New Jersey To Do List

Yesterday's post on Gaslight (and would someone please settle whether it's Gas Light or Gaslight? Their own stuff uses both!) made me think: what New Jersey breweries are still on my "need to visit" list? I took a quick look, and here they are:

• Basil T's in Toms River
• Climax Brewing in Roselle Park
• High Point in Butler
• Krogh's in Sparta
• Trap Rock in Berkeley Heights

Only five left, and the last four are not that far apart. Looks like a trip just waiting to be taken, and I'll just have to get to Basil T's when I can. Ah, Tommy Dewar was right: there is no joy like work.

Gaslight Brewery

I went to a beer can collectors meet in New Jersey today to sign books (and signed quite a few -- good bunch of folks, and thanks to John Ahrens for the invite!), and got out about 1:30. Lunchtime, and I asked where was good in the area. They directed me to a nearby branch of The Office, and I was going to go there -- happily: they're a local chain that does a nice job on their beer -- but I got to thinking: I still haven't visited all the breweries in New Jersey.

So I opened a copy of New Jersey Breweries and took a look at the map. Trap Rock was closest, and I'm intrigued by the place -- lots of beer geeks say 'too fancy,' and I was dressed for the place, having gone to the meet directly from cantoring at 10:30 mass -- but they don't open till 4 on Sundays. Next closest on the "to do" list: Gaslight, in South Orange. Open? Check. Worthy menu? They smoke their own meats; check! I hit the road, and about 20 minutes later, I was parked and walking down a cold, windy street to Gaslight.

I walked into the bar, saw the open dining area to the right, the cozier dining room in the back...and well, you know, I sat down at the bar. Got a Black Gold Oatmeal Stout (4.7%, all the parts in the right place, good pint), and ordered the fresh mozzarella platter (fresh mozz, prosciutto, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, and grilled garlic foccacia: excellent) and the pastrami reuben, an open-faced beauty made with the house-smoked pastrami. It smelled fantastic, tasted great (lean, smoky, peppery...luscious), and was so honking big I took half home for tomorrow [and it was almost as good re-heated!]. I had a glass of Big Dog Porter with the reuben, and that was good -- and clearly different from the stout, a very good sign.

The place was warm and comfortable, service was quick and personable. I've seen a number of very negative reviews of the Gaslight online, all centering on atmosphere and service, and I'm not sure why. I didn't see any of it, although it does sound that it centers mainly on the owner, which means one of two things: the owner is an issue, or someone's disgruntled. Until further personal experience -- which I intend to get, if only to try more of them smoked meats (and I got one of the house-made landjäger to go) -- I'll withhold an opinion on that (and I'm not going to have the comments section turn into another slagging spot, so don't bother).

I can only talk about what happened to me, which was great. Delicious food, competent and enjoyable beer, a good selection of guest craft beers, a very impressive selection of whiskies, and smart, efficient service. Good day at the Gaslight. Wish I had some pictures, but I left the camera at home today.

Review of New Jersey Breweries

Someone finally noticed that Mark and I put out a book... There's a nice review of New Jersey Breweries up at myCentralJersey.com. Sweet, and just in time for the holidays.

As for her calling me on a "misstep" on putting attractions/lodging in Clinton down for Cricket Hill, well... she's right. Looks like that stuff for Cricket Hill should have been in the Long Valley entry. Not sure what happened there; editorial brainfart on my part, definitely, because I wrote that section. Sorry.

Rainy Day in Jersey

I had some time to myself on Saturday -- Thomas was at a forensics tournament (3rd place), Nora was visiting Lancaster with friends, and Cathy was visiting her mom -- so I hopped in the car and headed to New Jersey. It's not a secret that I have not visited all the breweries in New Jersey Breweries: Mark and I split the visits. Before Saturday, I had nine to go. I decided Saturday morning that I might as well grab a few on a free day, and set an ambitious schedule of four; between the weather and personal matters, I got to two.

