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New Jersey Beer Variety - July 31, 2014

     It has been a little more than a year since I looked into the Untappd stats from New Jersey breweries.  I am using the Untappd stats to get a broad look into the top Garden State beers that are sold.  

     A quick summary of how I compile the data:  I just pick the top 2 checked-in beers from Untappd from each NJ brewery.  In the last analysis I excluded seasonal beers, but this time I am including the seasonals. Previously, I had also included the number of check-ins, but there was no useful information I could extract from one brewery have more check-ins than another brewery.

     It will be interesting to see how this list changes after the fall season.  I am predicting this fall season to be huge for seasonals (shocking, right?), and we will see them creep up the Untappd check-in lists.  

     The New Jersey Craft Beer website was also a huge help in this endeavor.  I was able to ensure I had covered all the breweries that NJ has to offer.  Definitely check them out.

     In this round, the total NJ brewery number is 30, which is up from 24 breweries last year.  The only brewery from the last round of analysis that is not in this round is Turtle Stone Brewery. They seem to have quietly disappeared.

     Let's look at some charts comparing NJ beer by county, ales and lagers, ABVs and beer styles.

New Jersey Beer by County
Middlesex County tops the list with Harvest Moon Brewery and Cafe, Hearthstone Grill, JJ Bitting Brewing Co and Uno Chicago Grill and Brewery.  Morris also has 4, but 2 of the 4 are contract brewing out of High Point Brewing.

Comparison of Ales vs. Lagers
From the top 2 checked-in beers from each NJ brewery, 53 were ales and 7 were lagers
     The distribution of ales and lagers is no surprise to me.  In general, ales spend less time in fermentation and conditioning and have a faster turnaround than lagers.  Ales have also had more popularity in the "craft beer" community the last 15 years, but I expect to see lagers reaching higher on this list in the coming years.

ABV Distribution
From the top 2 checked-in beers from each NJ brewery, the majority were between 6 and 6.9% ABV.  5 to 5.9% ABV was a close second.

Style Distribution
Beer styles are a hot topic these days.  Its no surprise, the top checked-in NJ beer style is IPA.  Ambers come in second.  The variety here is fantastic!

