Update: Progress on River Horse move to Ewing

Logo on floor, a little dusty now

For the folks at River Horse Brewing, the finish line for the brewery's ongoing move may include something bigger than making beer in a new location.

"It'll be time for a nap," says Chris Walsh, one of River Horse's co-owners. 

He's joking. 

Sort of. 

Moving the 17-year-old brewery from Lambertville, its founding location in the brick Original Trenton Cracker factory building beside the Delaware River and canal, to Ewing 14 miles south is no easy task and could never be accomplished over night.

Or in a month.

Or two.

Still quite difficult in three. Things move just so fast, and there's a number of modifications going on.

This is, after all, a move to meet current growth needs, plus those of the future. 

It can be exhausting overseeing the modifications and still running the brewery in the original location, paying a premium in rent there because you're out-of-lease (time is money), and pushing to wind down that location to get into the new one.

It's critical to keep your beers, like your very popular Summer Blonde Ale, flowing to draft and retail accounts and the beer fans who helped you outgrow the first home. 

For River Horse, the exit from Lambertville, a walk-around town in southern Hunterdon County that's  practically devoid of retail chain stores but laden with art galleries and antique shops, is an undertaking that got going in January. 

Back then, the hopes were that things would wrap up about now, or be wrapping up. The revised forecast is now the end of May/start of June. 

"I've accepted that," Chris says, allowing himself a laugh amid a sigh of resignation.

General floor plan of brewery space

That doesn't mean there hasn't been substantial progress at the Ewing location, 25,000 square feet on four acres at 2 Graphics Drive, around the corner from the town's police station. It just may not look like it, not like a brewery at the moment. But in fact, there's been plenty effort to that end – drains, concrete work, plumbing, company logos painted on the brick-red non-skid flooring ... 

At this point, River Horse is coming out of the backstretch and into a far turn. The homestretch is in sight, and so is the finish line. 

"The drains system is completely in; the floor is epoxied. So that part is done," Chris says. "The two internal rooms are built for the mill room and the mechanicals. The piping is probably 75 percent done; electrical is probably 35 to 40 percent done. We have to get it insulated, all tested, and a couple tweaks here and there. Then we're good. But that takes some time."

When it's ready, the 25-barrel brewhouse and some fermentation tanks will be brought down from Lambertville, connected to waiting support components and fired up. (Over time, the brewhouse will be replaced with one double the its size; larger fermentation and bright beer tanks will also be swapped in for the 40 barrel tanks that River Horse now has. Overall production is expected to increase 30 to 40 percent.)

"We've put in all the vital organs. They're already going to be here," Chris says. "There's going to be a new chiller, new boiler, new air compressor. We don't need to move any of that, so we can get going here ... So it's the brewhouse and some fermentation, and away we go.

However, it's a different story right now, Chris notes, for grain silos that will go outside. A tasting room is also on the back burner, a lower priority as far as immediate needs go. But the brewery expects to still conduct tours as it resolves that addition. 

"The silos ... we're still working on that. We may need to continue with bagged grain and a manual process of getting rid of spent grain and that kind of stuff for a short amount of time, just to get in here and get going," he says. "But that will eventually all go over to a spent-grain silo ...

Exterior of building

"The tasting room, we haven't even started. We want to continue to have tours and tastings, but what we'll probably do is something makeshift out here (on the brewery floor), with the tap system that we have now, put some wheels on it, bring it out here with some picnic tables, that kind of stuff. Then we'll start on a remodel, something more formal, more settled. We just don't have the resources now to take that on as well."

The tasting room, Chris says, needs to be developed with the brewery's current and future fans in mind.  The new home won't be like Lambertville, where a lot of people stopped by because they were already in town for something. It's also not a matter of just having dedicated space for brewery special events; tour visits of all walks need to be meaningful experiences.

"It's a concept we have to figure out, how we want to use it, what kind of theme we want to have," he says. "In Lambertville, we were a stop-by. We were still a destination for a lot of people, but a lot of it was, 'I can't take antique shopping any more,' or whatever it was, using the (canal) towpath, or whatever you were doing. 

"But here it will be more of a destination, so it has to be more accommodating ... Friday tours, how are we going to get people here? When they walk in the door, what's the experience going to be like?"

Maybe a good rest, that nap, will yield some ideas on that.

But for now, River Horse has a few more miles to go before anyone sleeps.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Find the January post on River Horse's move here.

Calendar note: Lions, tigers & beers, oh my

A menagerie of Jersey animal-named craft breweries at this Saturday's Summer Ale Festival at the Philadelphia Zoo.

Flying Fish ... River Horse ... Cricket Hill, plus Triumph (think of its Pennsylvania brewpubs for this one) and Climax Brewing are on the card for the fundraiser festival, now in its third year. (Alas, bad news if you don't have a ticket: it's sold out.)

The event is a special one for Climax owner Dave Hoffmann. Dave's a huge fan and supporter of zoos (the big cats are a personal favorite of his) and enjoys putting zoo tours on his itinerary whenever he travels.

"I've been to so many zoos ... San Diego, I went to a couple of really big zoos in Europe, couple of big zoos in Canada. I've been all over the place, lots of zoos," he says.

These days, Dave does fewer festivals than he did when he launched his Roselle Park-based brewery 15 years ago. But he jumped at the invitation to be part of the brewery lineup for last year's edition of the zoo festival and again this year.

He gives the Philadelphia Zoo high marks.

"At the Philly zoo you can get real close to the animals, like the big cats, the gorillas. Whereas in most of the other zoos, they're kinda far away. It's a really good zoo, very well kept," he says.

Sounds, tastes & the power to unite

Behind every beer you'll find people – those who made it, those who drink it.

Quite often, you'll find a song, too. That's because music and beer are sensory pleasures – sound and taste – and share a potent power to unite people.

But that's just for starters (and when's the last time you went to a beer festival that didn't have a soundtrack?).

The parallels between music and beer roll on, like a jam band in a great groove, connecting with an audience that's dancing in the aisles.

