“I’m making a note here, huge success.”
The first Washington Crossing Brewfest was this past Saturday and if my conversations with many of the patrons were any indication, the Friends of Washington Crossing Park put together a great festival. The weather threatened all day but didn’t have an impact, save for the last 15 minutes and it was over as quickly as it began. Typically at these events, as soon as the gates open a mad dash ensues. Here, it was calm and well organized. Each participant was handed their tasting glass and a map, allowing people to formulate their plan of attack for the day.
Great Lakes Tasters Pack
Before the festival got going, we had the pleasure of talking to Mark (Great Lakes Brewing, Cleveland, Ohio) about their new tasters pack, and also got a sneak peak of the new packaging. I told him about my first exposure to GLBC beers back in 06, where I managed to score some Christmas Ale at a party. I loved it and was saddened when I realized it was not available on the east coast. He let me know that they have partners in NJ, and I just had to start asking, So Matt from Cranbury Buy-Rite, here I come.
We also ran into Rick Reed (Cricket Hill, Fairfield, NJ) and talked with him for a bit about their line. We are planning a trip to the brewery to talk with him in more detail later this summer. Adam from Victory also opened up to us about some of their green initiatives and we look forward to doing an article about that as well.
Some of the beers that stood out for us were as follows. Appalachian Brewing Co. had two offerings which we all really liked. The Jolley Scott Scottish Ale, and the Hoppy Trails IPA. Festival goer Mike Munley directed us over to Cigar City Brewing to try the Maduro Oatmeal Brown and he did not steer us wrong. It was a nice dark beer in a sea of IPA’s and Pilsners. Victory’s Braumeister Pils was a nice, single hop take on their traditional star, the Prima Pils. We were also introduced to a couple breweries with limited or no distribution in NJ and are planning a trip into PA to get our hands on them.
Andy Smith and the staff that put this together did a great job and we want to say Thank you. The outdoor event felt natural, more beer garden then beer fest and it made for a great day. The Washington Crossing Beerfest was very well run, and being a first time event, it was incredible to see such great organization. We hope they will continue this fund raiser and we encourage you all to keep it on your list for next year.
