Mould's Beer Blog

     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.  ...

Hey folks, I'm back at it with some articles that have captured my attention.  Hope you enjoy them! Who wouldn't want a new product you can take home from a brewery that is promised to keep your beer fresh for at least double the time of a regular growler?  In this article, The Alcohol Professor visits the crowler.  They are pretty much big cans that a brewery can fill up and seal in their taproom with ease.  Oskar Blues is quoted as saying the beer stays good and carbonated for at least a month (as long as it remains unopened, of course).  I would love to try this out.  Has anyone had any experience with the crowler? Another product that is being pushed on consumers these days is specialized glassware, specifically in this case the Spiegelau stout glass. I have yet to try it out, but it looks like Keith from Brew/Drink/Run  has tested the glass out to some success.  How about you?  What do you think of the stout glass? Good old Bil...

I've changed a lot since getting into "craft" beer, "better" beer, "boutique" beer or whatever you would call it. I don't care how you review your beer, or if you think its 2/5 or 5/5.  Give me a bottle or a pint and I'll try it myself.  I haven't checked Beer Advocate or Rate Beer for a beer rating or tasting notes in months, and I feel good about that. What do I do then?  I simply enjoy what I am drinking.  Sure, some beers are better than others.  If I don't like a certain beer, I just won't buy it again.  I'm not going to tell anyone else not to buy it.  Hell, they may even like it.  Different strokes for different folks is one of the things that makes this world wonderful. I don't really like to go out much to bars to drink (unless its a brewery).  I find myself more and more preferring to pour a bottle or a growler in the comfort of my own home, where its quiet and I can be with my family.  Don't get me wrong...

Love the signage outside the stairs down to the brewery I recently paid a visit to Free Will Brewing in Perkasie, PA.  Enjoy the pictures from my visist! Free Will Brewing Co. 410 E. Walnut Street #10 Perkasie, PA There were 10 beers on tap.  Would have been 11, but sadly they were out of Will I Am Stout Lots of different fermentation projects were going on.  Free Will experiments with lots of different yeast and bacteria strains, as well as lots of different kinds of barrels. Peaking into the brewery from the tasting room Lots of packaged beer available to take out

It is only June, but 2014 has already been a huge year of growth for the NJ beer industry.  In my last update on the state of beer in NJ, I highlighted 4 new breweries: Bolero Snort Brewery, the new Iron Hill in Voorhees, Flounder Brewing and Village Idiot Brewing.  Since then, beer is now being brewed at Hearthstone Grill, Angry Erik, Glasstown, Rinn Duin and Pinelands Brewing.  Let's look at these in a little more depth! Hearthstone Grill website  / Facebook 306 Gatzmer Avenue Jamesburg, NJ 08831 Specializing in wood fired grill pizzas, Hearthstone Grill has everything from burgers to steaks to hot dogs. They also rotate traditional style, house brewed beer!  If you have a New Jersey Craft Beer membership card, you get 10% off your bill. Angry Erik Brewing website  / Facebook 10 Millpond Drive, Unit #8 Lafayette, NJ 07848 Angry Erik in Lafayette offers tours, tastings, pints and growler fills (32 oz. and 64 oz.).  Th...

Easton, PA's Weyerbacher Brewing Company, brewers of awesome beers such as Merry Monks, Blithering Idiot and Old Heathen, like to experiment with different beers in their Brewer's Select series. After having completed a beer for each letter of the NATO phonetic alphabet, they have now turned to constellations. I thought it would be fun to use this space to learn about the experimental beers that Weyerbacher is brewing, and also to learn a little bit of astronomy along the way! Canes Venatici is the latest installment in the Weyerbacher Brewer's Select Series.  The beer was released on May 25, 2014 in Weyerbacher's taproom in 12 oz. bottles.  You can also find it on tap in limited amounts in Weyerbacher's distribution network. Canes Venatici is an ideal model for the camera Weyerbacher Canes Venatici  (from Weyerbacher ) 6.7% ABV maibock style lager Showcases a unique hop in the flavor and aroma called Mandarina Bavaria, which adds a citrusy, oran...

This year, a 127 mile stretch of Atlantic Ocean shoreline, flanked to the west by pinelands and to the north by skylands, is celebrating 350 years of being known as New Jersey.  To celebrate, Flying Fish has brewed up a special beer, appropriated named NJ350.  A little research led me to the website for NJ350 , which actually turned out to be an organization that is spreading the word and setting up events for Jersey's 350th. There is lots of great info there on NJ's history, so check it out! Flying Fish Brewing Company NJ350 Some facts on Flying Fish's NJ350 beer, from their website : Ingredients :  English pale malt, flaked barley, blackstrap molasses Hops :  Cluster, Simcoe, Centennial Packaging :  750 mL bottles, 1/2 kegs and 1/6 kegs 7.5% abv Flying Fish NJ350, proudly celebrating 350 years of New Jersey.  You got a problem with that? Flying Fish NJ350:  Doesn't have quite that dark a color in reality On the side of the...