The weather? Sucked. Gray and rainy, not cold, but not warm either. I headed up Rt. 1, cruising through fairly heavy traffic, headed for New Brunswick. I'm embarrassed to admit that Harvest Moon was on my "Still to Visit" list; New Brunswick's so easy to get to. I was there in under an hour. Parking was a little tough; there was a Rutgers game that day. But someone pulled out of a free streetside space right smack-dab in front of me, so I grabbed it, and walked a block and a half to the place.

Harvest Moon's in a nicely worn older building, with a gleaming copper bar ("gleaming" because they were actually finishing up buffing it as I sat down, and it looked great (and didn't reek of polish, a big plus!)) and the brewery arrayed along the entry; the small silo was right over the entrance.

The man behind the bar set me right up with an Elmes' Mild Manor, a 5+% "mild." Too strong, obviously, but quite tasty, and very drinkable. He also poured me a taste of their new Belgian Wheat Wine. There were some solventy higher alcohol smells at first, but they blew off quickly with swirling, and the beer itself was definitely like nothing else I'd ever had: spicy, good body, not over-hopped (dry-hopped with Fuggles, I think he said), and not too sweet. Nice beer.

Onward! I walked back to the car in the rain, and told Minerva to take me to Pizzeria Uno. God, what crap weather, and construction, and jughandles...but I finally got there, the one Pizzeria Uno that's also a brewpub (remembered as I walked in that there had been rumors that the Poughkeepsie Uno had been slated for the conversion...which then fell through). Walked in, sat down, and got recognized by a reader. So we talked beer for a pleasant 45 minutes, while I got a Gust & Gale Porter (quite nice, chocolatey, no flaws, drink-el-ocity), a spinach/gorgonzola flatbread (also QN, with fresh tomatoes, reminded me of the pizza I had in Rome), and an Ike's IPA (quite clean, not overdone, but these days -- category creep, as I commented to the reader -- more a pale ale than an IPA).

The brick look of the place really took away the "chain place beside Rt. 1" image. I liked that part a lot...even though I was told I wasn't allowed to take this picture. Huh? "Policy", I was told. Well, okay, but...it's a public place! Look, if it's really an issue, Uno, just contact me, let me know, and I'll take it down. But I liked the place, and the beer, and the pizza. Don't ruin it by whining about the photo!

Anyway, I got back in the car and drove home (two brewpubs in 107 miles round trip, not bad), stopping to pick up a piece of liver for Penderyn: Saturday was his birthday. He loved it.

Fall is here, and lots of events

It's officially fall beer season, now that Fall's officially begun and the Munich Oktoberfest is under way. So here's some of the stuff going on around the greater Philadelphia area.

This weekend, as I mentioned here, is the Philly Oktoberfest. I also have two book signings with Mark Haynie for New Jersey Breweries: the first, the fun, the big one at the Flying Fish Brewery in Cherry Hill, Friday night 5-7. Talked to Casey Hughes last night, and he's talking about breaking out some Puckerfish and maybe some other fun stuff. The other signing is at the Borders in Marlton, NJ, Saturday afternoon, 1-3. Can't promise you beer, but we'll tell you all kinds of stories about what we went through to get the book done. And as Uncle Jack mentions, this weekend is also the Victory Fallfest on Saturday and the venerable Sippin' By The River on Sunday (a worthy benefit for IBD and Crohn's Disease research).

Now, the following weekend is a big one. The Lion hosts their 4th annual Oktoberfest, and the event and the beer just keep getting better (Friday and Saturday, Oct 3-4). The 4th is the justly famed Kennett Square Brewfest, and if I weren't speaking at the World Beer Festival in Durham, I guarantee you I'd be in Kennett. And the Grey Lodge has 10-4 Good Buddy, a celebration of small plates and small beers, which should be fun too.

The next weekend, well, there's some stuff going on, but I'll be in San Francisco for WhiskyFest, and most of the brewers will be in Denver for GABF, so you're on your own. You might want to check out the River Horse Oktoberfest in Lambertville -- they've been doing some excellent beers lately; Double White, anyone? -- which is no admission, pay as you go, with live music, both days 12-5.

