OT: NJ playing catch up in the Craft Beer business
- Thread starter WhiteBus
- Start date
I think that was punishment for eating at In N Out instead of dozens of better local places. 😜
At restaurants you have to eat to get a drink but should be no different for crafts v domestics. All drafts are capped at 5 percent ABV (buy bottles!!) so wouldn't be any stronger either way
So a lot of holiday beer and gift sets have come into the store. They make great gifts but you better get them sooner than later. Sales are brisk already and they won't last long. My favorite is the St. Bernardus which has the 4 bottle variety, 1 each of the 12, 8, 6 and the Triple plus their very sought after chalice.
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The night before Halloween I went out to try to buy some Pumking or other pumpkin beers, but it was all long gone. Instead there were plenty of Christmas beers. So annoying how early this stuff gets sent to stores. By the time I actually want it, it's gone.
I sell it for $22. Corrected my initial post. It's just 1 of each bottle. You will probably see it for a few $ higher but it's a tremendous value. The other one IF you can find is the Duvel gift pack. 4 bottles and their famous chalice whose design this year is from famous graffiti artist. I got it to my store as soon as it was available. First in Philly to get it. They are gone and currently none available. Told they might get more but they said that about some Oktoberfest beers.
I'll add in another holiday beer to buy for yourself if you like Belgian beers. But you have to be patient. The St. Bernardus Christmas Ale. Fresh, it is no better than the 12, as it is the 12 with added spices. Buy one now (or a few) and store them for a year in a dark cool spot. You can thank me at the end of 2021 😇🍻
So agree that they are put out so early but have always been. This is a different year so we are seeing shortages for all sorts of reasons. Some are by design as they were unsure how much they could sell in off premise beers (non bars restaurants) so the experts totally whiffed on bringing in Oktoberfest from Germany. Hopefully the Belgians learned from that. There is no true Christmas beer or winter style but Belgium beers are famously associated with Christmas.
Yeah it is always like that but I guess the issue this year is the shortages you mentioned. I remember seeing cases of Pumking still available in December in years past. Also, pet peeve...it's Belgian beers, not Belgium beers unless you also say France fries, America cheese, Canada bacon, and Italy bread. 😀
Yes, 1000 times yes, Belgian beer. Most say so right on the bottle lol but the sales guy comes out in me and I always say the country and town of origin when speaking to customers not the style of beer. When I started at this store the only European beers they carried was Guinness and Stella.
The year Pumpking and so many pumpkin beers were around well into the new year was a disaster. Due to everyone making a pumpkin beer and making way too much. Southern Tier was the worst by flooding the market as they were in the process of being sold and wanted to impress with their sales figures$.
BTW I call them pommes frites 😄
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Beer with a view: First NJ brewery and hop farm to open in Readington
Beer with a view: First NJ brewery and hop farm to open in Readington
Readington Brewery and Hop Farm in Hunterdon County plans to open a beer production facility and tasting room in May.
www.mycentraljersey.com
Nah, have been up since 6:30, got a great workout in, bacon egg cheese bagel and coffee, Pregame brew earlier for Rutgers Lacrosse game
Too early?? What the heck are you talking about??
Gotta stay in shape for the noon kick-offs/early tailgates in the fall.
Alternate Ending owner is an old friend of mine from work. Really happy they opened, still have to get down there
There Breweries should hook up with some food trucks to offer food or NJ needs to change rules to allow these places to offer food.
NJ or PA and most other states are not changing the rules to allow Breweries to serve food. A Brewery license is cheap, very cheap. If they want to serve food they will need to get a bar/restaurant licence which are very expensive. Positives of spending a fortune on a restaurant license is you can serve any kind of alcohol. Bad news is you end up selling less of what you brew and are regulated up the ass. Most Breweries I know do have food trucks on weekends or allow you to bring in or have food delivered.
Jersey Cyclone Brewing Turns 2 Years Old
Jersey Cyclone Brewing Company
Saturday at 12 PM EDT – 9 PM EDT
45–66°F Mostly Sunny
Price: Free · Duration: 9 hr
Public · Anyone on or off Facebook
WE ARE TURNING 2!!!
We are happy to announce that we will be celebrating our 2nd Anniversary on May 1, 2021 and we have some BIG news for the event!
We have been busy brewing and canning an awesome lineup of beers for the celebration and, for the first time ever, we will have a large outdoor area with live music throughout the day!
Live Music by:
Jon Zayle
Lunch Hour Six Pack
Lenox Underground
Can Release
May Day - 7.3% Maibock
Imperial Storm Cloud - 8.3% NEIPA
Eye of the Storm DDH Citra - 6.5% IPA Double Dry Hopped with Citra
Eye of the Storm DDH Nelson - 6.5% IPA Double Dry Hopped with Nelson
Eye of the Storm El Dorado & Motueka - 6.5% IPA Dry Hopped with El Dorado and Motueka
Draft List
May Day - 7.3% Maibock
Imperial Storm Cloud - 8.3% NEIPA
Eye of the Storm DDH Citra - 6.5% IPA Double Dry Hopped with Citra
Eye of the Storm DDH Nelson - 6.5% IPA Double Dry Hopped with Nelson
Eye of the Storm El Dorado & Motueka - 6.5% IPA Dry Hopped with El Dorado and Motueka
Barrel Aged Snowtober - 9% Barrel Aged Vanilla Coffee Porter
Rewal - 5.1% Polish Style Pilsner
Eye of the Storm Sabro - 6.5% IPA Dry Hopped with 100% Sabro
Troposphere - 8.1% DIPA Dry Hopped with Cryo Mosaic and Strata
Uncharted Waters Prickly Pear, Pineapple, Mango and Green Apple - 6.2% Kettle Sour Conditioned on Prickly Pear, Pineapple, Mango and Green Apple Purees
Uncharted Waters Passion Fruit, Acai and Guava - 6.2% Kettle Sour Conditioned on Passion Fruit, Acai and Guava Puree
Uncharted Waters Blood Orange and Chocolate - 6.2% Kettle Sour Conditioned on Blood Orange Puree and Cacao
Vantablack Morning - 13.8% Imperial Stout Conditioned on Barrel Aged Maple Syrup, Coffee, Vanilla and Oak
Dark Horizon - 5.4% Stout
Eye of the Storm Citra - 6.5% IPA Dry Hopped with 100% Citra
Thunder in the Distance - 12% Barleywine
Nightfall - 6.8% Robust Porter
Cabin Comfort - 13.1% Salted Peanut Stout
King Tide - 13.1% Bananas Foster Stout
Tranquil Water - 6% Saison Brewed with Hibiscus and Rose Petals and Flowers
SPECIALTY FIRKINS BEING TAPPED THROUGHOUT THE DAY
Jersey Cyclone Brewing Company
Saturday at 12 PM EDT – 9 PM EDT
45–66°F Mostly Sunny
Price: Free · Duration: 9 hr
Public · Anyone on or off Facebook
WE ARE TURNING 2!!!
We are happy to announce that we will be celebrating our 2nd Anniversary on May 1, 2021 and we have some BIG news for the event!
We have been busy brewing and canning an awesome lineup of beers for the celebration and, for the first time ever, we will have a large outdoor area with live music throughout the day!
Live Music by:
Jon Zayle
Lunch Hour Six Pack
Lenox Underground
Can Release
May Day - 7.3% Maibock
Imperial Storm Cloud - 8.3% NEIPA
Eye of the Storm DDH Citra - 6.5% IPA Double Dry Hopped with Citra
Eye of the Storm DDH Nelson - 6.5% IPA Double Dry Hopped with Nelson
Eye of the Storm El Dorado & Motueka - 6.5% IPA Dry Hopped with El Dorado and Motueka
Draft List
May Day - 7.3% Maibock
Imperial Storm Cloud - 8.3% NEIPA
Eye of the Storm DDH Citra - 6.5% IPA Double Dry Hopped with Citra
Eye of the Storm DDH Nelson - 6.5% IPA Double Dry Hopped with Nelson
Eye of the Storm El Dorado & Motueka - 6.5% IPA Dry Hopped with El Dorado and Motueka
Barrel Aged Snowtober - 9% Barrel Aged Vanilla Coffee Porter
Rewal - 5.1% Polish Style Pilsner
Eye of the Storm Sabro - 6.5% IPA Dry Hopped with 100% Sabro
Troposphere - 8.1% DIPA Dry Hopped with Cryo Mosaic and Strata
Uncharted Waters Prickly Pear, Pineapple, Mango and Green Apple - 6.2% Kettle Sour Conditioned on Prickly Pear, Pineapple, Mango and Green Apple Purees
Uncharted Waters Passion Fruit, Acai and Guava - 6.2% Kettle Sour Conditioned on Passion Fruit, Acai and Guava Puree
Uncharted Waters Blood Orange and Chocolate - 6.2% Kettle Sour Conditioned on Blood Orange Puree and Cacao
Vantablack Morning - 13.8% Imperial Stout Conditioned on Barrel Aged Maple Syrup, Coffee, Vanilla and Oak
Dark Horizon - 5.4% Stout
Eye of the Storm Citra - 6.5% IPA Dry Hopped with 100% Citra
Thunder in the Distance - 12% Barleywine
Nightfall - 6.8% Robust Porter
Cabin Comfort - 13.1% Salted Peanut Stout
King Tide - 13.1% Bananas Foster Stout
Tranquil Water - 6% Saison Brewed with Hibiscus and Rose Petals and Flowers
SPECIALTY FIRKINS BEING TAPPED THROUGHOUT THE DAY
Vantablack is Swiss . It means , man who hits head on bed while crawling out from under it. BTW , how is your head ?