Think styles – jazz, rock, R&B, blues, hip-hop, country, alt country, folk, bluegrass, classical, opera, big band ... bock, pils, dunkel, stout, pale ales, black ales, singles, doubles, triples, quads, reds, session ales, strong ales, old ales, wheat beers.

Think business approaches – big breweries and big record labels vs. small craft brewers and indie labels. Think shared experiences – Woodstock and the Great American Beer Festival. Think indigenous brews (kvass) and indigenous tunes (parang).

You get the picture.

With all that going on, it's no surprise to find pro brewers who are musicians away from the mash tun, and pro musicians who are brewers off stage.

Kyle Hollingsworth, keyboard player with The String Cheese Incident and his own Kyle Hollingsworth Band, is the music world's biggest ambassador to craft beer, brewing and homebrewing. String Cheese has nearly a dozen albums to its credit, while Kyle has a couple of solo albums under his belt, and now a nationally distributed craft pale ale, Hoopla, to his name. Not to mention a freshly made homebrew bubbling away in the basement of his Colorado home.

Both brews figure into Kyle's summer tour plans.

New Jersey's craft beer industry has two brewer-musicians: Bryan Baxter, a solo artist whose day job is turning out hefe and dunkel weizens and imperial pilsner for High Point Brewing in Butler and its Ramstein brand; and Chris Rakow, who's the guitarist for jam band Ludlow Station when he's not brewing tanks of Tripel Horse, Hop Hazard or Hop-A-Lot-Amus Double IPA for River Horse Brewing in Lambertville.

Bryan, 27, who just took Best in Show judging (for the Double Platinum Blonde hefe) at the Tap New York festival last weekend, sees loads of similarities between brewing and making music. (That's Bryan on the left in the photo.)

"Look at it side by side, the major beer (companies) are like the record companies. If you really want to get your record out there you have to go through the big guys," says Bryan, who homebrewed before landing a job with High Point and finished the first half of the Seibel brewing course. "Small craft beers are like the indie labels. The cool bands are the ones under ground; it's the same thing with craft beer."

Bryan's first disc, Simple Is Beautiful (available on iTunes), came out last summer; it's 10 compositions in the singer-songwriter/folk genre. On the album, Bryan sang and played acoustic guitar, banjo, lap steel guitar, mandolin and harmonica, and was backed by friends on keyboards and drums. (As a musician, he cites as influences Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Avett Brothers and Ryan Adams.)

"I've been in bands all my life. I never put out a full-length album because the bands would break up before we could do it," Bryan says.

His best chance at making an album was by going solo. "I got sick and tired of losing songs because the band broke up. I'm never gonna break up with myself," he says.

When he was gigging around (he's taking a break for a while), you could find him at the Court Tavern in New Brunswick, or at some basement shows in Brooklyn. Bryan has also played at Maxwell's in Hoboken, trodding a stage that has seen its share of big names (David Byrne, John Cale, The Pogues, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth, to name a few).

Chris Rakow has been playing guitar for 16 of his 28 years; he homebrewed during his college days at Rutgers University, and has been running the brewing operations at River Horse for a year and a half. (An American Brewers Guild alum, he also put in some time working for Harpoon at its Vermont brewery).

With Ludlow Station, Chris continues to play with two friends from his middle school years, a time when he "learned every single Led Zepplin tune." The band released an album of eight original tunes last year, titling it simply Ludlow Station.

Brewing and music keep Chris busy.

"On our schedule coming up, we've got a gig every other week up until like July ... Old Bay in New Brunswick, it's a good beer bar, good music; Triumph in New Hope; there's this place, BBQ's, in Annandale; and Pearly Baker's, a nice beer bar in Easton, Pennsylvania," Chris says.

As for Ludlow Station's style, Chris notes, "We cover some Dead tunes, but I wouldn't say we're too much like the Dead. It's much more like jazz, funk, blues rock. Our instrumentals are more intricate because there's no singing. When we have a singer, we have a couple of originals, and when he's there we play some covers, like some Dead covers, Stevie Wonder covers."

Chris' influences are more expansive, however.

"I like John Scolfield a lot, his later stuff, his jazz stuff he played way back is good," Chris says. "I like mostly key players; I like Medeski, Martin and Wood a whole lot. They're kinda like my biggest influence. They're a jazz trio; they're just keyboard, bass and drum."

Speaking of keyboards, you'd probably have to scour the planet to find a musician other than Kyle Hollingsworth who has pondered brewing beer while performing.

"The music I play is very improvisational," Kyle begins, "start the set, get the boil started, then do first hop drop, run and do a jam for 45 minutes, do the second addition and then quickly play a five-minute song and do the third addition," he says.

Kyle laughs when he mentions the idea, but there's no question beer is a huge part of his life, brewing it and hosting festivals (Kyle's Brew Fest, done last year with breweries Great Divide and Deschutes, to name a couple).

"I've definitely spent a lot more energy on crafting my musicianship, and less spent on my beer. But it's always been there, and it's something I enjoy when I come home after a tour," he says.

"Part of my crusade over the last couple of years is I've been touring the country with my band and String Cheese, and I've been doing meet-and-greets and lots of other stuff at select breweries on the way ... from like down in San Diego, it was Stone. Then I went up to San Francisco, then I went up to Deschutes in Oregon, then down to Dogfish," Kyle says. "The vision was, for me, to connect the dots between music and beer."

Kyle's been a homebrewer for 24 of his 42 years, drawn to the craft by the chance to experiment and create something sensory, much like music. While on the road this summer, he'll be doing homebrewing seminars at festivals (like Summer Camp), bringing in tow an India pale ale he brewed just 10 or so days ago.

"I'm going to be like a 'brewru' ... we'll kinda explain the process and do some tastings, and hopefully get some people into brewing," Kyle, a professed hophead, says by phone from his home in Boulder.

That IPA he just made is the opposite of Hoopla, the brew he did with Boulder Beer that gets distributed nationally this month. "It's totally dry-hopped to the max. It's looking and tasting real good," he says, referring to the IPA.

"Over the last two years I've done a lot of different beers – mainly pilot type systems – in a lot of bigger breweries in the country. There's a great place called Avery here in Boulder; a local place called Mountain Sun (which did his Hoppingsworth IPA in 2009), there's a place called Upslope; Odell, I've done a pilot batch ...