But the following weekend is big. There's the Stoudt's Micro Fest on Saturday (two sessions), the Newtown Brewfest on Saturday (long sold out; I couldn't even get a ticket), World Cafe Live will have another one of their neat little indoor beerfests with thirty German brewers (including folks like Weltenburger, Schneider, Flensburger, and and Weihenstephaner, along with the usual suspects), and a little farther off, the 5th Annual Chesapeake Bay Real Ale Festival in Baltimore, at the Wharf Rat (27 firkins!). Then Sunday, October 19, join me at the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild Oktoberfest in Newark! From 1-5, you can get all the best from NJ's award-winning brewers and get your copy of New Jersey Breweries signed; what more could you ask?

Well, maybe one more thing. I got a nice little e-mail from Chick's Cafe, where, yes, Katie Loeb is still PhillyMag's most innovative cocktail creator of the year. They have received their license for sidewalk drinking, so enjoy the mellow evenings of autumn. Might have to do a little of that myself.

Another BIG New Jersey Breweries signing

I was so busy this morning that I forgot to mention a big New Jersey Breweries signing next week: Mark and I will be at Flying Fish Brewing on Sptember 26 from 5-7 pm. Come by after work, hang out for a while, get a book, talk to me and Mark and the Flying Fish gang. We'll have a good time, and have some fun. Start your Friday off right!

Busy, busy, busy

I've got a lot to do today and tomorrow before leaving for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival on Thursday, so I'm going to shove a lot into this post and get back to work.

Let's see...last Friday I got a call from Dean Browne, the big Canadian fella (who, concidentally, I spent some quality time with sipping whiskey at last year's Kentucky Bourbon Festival) who does brewing and all-round stuff at Philadelphia Brewing Co. (while working as a...software wallah of some kind, I'm not clear on that). His third job is brewing for Porterhouse Pub out in Lahaska, which is why he called. Dean has four lagers on at the Pub now, and he asked me if I wanted to come out and taste them. So I did.

Dean lined up four lagers for me: Phightin' Philsner, Left Field, North, and Peacekeeper. All four were clean, well-brewed, and drinkable; a little detail is in order, because I think they maybe need some small tweaks. The Philsner was good -- hoppy, drinkable -- but needed to be crisper; it had a bit too much body for a pils. Left Field was a Vienna style, and I pretty much liked it the way it was, and it was the beer I went for a pint of; could maybe use a bit deeper color, but that's quibbling. North was a dry-hopped deep amber; good, but if you're going to dry-hop, I'd go a bit bigger on that. Peacekeeper is a Baltic porter (named in honor of the Canadian Armed Forces and their usual mission) that was pretty damned good for a 6% Baltic (before any of you go off, there are Baltics in that range); I'd maybe like to see some more attenuation here...but you want some beef to a Baltic, so maybe I'm just being picky. Wouldn't hurt to go a bit bigger and pick up beef that way. Anyway, four good lagers (plus PBC beers like Walt Wit and Kenzinger) makes a good reason to visit Porterhouse (as if the excellent food and sweet ambiance weren't enough). Nice job, Dean; and I only pick cuz you asked.

Yesterday Cathy and I were invited to Iron Hill North Wales to sample their new Oktoberfest two-course Oktoberfest dinner...and hang out with brewer Larry Horwitz on his birthday, since his new wife, Whitney, had to work late. I had a glass of Dunkel, which was delicious: clean, malty, just a hint of chocolate. Two courses: a sausage 'salad' of grilled bratwurst and knockwurst arranged on a nicely done warm lentil salad, with mustard and some kind of watercress-like greens; and roasted pork loin (Iron Hill chefs are pig-meat geniuses) with gingersnap gravy, chunky mashed potatoes, and baby carrots. A very nice meal, quite German (except for those greens!), and perfect with another glass of Dunkel. I had coffee with a piece of apple-raspberry pie we split three ways; also very good, with a sweet streusel topping. Whew. Gonna have to hit the bike trail mid-day.

Later this week, as I said, I'm headed for Kentucky. Dinner with Maker's Mark Man Bill Samuels, the Bourbon Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the Bourbonian Taster of the Year competition, and, of course, The Gala: a full schedule, and I will definitely attempt to blog more of it this year. (Honestly, Sam, the real issue is finding wi-fi in Bardstown!) I'll also be hitting the liquor stores to find only-in-Kentucky bottlings...because I don't have enough bourbon...

And then the following weekend, September 27, Mark and I will be signing New Jersey Breweries at the Borders in Marlton, from 1 to 3 in the afternoon (and you might find me picking up a pizza for dinner at Pietro's, after). Come on out and see us!

Of course...if you do, that means that you, like us, will be missing the Philly Oktoberfest '08, a big gala of German and German-type beers put on at the 23rd Street Armory: food, music, and BEER. Tickets are $45, there's also a $75 VIP ticket, and it runs from 1 to 5 PM (VIP session starts at noon). Get all the info here. Believe me, if I weren't at the booksigning, I'd be there.

Finally: Iron Hill in New Jersey

Uncle Jack is reporting at the Beer Yard site that Iron Hill will be opening their 8th brewpub sometime in spring of '09 (roughly...) in -- finally! -- New Jersey: 124 Kings Highway, Maple Shade, NJ, to be precise. Close enough to Flying Fish that if I was standing in the parking lot and Casey Hughes told me he was buying a car, they could hear me laugh, with a following wind.

As Jack mentioned in his blog post, procuring a liquor license was the tough part of this. Liquor licenses in this part of NJ are ridiculously pricey, and, I maintain, part of the problem of nuisance drinking. High liquor license prices put comfy, relaxed corner bars out of business. They also make it tough for brewpubs to open; competition in this densely-populated market is so tough that opening as a beer-only operation is daunting.

The most exciting part of this news -- and I mean that, I am excited -- is that Iron Hill planting the craft beer flag in this part of New Jersey is bound to have a rising tide effect on South Jersey. Flying Fish has done very well in Philly, but continues to hit resistance here because of a lack of an on-premise outlet; Cork has an excellent small beer selection, but is primarily a restaurant with limited bar space, Rat's the same; and sorry, but P.J. Whelihan's just doesn't cut it as much more than a flash bar with a few big crafts, a kind of NJ-equivalent of a J.D. Wetherspoon's pub. Overall, this area is shockingly free of specialty beer taps and bottle selections, particularly given its proximity to the wonderful diversity and thick net of choices that is southeastern Pennsylvania.

Iron Hill should change that. It's the Fort Apache theory: plant an outpost of craft beer in an area, and if it doesn't go under -- and you know Iron Hill won't -- more places will serve craft beer, more places will shift to a craft menu. That's probably going to mean that we'll see NJ fewer faces in the Philly beer scene. But that's a change I'm willing to go through if it means they're happier at home. Even if it does mean that New Jersey Breweries will be out of date this time next year!

Cricket Hill Jersey Summer Breakfast Ale

"Breakfast ale" makes some people think of oatmeal stout, chocolate beers, fruit beers. I did a wheat beer brunch at the Grey Lodge for Philly Beer Week (and we’re doing it again in March 2009; mark your calendars), and that’s what we’ve got here…I think.

I know nothing at all about Cricket Hill Jersey Summer Breakfast Ale except that it’s from Cricket Hill, it’s orangey in color and a little cloudy, and…it tastes kind of like a witbier, only a little bit heavier and more bitter. Like all the Cricket Hill beers I’ve had, it’s more in the session beer range, quaffable, and definitely not mainstream lager. Don’t know how much longer this will be around, but if you like witbier – Allagash, Celis, Hoegaarden, Blue Moon – you ought to try this to see if it hits you in your favored range on that spectrum. Me, it’s not making it. Kind of okay, but not okay enough.

Me, talking about New Jersey Breweries

Video beerhound Jeff Linkous (who does the New Jersey beer-centered blog Beer-Stained Letter) interviewed me yesterday for a couple pieces he's doing, and then did a video spot on New Jersey Breweries. It came out pretty well: take a look.

