The Ship Inn - NJ's First Brewpub

On Saturday, October 19th, club members visited New Jersey's first Brewpub in Milford, NJ, The Ship Inn. Like many Ship Inns in England, this brewpub serves English pub food and beer. One thing that is special about this place is that they brew in the Olde English style with open fermenters (see picture). They import their grains from England and cook them in a brick-lined cooker. On tap they had a Golden Wheat, Extra Special Bitter, a Red Coat Ale, and Shaak's IPA. On the hand-pump, they had Best Bitter and Dark Charger. For a full list of beers that they brew, check out this link.

I had the Red Coat Ale, Dark Charger, and the Best Bitter. In my opinion, the Red Coat ale and Dark Charger are mild beers with good color, but similar in taste. The Best Bitter was not as hoppy nor bitter as I liked, given the name, and would feel it to be even less hoppy than a Sierra Nevada.

As for the food, the British faire was comparable to standard. Half of the group had the mac-n-cheese, which was quite cheesy and yummy. Mike had it with bacon and local ham. They source local meats and cheeses, especially from Bobolink Farm. I had the British Sampler that included a Scotch Egg and Piccalilli, Cheese & Onion pie, Tiddy Oggie, and Sausage Roll served with traditional HP sauce.

It was nice meeting members' s.o.'s, and the kids had a great time. After lunch, a few of us visited the Bobolink Farm to taste their artisan cheeses and bread that they make on site. Do check them out as they have cheese and bread tasting. They make unpasteurized cheese. They also have pig roasts and meat from them sell out quickly. After that, the little ones enjoyed hiking at Ringing Rock park where they banged on rocks with hammers.

Until next time...drink a beer!

Bottling on our Chilean Malbec

On October 4th, beer members went back to Cask and Kettle to bottle their wine. We filled 20 750 mL green bottles and 19 375 mL blue bottles. Bottling wine was much like bottling beer, except we had to "soak our own corks" (funny reference)!

In the top 2 frames, Joe, Frank and Craig prepare the bottles for filling by washing and drying. In the bottom 2 frames, on the right, Mike from Cask and Kettle is helping us transfer the wine from the fermenter to a bottling bucket. On the left, the dead yeast and other sediments that were created during the clarification step remain on the bottom of the fermenter. 

Here, the guys take turns filling and corking. We will wait at least a month before tasting our brew. However, Steve already jumped the gun and had one the night of and commented on the wine: "Buttery and vanilla-y, but super harsh on the finish. Will wait a few months!" Here is the finished product: