NJ Beer Goes Here: 13th Annual Garden State Craft Brewers Guild Beer Festival

Beer Motivated Movement Ruled this day on the USS Battleship in Camden NJ. The Weather was “craptacular” but that did not stop me, @Izatherez , @lemasney and many others from having a good damn time for five hours. We were on the Deck under a tent where it was not so dry but we got to sample great offerings from 16 of the New Jerseys Great Brewers. I even learned a few things.

I try to learn something from every beer event I do. This year was less about the ‘tasting’ the beer and more about socializing and admiring the beer. There is equity in socializing in the beer world. Learning who people are (especially the brewers) while being extremely polite but not kissing ass, can go a long way in any local beer scene. What is especially cool about beer festivals like the Annual Garden State Craft Brewers Guild Beer Festival is meeting new people and making new real life face to face connections. At this show I met John LeMasney of http://beercritic.wordpress.com/ , a person I met on twitter(@lemasney) and a pleasant beer appreciator. It was fun to sample beer with a person from a different point of view.

This year our venue, the Battle ship NJ, was a wet mess. The staff did their best but the floor stayed wet and the people kept coming. The rain kept the crowds down compared to last year though. The Food, which supports the Battleship NJ, was much improved. The prices were adjusted nicely which was easy on the wallet. All the Brewers handled everything quite well. They were all polite and talkative. NJ Brewers are a great group of people .

This year’s beer selection was very good including some old and some new selections. I’m not going to pick a favorite beer of the event but I will give some highlights. It was nice to have the ‘Maxwell’s Stout' from Basil T’s which is one of my Favorite coffee stouts. It has very good flavor. They also had a very good Ale called ‘Rosie’s Pale Ale’. The ‘PayMasters Porter’ from Cricket hill was very nice. Flying Fish Brewing has a nice ‘Farmhouse Summer ale’ which is a pleasant seasonal. Gaslight Brewery, my local Spot, had their consistent ‘Black Bear Lager’. Harvest Moons ‘Vanilla Stout’ was brilliant. The Vanilla beans in the cask was fantastic. Iron Hill, a new comer, had what they called ‘Pig Iron Porter’. This was done very well. Pizzeria Uno’s ‘Gust N Gale Porter was also very tasty. I wish I could have enjoyed that warmer. There was flavor hiding in that one I swear. Uno’s ‘Station House Red Ale’ was very nice to have also. The Ship Inn’s Best Bitter was a Great example of a British bitter, served and a decent temperature and hand pumped. Triumph Brewing brought back their Coffee & Cream Stout, it’s and Inspiration for my future home brewing. I look forward to this beer because I never seem to be able to make to their restaurant.

I got to go to a few beer events with drastically contrasting venues. They have been held at a baseball stadium, in the mountains, on a boat, a restaurant and in a warehouse on a river next to an old retired aircraft carrier. This is one of my favorites. Not the best but it ranks high. I had a great time despite the weather.