day when everybody is Irish, is certainly the Late Winter/Spring Holiday day for beer. Not just a holiday for a specific style of beer, but a brand, some would say. Guinness, of course. Guinness is far from the only beer option (or even Irish Stout) to enjoy on and around St. Patrick’s Day, so I’ll touch on a few of those. But I’ll start with Guinness itself.

Guinness, the most popular and best selling stout in the world is still quite well regarded by many craft beer folks despite being such a global brand. When it comes to stouts, especially Irish Stouts, few compare to Guinness especially when the line from the keg to the tap is short. A nice touch is when the bartender adds a four-leaf clover to the head.

Guinness has been expanding their portfolio here in the U.S. over the past handful of years, including a Blonde Ale (the less said the better), an “Irish Wheat” that was surprisingly tasty, and several stouts. They offer up a Milk Stout as well as a Belgian-inspired Antwerpen Stout. The Guinness I’m really looking forward to trying, though, is the 200th Anniversary Export Stout, brewed in late 2017 in honor of the 200th anniversary since Guinness was first shipped to America.

The “other” Irish Stout, Murphy’s is also an excellent example of the style. It has been many, many years since I enjoyed a Murphy’s. I may have to change that soon.

Many American brewers try to evoke the style as well. This may not come as a shock to folks who read this blog regularly, but my favorite is probably Victory Brewing’s offering: Donnybrook Stout. I believe this is a draft only beer as I’ve never seen it in bottles or cans, but I recall the beer hitting the same notes as Guinness does, and to a fairly successful degree. Breckenridge Brewery has a “Nitro Dry Irish Stout” that is very much playing into the whole Guinness beer profile, too. Of course, Breckenridge is one of a growing number of American Craft Breweries purchased by Anheuser-Busch and part of its “High End” brand initiative.

It isn’t all about the Stouts on St. Patrick’s Day, though. Smithwick’s is the brand name for the Red Ale the fine folks at Guinness brew and distribute. For years this was a go-to beer for me. I even prefer a “Black and Red” or “BlackSmith” to the traditional “Black and Tan.” Smithwick’s may be the quintessential Irish Red Ale and again, many American brewers try to evoke the style.

I miss this logo from the beer. The new red logo looks like Bud and doesn’t stand out at all.

For my beer drinking dollar, the best of the American interpretations of an Irish Red Ale is – hands down, no discussion – Great Lakes Brewing’s Conway’s Irish Ale. I seem to alternate going with this or something from Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day.  Great Lakes (rightfully so) makes a big deal out of this one on St. Patrick’s Day.

I’ve only touched upon some a few of the seasonal/holiday appropriate brews to enjoy (responsibly!) during a St. Patrick’s Day celebration, I know.* Of course, some Jameson would also be perfectly appropriate or one of the caskmates brews they’ve brewed in collaboration with a few American Craft brewers, like the Craic they partnered with River Horse here in New Jersey to brew last year. This beer is really tough to find and I haven’t had much luck yet.

Some other NJ breweries are getting in on the fun, too.*

*Gotta save some for next year’s St. Patrick’s Day post, right? 

For some Irish brews to enjoy for St. Patrick’s Day, take a look at this great article by Jason Notte.

There you have it. A quick rundown of some of the more widely available and widely known seasonally appropriate brews for St. Patrick’s Day as well as a handful of beers from some NJ Breweries. I know there are many more, so drop a note in the comments to let me know of a good one I may have overlooked.

Draught Diversions: August 2017 Beer Pours

Draught Diversion, Monthly New Brews

Draught Diversions is the catchall label for mini-rants, think-pieces, and posts that don’t just focus on one beer here at The Tap Takeover. We hope you don’t grow too weary of the alcohol alliterative names we use…

The variety of new beers I consumed and enjoyed in August was lower than the new beers in July. Partly because there were still quite a few leftover beers in the fridge from July; I finished off the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp pack in July; and several people brought a variety of beer to my house in July. There were still quite a few new ones I enjoyed, though.