The mai bock looks real good. I have heard good things about Cyclone.
I would say yes when it started out and the recipes are the recipes. But I’m not sure who owns them now that their beers are widely available. Also not sure what the specific definitions of craft are in terms of production totals. White Bus may know.
How'd you know I was Swiss ; )
Vantablack is pretty interesting stuff - high-tech, military-grade color. BMW painted a concept car with it a few years ago.
On the flip side, just saw a new whitest of the white A/C grade paint the other day.
So drink a Weiss and a Schwarz to that!
Been there a few times, I would saw that they are above average but I don't think I've had a truly great beer from them. So it depends on what you are looking for, personally, I'd take several really good beers on tap rather than 1 great one and a bunch of mediocre ones.
In PA, all craft breweries sell food. In fact their COVID-19 regulations (which have now ended) were that all customers must order food in addition to their beer to keep customers from lingering around. To get around this, one brewery in Bethlehem offered peanut butter sandwiches for $1 and I heard a waitress inform a group of 4 that they only needed to buy one sandwich for the whole group. I visited another PA brewery which offered potato chips for 25 cents,and apparently that was enough.
If they sell your beer in all 50 states (or let’s say more than 25), then NO, it is not a craft beer.
beer is like music, everyone tastes are different, so recommendations are not always appropriate. I don’t particularly care for NJ Cyclone’s beer but support them 100% as a business and wish them success. Their tasting room is also a really good one. My favorite NJ craft beer is Conclave in Flemington, and of course the two heavy weights, Kane and Cape May. Magnify and Cizmeister (sp?) are also very good.
We were talking about having a kitchen and preparing food. Like a restaurant. In PA a brewers license (G) holder must offer snack foods. What was different during this past year was customers had to buy something to eat. Many breweries in PA usually have the small bags of chips and many would just give them away but had to charge something during the restrictions The easiest way to tell if they use a G license is look at their hours. If they are never open past midnight its a G. Otherwise they need a Brew Pub license (GP) or Restaurant (R) license.
NY at this time requires food is ordered as well. In the past, PA law required it only be available. I see that has changed.
@beaced Craft breweries need to be small and independent to be labeled as such. They must produce six million barrels of beer or less per year. If they have the means to distribute to all 50 states, that does not change their designation as a craft brewer. The craft brewer rules have been amended over the years to keep Boston Beer (think Sam Adams) inclusive to the club. Sam Adam's can probably be found in all 50 states. New Belgium (who makes Fat Tire) produced 852,774 barrels as per their 2018 output, so that partially qualifies them as a craft brewer. It looks like they are owned by an international beverage conglomerate which disqualifies them because they are not an "independent" brewer. Either way, the beer is extremely average IMO. And there's everyone's craft brewer lesson for the day.
The IPA bubble cannot end soon enough for me.
This is how I feel about IPAs...
Stopped at a craft beer bar last week and of the 27 craft beers on tap there were 11 IPA’s.
I asked the manager about this and he said that all 11 IPA’s are big sellers and that customers want an even wider range of them. West Coast, Northeast, unfiltered, fruity, DIPA, high IBU, etc. The demand for IPA’s actually seems to be growing.
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