You can read the full list of top checked-in beers below.
  1. Angry Erik Brewing Company (new to list)
    1. Hop the Fence (American IPA), 7.5% ABV
    2.  Ravol (American Amber / Red Ale), 6% ABV
  2. Artisan's Brewery and Italian Grill
    1. West Coast IPA (American IPA), 6.2% ABV
    2. Light Ale (American Blonde Ale), 4.2% ABV
  3. Basil T's Brew Pub and Italian Grill
    1. Maxwells Dry Stout (Stout), 5% ABV
    2. Rocket Red Ale (American Amber / Red Ale), 5% ABV (new to list)
  4. Boaks Brewery
    1. Monster Mash (Imperial Stout), 10% ABV
    2. Two Blind Monks (Belgian Dubbel), 7% ABV
  5. Bolero Snort Brewery
    1. Blackhorn (Black Lager), 6.5% ABV
    2. Ragin' Bull (American Amber / Red Lager), 5% ABV
  6. Cape May Brewing Company
    1. IPA (American IPA), 6.0% ABV
    2. Centennial IPA (American IPA), 7.3% ABV (new to list)
  7. Carton Brewing Company
    1. Boat Beer (Session Ale), 4.2% ABV
    2. 077XX (Imperial / Double IPA), 7.8% ABV
  8. Climax Brewing Company
    1. India Pale Ale (American IPA), 6% ABV
    2. Extra Special Bitter Ale (Extra Special/Strong Bitter), 5.5% ABV
  9. Cricket Hill Brewing Company
    1. Hopnotic IPA (American IPA), 6.5% ABV
    2. East Coast Lager (Helles Lager), 4.2% ABV
  10. Flounder Brewing Company (new to list)
    1. Hill Street Honey Blonde Ale (American Blonde Ale), 4.85% ABV
    2. Saison du Flounder (Saison / Farmhouse Ale), 5.4% ABV
  11. Flying Fish Brewing Company
    1. HopFish India Pale Ale (English IPA), 6.5% ABV
    2. Farmhouse Summer Ale (American Blonde Ale), 4.9% ABV (new to list)
  12. Gaslight Brewery and Restaurant
    1. Abbey Normal (Belgian Dubbel), 6.9% ABV (new to list)
    2. Pirate Pale Ale (English Pale Ale), 5% ABV (new to list)
  13. Glasstown Brewing Company (new to list)
    1. Glasstown Founders Ale (American Amber / Red Ale), 6.9% ABV
    2. Cedar Swamp IPA (American IPA), 6.9% ABV
  14. Harvest Moon Brewery and Cafe
    1. Full Moon Pale Ale (American Pale Ale), 6.8% ABV
    2. Jimmy D's Firehouse Red (Irish Red Ale), 5.1% ABV
  15. Hearthstone Grill (new to list)
    1. Red Hand Red Ale (American Amber / Red Ale) unknown abv
    2. Red Hand Imperial Saison (Saison / Farmhouse Ale) unknown abv
  16. High Point Brewing Company
    1. Ramstein Double Platinum (Weizenbock), 7% ABV
    2. Ramstein Winter Wheat (Doppelbock), 9.5% ABV (new to list)
  17. JJ Bitting Brewing Co.
    1. W.H.A.L.E.S IPA (American IPA), 6.5% ABV
    2. Avenel Amber (American Amber / Red Ale), 5.25% ABV
  18. Kane Brewing Company
    1. Head High (American IPA), 6.5% ABV
    2. Overhead (Imperial / Double IPA), 8.2% ABV
  19. Krogh's Restaurant and Brew Pub
    1. Alpine Glow Red Ale (American Amber / Red Ale), 4.5% ABV
    2. Old Krogh Oatmeal Stout (American Stout), 4.5% ABV
  20. Long Valley Pub and Brewery
    1. German Valley Amber (American Amber / Red Ale) unknown abv
    2. Lazy Jake Porter (American Porter) unknown abv
  21. New Jersey Beer Co.
    1. Hudson Pale Ale (American Pale Ale), 5.8% ABV
    2. Garden State Stout (Stout), 6.6% ABV
  22. Pineland Brewing Company (new to list)
    1. Pitch Pine Ale (American Pale Ale), 5.9% ABV
    2. Evergreen IPA (American IPA), 5.7% ABV
  23. Rinn Duin Brewing Company (new to list)
    1. Sandpiper (English Brown Ale), 5.1% ABV
    2. Trinity (Scottish Ale), 4% ABV
  24. River Horse Brewing Company
    1. Tripel Horse (Belgian Tripel), 10% ABV
    2. Hop Hazard (American Pale Ale), 6.5% ABV
  25. The Ship Inn 
    1. Best Bitter (English Bitter) unknown abv
    2. ESB (Extra Special/Strong Bitter) unknown abv
  26. Trap Rock Restaurant and Brewery
    1. Ghost Pony Helles Lager (American Light Lager), 4.6% ABV
    2. Hathor Red Lager (American Amber / Red Lager), 5.3% ABV
  27. Tuckahoe Brewing Company
    1. Dennis Creek Pale Ale (American Pale Ale), 6% ABV (new to list)
    2. Steelmantown Porter (Porter), 6.5% ABV (down 1)
  28. Tun Tavern
    1. All American IPA (American IPA), 6.5% ABV
    2. Devil Dog Pale Ale (American IPA), 5.2% ABV
  29. Uno Chicago Grill and Brewery
    1. Ike's IPA (American IPA) unknown abv
    2. Uno Amber Ale (American Amber / Red Ale) unknown abv
  30. Village Idiot Brewing Company (new to list)
    1. Teddy Hopper (Imperial / Double IPA), 8% ABV
    2. Thong Remover Tripel (Belgian Tripel), 9.5% ABV
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