The Ship Inn - Oldest Brew Pub in New Jersey

“After .2 miles you have arrived at your destination”.  “What did she say?” asked Doc, referring to the female voice of our GPS.  “She says we’re here”, replied Rich with less confidence than the voice. You couldn’t blame us for questioning.  We had been driving the country roads of Hunterdon County, NJ for about a half hour looking for the The Ship Inn, the oldest brew pub in the state. 

Doc and Rich are two retirees who make it their life’s work to find the best food and drink in this part of the country.  For example, they have been driving down to Maryland on what they call the “crab train” for 35 years to dine on the tasty crustaceans.  So when they invited me to join them on this brewery visit I couldn’t say no.

Our drive took us past farms and rolling hills that looked more like neighboring Penn than the most populated state in the country.  But our GPS girl was right; we drove into Milford, NJ and back about 100 years in time.  The Victorian homes, white steepled church and clapboard barns reminded me of a colonial New England Town. 

The brewery was built in the1860’s and has gone through a series of incarnations including a bowling alley and a speak easy in the 1920’s.  Ann and David Hall purchased the building in 1985 where they served fish and chips and John Courage Beer.  Ten years later they installed a seven vat brewing system and became the first to brew beer for consumption on premises since Prohibition. 

We got out of the car and walked the length of the town in about 5 minutes and crossed the foot bridge over the Delaware River into Penn.  The River looked silty from the recent rain and we wondered if the brewery tapped into the river to make their beer.  Sure enough, the menu described “Muddy Waters” made from Delaware River water.

Upon entering this establishment we had to side step a piano that must make this pub come to life on weekend nights.  We visited on a weekday for lunch, but the dark wood walls made the pub feel warm and cozy.  We sat in a sunken dining area which overlooked a creek that surely flowed into the Delaware.  Over the bar, which is made from the floor of the old bowling alley, hung dozens of pewter mugs that only added to the Victorian feel of the place.

We started with flights consisting of 6 oz glasses of the 6 beers on tap.  The chocolate stout had a strong coffee taste and the Golden wheat was light and drinkable.  But the hands-down winner was the Killer Bee Ale made with local honey.  All their beers have a 5%ABV or lower so it was easy to try them all and still have a pint of my favorite.  Unfortunately, I’m not the only one who loves this brew.  The waitress said that we just killed the keg with our samples. 

We later received a tour from Brew master Lea Rumbolo who said that she uses 65 gallons of honey in order to produce 210 gals of this popular beer but it lasts only about 2 weeks on tap.

The Ship Inn brews beer in the English tradition using barley malt and Kent Golding’s hops.  The brewing system was designed and built by Alan Pugsley of Maine who imported this brewing style from Great Britain.  Lea uses finicky Ringwood  yeast which top ferments and along with the toasted malt adds a hint of caramel flavor to their beers.  At the end of the brewing process the spent grain is fed to cows at the surrounding dairy farms.

I have been reading a lot about the “small” movement in the craft beer industry but hadn’t experienced it until visiting the Ship Inn.  From the limited production of beer made with local ingredients, to the personalized tour by the brew master to the tiny Delaware River town this brewery calls home, our visit made me a believer that the old ways sometimes are better.  

Wharfside Patio Bar - Point Pleasant Beach, NJ

On a beautiful, sunny Saturday down at the Jersey shore, my wife and I were looking for a place to have lunch and a drink on the water. We were lucky enough to find The Wharfside on the Manasquan inlet in Point pleasant Beach, NJ. Back in the day, this restaurant was called The Lobster Shanty. Now it serves the same seafood menu under a new name. We didn't bother entering the Wharfside. Having come from the beach in flip flops and sleeveless shirts, we didn't think we were dressed appropriately. Instead, we sat ourselves at the outdoor Patio Bar on a huge deck overlooking the inlet.

As soon as we stepped out on the deck, I knew we had found a gem. Straight ahead in the middle of the  inlet, we could see a sandbar exposed by the low tide that had several boats beached on it. Groups of families and young people were having a beach party on this narrow spit of land.

On one side of the deck was an immense, somewhat circular bar. On the other, were about 20 tables with umbrellas. We sat at a table with a good view of the beach party and ordered our drinks. I asked the waitress if they had any local Jersey beers and she told me about Beach Haus which, according to the label, is made right in Point Pleasant. My wife ordered a Leinenkugel Summer Shanty on tap. The Shanty tasted a little funky as tap beers sometimes can. All the lemony taste in the world is not going to hide the sourness that comes from dirty beer lines. She switched to Bud Lime after that, but I stuck with the Haus for our whole stay.

This pilsner had a floral scent and strong taste. The after taste was crisp and a little bitter. The strong taste didn't carry a heavy kick and I was able to drink several of these cold babies on this hot afternoon without feeling drunk.

I was curious about the location in town where this beer gets brewed so I googled it on my Iphone and found out that the beer was supposedly made a few blocks away on Arnold Street. We actually went there after lunch looking for the brewery. Unfortunately, no one we asked in town had heard of the brewery. As it turns out, Beach Haus is brewed in Rochester by another company until the owners can raise the money to build a local brewery. Right now the East Coast Beer Co. is based out of an office in Point Pleasant. Regardless of where it is produced, they make a refreshing, drinkable beer.

Out on the deck, food has to be ordered at a long counter and your waitress delivers it. I ordered clams from the raw bar and a cheese burger. My wife, Doreen, got the onion crusted Mahi sandwich. Though she is not a big onion fan, there was just enough of a hint of onion to complement the fish. My burger was just what I needed to fill the empty spot in my stomach. And if there is anything better than clams and cold beer on a sunny day by the ocean, then please let me know.

The crowd out on the deck was . . . eclectic.  That's a nice way to say there were some strange birds flying around that day.  There was a large group celebrating a birthday and the man of honor was wearing a necklace made of veggies and lunch meats.

Not long after we devoured our food the Billy Lawlor Band, which had been on break, re-took the stage. They played classics from the 60's and 70's at a volume that allowed for conversation. When they played a Grateful Dead song, Doreen could not help herself and dragged me up to dance. When we sat back down she said to me, "I can't believe nobody else got up and danced?" I replied, "Give them a little time, they will be up later." And sure enough, after a lively version of Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath, complete with flute solo, the crowd started to come alive. They then broke into "Bertha", another Dead classic and Doreen's favorite song. We started out the lone dancers in a place filled with over 100 people. But after a string of more familiar Paul Simon classics the dance floor was filled with dancers aged 4 to 60.

The band completed their last set and, though there was another band coming on shortly after, we felt it would be hard to replicate what we had just enjoyed for the last 3 hours. We looked out to the inlet and saw that the tide was coming in covering what was left of the sandbar. So like the beach partiers who had to end there stay, we departed with good memories and a vow to return to this unique spot.