Third State Brewing in Burlington: Review

February 6, 2017 newjerseyisntboring

Located in downtown Burlington, Third State Brewing is a 7 barrel brewery that is owned and operated by friends and homebrewers Jay Mahoney, Bill Pozniak, and John O’Brien who have a combined home-brewing experience of nearly 50 years. As the three friends get closer to retirement from their day jobs, they saw the growing craft beer movement in New Jersey as an opportunity for the perfect retirement plan. They opened Third State Brewing in June of 2015.

The name Third State Brewing comes from that fact that New Jersey is the third state established in the United States, and the town of Burlington is one of the oldest towns in New Jersey (settled in 1677). Many historic figures, including Ulysses S. Grant, once had homes in Burlington. Most of the names of their beers stem from West Jersey Burlington history.

So why establish a brewery in Burlington? Easy! Burlington is a historic family friendly town experiencing downtown recovery. They also have great access to public transportation. Third State Brewing is very much a part of the Burlington community as well. They do tap takeovers with local bars, and are very close to local restaurants including Francesco’s which is across the street, Gaherty’s, and Brick Wall Tavern.

The brewery is family friendly, and has a nice warm environment versus some of the more typical industrial style breweries. Fun fact, the brewery’s location used to be a bank! And they have coins you purchase in order to get beer!

The brewery typically has 9-10 beers on tap, including the Boris the Younger which is a unique black rye IPA. When I was there I tried a flight so I could try multiple beers during my visit.

Beers I tried:
– ChiMo, an English Pale Ale 4.5% ABV
– Wood Street Blonde, Crisp, mildly hopped American Blonde Ale 4.7% ABV
– Peanut Butter, a Imperial Stout infused with Peanut Butter extract 8.2% ABV
– London Tenth Red, an English Red Ale, 4.7% ABV

In addition to their Peanut Butter Imperial Stout, which was very unique, they have a Coconut Imperial Stout as well. Both stouts are very popular.

I loved that Third State Brewery is a family focused brewery, and when the warmer is weather they have outside seating making them dog friendly as well. The brewery is also a part of what they call the “Burlington Bucks County Belt”. Third State Brewery is very close to other Burlington County breweries like Village Idiot and Spellbound Brewing, as well as Bucks County, Pennsylvania breweries like Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company.

If you’re looking for a family friendly brewery with great beers on tap…I highly suggest checking out Third State Brewery in Burlington!