"But this is the first time I've done a national, canned or bottled beer. So I'm very excited about that," he says.

With Hoopla, Kyle was thinking of Tennessee's Bonnaroo music festival.

"I went to Boulder Beer and sat down with their brewers and said, 'I want to make a beer that's a festival drinking beer.' Specifically, String Cheese is playing Bonnaroo this year, so I was thinking, 'What would you want to drink at Bonnaroo when it's 85 degrees, or 110 degrees, and 100 percent humidity?' I'm a huge hophead, so I wanted it to have some hops in it, but I wasn't quite ready to do the hop bomb at Bonnaroo," he says.

"So my vibe was to make it a pale that was a little hoppier than people expect – we were calling it a pale ale, but in my mind it's more of an IPA that's of a lower bitterness; it's not quite over the top. So it's an easy-drinking 5.7 (ABV), lightly hopped pale. The whole idea was to have something you can grab in your hand and go see 12 hours of music with, and keep drinking them, instead of one really strong beer for an hour."

And thus was born, Kyle jokes, a new style: FPA, Festival Pale Ale.

But in a pure sense, for Kyle, brewing and performing on stage are moments of creation, born in the alignment of intuition, impulse and passion that demand you make a decision.

Do you play a solo the way fans are used to hearing it, or follow the energy of the moment, the ongoing jam and the crowd's vibe, and take a chance by spicing that solo with something new? With brewing, do you follow your tried-and-true recipe and make the great brew you know, or take that recipe and play it a another way, adding some new ingredients that the moment at hand suggests?

"For me, it's all about taking a chance, all about taking that risk. That's the connection I'm seeing personally," Kyle says.

Around the world in 100 beers & Jersey, too

Jersey-made brews pouring in Secaucus on Saturday.

Festival promoter Starfish Junction is bringing the international beer show it staged last fall at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island and last June in Philadelphia to the Meadowlands Exposition Center, marking Starfish's first foray into Garden State beer festivals.

The International Great Beer Expo boasts 100 beers from 50 breweries hailing from 25 countries.

"This is a festival for those who enjoy imports and not so much the craft brands," says Joe Chierchie, sales and marketing manager for Starfish Junction.

Still, if you're going, you can get an array of 2-ounce pours of American craft beers in your logoed sampler glass, including Jersey-made beers from Cricket Hill, Flying Fish, High Point, and River Horse, and contract brews from Jersey-based Boaks Beverage, East Coast Beer Company and Hometown Beverages.

You'll find the Garden State brands interspersed throughout the international labels. "We like to mix in the local guys with the big guys, so you can get a real taste between certain styles," Joe says.

Starfish Junction is widely known for its beer shows in Philly and New York. The timing was right, Joe says, for Starfish to set its sights on New Jersey.

"We're based in Long Island and the business partnerships made with those festivals there led to the (2007) Philly festival," he says. "There was an outcry for a Jersey festival. Through distributors and the connections made in New Jersey we found venue that would work."

Tickets, priced at 40 bucks ($10 for designated drivers), are still available for both the afternoon (12:30-4 p.m.) and evening (5:30-10 p.m.) sessions.

Great minds collaborate – maybe jam, too

Do a Web search on brewing collaborations and you'll find plenty of brewers and breweries that have put their collective minds and talents together to produce imaginative beers.

Oregon beer-makers Deschutes Brewery and Hair of the Dog Brewing have a collaboration brew due out in 2011. And here in New Jersey, Flying Fish's Exit 6 Wallonian Rye is the effort of the Cherry Hill brewery working with Nodding Head (Philadelphia) and Stewart's (Bear, Delaware) brewpubs earlier this year.

We're thinking of another collaboration that COULD (all caps because it hasn't even been brought up) produce a great beer and a musical tie-in to boot: River Horse in Lambertville and High Point in Butler, two breweries whose mash tuns are manned by quite capable guitar players.

First of all, neither brewery has been approached with an idea to collaborate (that we know of), so let's make that clear. We're not reporting something, we're suggesting something.

The collaboration would work this way: Pick a beer style (a weizenbock or a dunkel of some sort), refine the idea, brew it. Chris Rakow, guitarist-brewer at RH, and Bryan Baxter, guitarist-brewer at High Point, take things a step further and put their musical minds and fretboard chops together on a tune, too.

Easier said than done of course. But imagine the rocking release party for the beer.

In search of ...

Stainless steel ... some extra tank space, to be extact.

Last year was a pretty good year for New Jersey brewers, with some nice spikes in growth. For instance, High Point was up nearly 30 percent as of last month. Growth is up about 45 percent for River Horse, which is where the blog's compass of discussion is pointing today.

They're slammin' busy along the Delaware Canal in Lambertville. They have been for some time, to the point where an extra brace or foursome of 40-barrel fermenters and an extra pair of bright beer tanks would comfortably ease the production pace for brewer Chris Rakow, his assistant, and the packaging staff. (There have been some personnel changes at RH, and Chris, formerly of Harpoon Brewing, has been handling the brewing for a while now.)

The pace has been tight enough to force RH to pull back on some of its product-lineup plans, a tough thing for a brewery that has been really amping up its flight of brews over the past 27 months (i.e. a double wit, a double ipa, a dunkel, a honey wheat, a stout and an unfiltered lager).

Demand for last year's summer ale trumped some jazzing up of RH's Belgian triple and a planned bottling a fall dunkel. However, RH did unveil a second season, or redux version (as the brewery calls it), of the hybrid oatmeal milk stout it debuted in 2008 in the Brewer's Reserve roster. (Note to RH followers: Consider this busy pace when wondering why the RH Web site runs a little behind on updates.)

So some more steel is rather import.

RH has been scouting around for used tanks for a while (pre-owned is, of course, more economical that commissioning a metal fabricator). But getting that optimal match between brewery needs and what's available on the market, says RH co-owner Glenn Bernabeo, can prove challenging. But, he adds, the brewery hopes something can be in place around March.

Meanwhile, look for an RH rye pale ale to come out soon (most likely draft) and the reviving of back-burnered plans to pumpkin-spice the Belgian triple.

Maneuvering room may be tight, but the folks at RH are still have some tricks up their sleeves.

River Horse update

There's a brewer change at River Horse to report.

Head brewer Christian Ryan is off to London, where his wife was transferred by her employer. Replacing Christian is Greg Papp, an alumus of Victory Brewing and Shipyard Brewing, and most recently the BJ's Restaurant & Brewery chain.

More to come soon.

Updates from River Horse & Boaks Beer

A quick post with some updates (no more tax talk for a change).

We caught up with Glenn Bernabeo from River Horse last weekend at the beer and barbecue festival at WXPN in Philadelphia (a shout out to the Pobutkiewicz brothers, Dave and Russ, for sharing a surplus ticket).

Between pours of RH Belgian Double Wit and a new beer with molasses, Glenn gave us an update on what’s been going on at the Lambertville operation. (Some points he made confirm plans we’ve noted in the past. Also, sorry for the photo quality; iPhones are cool, but a digital SLR camera they are not, especially in low light.)

If you liked RH’s double IPA, Hop-a-lot-amus, it’s coming back around in bottles. Soon. RH released it draft-only back in the fall. Look for the next iteration, with ramped-up hop aroma, to hit the shelves in April (that’s when their Summer Blonde Ale comes out as well).

In early May, RH will release another Brewer’s Reserve, this time a rye hefeweizen, aptly called Hefe-rye-zen (we think that’s how it’s spelled, or something close). RH’s Brewer’s Reserve series has done well for them, notably their first one, Belgian Double Wit, which debuted a year ago and quickly earned a spot in the regular lineup. One of the more recent reserve series beers, an oatmeal milk stout, was quite popular, too; it’s scheduled to come back in October.

Also returning is Dunkel Fester, a big hit of a dark lager that was draft only last year. It’s in bottles in August (a long wait for Fester and the stout's return, but it will be worth it; trust us.) Along the way, you’ll see pumpkin spice in Tripel Horse, Glenn says.

And here’s a cool one, draft-only, but damn, seems like when RH says draft only, things end up available in bottles pretty quickly afterward. Glenn says the brewery is observing Philly Beer Week (it starts this Friday and runs through the 15th) with Dubbel Honey Weizenbock. It's been specially brewed for PBW. You can try it at the Philly Craft Beer Festival at the Cruise Ship Terminal at the Navy Yard this Saturday, or at the Fair Food/White Dog Foundation Brewer’s Plate food-and-beer pairing on Sunday, held this year at the Penn Museum (at U Penn, of course), a popular spot for beer functions, to say the least.

Here’s RH’s tasting notes on the Lenten wheat bock: Munich and caramel malts up front, rounded out by orange blossom honey, clocks in at 7.5% ABV. We're looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, we also caught up with Brian Boak of Boaks Beer/Boak Beverage yesterday.

If you recall, Brian contracted with High Point Brewing in Butler to brew his flagship Russian imperial stout, Monster Mash (10% ABV), and a lineup of Belgian beers. Monster Mash and the Belgian dubbel Two Blind Monks (7.4% ABV) will be at the craft beer fest and the Brewer’s Plate, plus PBW bar events, including the Grey Lodge, on Monday and Tuesday.

To be sure, Brian’s runs a small operation, relying on High Point to work his beers into their brewing schedule wherever they can. That's not necessarily an easy thing, since High Point also does contract brewing for the folks who own the sister restaurants of Trap Rock.

Brian's found a lot of success with his beer in eastern Pennsylvania and expects to be selling his beer in the Pittsburgh area in May or June. Not bad for a guy who has had hand-labeled case after case of bottles and hauled keg after keg to his Pa. distributor in his white Boaks Beverage van.

And there's a change on the horizon for him. By mid-April, a 30-barrel fermenter that Brian had custom-made in China (for about 19 grand) is expected to be installed at High Point. That will give his brews some much-needed dedicated fermenting space. Pretty cool for him, we say.

Drink your milk (stout)

This just came out, the third installment in River Horse's brewer's reserve series.

We got a sneak taste last month at the brewery's Oktoberfest, just before it was scheduled to be brewed. It's in the glass now, going pretty good with a spicy chicken dish for lunch.

More words to come.

Joy to the wort

Yes, Virginia, there is a Samichlaus.

It exists not just as a single, cheerful, grand beer, annually brewery-gifted to the masses at Yuletide, but in the hearts of everyone who welcomes the moment to throw arms around old friends and clasp hands, meeting in the pub at Yuletide.

Alas! How dreary it would be if there were no Samichlaus. It would be as dreary as if there were no alehouses at all. There would be no friendship bonds made ’round pints and banter, no laughter, no cheer to make tolerable this existence. We should have no pleasures, except in Sports Center and widescreen TV. The forever light by which camaraderie fills our world would be extinguished.

OK, enough of that, before the literary license gets revoked. And apologies to Francis Pharcellus Church, the longtime-gone New York Sun, and Don “Joe Sixpack” Russell, whose account a couple years back about touring Austria’s Castle Eggenberg Brewery, home to the actual Samichlaus (Swiss-German for Santa Claus) beer, opened with a turn of phrase upon Church’s classic editorial.

The point is, Yuletide fast approaches, and regardless whether your elves are Mad, breaking Bad, Seriously Bad (even Criminally Bad), or Santa’s showing his Butt, you’ll find no truer cheer than to celebrate the holidays and friendship over a pint of beer.

Mulled, honeyed, fruited or just brewed extra rich and alcohol-robust to bring a warming smile, ’tis the season for these beers, and Don, already a renowned beacon for all things malt and hops, is lighting the way again, as our beer fridges become nothing short of advent calendars.

Don availed himself last week for a chat about his latest book, Christmas Beer: The Cheeriest, Tastiest and Most Unusual Holiday Brews, and talked about the inaugural Yuletide beer festival at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, set for the Saturday sandwiched between Christmas and New Year’s. (FYI: Don's a co-organizer of the festival.)

Yuletide beer guide
Three years in the making, Don’s latest beer treatise is the product of world travel, sampling the products of brewing traditions that date back nearly two millennia. If Joe Sixpack’s Philly Beer Guide was Don’s spring equinox (released last March), this book is the winter solstice, and bound to be enjoyed for its capturing exotic, unusual, or one-of-a-kind beers in a single, handy volume. (The book’s available through Don’s Web site, or Amazon, but we say support the beer scribe – buy directly from him.)

Christmas and beer, perfect together?
Absolutely, Don says. Christmas beer isn’t a definable style, yet it embraces an impressively wide variety of flavors. And when it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, there’s a celebratory mood in which people try new things and want to enjoy fine foods. Beer owns a place amid that terrain.

Plus, Christmas beers are special in that many have interesting backstories, lore or cultural ties. Take for instance, Anchor Brewing’s Yuletide offering, Our Special Ale, its commemorative, dated labels and secret recipes that ensure each year’s edition is unique unto itself. For sheer pop culture, think Ridgeway Brewing (South Stoke, England) and Seriously Bad Elf, banned in two states (one being Connecticut, thankfully not New Jersey), for the red speck on the label that, upon close inspection, is Santa Claus in a reindeer-hauled sleigh.

Beer folks are good folks
Some of the most cherished friendships are struck over beer. But sometimes, because of the everyday and pressing commitments of family and work, those friendships get revisited only at Christmas. Don mentioned forging such friendships at a brewpub in tiny hamlet in Norway.

The festival
Yes, Virginia, Philadelphia is earning yet more stripes as the best beer city going. While the lineup of 50 US and international Yule brews and winter warmers is still being worked out, the Dec. 27th festival promises to say Fröliche Weinacht and Joyeux Noël, as easily as it does the Dickens-like wish of Merry Christmas.

You’ll encounter some familiar brews, notably Tröeg’s Mad Elf, an 11% ABV cherry and honey Belgian-style strong ale to which Don gives supreme props (we say, for a beer with such warmth, this is surprisingly easy-drinking brew; but it’s a sipper, of course, not a chugger). But you’ll want to keep your taste card open because the event does promise variety.

Among Jersey beers, look for the yeast-spicy Flying Fish Grand Cru Winter Reserve and possibly High Point’s Ramstein Winter Wheat Doppelbock, a rich and chocolaty beer that finishes with hint of raisin. Or River Horse’s Belgian Freeze (if Don’s online column about his favs for the Yule season can be taken as a measure of how the fest list might shape up).

Don will give a talk at a VIP session of the festival (tickets are premium priced but include complimentary copy of his book, an hour of sampling, a three-course lunch and Christmas beer rarities).

In a recessionary time, the ticket prices may seem expensive, but we’re willing to say it: Christmas comes only once a year. And, hey, c’mon, it’s beer.

The W’s

• What: Christmas beer fest.
• When: 1-4 p.m., Dec. 27th (VIP admission, 12:30 p.m.).
• Where: UPenn's Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, 3260 Spruce St., Philadelphia.
• Wallet: $75 in advance, $90 day of; VIP session, $125 in advance, $150 at door.
• Web site: www.phillybeerfests.com.
  
  

More fests, g'suffa

Oktoberfest has ended in Munich; the 16-day bash in Bavaria wrapped up last Sunday.

Not so on our side of the Atlantic.

Fest beer will be with us for a little longer, and so will the conviviality that’s a hallmark of the celebration. With that in mind, here’s what’s coming up ...

• Long Valley Pub & Brewery holds its Oktoberfest from noon to 5 p.m. this Sunday. Check their Web site for more details.
• Tun Tavern has its O-fest set for Sunday, Oct. 26th.
• And as we’ve noted, River Horse Brewing has its two-day Oktoberfest this Saturday and Sunday at the Lambertville brewery's back lot.

RH has been hitting some high marks with new beer styles it added to its lineup just this year (think Belgian white and a cherry-finessed imperial amber). So by way of advice, RH’s event could be your last chance to grab some Dunkel Fester, a draft-only autumn seasonal that proved to be a huge hit soon after its release a few weeks back. (Co-owner Chris Walsh told us at the Sept. 20th Woodbridge festival that Fester was almost gone, but the brewery was holding some back for this weekend.)

In the Valley
Last year, the legions of Oktoberfest fans put away six barrels of Long Valley brewmaster Joe Saia’s copper-hued fest beer. That’s 186 gallons served up at last year’s annual pig roast in the side parking lot of the pub, housed in a scenic, two-century-old, stonewalled barn located in the Morris County community founded by Saxon immigrants in the 1700s.

Now in its 12th year, the event draws anywhere from 800 to 1,500 people, but there’s plenty of room to accommodate 2,000. If you go, expect a German menu served along with the pork, four other beers to choose from, including a cask-conditioned pale ale, and of course live music. (Parent alert: There’s also activities for kids.)

Joe’s Oktoberfest is actually fermented with an ale yeast, but done at a lower temperature to produce a beer that’s closer to the crispness of lager, with the signatures of the German malts and balanced bitterness of Tettnang and Saaz hops coming through. (FYI: Joe’s got five beers, including his Lazy Jake Porter, in competition at the Great American Beer Festival, which starts tomorrow in Denver. Lazy Jake took home a gold medal three years ago.)

Märzen by the sea
In Atlantic City, Tun Tavern brewer Tim Kelly describes his 2008 Oktoberfest beer, Tunfest Lager, as a slightly smoky brew, with a hearty 6.3% ABV. So what do you pair with a full-bodied beer like that? Try a buffet, a band and a live, remote broadcast by WAYV radio station.

Here’s the Tun’s Oktoberfest menu:

• Cucumber salad with sour cream
• German potato salad
• Sliced weisswurst over red cabbage
• Chicken with potato dumplings
• Meatballs in a mushroom cream sauce with spätzel
• Beer-basted bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard
• Apple strüdel/cobbler with whipped cream

Check with the Tun for pricing and if reservations are required.

And toast the season.

Bis später.

Next!!!

We’re off to the Central Jersey Beer Fest today. But before leaving, it’s worth taking a few minutes to point out what’s ’round the corner.

New Jersey Breweries book signing, with Lew Bryson and Mark Haynie
When: 5-7 p.m., Friday Sept. 26th
Where: Flying Fish Brewing, Onley Avenue, Cherry Hill
Wallet: Free, unless you’re buying a book, which you should if you don’t have it already (Here’s a thought, buy an extra copy, mail it to Governor Corzine’s office, slip in a note: Now is the time to revise New Jersey’s arcane laws concerning beer. Signed, New Jersey Craft Beer Drinkers.)

Last time we stopped by FF, they had their 2008 Oktoberfish on tap for the brewery tours. That’s reason enough to swing by. But, seriously, on the heels of Lew and Mark’s book (released last July), it’s a perfect time to embrace all that the Garden State has by way of breweries and brewpubs, and to lend a voice or show some solidarity in the hopes that the industry can continue to grow.

By the by, Lew and Mark will be signing copies from 1-3 p.m. at Borders on Route 73 in Marlton the next day. See Lew talk about the book here.

Oktoberfest in Philadelphia
When: 1-5 p.m. (special noon VIP tasting) Saturday, Sept. 27th
Where: 23rd Street Armory (in Center City)
Wallet: $45 for general admission. $15 for designated drivers. $75 for the VIP tasting

This event (see more details here) fills the void left by the city’s loss of the Oktoberfest at Ludwig’s, the German restaurant on Sansom Street. (It was sold. High Point Brewing was often a part of the festivities at Ludwig's.) Flying Fish will be among the 50-plus beers being poured at the armory event. Proceeds go toward Philly Beer Week 2009 (March 6-15), and the breast cancer research drive Mugs for Jugs. Get a Maßkrug and help out a good cause. Seems like mugs and jugs have long association with beer, something not lost on Frank Zappa. (Rest in peace, Frankie, you're very much missed.)

Basil T’s-Toms River
When: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3
Where: Basil T’s Brew Pub & Italian Grill, Hooper Avenue and Bay Avenue, Toms River
Wallet: $65, all inclusive, so you get food and brew
Music: Firehouse Polka Band

We had hoped to hit this last year, but had a work commitment that meant getting up with the chickens the next day, something that a night on the town doesn’t mesh well with. So we regrettably had to pass. This year, we hope to be there, to sample the Oktoberfest and catch the mädchen in dirndls.

The dinner is hosted by beer writer Kurt Epps and brewer Dave Hoffmann. As many people know, Basil’s-Toms River is Dave’s moonlighting gig, an easy trip down the Garden State Parkway from his mainstay of Climax Brewing in Union County.

River Horse Oktoberfest
When: Noon-5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Oct.11-12
Where: Back lot of the brewery, 80 Lambert Lane
Wallet: Pay as you go event
Music: 519 South Band

Oktoberfest 2007 was the first event that Glenn Bernabeo and Chris Walsh had at their disposal to start selling the new image of River Horse. They’d only taken over a month before as the new owners. And they did quite a job.

And they’ve been on a roll since: new beer styles coming out of the brewery, more events, a bigger presence around the Garden State and in neighboring Pennsylvania.

Last year’s RH Oktoberfest drew a healthy crowd, as did the two-day festivities at the brewery during ShadFest. This year’s fall festival should be on your calendar. And, as always, when you’re finished on the Jersey banks of the Delaware, take a moment to hit Triumph's brewpub in New Hope. Locally made beer on two sides of the river within walking distance really makes this area a special treat.

Garden State Craft Brewers Guild OktoberFestival
When: 1-5 p.m., Sunday Oct. 19
Where: Newark Bears Riverfront Stadium, Newark
Wallet: $40 in advance; $45 day of festival. See Web site for details

First things first. Yes, this is on a Sunday during football season. But the Giants game will be on the Jumbotron at Bears stadium, so you won’t have to miss Big Blue. The Eagles have a bye week so you’re good there, too. The N.Y. Bretts, er, uh, Jets are on the road in Oakland, with a 4:15 p.m. kickoff, so that might be the only wrinkle with this fest being on a Sunday (unless you have tickets to the Giants game, like friend of the blog Tom E. does. Enjoy the game, Tom).

Anyway, we’ve run into a lot of North Jersey people (just last weekend, in fact) who mention they’d like to see a guild festival closer to their neck of the woods. Happily, here’s the answer. And if you noticed on the guild’s Web site, there will be cask ale, in addition to the Märzens. That alone might be reason to go.

Central Jersey Beer Fest 2.0

It’s back, it’s bigger, and yeah, as all promos for sequels boast, better than ever.

The Ws and the H
What: Second Annual Central Jersey Beer Fest
When: 1-5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20th (Rain date is the 27th)
Where: Parker Press Park in Woodbridge
Why: It’s for charity; plus it's one of Woodbridge's Main Street events
Weather: As of now, the forecast is picture-perfect: sunny in the mid-70s
How much: Twenty bucks. Tickets are limited (Phone number is 732-634-2929)
What you get: A souvenir glass and unlimited sampling (which means, you can enjoy small pours of the brews; however, don’t get drunk or be dickish. That will get you – rightfully so – shown the door. The 2007 event was family friendly and commendably free of bad behavior; help keep it that way)
Hungry? Yes, there will be food vendors (plus live music)

Last year’s inaugural drew 650 people, depsite only four featured breweries: JJ Bittings (the event organizer), Climax Brewing (Roselle Park), Pizzeria Uno (Metuchen/Woodbridge) and the Tun Tavern (Atlantic City). It was a crowd pleaser, answering a thirst for a fall beer festival in the Garden State. (Watch video of the 2007 fest.)

This year, the lineup has doubled, with Jersey brewers Cricket Hill (Fairfield) and River Horse (Lambertville) and Boak Beverage (Pompton Lakes), joining the returning 2007 lineup.

Brian Boak, a familiar face and volunteer at High Point Brewing (Butler), started Boak Beverage on the strength of winning top honors in the New Jersey State Fair homebrew contest a few years back and the fact that plenty of people liked his beer. High Point contract brews for Brian, and he self-distributes in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. This is his first festival, and he'll feature his core brands, Monster Mash Imperial Stout (the state fair winner) and his Belgian turn, Two Blind Monks.