The first new beer of the month was Smuttynose’s Summer IPA, a beer that surprised me. A refreshing, low-hopped IPA that had a nice citrus flavor component. I picked up a single can but if it returns to shelves in summer 2018, then I’ll likely get a full six pack at the least.

One of my favorite breweries, Victory, launched a new beer recently. A beer they are positioning as an every-day beer and I think that goal was achieved with Home Grown New American Lager. Low in ABV with a refreshing hop component, this is a crisp, tasty Lager that has some elements of citrus in the hops. I liked the single bottle my friend brought over enough to pick up a full six pack to share with friends while we sat poolside later in the month. I shouldn’t be surprised by how much I enjoyed the beer largely because the big red “V” on the label.

An excellent “non-summer” poolside brew

Von Trapp (yes, that Von Trapp family) has been brewing beer since 2010 and their bottled beer has recently been distributed in NJ. I tried the Bohemian Pilsner and thought it to be a good representation of the style. I may have to try some of the other Von Trapp styles, too. For the first time in a while, or since joining untappd, I had a bottle of Ommegang’s Three Philosphers, a wonderful, rich Belgian Quad. It is easy to know why, after drinking this beer, why the beer has such a great reputation. This is a big beer at over 9% ABV so it should be enjoyed slowly.

 

I covered in detail what I had during my first visit of the month to Flounder, the Dinkelweiss was definitely the highlight. Such a fantastic interpretation of the light style. On my second visit, I had the Dinkelweiss again, but with Raspberry syrup and it was just as good as it was with the Elderflower. I also tried the Milkshake Genevieve IPA on a later visit in the month, which was delicious. The addition of lactose really calmed down the hops in the beer. That weekend, my neighbor brought over a six pack of Tröegs HopBack Amber Ale, a Red Ale with a nice malt/hop balance. Of the dozen or so brews I’ve had from the Trogner brothers, I can only think of 1 that didn’t quite do it for me.

As has become clear by now, I love Bavarian Hefeweizens especially those brewed in Germany by a German brewery. I’ve seen Andechs Weissbier Hell at my local beer shop for years and finally picked up a 500mL bottle, I was very pleased, as I have been by the 3 or 4 other brews I’ve had from Andechs. This was a great interpretation of the style. I just wish more German breweries would distribute their beer in 6-packs rather than big 500mL bottles.

In a proper, large Hefeweizen glass

Every year, at least one day in the summer, my wife, brother-in-law, and whomever else can join take a day trip down to Long Beach Island an go to The Chicken or the Egg (Chegg’s) for wings and other great food. This year, I skipped the wings and went for Cinnamon Bun French Toast, which is just as decadent and delicious as you might guess. Last year, we added a stop at the then newly opened Ship Bottom brewery to the itinerary. When we visited the brewery last year, they were open for only about a week and only had one beer remaining from their launch party. This year, their brewery was a year older, there was a relatively lively atmosphere for the middle of the day, and many more beers were on tap. I had a flight including their Beach Patrol Hefeweizen (the best of the bunch), the Blueberry Bikini Bottom Wheat (which reminded me of Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat as both beers reminded me of Fruity Pebbles), the Barnegat Lager (a red lager) and NYD 2017, a Russian Imperial Stout. A decent group of beers, I’d definitely go for the Hefeweizen again. NYD 2017 was a solid Russian Imperial, too, though more bitter than I like.

From L to R: Barnegat Lager, Blueberry Bikini Bottom Wheat Ale, Beach Patrol Hefeweizen, NYD 2017 (Russian Imperial Stout)

The Sunday ritual of Game of Thrones and a big beer continued with the last two episodes of the season. One of which will get a full review next week, the other was Westbrook’s 6th Anniversary Hazelnut Chocolate Imperial Stout which was delicious. This beer has a lot of flavors that balance and complement each other very well, not surprising since Chocolate and Hazelnut typically work well together. In the beer, they are almost one flavor and they mask the high 10% ABV nicely. This was a great beer.

