I Think I'll Have Myself a Beer

Harpoon UFO White

2010-07-13T02:19:00.000-07:00

During my family vacation in Seaside, I had to find some kind of beer that was drinkable enough to suit my tastes. I was pleasantly surprised to Flying Fish's Farmhouse Summer Ale on tap at one of the boardwalk bars. The Sawmill had Newcastle, which is one of my solid fallback options when drinking out of my normal element ( That would be in my bedroom, alone, in my underwear and listening to the Pogues or something like that). But at 4 bucks for a plastic cup's worth of beer, I needed to stick to drinking within the confines of my summer rental more often than not, so as not to drink myself into destitution.

I found a liquor store with a decent enough of selection. I walked out with a can of Boddingtons (More on my love for this beer some other time), a 12 pack of Bud Light Lime (For my family, I swear!), a bottled of MD 20/20 (I'm a sucker for bum wine) and a six pack of Harpoons White UnFiltered Offering (or UFO White).

Harpoon is smart to have a label that appeals to the Blue Moon drinkers of the world and there's a point to it. It's a similar enough beer, but it's better. Personally, I don't see the need to ever squeeze fruit juice into a beer to "enhance" the flavor or whatever. It's beer and it's either supposed to taste amazing and/or get you drunk. The purposes are overlapping for sure, but still there is no need to squeeze an orange in this as it tastes good enough.

I mean, it's not a beer by any means, but it's serviceable, especially to sway a Blue Mooner towards the light side. That's what I'm here for. I'm telling you that if you like shit like Blue Moon, take a step in the right direction and try this. Then go to Uno Chicago Grill on Rt One in Edison/Woodbridge/Metuchen (you tell me) and try the awesome Hefeweizen they currently have on tap. It is homebrewed there and you can get it for a mere two bucks a pint during happy hour. You'll thank me.

NJ Summer Brewpub Extravaganza: JJ Bittings

2010-06-18T00:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, so like I said, I've had this idea in my head that I'd travel to every brewpub in NJ and talk about my experience there. Admittedly I am flakey still when it comes to blogging, so to help make up for it, I went to JJ Bittings not once, but twice this week. (If all you get out of the previous sentence is a thinly veiled excuse for drinking consecutive nights, early in the week, well....yeah...)

It's fitting in some ways that I start things off with Bittings. Yeah, it's local, but so is Unos (not to mention I'm more of a regular there) and Harvest Moon isn't much further. But to my (hazy at best) knowledge, Bittings is also the first brew pub in this part of the state since the repeal of Prohibition. That also means it was my first real exposure to the world of craft beer.

Honestly, when I walked in on Monday night I was a little weary. For a new comer, this is probably the perfect time to get into craft beer but for a hophead with a predilection towards stronger beers, the 4.2% abv I kept seeing was a little disappointing at first. Then again, I am used to drinking here in the winter more often than not, when their beers are phenomenal (barley wine is insane good).

Turns out however that the beer goods were smiling upon yours truly. Every Monday they choose one beer that is $2 a pint and the beer in question happened to be their Knockout Bock. At 6.4% abv it was a little more my speed than their offerings. A really nice malty brew that had this sort of signature sweetness that several of their stronger offerings seem to have.

They also have this really cool slider menu with like 10 different kinds of sliders you can get, 2 for 2.95 or 4 for 5.75. If you know me, you can guess which portion I went for. I went with the pulled pork sliders and was pleasantly surprised by how frigging good they were and how much pork you get on each slider. Also got an order of their sweet potato fries which are fried with onions and jalapenos. They're a must order pretty much every time.

On Tuesday, two friends I hadn't seen in a few weeks asked me to meet them there, and well, shit if I'm a sucker for beer and the presence of others. This night it was 2 for 1's for all of their beers. They had a Great Scot (scottish ale) which was cask conditioned. If there's to other things I'm a sucker for it's cask conditioned ale and a Back to the Future reference (whether intentional or not, always intentional in my eyes). So for what amounted to a 13.50 bill, I had 6 of these deliciously smooth bad boys and thoroughly enjoyed it. Though I have to warn you, cask ale is probably not something you wanna jump into especially if you're still trying to kick your habit of rocky mountain fresh Coors Lights with those stupid blue mountains.

I'm kind of doing the place a disservice in some ways because I'm so god damned full of myself so here's where I bring it all back home and where I tell you about how all the beers I haven't talked about are PERFECT for newcomers. While I see a lower ABV percentage as a drawback for my personal tastes, I also see them as great transition beers for anyone trying to make the jump. They're all really tasty and none should be terribly harsh on the palate. My recommendation if you're ever there and don't know what to get, try the Avenel Amber or the Raspberry Wheat Ale. They also have X-Duff Beer which is both their stab at a domestic style beer and a Simpson's reference.

Having eaten there quite a few times, I can tell you that it's great pub food for the price. You're not getting any gourmet shit, but who wants that anyway?

JJ Bittings
33 Main Street
Woodbridge, NJ 07095
(732) 634-2929
njbrewpubs.com

Next Up: Uno Chicago Grill

Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer

2010-05-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

What a punny name! But is the beer any damn good?

Before I get to that, let me first say that I do enjoy beer from a can. Whether it's Ballantine Ale, PBR, or Dales Pale Ale (another example of a canned craft beer) I believe beer absolutely can be enjoyed from a can as much as bottle or keg, cask, what have you. I still poured it into an unchilled pint glass though. That's just how I roll.

I really wanted to like this and truth be told it is not at all a bad beer. It would actually serve as a pretty good intro to someone who is not so familiar to craft beer. When it comes to getting someone into craft brews, you gotta take baby steps. At 4.9 abv it's definitely not too strong ( bummer!) and it goes down very smoothly.

Someone new to the wonderful world of beer will enjoy the faint watermelon flavor but as someone who's already taken the head first plunge I was a little disappointed. To quote Jimmie from Pulp Fiction, "I but the gourmet expensive stuff because when I drink I want to taste it". I'm more a fan of a hoppy ale which might also explain my overall meh feeling towards it.

The price, at a wallet lightening 11 bucks is definitely a drawback. I wouldn't be able to argue with anyone who wanted to buy two 6 packs of Budweiser tall boys instead. Beeradvocate has it at a B- grade and I think I can get on bored with that. Overall it's a very drinkable summer that would be rather inviting for a newcomer. For me, if I want a wheat beer I'll stick with a Hefeweizen. But shit, I can't knock 21st Amendent Brewery too hard for this one, after all, I'm already 3 deep.

Please allow me to introduce myself...

2010-05-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

I've always dug the idea of blogging but it's never quite worked for me. General life bullshit? I just end up sounding like the miserable misanthrope that I can be at times, I didn't need the reminder. I tried my hand at blogging about my job as a waiter. This was also a bad idea, because I hate my job and wallowing in bad feelings for too long is never healthy.

So I'm here to write about something I love. Beer. I like beer more than an asian kid loves limited edition sneakers that they're never going to wear anyway. That's the great thing about beer, if it's any damn good, you drink it and well your life enjoyment tends to increase tenfold (at least!).

Before I go on, a little disclosure here. I am not a beer snob or even remotely an expert. It's only about a year that I've really begun to appreciate the world that exists beyond the Budweisers and Miller Lites of the world. But this is definitely a hobby (or a way of life) that I was cut out for. I have always lived my drinking life knowing some of the basics like you don't serve Guinness (or really most any beer for that matter) in a frosted glass and that drinking a Coors Light is never acceptable.

Craft beer can be an intimidating thing to get into and I think that's my angle here. I'm not immersed in this world and I'm still very much an outsider and I'm happy with that. It will allow me the perspective that isn't always available within these little pockets of subculture.

This summer I want to go to every brewpub in NJ. I think that's a nice, horizon broadening goal. I've already been to a few. Actually two of them are located in my hometown so I'll probably end up talking about them a lot. I could go into the solid Pale Bock I had at Uno on Sunday night and address how much I love the place even though it's a chain but that's another post for another day.

Anyone reading this who knows me is more than welcome to join me on this summer adventure. I figure one of my drinking buddies should be in.

Otherwise I'll review new beers I try, talk about interesting shit, whatever. Let me get that all figured out. Right now I'm drinking a Lagunitas Pale Ale and it is awesome. Their Hop Stoopid Ale is even better. My foray in home brewing is limited only to one of those Mr Beer kits. It is definitely my plan to get a little more into the home brewing aspect of things.

So there you have it, a blog about something cool that isn't full of pretentious bullshit. Speaking of which, in case you were wondering....

I am a man of wealth and taste.