So when it comes to beerventures (and really any thing), one of us really likes to have things planned out while the other loves spontaneity. Somehow, we have managed to find a happy medium over the past few years.
With the long weekend in Jersey, some miscommunication and lack of ability to read a calendar led to an impromptu brewery crawl on Friday night. Protip for those wanting to plan brewery trips, always check the brewery’s facebook page to see the most current hours and beer list. Google and their own websites have failed me too many times!
Luckily for us, we still have a few breweries that we hadn’t gotten the chance to visit so we were able to leave around 6 and not have to rush. Our first stop was Cricket Hill, whose beers we had seen a lot since coming to New Jersey. When we arrived it was clear this was a locals hangout, but that didn’t stop us from making friends. They also didn’t offer any flights, but we were able to sample beer before we ordered a pint and the bartender let us get half pints. Our favorites were the double wit and the pepper beer, although a half pint was more than enough.
A quick drive back towards Mo-town brought us to Magnify also in Fairfield. Once again, they did not offer flights but we got 8 oz pours in these cute little mason jars. Also, fun fact, in Jersey you must go on a tour to get beer at a brewery. Some places skirt this a little by posting signs or videos but we like seeing different systems so we don’t complain too much. At least this time we were allowed to bring our drinks with us and the founder was giving us the tour so it was nice to know the whole process of creating the brewery. Although we do have a fundamental disagreement on our stance on cats. Magnify is also right next to a distillery, which if we had more time would definitely been one of our stops.
We crossed the border back into NY and found our way to Defiant Brewing. The brewery is literally next to the train station and I can only imagine if I lived here getting off the train on a Friday this would be a no brainer stop. Inside, there is a huge bar making for a great spot to hang out. They also have a delicious BBQ menu and I can recommend the mac and cheese.
From here we headed over to Ambulance Brew House, which despite its name, does not brew beer. That’s what we get for listening to Google. However, they did have an impressive tap list including The Bruery, Hill Farmstead, Other Half and others. We also finally were able to get flights, so thats what we did
Our last stop of the night was BJ’s Restaurant and Brew House which is apparently a chain that we had never heard of. The beer is brewed in Texas but the one’s we tried were good and they seemed to support local breweries. They also had a cream soda which I can never resist. So that plus a sampler of delicious apps capped off the night.
All in all, a great little spontaneous trip.
New breweries: 3
Breweries visited in 2016: 7
Total Breweries: 207