I stopped at a local bar (The Royal) on the last Friday of August with a friend and was pleasantly surprised to find Tröegs, Founders, Three 3’s, and Conclave on taps alongside the typical “local watering hole/neighborhood bar” staples. I had a Three 3’s S.S. Tide Pool, a crushable delicious session IPA and a Conclave Gravitational Pull, which blew me away. Such a juice-bomb of an IPA, the bitterness was balanced perfectly with the juiciness of the fruit evocation. This is an IPA I would drink again and again. Conclave is close enough to my house that I need to head down there again as it has been far too long since I stopped in for a growler and the requisite 4oz pour of Mexican Morning.

The last beer to make it into this post is Dogfish Head’s Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout, but I’ll have more about that beer on Tuesday September 5 for my next beer review.

Ein Prosit!

Draught Diversions: Flounder Brewing Company (Hillsborough, NJ)

Brewery Spotlight, Draught Diversion

Draught Diversions is the catchall label for mini-rants, think-pieces, and posts that don’t just focus on one beer here at The Tap Takeover. We hope you don’t grow too weary of the alcohol alliterative names we use…

It has been over a month since I last focused on a single brewery here and as promised last Tuesday, I’d be giving an overview of Flounder Brewing in Hillsborough, NJ. I’ve been enjoying their beer for a few years now and living in the neighboring town, it has been very nice to see the brewery grow over the past few years since opening in Hillsborough in 2013 as the twelfth licensed NJ brewery. Part of that is seeing their line-up of tasty beers evolve along with that growth.

I could go on about the history of the brewery and how Jeremy Lees started homebrewing, which is how a majority of nano/microbreweries begin, but that is fairly well documented in the Craft Beer community, specifically the NJ Craft Beer community. Flounder’s history is probably best captured in “Catching the Big One: The Story of Flounder Brewing Company,”  created by film students at Rider University. I’ve embedded the video at the bottom of this post (running time is about 15 minutes) which does a great job of giving a historical perspective to Jeremy Lees brewing venture known as Flounder Brewing.

A brewery starts with the beer and Flounder’s flagship beer is “Hill Street Honey Ale,” a great, easy-drinking every day beer that Jeremy’s friends enjoyed and the beer upon which the foundation of Flounder’s great line up of beers is built.

Hill Street Honey American Ale possesses the nice golden color of a classic ale. While starting out as a hybrid American Pale-Amber ale, over time and tweaking it has rounded out to fall more into the blonde ale family, a little hop forward with a pleasantly smooth finish that will let you keep enjoying them as you relax. Hill Street Honey’s bitterness is complimented by a whole bunch of New Jersey harvested honey that we add in during key parts of the brewing process.

These separately timed additions help spread out and layer the honey sweetness and citrus aromas throughout the brew thanks to the honey from the orange blossom. All of this complemented with smooth, slight biscuit flavors from the several types of grains we add in there. All this is brewed up then the magic of yeast takes over and we exclusively use yeast from Jersey’s own yeast company that just helps meld all of the flavors together into a wonderful American Ale.

It is a simple, delicious anytime-of-year session beer, yet it has a whole bunch of complex layers to it if one breaks it down. Great citrus and floral aromas, smooth and creamy head and mouthfeel, and a nice finish of citrus in the aftertaste. 

The brewing facility and tasting room, situated in an office / industrial park in Hillsborough, NJ, might not seem an ideal place for a brewery. As I’ve come to learn over the past year or so, it isn’t uncommon especially in NJ. NJ Craft Beer giant Kane is located in a similar type of environment though their brewery is considerably larger, while Conclave Brewing, another local favorite is located in a similar office park. But back to Flounder. When they first opened their doors, they were in a relatively small unit and although their brewing capacity was relatively small, the quality was excellent.  They were doing great things for a few years, continually winning awards at local brewfests, selling out of their beer when they were open for growler fills. Flounder was also one of the early nanobreweries in the state of New Jersey and New Jersey’s 12th Limited Brewery license.

A few years after launching, something special happened to Flounder Brewing. The Boston Beer Company, A.K.A. Samuel Adams has a special program they call the National Brewing and Business Experienceship Award, which is something like an apprenticeship for smaller breweries and Flounder Brewing was the recipient of the award in 2016. As a result of this experience, Samuel Adams and Flounder collaborated on a beer – Devil’s Nectah, a Helles Lager brewed with Cranberries and Honey. Helles meaning bright in Germany, Helles Lager is intended to be light refreshing beer that is similar to a Pilsner. I had the chance to sample some of it and was wowed by how delicious the beer was. The tart of the cranberry came together perfectly with the sweetness of the honey. The collaboration between Flounder and Samuel Adams was a very limited brew and I hope Flounder is able to bring back this tasty treat in some similar fashion.

In the approximate year since the Samuel Adams collaboration and “Experienceship,” Flounder Brewing has expanded, Jeremy Lees and crew doubled their rental space and have expanded the amount of beer and variety they brew. Perhaps most importantly for consumers, they expanded their hours of operation as well. Initially, they were only pouring growlers for patrons once or twice a month. They first expanded to once per week and are now open every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The tap room has a couple of bar tables set up where folks can chat and enjoy delicious, freshly made beer. On a cool fall or spring evening, Flounder Brewery is a nice place to stop for a pint and good conversation. I’ve stopped in the brewery for growler fills quite a few times, the place is always full and there have been lines to fill the growlers or pick up the limited bottle releases.

Brewer Brad Polinski, T.O.B (The Other Brewer) of Flounder, as he calls himself on untappd, shared some time with me over a few of the delicious beers he, Doug Duschl, and Jeremy have been brewing. One thing that stood out in our discussion was just how great the folks at Samuel Adams were and continue to be in supporting Flounder’s growth. Not just from a brewing perspective, but from a business perspective and growth perspective. Even now, a year later, Samuel Adams has been open to provide Flounder great advice and insight even from a phone call away.

Brad has been brewing with Flounder for almost four years now. While Hill Street Honey Ale is the beer that helped gain Flounder their initial notoriety, Brad’s Genevieve’s IPA is probably the number two beer in Flounder’s line up. The beer is named in honor Brad’s grandmother:

“A humble dedication to Brad’s Grandmother, our staple IPA showcases a blend of five American hops that lend to it’s hazy, and juicy grapefruit character.”

Flounder brews about twice per week to meet the demands of the customers who visit on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays as well as the local restaurants and bars where Flounder’s beer can be found on tap. They’ve built up very strong relationships with quite a few local restaurants including The Landing in Hillsborough and the Bound Brook location of the Chimney Rock Inn where at least one of their beers can always be found on tap. The demand at local restaurants, coupled with the lines and a filled brewery on the three days per week Flounder is open to the public has them primed for even more expansion in the near future.

Flounder’s growth has attracted more people to work and assist, including Doug Duschl who was brewing his own beer under the Brooks Brewery brand. He’s got some interesting recipes on the horizon that would appeal to folks who enjoy their beer with a strong bready profile. Doug has an Oktoberfest and an Imperial Pumpkin brewing which should be ready for Oktoberfest at the end of September. Doug poured a small cup of Oktoberfest in its current state and it smelled wonderful. It wasn’t in a tasting condition, but I’m looking forward to trying it in about a month.

Brad said he’s brewing a Double IPA version of his popular Genevieve IPA. Additionally, he’s got ideas for a more fall related beers, a pumpkin saison, and a Pumpkin Spice Latte beer named “Breakfast Ale” with Cold Brewed Coffee. This isn’t necessarily pumpkin beer because there’s no pumpkin in it, rather a beer brewed with Pumpkin Spices, lactose, and coffee. I had some of it last year at Thanksgiving and enjoyed it a great deal, so I’m looking forward to how the cold brewed coffee will enhance the flavor.

Brad said his favorite beer to brew isn’t always the same, it is determined by his mood and is often experimental. He’s got a Saison/Sour hybrid in process now. When not enjoying the product of his brewing labors, he goes for Firestone Easy Jack, a session IPA. Doug is a beer drinker after my own heart. Although he didn’t say what his favorite was, from what he was saying he enjoyed and what he’s brewing, he seems to gravitate towards the bready, maltier beers, beers on the opposite end of the spectrum from IPAs.

Many brewers consider what they do, brewing beer to be the convergence of art and science. You have to know the science; the water is the most important ingredient, the appropriate temperature to add ingredients for nuanced flavors, and similar ideals in order to brew properly. Important things like that. The creativity is what a great brewer adds to the ingredients, what only the brewer can add. Along those lines, Brad has a wonderful saying:

“Drink my beer and you know how I was feeling.”

What Brad means is this: you’ll know how he was feeling that day when he created that beer. If he needed a pick-me-up and was craving coffee, he wanted to make a coffee beer. If he wanted a cup of OJ, he wanted to make an IPA that was juicy. The thoughts on the recipe itself revolved around what season it was, and his cravings/moods.

As Brad and I were chatting, I could see the small tasting room of the brewery fill up and a line forming at the bar/cashier. People were there for the great beer and for the community. It was easy enough to strike up a conversation with the folks sitting near us, regulars at the brewery. It made for a very welcoming and relaxing experience. One thing that also came across both in my conversations with Brad, Jeremy, and Doug as well as a couple of the other patrons was the NJ Beer community as a whole. The beer community in the Garden State has been growing rapidly over the past few years, going from a small handful of breweries in 2013 to nearly 70 now. The strength of community is that most breweries and brewers know they are in it together, they know if one of them grows, the others grow. They help each other out and work together to make beer in NJ a true community. A lot of that can be attributed to Mike K.’s NJ Craft Beer program/community which is a great resource for breweries and craft beer consumers alike.

On to some of the other beers I’ve had from Flounder. I’ve already covered in detail the delicious Iced Coffee Stout Brad concocted. The very first beer I recall having from them was when I attended the “Big Brewfest” in Morristown, NJ in February 2014, their flagship beer “Hill Street Honey Blonde Ale.” As I said, a wonderful, “everyday” beer. When I say everyday beer, I mean the beer I want on Fridays with my pizza. The beer that received the fan favorite or People’s Choice award back in 2014 is what seems to be another staple of Flounder’s line-up – the “Saison du Flounder.” This is a lovely farmhouse ale that I’ve had around Easter-time the past couple of years.

Flounder brews a Dark Ale, “Espresso Brown” that also has coffee beans in the brewing process with a nice malt body for a full, rich beer. Similarly, the “Murky Brown” is a take on a classic Brown ale. .One of their newer beers is a refreshing Pale Ale, “Jersey Fresh Honey Pale Ale” similar to the Hill Street Honey, but with a bit more hoppiness.

A glass of delicious Flounder Hefeweizen

On my most recent visit to Flounder, I tried three beers I’ve been wanting to try for a while. I’ve been wanting to try their take on the classic Bavarian Hefeweizen and I was not disappointed. A light brew that leaned more on the banana flavor than clove, this was a good beer to start the evening. Next up was “Dinkelweiss,” Flounder’s take on a Berliner Weisse. I’m relatively new to enjoying sour beers and this style specifically, but I do enjoy the light, tart ale quite a bit. This style typically has a fruit syrup added, either in the bottle or when at a brewery, you can add your own. The beer stands very well on its own, but in this case, I added Elderflower syrup and it was even better. Surprisingly, as it warmed up a bit, the syrup and beer combined with the slight warming to room temperature allowing the syrup to enhance the already strong base flavor of the beer. I say surprisingly because I usually only like higher ABV stouts and dark ales as they warm up. Lastly, I had the “Sourlands Wheat,” a hoppy pale wheat ale brewed to commemorate the annual Sourlands Music Festival in Hillsborough.

I suppose the bottom line is this – Flounder Brewing exemplifies what great craft brewing in America is all about. People passionate about their craft, a community that embraces them, and a brewery that is a welcoming community of its own. Local, fresh ingredients, keeping their patrons satisfied, and growing successfully. I’m very pleased to have seen Flounder start out with great beers, earn the “experienceship” with Samuel Adams, and to see the growth of the brewery continue. The liquid is the ultimate determination of quality, and by the reviews on untappd and the people filling the brewery, Jeremy, Brad, and Doug are doing things extremely well.

I’m looking forward to watching Flounder grow, enjoying their staple beers, and trying whatever those brewing wizards concoct next.

Beer Review: Flounder Iced Coffee Stout

Beer Review

Name: Iced Coffee Stout
Brewing Company: Flounder Brewing
Location: Hillsborough, NJ
Style: Stout
ABV: 4.6.%

From the beer’s description on untappd:

Iced black coffee has become sort of a staple during our morning brews. We figured, why not make a beer that tastes just like one? Perfect for desert, or a quick pick-me-up in the morning!

A 4.6% light bodied Stout conditioned on a custom cold brew roast coffee from our friends Fieldstone Coffee Roasters in Milford, NJ.

A stout? In Summer? A stout as a summer-time seasonal beer? Crazy, I know. But listen, I drink coffee every day and in the summer, like many people (and possibly a major reason Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks make so much money) I prefer Iced Coffee to the piping hot Joe in the morning. Same reason I typically won’t have soup on a hot summer day. Our friends at Flounder hit upon that idea with this beer and it was even better than I expected.

Flounder Brewing has been around for a few years now. I recall one of their beers winning the Fan Favorite beer at one of the first Brewfests I attended. I have to be up front, this brewery is the next town over from me, on the way from work (if I go one of the half dozen ways home) and I know one of the brewers from our day job together. On the other hand, I was enjoying their beers before I started working at the company where we both work so if anything, any partial “bias” here comes from the proximity and Garden State roots of the brewery but mostly from the quality of the beer they create. I will likely go into more detail about the great things Flounder has done and the accolades they’ve received in a future Draught Diversions post.

So, what about their Iced Coffee Stout?

Although I’ve said Hefeweizen is my favorite style, I’d be lying if I said Stouts weren’t a close second or even tied for that top spot. Since joining untappd in February 2014, I’ve had over 150 different stouts compared to the 50 or so different Hefeweizens. Then again, there is a far wider variety of stouts and many more flavor enhancements that can be added to stouts or variations on the style than a Hefeweizen. For example, brewing a stout to evoke the same flavor profile as one would get from Iced Coffee.

Sometimes coffee stouts can carry over the bitterness of coffee, which doesn’t always make for either a pleasing overall flavor profile, or may impart an aftertaste that could offset the initial taste of the beer. I didn’t find that to be the case with Flounder’s take on what has become a staple of the stout variety. I’ll notch that up to the beans and what seems to be more sweetness. At least when I have iced coffee, I tend to have it with more sugar than hot coffee. Whatever secrets the brewers at Flounder have put into this recipe, it works very well.

Stout, as a style, is one that sometimes tastes better as the beer warms to room temperature. This one, as the Iced Coffee name implies, doesn’t benefit quite as much as do the higher ABV barrel-aged stouts. This beer, you want fresh from the tap or just as it is poured from the growler you had in your fridge. Speaking of the ABV, this one is nice and low at 4.6% making for a nice sessionable beer, one where a couple in an hour wouldn’t unsettle you too much. Again, if you have more than that, make sure you aren’t driving anywhere and so forth.

Flounder has played with beer expectations and given craft beer drinkers lucky enough to live near the brewery the chance to enjoy a summertime stout, something that is outside of conventional beer brewing and drinking.

Flounder hasn’t yet bottled or canned their beer for store availability, so you’ll either have to go to a bar where their beer is on tap or stop in the brewery located in Hillsborough and fill up your growler. I filled up a growler on a Friday in May and it didn’t last the weekend. They tapped another keg this past weekend and the beer is just fantastic.

Recommended, link to Untappd 4.25-star rating.