Jughandle Brewing Co in Tinton Falls: Review

June 20, 2016 newjerseyisntboring

Jughandle Brewing Co opened to the public in Tinton Falls on June 18th, 2016 and I was lucky enough to stop by during their soft opening before they were bombared with craft beer aficionados from the Jersey Shore.

The brewery was started by three friends who were all present at the soft opening; Pete Artherholt and Mike Skudera of Tinton Falls and Chris Hanigan of Red Bank. Pete and Chris have been homebrewing for over 15 years, and decided they wanted to open a brewery back in late 2014. Since his term for mayor of Tinton Falls was coming to an end, Mike was ready to jump on board with this new opportunity. Each member of Jughandle Brewing Co brings something to the team – Pete is the “scientist”, Chris is the “artist”, and Mike is the “Strategist”.

Together with their wives, the three friends started work on the planning and building of the brewery. Pretty much everything you see in the brewery was built by the three couples, plus their family and friends.

The brewery is located in a shopping center which had multiple food locations as well. Craft breweries in NJ are not allowed to sell food, so if you go around lunch time you have plenty of options. There’s even a nail salon next door in case you need some pampering!

When you walk inside, you’ll notice Jughandle Brewing Co has a nice size to it. There’s a pretty big bar, lots of seating, and plenty of room to stand.

I really enjoyed their self guided tour mural on the wall. In case you ever forget how the beer is made, just look at the wall!

When I was there they had the following on tap:
Hefeweizen — 4.5% ABV, 13 IBU
Saison — 5.0% ABV, 22 IBU
English Bitter — 5.0% ABV, 30 IBU
IPA — 6.0% ABV, 58 IBU
RyePA — 6.2% ABV, 67 IBU
Stout (nitro) — 6.5% ABV, 106 IBU

I decided to get a flight of the Hefeweizen, Saison, English Bitter, and the RyePA. Each flight can hold for beers, and they give you a list so you can write down what you want.

I really liked that their flight spaces correspond to numbers. That way when you mark down what you want 1-4, the beers you chose will be in the number slots. That helps you to prevent from asking the bartender repeatedly “which one is this beer again?”, although I’m sure people will do it anyway.

Since it was Father’s Day weekend, I picked up a “Crowler” for my dad of the Hefeweizen. I haven’t seen a crowler at a brewery yet! Since it’s in a can it lasts a lot longer and it’s 32oz which is a great size (same size as a small growler).