And remember: we've got two launch events in New Jersey this Friday and Saturday! It's Friday evening at J.J. Bittings in Woodbridge, and Saturday afternoon at Tun Tavern in Atlantic City. Here's the details, come see us!

Where I'll Be This Week

It's a busy week coming up for me. After writing about 8,000 words worth of stories this week (plus some blog posts), it's all about events.

I'm doing an interview for a video documentary on River Horse this Thursday, the 24th, and then, in a nice bit of synchronicity, I'll be hosting another Firkin Night at the Hulmeville Inn with a cask of River Horse Special Ale, dry-hopped in the cask with a big wad of Cascades. Hey, get your American Pale Ale groove on, baby! They'll also have Hop Hazard and Imperial Cherry Amber and I'm hoping the Double White holds out. That's 6-9 (or until the firkin kicks; last month's only took 110 minutes!)

Friday I'm doing a private tasting for a birthday party; I am available for private and business entertainment, doing beer or whiskey tastings, education, or dinners (contact me if you're interested).

Then Saturday I'm judging at the big Battle of the Brewery Bands at Stoudt's. Here's the skinny on this amazing, amusing event:

THE BATTLE OF THE BREWERY BANDS

Local brew bands get to show off their other talents in a musical fight for the “Golden Keg” and the benefit of their choice. All proceeds will be donated to the winners' favorite charities. The winning band will have 50% of the proceeds donated to the charity. Second place winning band will receive 20% for charity, and the additional 30% will be divided up among the rest of the bands to donate. Everyone is a winner for charity. The event is from 6-10 pm, ticket price is $20 which includes beer, food, music and a good old ass-kickin' time. Participating breweries will bring a keg of their choice. Only 600 tickets available, call now for tickets 717-484-4386-X204.

Judges for the event will be: Tom Peters - owner of the great Monk's Cafe in Philly. Lew Bryson - me. Kevin Trayner - Ale Street News beer writer. Francine Scoboris - Berks County Living editor.

Brewery Bands participating --chosen charity
Tröeg's "Starsan" - Capital Area Greenbelt Association
Victory's "Brewers Blues" - A Hospital in Philadelphia
Legacy's "Brews Brothers" - Humane Society
Union Barrel Work's "Sunset Limited" - American Cancer Society
PA. HomeBrew Club's "The Yeastie Boys" - Hospice
Stoudt's "Bad Strudel" - Relay for Life

It ought to be fun, and it's sure as hell gonna be loud. Come on up to Adamstown and join us!

Finally, Sunday marks the first official launch event for New Jersey Breweries at the Grey Lodge Pub at 11 AM. Get all the details here or here, which is probably gonna be more up to the minute!

New Jersey Breweries launch events

We now have three signings scheduled for the launch of New Jersey Breweries.

The first is a brunch signing at the Grey Lodge Pub on July 27 from 11-2; in Philly, admittedly, but there's always been a lot of NJ drinkers there, and Scoats will have plenty of NJ beer on hand.

Second is at J.J. Bitting in Woodbridge, NJ, on August 1 at 5:00, probably going to about 8 PM. Bitting is just down the street from the NJ Transit Woodbridge station, so that's an easy one to get to (and get home from, if you catch my draft--er, drift).

Third is the next day, August 2, at Tun Tavern in Atlantic City, 1-4 PM. Hey, New Jersey Breweries, me and Mark, AC, and fresh Tun Tavern beer: I know it's a casino, but how can you lose?

Hope to have more events to announce soon, watch this space.

Mark Haynie is an author

That's right, folks: New Jersey beer writer Mark Haynie is now officially a published author. That's because I just got word that copies of New Jersey Breweries arrived at the warehouse at Stackpole Books this morning, almost three weeks ahead of schedule.

Congratulations, Mark! Together we've written a book that takes readers through the breweries and brewpubs of New Jersey, from the big A-B plant in Newark to Tun Tavern in AC, from High Point in rural Butler to smack-dab-in-the-middle-of-it Gaslight in South Orange. Completed in late November, updated in February, and now in print. Take a look at some samples here.

It took us almost five years to put this together; not from want of my editor, Kyle Weaver, pushing me. We didn't believe there was enough to do the book. We were wrong. There's beer, brewers, and bars a-plenty in here, and you'll be glad we did it. Look for it on Amazon, or watch for Mark and I doing a booksigning; I'll post them as we get them scheduled.

Changes, gradual in nature

As you can see, I've changed the picture at the top of the blog for the first time since I started it up 18 months ago. Not really significant of any great change in direction, just felt like changing the picture.

That's just a small change here, though; the big changes are taking place over at my long-dormant website as I start to crank up for the release of New Jersey Breweries. I've been doing some housecleaning over there this morning, and I'll be doing long-overdue guidebook updates this week.

If you have any updates that I need to get done on the PA, NY, or mid-Atlantic books, please send me an e-mail, and thanks!

The Session #17 -- Declaring my Independence

It's The Session, beer blogging on a common topic, and this month it's "drinking anti-seasonally." See all the links soon here.

Rob DeNunzio ("Pfiff!") declared that this month's Session would be about "Drinking anti-seasonally." Rob has a bit more than the usual beer geek's animus towards light lager, and I think he wanted us all to drink heavy in the heat.

Screw that. I chose to interpret this differently, aided by the calendar and Thomas Jefferson. Today is Independence Day in America, The Glorious Fourth of July, and I chose to celebrate for The Session by going to a brewpub owned by Englishmen and drinking English-type real ales brewed on an English-made system with English yeast. That's anti-seasonal, in my book.

My wife's brothers are here for the long holiday weekend. This morning, Carl and I loaded up our bikes and headed to Stockton, NJ, up along the Delaware River. We rode the Delaware & Raritan State Park trail 12 miles to Frenchtown, then 4 miles up a decidedly more dodgy single-track to Milford. We racked and locked the bikes, changed into fresh t-shirts, and parked our butts at the bar of the Ship Inn. We each got 20 oz. pints of cask Best Bitter, and got thoroughly stuck into them.

The Ship Inn is a Ringwood yeast brewery, a yeast that raises the hackles of many a geek. To use Mr. DeNunzio's title: pfiff. Beer is as beer does, my momma always said (no, she didn't, but what the hell, Tom Hanks never played ping pong with the Chinese, either), and this is good beer. So good we had another, and then got a 5 liter polypin to take home.

I'm a solid American, a patriot, and I'll be picking up my craft beer (Sierra Nevada Summerfest and Flying Fish Farmhouse) later today. But those pints of English ale, hard-won by a long ride and standing determinedly session-strength against a craft onslaught of "Bigger! Bitter! Stuffed with more flavor than you can taste!", were a counter-move that made my day. Glad we smoothed things over with the Limeys.

New Jersey Breweries Launch

We've got the first of several launch events for New Jersey Breweries to announce:

Co-author Mark Haynie and I will do the Pennsylvania launch at the Grey Lodge Pub on Sunday July 27th, an 11 AM to 2 PM brunch affair. Scoats is going to have a number of New Jersey beers on, from Flying Fish (of course!), Cricket Hill, Climax, Ramstein, and River Horse...and maybe some others.

We would have liked to have our first event in New Jersey, it would have been appropriate, but...it's just how the schedule worked out. Watch for the official New Jersey launch, coming up soon!

New Jersey Breweries delivery date

I just heard from my editor at Stackpole Books: New Jersey Breweries arrives in their warehouses on July 25th. Mark and I will have it shortly after that, as will book stores. I've contacted Mark, and we're going to be deciding where to have launch parties at New Jersey breweries, brewpubs, and beer bars the following weekend, August 1-3. I'll keep you apprised on where you can find us. (If you're a New Jersey brewery, brewpub, or beer bar, and you're interested, drop me a line!)

New Jersey Breweries one step closer...

Ah, a lovely thing to behold...

We've got the cover art to look at, and we like it.

Even better, Mark and I met yesterday to go over the proofs of the manuscript, and it went very smoothly. We went through the whole thing in under half an hour. I take it up to Stackpole Tuesday, and away it goes.

We're still looking at August for publication.

New Jersey Breweries, Tröegs, & Iron Hill Lancaster

You may be wondering why STAG shut down for a week. Well, New Jersey Breweries was all wrapped up, but I had a ton of Malt Advocate work to get caught up on, a lot of house and family things had backed up, and I had two trips to get in. The one, last Friday, was to give a talk on Prohibition to a group up near Harrisburg, a commitment I'd made months ago. The other, last Wednesday, was more beery.

I've made a tradition out of hand-delivering the manuscripts of the Breweries books to my editor, Kyle Weaver, at Stackpole Books in Mechanicsburg, Penn., starting with the first edition of Pennsylvania Breweries. This one, as Kyle pointed out, marked 10 years that we've been working together. So after I dropped off the chunk of paper, and told him a few stories about putting the book together, we went out to lunch at the Pizza Grille in Camp Hill I had a Tröegs Pale Ale -- actually, we both did; Kyle's onto good beer now too, and always seeks out the locals when he travels -- and a really different mushroom pizza, with smoked mozzarella, and a wild mushroom puree instead of the traditional tomato sauce. Delicious, and the beer was great.

It was so good, in fact, that after I said good-bye to Kyle, I steered the Passat over to Tröegs. I wanted to taste the latest Scratch Beer, #6, loosely patterned on a Dortmunder Export. I caught Chris Trogner just leaving, and he turned around and poured me a beer (he was headed for the bank, and was willing to put that off). Well, you know, I like Exports, and I liked this beer, quite a bit, actually, but... No, it's not precisely an Export. It's got the heft, and the color, but it's hopped a bit more like a pilsner.

And that was where we took off when John Trogner joined us. Is that a problem, that it's not a helles, a hellerbock, an Export, or a pilsner? No, we both agreed, it wasn't, what it was was very interesting. We had a beer that didn't fit in the traditional spectrum of lagers that everyone seems to have set in stone. About the only thing anyone's done is to lighten the color of Festbier and make that bastard "imperial pilsner." That hardly seems to be tradition-breaking. But then, lagers are things of subtle differences, at least...traditionally.

Makes me very interested to think about what could be done to a lager. Folks weren't shy about experimenting when the process was quantified in the 1800s: we got schwarzbier, erlanger, budweiser, pilsner, wiener, helles, dunkles, bock, doppelbock, eisbock, rauchbier, braunbier...and then what? A couple damned world wars come along, the communists slap down the production quotas, and brewers stop thinking of anything except how to make more of it cheaper? That's nothing but embarrassing. I left Tröegs with thoughts buzzing in my head.

Down the road to my last stop: the official opening day of Iron Hill Lancaster. I'm a Franklin & Marshall College alumnus (as is Cathy, my wife), and it was weird and wonderful to see Iron Hill right across the street from Williamson Field, where I used to march with the band at football games. It was also weird and wonderful to see Iron Hill folk like Kevin Finn, Mark Edelson, and Lancaster head brewer Paul Rutherford (and publicity gal supreme Jennie Hatton) up in my old stomping grounds. I love the idea of Iron Hill in Lancaster -- not sure how Lancaster Brewing feels about it, but two brewpubs is good for a town in my experience, and often good for each of the brewpubs, too.

The beer? I had a red lager (hmmm, red lager? Map that one) that was smooth and malty, a short sip of a sweet and aromatic Belgian Pale Ale, and a glass of Dubbel that I had to leave part of because of alcohol intake -- it was plenty good enough to drink, believe me. Wish I could have stayed for dinner, but I had to run on down the road and pick up Penderyn at the folks' (I couldn't leave him in his crate that long, and it was too cold to leave him outside), and then get on home.

And that's some of where I've been and what I've been doing.

New Jersey Breweries done...

At last! I just finished writing and printed the manuscript off, sent the file to the publisher, it's done. Till the edits come back, that is.

Great job by my co-author, Mark Haynie, a New Jersey native and fellow founding member of the New Jersey Association of Beerwriters, and much thanks to the brewers and bar owners of New Jersey!

And now...back to blogging.