New Jersey Beer Blogs – 52Brews
September 30, 2009
This is the second installation of our New Jersey Beer Blogs series! Originally, I was going to make this one big entry, but I think that each of these excellent beer blogs deserve their own post. Let me introduce you to Chris of 52Brews and let him explain in his own words what his blog is about.
The veritable beginnings of 52brews.com were rooted one afternoon in my favorite local beer bar, a little over a year ago. My wife and I sat at the bar sipping Chimay when my eyes were drawn to the tiny booklet strung around the neck of the 750mL bottle. The booklet told the tale of the monks of Scourmont Abbey – my first glimpse into the history of Trappist beer making. Fascinated, I studied more on Chimay, in awe of the mysterious allure surrounding the sublime brews.
Answering all of my questions required a good amount of legwork, but beneath it all was an incredible story waiting to be told. My natural response was my first article: a review of Chimay Cinq Cents. Soon I learned that in the battle of mass-marketing tactics from the more popular labels, the biggest enemy of the craft beer industry is ultimately public perception; most people are unfamiliar with the world of beer outside of the popular pale lager.
There is an urgent need to empower the voice of the small brewer, and an even greater one to educate the consumer. Armed (at varying times) with brewer’s tales, historical notes, and writings of noted reviewers – and not without credit to the greater beer community for inspiration and suggestion – 52brews was born to help tell the stories of great beer and its brewers, week after week. The writing is a hobby, and I occasionally fail to update each week; but frankly, I don’t get paid to blog… or maybe that’s the Jersey talking.
A life-long resident of the garden state, I frequent bottle shops in Totowa, Wayne, Madison, and occasionally South Plainfield. While I prefer sours, stouts, and barleywines, I’ll enjoy just about anything made with care. I have visited most of the breweries and brewpubs in the state, but tend to endorse the same few locations: The Shepherd and the Knucklehead (taps), the Cloverleaf Tavern (taps/bottles), and the Gaslight Brewery (bottles/food).
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September 30th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Thanks for doing this series, Scott. I just checked out Chris’ blog and it’s awesome. I’m adding him to my blogroll and will be checking in on a regular basis. The only thing I like better than an awesome beer blog is one that’s from the Garden State, especially one that is so locally focused like 52 Brews. Keep ‘em coming!
Jim´s last blog ..What’s Your Exit?
September 30th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Great Read, cheers
September 30th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Thanks guys. I really enjoyed ‘discovering’ these Jersey beer blogs, and I’d like The Brew Club’s visitors to discover them too – even if they’re lucky enough to live outside of Jersey!
Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..New Jersey Beer Blogs – The Brew Club
September 30th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Great idea Scott, I was born in Edison, NJ and lived in Highland Park, NJ for a good bit of my childhood. We moved to PA where I reside now but still make it back to NJ on a fairly regular basis. Nice to see the coverage. Having “bottle shops” to go is a nearly foreign concept here in PA with our wacky liquor laws.
Brian Welch´s last blog ..First Beer of the Month Shipment Has Arrived
September 30th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Chris, great back story, nice to see where people have come from. Sounds like your in North jersey. We all gotta hook up for some beers one night since were all relatively close!
Simply Beer´s last blog ..Beer Review: Hoppin’ Frog Mean Manalishi Double IPA
September 30th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
@brian – Jersey x-pats are always welcome too! I really like the concept of your blog as well, and I’m planning on following it to see how you progress on your path to beer enlightenment! Hopefully others will pop over as well.
@Simply Beer – I’d second that!
Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Dogfish Head Punkin Ale – Beer Review
October 1st, 2009 at 9:56 am
@Brian: What part of the PA are you in? I have this fantasy of moving to Downington, and living within walking distance of the Victory brewery. And by walking distance I mean across the street, as walking home would be much more challenging than walking there
Jim´s last blog ..Imagine if “The View” was a Beer…
October 6th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Fans of NJ beers, check out the new book, Jersey Brew, The Story of Beer in New Jersey
. It is listed for pre-sale at Amazon.com. Cheers!
November 18th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Hi
I’m looking for Hop-Back ales / beers for a beer tasting, but only know of one such beverage. Can anyone enlighten me on some others to add to the Beers-of-fare?
John