Rounding out the beer lineup are Weyerbacher Brewing (Easton, Pa.) and Hunterdon Distributors, which will bring draft and bottled beers from out west: Lagunitas, Boulder Brewing, Stone, Rogue and Flying Dog, and Smuttynose from the Granite State.

Point of order
That latter part of the list raises the question, is this a Jersey brewer fest? Yes and no. Yes, in that the foundation of the festival is made up of Jersey-based brewers, and no, since this fest is independent of the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild (although five of the home state brewers are guild members). The guild will hold a fall festival at the Newark Bears stadium on Oct. 19th (that’s a Sunday; more about that one soon).

OK enough parsing. The bottom line is, version 2.0 of the Central Jersey Fest grew, fattened up and looks to easily outdo the inaugural version.

We chatted briefly with August Lightfoot, brewer at JJ Bitting brewpub (which is a stone’s throw from the park), who said he’s bringing his 2008 Märzen (it's not on tap at the pub yet, hint, hint), an imperial IPA inspired by the WHALES homebrew club, his raspberry wheat and a standby keg of porter.

Some more styles to expect: Tim Kelly of the Tun Tavern plans to bring a Belgian wheat, possibly a pumpkin spice ale (it was being filtered on Tuesday), and an IPA dry-hopped with Jersey-fresh Cascade and Nugget hops (grown by Tim’s friends, Ray Gourley and Kathy Haney).

See you there.

RH factor

Calendar note:
River Horse rolls out a second offering in its Brewers Reserve series, this time an imperial cherry amber ale, at the High Street Grill in Mount Holly on Tuesday (July 15th; check the restaurant’s web site for the time).

We got an advance bottle of this a month or so ago. Seemed like it could use a little more cherry, but we were enjoying some spicy Thai food when we tried it, so some beer flavors may gotten dwarfed by the food. Plus, our bottle came from a pilot batch, so we’re betting the finer points have been worked out since then.

You may recall, RH’s Brewers Reserve series began with a well-received Belgian Double White back in March. Owners Glenn Bernabeo and Chris Walsh say there’s more in the brewers reserve to come down the road.

The High Street has earned a reputation as a restaurant that puts a lot thought and care into how beer and food complement one another. If you go early, pop in over at Red White and Brew, a great packaged goods place that specializes in craft beers (including some Jersey-brewed craft beers from the state's northern half that a frustratingly hard to get in South Jersey). RWB is a no-sweat stroll from the restaurant.

Meanwhile, followers of Bucks County Brewing’s PennBrook Lager, a River Horse brew marketed under a Pennsylvania moniker, may be interested to know RH has taken steps to ensure the amber brew’s availability in New Jersey and Pennsylvania where RH distributes.

River Horse struck a deal with Lion Brewery in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to contract brew PennBrook, a beer geared more for people looking to step up from Bud or Coors to something fuller-bodied, yet not exotic, imperial or hop-heavy. (FYI: Lion currently contract-brews Yards, while their new Philly brewery is under construction.)

For RH, PennBrook was sort of an on-again, off-again brew, based on production capacity, and that sometimes kept it out of the hands of those who were looking for it. And although it’s not the magnetic type of beer that mesmerizes the beer geeks, Glenn and Chris thought it was an important enough brew in the RH lineup to give it the boost that a deal with Lion could provide.

Lunar observations

For a poetic image, it’s hard to top a full moon.

Even though it puts in a monthly appearance, it still has the hypnotic power to make you stop and gaze skyward, more so when it’s low on the horizon looming large in a buttery yellow.

It’s no wonder something so mystical has woven itself so pervasively into the fabric of folklore and culture.

So why not have a beer and toast and old friend’s return visit?

That’s sort of the idea with the Fullmooner beer tastings sponsored by Beerheads and TotalBru. The next one is Tuesday in Manayunk, Pa., and this being May, it’s aptly dubbed Fullmooner V. (By the by, May's full moon is called the milk moon in English-speaking cultures and corn-planting moon in Native American cultures.)

So what’s the Jersey connection? Well for starters, River Horse’s Belgian ale Tripel Horse (10% ABV) is among the flight of beers to be poured (see the flier below for other beers on the menu). Plus, Philly and its near and far environs are rich in beer prospects, even for us on this side of the Delaware.

So by the light of a full moon, have a brew.

Down by the river

New Jersey's ShadFest is this Saturday and Sunday in, where else, Lambertville, that quaint southern Hunterdon County town situated along the banks of the Delaware River and Delaware-Raritan Canal that has held this annual spring event since 1981.

The festival salutes the return of shad to the river, and features plenty of food, crafts and entertainment, i.e. live music.

There's also locally brewed beer, which is one of the things that distinguishes this event. Set up in the old Original Trenton Cracker factory building, River Horse Brewing has been part of the Lambertville landscape for a dozen years now. So it's as much a flavor of the festival as the myriad ways you can prepare shad.

If you made it to River Horse's Oktoberfest event last fall, then you'll know what to expect at the brewery's back loading area come this weekend. RH co-owner Glenn Bernabeo says the brewery will have its flight of beers on tap, including its new Belgian wit and its summer blond ale. There's no cover charge; it's pay as you drink. There will also be music and food from nearby vendors.

With a lot of events like this – Long Beach Island's annual Chowderfest comes to mind – it can be nearly impossible to find a beer in which you can taste the malt and hops. That's because distributors for the big national brewers usually infiltrate with some sponsorship, and next thing you know, the only thing on tap is fizzy yellow beers that are the portrait of boredom and undermine the unique flavors that are the host town or region's specialty.

We're not picking on Chowderfest, mind you, but we do think that folks on LBI could stand to turn things up a notch and marry some better beer flavors to the locally made chowders.

But this isn't about clams and ocean waves; it's about shad and the river. So yes, it's very cool, and even special, that there's a craft brewer in town serving locally brewed beer at ShadFest.

So by all means, support the local brewer. Your palate will be glad you did.

The envelope, please ...

Atlantic City ... there are winners and losers. But if you recall your John Mellencamp, "that ain't no big deal."

Still some folks like to have their names up in lights on glory row. So we have the list of who got what in judging at the AC beer fest last weekend. The category headings in bold are ours; contest ones are in parentheses. And, just in case, the Belgian one, well that's our joking referenece to Brussels, not editorial comment on beer flavor. (It just kills a one-liner when you have to explain it ...)

Oh, and if we may, how about a congratulatory round of applause to River Horse, the Tun Tavern and Flying Fish.

However, we take exception to that show finish for FF's IPA and think it was miscategorized. (We also think Sly Fox's Phoenix Pale Ale was miscategorized.)

FF makes one of the most drinkable IPAs around. Emphasis on drinkable. Some of the IPAs these days are about as enjoyable as lighting matches and putting them out on your tongue. (Though we like and drink a number of the imperial beers out there, we're just getting wary and weary of them.)

Anyway ... what Mellencamp said ... no big deal. But like Buffalo Springfield said, for what it's worth ... Here's the list:

Bringing in the sheaves
(Wheat)

1. Blanche de Bruxelles
2. Black Dog Crystal Weiss
3. Baltika #8

Gossamer beer
(Light lager)

1. Obolon Lager
2. River Horse PennBrook
3. Baltika #7

Brownie you're doing a heck of a job
(Brown ale)

1. Ipswich Dark Ale
2. Abita Turbo Dog
3. Tun Tavern Brown

Not dark yet
(Pale Ale)

1. Lancaster Hop Hog
2. Boulder Mojo
3. Flying Fish Hopfish India Pale Ale

Isn't that special?
(Specialty beer)

1. Lancaster Strawberry Wheat
2. Tun Tavern Gruit
3. Black Dog Honey Raspberry Ale

Amber alert
(Amber ale)

1. Boulder Hazed & Infused
2. Red Seal Ale
3. Sly Fox Phoenix Pale Ale

Amber alert, reprise
(Amber/dark lager)

1. Baltika #4
2. Samuel Adams Black Lager

Sturdy enough to carry
(Porter/stout)

1. Lancaster Milk Stout
2. Young's Double Chocolate Stout
3. North Coast Old Rasputin

Manneken Pis
(Belgian style ale)

1. Allagash Tripel
2. Allagash Dubbel
3. Flying Fish Abbey Dubbel

Mighty brew
(Strong beer)

1. Malheur 12
2. North Coast Brother Thelonious
3. Saranac Imperial Stout

Yawn
(People's choice)

1. Long Trail Blackbeary Wheat

Onward April

Say sayonara to March.

Yeah, we know we’re a week early, but trust us, April’s full of promise, and we’re not just talking about Opening Day or the Masters Tournament.

For the record, April brings observances as diverse as National Humor Month, National Guitar Week (rave on!), Stress Awareness Month (Rx for calm: have a beer), National Lingerie Week (ooh-la-la!) and even TV Turn-Off Week (is this where everyone on American Idol and Survivor gets voted off by the remote control?).

But this, of course, is about beer, and April delivers.

There’s the pairing of great beer and food at the Brewer’s Plate event in Philly (Climax and Flying Fish will be pouring at the Reading Terminal Market) on April 1st. (Update: $50 general admission tickets have sold out; there are still some premium tickets available, the $100 Brew Master's Lounge passes.)

April also brings another ray of sunshine, this time from the banks of the Delaware, when River Horse Brewing begins serving up its Summer Blonde Ale for a fifth year. This light-bodied, medium-hopped beauty (Hallertauer and Fuggle hops and a spot of wheat; 4% ABV) has become a big seller for River Horse, rivaling the Lambertville brewer’s flagship Hop Hazard Pale Ale.

At the end of the month, look for River Horse’s barbecue and beer garden at the annual Shad Fest in Lambertville (April 28th-29th). Practically anyone who lives around that western notch in New Jersey can tell you the annual Shad Fest is a big happenin’. And if you’ve never been to cozy, scenic Lambertville, it’s worth the daytrip to Hunterdon County.

Meanwhile, get out the Sharpie and circle April 7th on the calendar. Then pour a beer and be thankful. That date 74 years ago marked the return of legal beer (in the strength of 4% ABV, 3.2% by weight) in the U.S., the initial steps toward repealing Prohibition.

Fittingly, the first public delivery of newly legal beer went to the White House to salute Prohibition foe FDR. In New Jersey at the hour of libation liberation, Newark's Krueger Brewery, one of they city's many brewhouses, was the only one ready to strike a mash. (See Old Newark for more details on New Jersey under temperance's thumb.) Prohibition became a complete footnote to U.S. history by December 1933. So essentially, April 7th and beer were to Prohibition what the collapse of the Berlin Wall in '89 was to communism across eastern Europe.

(Some places we found put the date as April 6th, with beer becoming legal again at the stroke of midnight. But since this isn't Final Jeopardy! we're not going to quibble. And by the by, our depiction of FDR ale is totally fictional. Maybe a homebrewer or pro brewer somewhere could pay such homage, if it hasn't been done already.)

Thus in the beer world in America, this really is a holiday. Craft brewers as a group have been celebrating the day since 2003. And the Colorado-based Brewers Association, the national trade organization of the craft beer industry, is again marking the date with Brew Year’s Eve celebrations. A quick scan of the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild calendar (or news page) didn't find the date highlighted. (Fear not, check out PJ Whelihan's pubs for a Brew Year's Eve observance. Looks like they're doing it on the 6th, though; best call beforehand).

Nevertheless, this is an observance in which you can take matters into your own pint-glass gripping hands.

Go to your favorite bar or brewpub and order a round. Go to your local package goods store, grab a six (or, what the hell, a keg; have a party), and toast three generations of legal beer. Take a tour of a brewery (and bring up the significance of the day to the kind tour guides, if they don't).

And keep an eye on A&E Television Network, which will air a new documentary (by Ken Burns and Roger Sherman) on April 7th, “The American Brew: The Rich and Surprising History of Beer in America.” The film is an overview of why beer and liquor went outlaw, what happened in the U.S. as a result, and why the Prohibition genie was put back in the bottle.