Jersey Summer Breakfast Ale – Cricket Hill Brewing
June 21, 2010
Every time I’m looking around for some new beer to try and review for you here on The Brew Club, I try to keep the local beer scene in mind. Why? Well, as much as I dislike my home state of New Jersey, I do like the idea of supporting local brewers and trying out their beers now and then. Whatever state you live in – you should do that too once in awhile. Support you local brewery!
We’ve reviewed some Jersey beers here, including some from Flying Fish, River Horse and Ramstein – but ‘Jersey Summer Breakfast Ale’ is the first beer from the Cricket Hill Brewing Co that I’m having.
I can understand the ‘Jersey Summer’ part of the name, but ‘Breakfast Ale’? What’s that about? Dunno. You?
This beer is considered a Belgian Pale Ale and checks in at 5.5%ABV. It pours rather flatly into my glass, almost worrisome in its flatness. No carbonation, no head, nothing. Hmmm. Its a nice enough looking beer – a clear deep golden color, so aside from the lack of activity in the bubble department we’re on the right track.
The aroma reminded me of other Belgian Golden ales, like Duvel in a way. There was some spice, I’m guessing clove, and some mild sweetness like honey here but otherwise the beer was rather sparse. Hmmm.
The taste really reminded me of Duvel, except if you reduced everything about Duvel by about 50% (Duvel lite?). There were some spice in the flavor, again clove and a little bit of a peppery bite (not the veggie pepper type, the spice pepper type!) Not bad, but nothing that’s knocking my socks off either. I did find that the beer became a little better as it warmed up though.
The body of the Jersey Summer Breakfast Ale is surprisingly thin, and on top of that the mouthfeel is more on the watery side than I would have liked.
So is it all bad? Normally I would say yes, this beer didn’t push any buttons for me in the looks (flat), the aroma (not much), the taste (little better) and the body being very water-like didn’t help things either. BUT, as I did buy a 6-pack from the local Whole Foods, I’ve decided that this will make a great working outside beer during the summertime.
It is light, it isn’t too bold and so I think it’ll be good for breaks while cutting the grass or building the random brick wall I tend to build in my spare time. In addition to that, its a really smooth drinker. I mean, you can really chug this beer if you wanted to due to the very low carbonation, but once I’m done with this batch it I’m not going to be getting any more.
So, I’ve tried another Jersey Brew, but unfortunately this one was mostly a let down for me. That doesn’t mean I’ve given up on Cricket Hill though.
Rating: 
Posted in 2 Star Reviews, Ales, American Beers
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June 21st, 2010 at 10:53 am
I’ve had good or even great beers from local NJ breweries, Scott, but none from Cricket Hill. I want to like these guys, but everything I’ve had is pretty lackluster and unimaginative. If you’re going to brew “basic” beers, you’d better do it very well (like Ramstein or Victory in PA). In my experience Cricket Hill doesn’t.
June 21st, 2010 at 11:16 am
That’s a tough assessment Jim, but I appreciate the straight-talk. I’d say that ‘lackluster’ was apt for the breakfast ale certainly. I’m hoping others will chime in with their (hopefully redeeming) opinions about this or the rest of the Cricket Hill line-up!
Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Sam Adams Summer Ale – Beer Review
June 21st, 2010 at 11:33 am
I have not had this been in a long time, it’s not the best beer in the world , but does go surprisingly well with Bacon Eggs & Home fries (i was on vacation at the time, WHAT! Don’t look at my post funny!)
June 21st, 2010 at 12:21 pm
@GServo – thanks for stopping in! Hey, there’s nothing wrong with some beer with your breakfast. Beer FOR breakfast might be a different story!
Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Dale’s Pale Ale – A Beer Review
June 21st, 2010 at 2:47 pm
um then color me wrong, because i can not deny having a stout for breakfast once or twice. again on vacation , and it helped with the hangover
GServo´s last blog ..Musing the Art of Coffee Photography
June 21st, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Sounds like a lack luster brew. I had one of those this weekend too. I’ll be posting about my Washington brew later this week. Looks like we’ve bracketed the country with mediocre beer…
Don´s last blog ..Picking the Right Beer for Jill: The Results are In
June 21st, 2010 at 4:00 pm
@Gservo- makes sense actually – there’s more than one beer with breakfast in the name!
@Don – sounds like we did! Now that I think of it, I could have saved a lot of time on this review by just using one word. Lackluster.
Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Do Beer Glasses Matter?
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:37 am
Head brewer Keith at Hunter Beer Co here in Australia describes his Kolsch as his breakfast beer!! He hasn’t actually taken it as far as calling it “Breakfast Ale” but interesting to see some has!
Beer Cartel Beer Club
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Sorry to hear you didn’t like this beer.
I completely support the notion of a ‘Breakfast Ale’ and desire more of them in the marketplace. You didn’t have this beer with breakfast?? Maybe that’s why it didn’t do it for you?
Royce´s last blog ..Music Tuesdays via Caitlin McCabe – Baby I’m Yours by Breakbot
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:41 pm
@Royce – perhaps. I tried bottles of this beer @ all times of the day, but not breakfast. Maybe I’m missing the obvious by not following the instructions! (Still, it wasn’t that good)
Scott-TheBrewClub´s last blog ..Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale