Jersey Girl Brewing Company in Hackettstown: Review

June 6, 2016 newjerseyisntboring

Jersey Girl Brewing Company is a fairly new brewery that opened up in Hackettstown (Warren County) about 6 weeks ago. I had been following them on social media for quite some time, so I decided to take a trip up to that area to check them out. I had a chance to meet with co-owners Charles Aaron and Mike Bigger, two friends who share a love of craft beer and decided to open their own brewery in their hometown.

As a Jersey Girl myself, I was already in love with the name of the brewery and the branding (of course I ended up buying one of their t-shirts) beforehand. When we arrived, I was blown away with how big their location was! Right when you walk in, there’s a large bar where you can get flights, draughts, and Growler fills. There are couches to sit on, and plenty of room to stand.

Additionally, they also have a large warehouse where their beer is made, with plenty of space and seating. You can bring in your own food from one of Hackettstown’s many restaurants, relax, grab a brew, and play some games.

Charles and Mike feel they have done their best to build their sample room as a destination for local residents as well as people living in the tri-state area. If someone takes the time to travel all the way to come see the brewery, they do our best to be sure the trip was worth it. Their tasting room is climate controlled allowing visitors to taste beer in a comfortable environment.

When we were they they had EIGHT beers on tap!

– Pale Ale 5.78% ABV
– Golden Ale 4% ABV
– Blood Orange Ale 4% ABV
– ESB (Extra Special Biter) 6.7% ABV
– Chocolate Coffee Porter 4% ABV
– IPA 6.3% ABV
– Red Ale 5.25% ABV
– American Wheat 4.07% ABV

My husband and I shared a flight of four beers:

(from right to left)
– Pale Ale 5.78% ABV; a soft bodied pale ale dry hopped with Citra for grapefruit and citrus aromas.
– Golden Ale 4% ABV; perfect for the “non beer drinking beer drinker”. Very crisp, clean, not too hoppy.
– Blood Orange Ale 4% ABV; part of their new “Farmstand Series”, this wheat ale is perfect for Summer!
– Red Ale 5.25% ABV; currently their best selling beer, the red ale is a malt forward ale with slight bitter early undertones from the hops.

Jersey Girl Brewing Company’s head brewer is Jodi Andrews who has been brewing professionally for about 24 years and has 11 Great American Beer Festival Medals to her name. I can vouch that she is an amazing brewer!

Charles and Mike are fans of many styles of beer both domestic and international. Charles said, “What makes this such a great partnership is that we have different styles craft beer that we enjoy. We typically bring in beers for the others to try and develop an appreciation for. The relationship and business is built upon a love and passion for many different styles of beer.”

They told us a lot about their brewery including what makes their beer special. If you have been on as many brewery tours as I have, you know that water is the starting point of all beers. All of the water used in their brewing process is sent through a reverse Osmosis unit. This process removes impurities in the water thus improving the taste of the water. Also, by processing the water, they are able to rebuild the minerals in the water to match the profile of any system around the world. Matching the water profile allows them to match style more accurately.

In addition to tasting the beers on tap, we also got to try two beers that are currently in production. One was a Hefeweizen (my favorite kind of beer), which was so smooth. I will definitely be back to grab a growler of that when it’s offered.

We also got to try their German Chocolate Cake, which was a delicious chocolate stout. This beer should debut in a few weeks.

We had an great time at Jersey Girl Brewing Company! I couldn’t leave without a growler and a t-shirt, to show off my “Jersey Girl” pride as well as my enthusiasm for this brewery.

The overall experience from the beer, to the tour, to the fact that it’s spacious made me wish that it was closer to where I lived. Having said that, I will definitely be back sooner than later!