South Jersey Beer Scene

Dogfish Head Distilling Co. Expands Distribution of Spirits To New Jersey

Posted on February 24, 2019

Dogfish Head Distilling Co. Expands Distribution to New Jersey

Off-Centered Spirits Headed to the Garden State

Milton, Del., February 22, 2019 –Dogfish Head Distilling Co. is delighted to announce that their collection of 100% scratch-made spirits are headed to the great state of New Jersey. The Delaware craft brewer and distiller partnered with Hunterdon Distributing, who also distributes their beer, to bring Dogfish Head’s full portfolio of goodness throughout the Garden State. Dogfish Head’s spirit lineup will include: Sonic Archeology, Compelling Gin, Barrel Honey Rum, Analog Vodka and Roasted Peanut Vodka.

“After years of bringing our off-centered ales to the state, we are thrilled to introduce our spirits to our Dogfish Head fans and to new folks who enjoy a delicious cocktail,” said Sam Calagione, founder and CEO of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery & Dogfish Head Distilling Co. “When we set out to distribute our off-centered ales in New Jersey, it was the first time our beers were available outside our home state of Delaware. To honor that milestone, I built a canoe and rowed a six-pack across the Delaware Bay. For our first case of spirits, I think I might need to recreate that moment and jump on my SUP board,” joked Calagione.

Since 2002 when Dogfish Head started one of the first craft distilleries in America, they have experimented with small batch vodkas, gins and rums, honing recipes, and building a loyal cadre of spirit drinkers among restaurant guests and visitors to Coastal Delaware. At the heart of the distilling operation are two 500-gallon copper stripping stills and a 250-gallon copper vodka column, sourced from fourth-generation custom fabricator Vendome Copper & Brass Works in Louisville, KY. With consumers looking for the same goodness out of their craft spirits that led them to explore craft beer, Dogfish Head Distilling Co. offers a high-quality, distilled spirit and an honest and authentic approach wrapped in an interesting story.

Dogfish Head Distilling produces everything 100% from scratch, using only real ingredients starting in their rawest form; never adding flavorings or bringing in bulk spirits for re-distillation. “With a distillery located in the middle of our production brewery, we get to tap into all the same world-class ingredients, equipment and processes that we use in brewing,” said James Montero, general manager at Dogfish Head Distilling Co. “Using the same beer philosophy in our distillation approach, we have developed a diverse portfolio of craft spirits each offering something unique for spirits and beer drinkers alike.”

Dogfish Head Distilling Co. spirits include:

Sonic Archeology – A Prohibition whiskey cocktail inspired by the blending of sounds & spirits during the roaring 20’s. We do the cocktail mixology for you by blending our scratch-made Whiskey, Rum and Apple Brandy with honey, lemon and pomegranate juice. Simply pour over ice and enjoy!
Compelling Gin – A bright and citrusy gin inspired by the culinary mix found in our original brewpub kitchen. Using Dogfish Vodka as the base, we re-distill with a mix including orange, lemon and lime peels, cinnamon, juniper, cardamom and peppercorn.
Barrel Honey Rum – Incredibly smooth and complex, this rum is aged in new American Oak and is more like a Bourbon than any ordinary rum. This beloved rum was one of the first craft spirits created by Sam Calagione back in 2002.
Analog Vodka – Unexpectedly luscious and smooth, Analog captures the core of Dogfish Head offering more complexity beyond your typical vodka with a touch of viscous sweetness and caramelized sugar.
Roasted Peanut Vodka – This robust and roasty vodka uses real ingredients, no extracts or flavorings here, just a hand crafted vodka bursting with goodness from roasted peanuts and lightly sweetened with local honey.

This portfolio of flavorful goodness will be available throughout the state and brings their total spirits market distribution to five states including Delaware, Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. The full portfolio of Dogfish Head spirits are available for purchase at Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, DE and Cheasepeake & Maine and Brewings & Eats in Rehoboth, DE. For more information about Dogfish Head Distilling Co. visit www.dogfish.com, Facebook @DogfishSpirits and Instagram @DogfishSpirits

Dogfish Head:

Dogfish Head has proudly been focused on brewing beers with culinary ingredients outside the Reinheitsgebot since the day it opened as the smallest American craft brewery 22 years ago. Dogfish Head has grown into a top-20 craft brewery and has won numerous awards throughout the years including Wine Enthusiast’s 2015 Brewery of the Year and the James Beard Foundation Award for 2017 Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional. It is a 250+ coworker company based in Delaware with Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, an off-centered brewpub and distillery, Chesapeake & Maine, a geographically enamored seafood restaurant, Dogfish Inn, a beer-themed inn on the harbor and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, a production brewery and distillery featuring The Tasting Room & Kitchen. Dogfish Head supports the Independent Craft Brewing Seal, the definitive icon for American craft breweries to identify themselves to be independently-owned and carries the torch of transparency, brewing innovation and the freedom of choice originally forged by brewing community pioneers. Dogfish Head currently sells beer in 44 states and Washington D.C. For more information, visit www.dogfish.com, Facebook: @dogfishheadbeer, Twitter: @dogfishbeer, and Instagram: dogfishhead.

Glasstown Brewing Company Beer Dinner at Cape May-Lewes Ferry on 3/1/19!

Posted on February 22, 2019

The Sunset Lounge at the Cape May Terminal of the Ferry is the setting for a great Dinner featuring Chef George Galati’s 5 Course Meal paired with Glasstown’s terrific beer. We have attended these events and they are really fun! The room overlooks the Delaware Bay and the view is spectacular. Tickets to this event are $66 and are available at Eventbrite.

Here is the menu for the event:

Breweries News

Cape May Brewing Releasing Cape May Lager

Posted on February 21, 2019

Cape May Brewing Company Proudly Releases Cape May Lager

Cape May, NJ — Cape May Brewing Company is thrilled to announce the newest addition to their award-winning lineup of beers: Cape May Lager, a clean, crisp, and easy-drinking Pale Lager.

“Beer brings people together,” says CEO and co-founder Ryan Krill. “That’s why we’ve spent more time and energy developing this particular brew than anything else in our portfolio, to ensure that we’ve brewed the most approachable beer in our lineup, something that’s meant to bring every beer drinker together and leave no one behind.”

In developing Cape May Lager, the idea was to build a beer that would appeal to both the entrenched craft enthusiast as well as the uninitiated beer drinker, more accustomed to readily-available macro lagers.

“We wanted it to have the depth of flavor craved by craft beer aficionados while maintaining an everyman approach that the uninitiated would be excited to try,” explains Innovation Director Brian Hink. “If we played it too safe, we’d lose out on the craft beer drinker, but if we went too aggressive with the flavor, we might be able to grab the average beer drinker out of an initial intrigue, but the likelihood of it becoming their next go-to simply wouldn’t happen.”

Cape May Brewing Company has been developing this beer for over a year, with elements of the recipe stretching back to things they’d learned from an earlier brew, June of 2016’s Mooncusser Pilsner, and continued through CMBC’s R.A.D. Series — Research And Development — an experimental series to test new offerings. In that series, the brewers were given a bit more latitude to tweak, change, and modify the recipe for what would eventually become Cape May Lager.

“The R.A.D. process also came in handy in getting feedback from our fans and seeing what they preferred,” says Director of Brewing Operations Jimmy Valm. “This was very helpful. There was one iteration where we thought it was fantastic, but a lot of our fans who enjoy Pale Lagers thought it was too hoppy. So, getting some feedback and direction certainly helped.”

Pale Lagers are notoriously delicate to brew: minor changes in the recipe could have far-reaching effects on the final beer.

“In such a simple beer,” says Valm, “anything even slightly off really stands out. They take a lot of time and each batch has to be handled very carefully. For Cape May Lager, we wanted there to be a slight hoppiness but nothing overpowering.”

Cape May Lager went through multiple iterations in the R.A.D. process. R.A.D. #001 was essentially a less hoppy Mooncusser Pilsner, yet the hops aroma from the whirlpool addition was still a little too aggressive for the final brew. R.A.D. #005 in February of last year completely removed the hops from the whirlpool, which resulted in a beer that was universally agreed to be too bland and lackluster. By R.A.D. #007, released in the early summer of 2017, Cape May focused on on layering the hop flavor and aroma throughout the boil.

“It was universally agreed to be the beer that we would eventually call Cape May Lager,” Hink says, “and I happily drank plenty of pints of it for the few weeks it was available in July.”

The standard ingredients for a pale lager include pale pilsner malts, a Bohemian yeast, and noble Saaz hops.

“But it’s what you do with them that make the difference,” says Valm.

Cape May Lager adds a touch of Melanoiden malt — less than 5% of the total malt bill — for color and a bit of “zing.” The result is a clean, crisp, approachable brew that shows off each ingredient, giving each its moment to shine without overpowering the others, perfect for ball games, barbecues, and winding down after a long day at work.

“In the end, I think we got a great beer with a fantastic light malt flavor and just the right level of the Noble hop aroma from the Saaz,” says Valm.

Cape May Lager releases for distribution in New Jersey by Cape May Brewing Company’s distribution arm, Cape Beverage, on Thursday, February 21, in their Tasting Room at 1288 Hornet Road in the Cape May Airport the following day, and in Pennsylvania on Monday, March 4th. Find it at better bars and liquor stores throughout the area.

For more information on Cape May Brewing Company — including for tastings and tours — call (609) 849-9933 or see their website at capemaybrewery.com.

10 Questions With...

10 Questions With…Kris Lewis of Oyster Creek Brewing!

Posted on February 19, 2019

One of our favorite things to do at South Jersey Beer Scene is to revisit a new brewery a few months down the road, talk about their experiences and generally see how they are doing. Oyster Creek Brewing opened to much anticipation in May of 2018 and their reputation has continued to grow! I got to sit down with founder/head brewer/salesman (a man with many hats!) , Kris Lewis and ask the iconic 10 questions!

What was the first beer you brewed and how was it?

First beer as a home brewer was an English Stout. It was an extract from a home brew kit I got as a gift. How was it? At the time I probably thought it was good, but I can imagine what I would think about it now. At the brewery the first one was the Simcoe IPA, which is my favorite hop. It’s still on our tap list.

What is your favorite style to brew?

My favorite is our coffee stout. It is the most complex recipe and I use local coffee from How You Brewin’ on Long Beach Island.

Do you look at beer ratings?

Yes, mostly Untapped. I look at general ratings, not necessarily the opinions expressed on there.
Some of the criticisms aren’t necessarily constructive, but just indicative of a beer style someone does or doesn’t like.

How do you connect to the local area for your ingredients?

I mentioned we source the coffee for our coffee stout from How You Brewin’ coffee shop on LBI .We also source our produce from a local farm, as well as our cranberries and beach plums.

What is one tip you would give to someone to help them brew better beer?

Clean and sanitize, clean and sanitize then do it again! (Kris was actually cleaning when I visited him this evening). It’s not romantic, but the MOST important part of the whole process.

What advice would you give someone that wants to open a brewery?

Build your business plan, get your finances in order….then double the amount you anticipated!

If you could brew any beer without regards to cost what would you make?

A big, 16-17% barley wine! Unlimited grain, a 9 hour boil, that would be fun!

From opening day forward, what has surprised you the most?

The grand opening rush was great and it actually continued through the summer! It slowed a little in the fall, right after school started but we picked back up again and are looking forward to a great summer!

Other than your own beer, what is your go to drink?

Anything from Alchemist is great, I have Heady Topper and Focal Banger in my fridge now. (Like many Jersey people, Kris has got a guy!) I also love Icarus beers, always great!

Where do you see the brewery in 5 years?

I would like to increase our distribution so that we are throughout New Jersey. My short term goal is to add at least 5 new clients by the end of 2019.

BONUS QUESTION

What’s on the sound system when you are brewing?

Depends on the day, but mostly 80’s rock. Foo Fighters, Van Halen, Cake.

Kris, thank you for taking the time out of your busy evening to give us a few minutes. Here’s to Oyster Creek’s continued growth and success!

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