Mould's Beer Blog

With the insane growth of the number of breweries in New Jersey, it's not surprising to see businesses related to the beer industry sprouting up throughout the state.  Breweries need supplies and ingredients, and businesses are stepping up to fill this need.  From labs maintaining yeast strains, farms building hop yards, and mobile canning lines that jump from brewery to brewery, businesses from all over the state are embracing the explosion of the local beer community. Anthony Verdi and his family created Sky High Hops to supply breweries with a quality product that can make their beers stand out.  Situated at Sage Hill Farm in Flemington, NJ, Sky High Hops is in their second growing season with no plans of slowing down. The entrance to the Hop Yard at Sage Hill Farm Three types of hops are currently grown in the Sky High Hops yard..  The Centennial and Cascade vines are in their second year, while the Chinook vines are first year.  Owner Anthony Verdi says their yiel

Hey folks!  It's been quite awhile, right?  Even though this blog has been silent, I've kept up my exploration of local beers as well as taking the time to enjoy some older favorites.  While my Facebook and Twitter pages have been dormant for the most part, my Instagram account has been relatively active.  I could just send you over to Instagram, but I will post some of the highlights from the past few months here for (hopefully) your enjoyment! First off, I'm tending to buy six packs (and sometimes four packs) more often these days.  For years, as a general rule, I would only buy single bomber bottles or "mix-a-six" pack at a liquor store that allows it.  A lot of these were special release beers, destined to never be brewed again.  Now, I've grown somewhat tired of the fleeting experience of having a single bottle of beer.  When I have a beer I enjoy, I want to enjoy it over several rounds or several days. Of course, I don't only  buy six-packs

Well, my goal to write something here every day didn't work.  With all honesty, that is a pretty lofty goal.  But I am going to update this space with posts multiple times a week.  It will mainly be posts written about what beers I've been drinking, places I've been going and just random thoughts about beer. To recap, last weekend I visited Flounder and Lone Eagle breweries.  It was good fun because I hadn't been out to a brewery in a good while.  Our son is now old enough where we have an easier time packing him and all his things up and bringing him along.  I went to Flounder by myself, but Kerry and our son came along to Lone Eagle where we had a great time. Which brings me to my main topic tonight.  Do you think it's ok for people to bring their kids (infants, toddlers, teens) to a brewery? With laws changing the way they are in NJ, there is no denying that breweries are becoming more and more like bars.  Its true, not all are headed this way.  But a lot of

(I'm in an effort to write something, anything every single day.  It's been awhile since I've been writing blog posts, so I'm hoping this will get me back in the groove.  Hope you enjoy my rambling.) Tonight I am sipping on a glass (or three) from my growler of Flounder Brewing's Genevieve IPA that I picked up on Saturday.  It is tasting mighty fine, and I highly recommend it.  If you want to know what kind of flavor notes it has, go ahead and pick up a pint and try it yourself. A few months ago, Lone Eagle Brewing opened up near the outlet mall in Flemington, NJ.  A unique aspect about this new brewery is that it is in a completely newly constructed building instead of being in the local industrial park.  Its not really a positive or a negative for me, its the beer that counts and speaks for himself. So we paid a visit to Lone Eagle yesterday to relax after a little bit of shopping at the outlets.  I will give a more in depth write-up when I go and tour the b

(I'm in an effort to write something, anything every single day.  It's been awhile since I've been writing blog posts, so I'm hoping this will get me back in the groove.  Hope you enjoy my rambling.) Yesterday, Flounder Brewing opened up for a few hours of growler sales.  It had been at least six months since I paid Flounder a visit, so I decided to stop in.  My wife and our son weren't up to the trip, so I ventured out for a quick jaunt to Hillsborough on my own.   Their layout changed a bit since my last visit.  In Flounder's new configuration, you enter through the open garage door, try some samples at a small table they set up, then head to the bar to order a pint of beer or a growler.  I'm not too sure if they were selling pints or not yesterday, due to it being a growler sales day.  They were selling 5 oz. samples of their collaboration beer with Sam Adams, a cranberry-helles called Devil's Nectah.  I was worried it would be a cranberry bo

This post is a contribution to Typology Tuesday , a monthly project started by the Brookston Beer Bulletin.  On the last Tuesday of every month, beer bloggers are invited to explore a different style of beer and write a post about it.  For the month of February, we are writing about bocks. To be perfectly honest, I don't have a ton of experience with bocks.  That is part of the reason why I wanted to participate in this month's Typology Tuesday.  Jay Brooks from the Brookston Beer Bulletin compiled a good amount of history, style guidelines from various sources and further reading suggestions for bocks, located here . Bocks are lagers that generally fall into the 6.3-7.6% ABV range.  They are dark brown or very dark in color and have a high malt complexity.  You won't find much hop bitterness in these beers; just what's enough to cut the sweetness from the malt.  Bready, biscuity, nutty...all those bread descriptors could likely describe bocks. Bock is one o