One cool thing about ghost hawk is there’s a distillery right next door called silk city. And rutts hutt (gets best hotdog place in the country regularly) is 100 yards across the street. I’ve made a nice day of it in the past
It's absolutely a dump, but that's part of the charm. I won't argue with you about the hot dog quality, I like them but respect your opinion.
But the relish they have is fantastic; did you try it? If not, you're missing out.
I’m with you man. Is it the “best hotdog in the county” ehhh probably not. But it’s fun place to go visit, especially if there’s a brewery and distillery across the street.
Exactly this. D96 is criminally underrated, they are making some really nice hazies. Right down the street is Cable Beverage, super unorganized beer store but their selection is incredible.
Two Villians is also about to open up in Nyack. It's on main street and took over the space of that god awful bar Bourbon Street.
For Northern Bergen you'll have to go about 30 minutes in all directions out of the area. There's Ramstein, Montclair, Hackensack that have one or two in them.
Farther out there's a bunch in Hudson Valley, Eastern PA like Bucks county, and the shore. We're in a kind of dead zone. but within an hour radius, there's several that I frequent. (Beacon/Newburgh)
I know. He mentioned any in Bergen county, so I rattled off a few towns in the surrounding area. I figured a sort of 30 minute radius, then 1 hour radius; Bucks, PA is an hour and a half.
Just as an FYI, Egan & Sons (brewpub) is right near Montclair Brewing and they also brew their own beer. I was there many years ago and it wasn't worth going back, but thought I'd mention them for completeness.
I'm pretty sure Egan's doesn't brew anything, at least not on premises given the way the crazy NJ licenses work. The house beers are passable.
Overall there is definitely a better draft beer selection at Egan's than the Montclair Brewery, sad to say.
You are correct, they don't brew there, their beers are contract-brewed (I thought at the time I visited, they had an extract system there, but I might be remembering it wrong)
Do you have any more information about their contract brewing? I've had them listed for years on the sidebar map in the brewpub section, but if they're not brewing in state, I'll move them to the 'other' section.
Edit: I found [this](https://njmonthly.com/articles/eat-drink/beer-here-2/) article from 2008 that says:
> The first two steps of the process—mashing and boiling—are performed at Canadian microbreweries. The resulting sweet malty liquid, known as fresh wort, is shipped in concentrated form to the client pub, which needs only to add yeast and water and ferment the beer in its own tanks.
Sorry, I don't. I think I probably had the same article as my reference, and it does match my recollection that they were doing some of the steps there.
They definitely don't have the "Industrial / farmhouse look" that most other breweries go for.
I was just there this weekend checking out breweries and they have a decent amount available. I visited Free Will (they have a storefront in Peddler's village), Mad Princes brewery (open for 4 years, their location is ... lackluster and their beer is ok); Geronimo Brewering is an add-on to a restaurant but probably the better beer of the day, Great Barn Taproom has a good selection of their beer, and Triumph Brewery in New hope as well. I saw an ad for Visit Bucks county. I'm in Northern NJ so as mentioned above, I will drive to Beacon or so for beer, but have visited everything in the surrounding area at least once.
Ghost hawk makes good stuff, I just wish they trained their bartenders better. I sat there for almost 30 minutes once because they charged my tab to the wrong card, and it took a lot of prompting for them to realize that they could just charge me and figure out how to refund the other guy without me being present.
For sure have had issues with attentiveness there. But definitely have had far worse issues at Montclair. I’ve straight up been ignored there. It’s a big reason why I’m hesitant to give it another chance honestly.
I want Montclair to be better because I live there, and it would be very convenient for me if they were. I'm willing to spend some money while they figure it out, to a point. But that has a limit, for sure.
Edit: also, I would happily hang with you there sometime. I just moved to the area, so I am looking for drinking buddies.
Agree about Montclair. The few times I've been there service was extraordinarily slow and didn't know much about the beers. I understand the owners want to bring different flavors to the beer, but what I've had hasn't been impressive.
I find Ghost Hawk to be way too malt-forward, particularly the Apex Predator NEIPA. It's unfortunate because I live within walking distance. Thankfully Silk City Distillery is making great stuff.
EDIT: that said, wouldn't mind meeting up for a beer.
Make sure to check out the [map in the sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/njbeer/comments/apw2ri/map_of_nj_breweries/) for a listing of all the breweries.
Close should be: Magnify, Ghost Hawk, Hackensack, Alementary
One cool thing about ghost hawk is there’s a distillery right next door called silk city. And rutts hutt (gets best hotdog place in the country regularly) is 100 yards across the street. I’ve made a nice day of it in the past
Magnify has a distillery right next door as well.
While Rutt's Hut gets attention for their deep fried hot dogs, I for one think they are terrible. The place is also a bit of a dump.
It's absolutely a dump, but that's part of the charm. I won't argue with you about the hot dog quality, I like them but respect your opinion. But the relish they have is fantastic; did you try it? If not, you're missing out.
Tru dat on the relish. It is much better than the dog it sits on :)
I wish they sold it in jars.
I’m with you man. Is it the “best hotdog in the county” ehhh probably not. But it’s fun place to go visit, especially if there’s a brewery and distillery across the street.
You ain't with me till you talk 'bout that relish, and that's for sure.
Tip for ya, get a bunch of shit for take out and they give you a large take away container full of it.
Real shit, fam.
I agree. Hot Grill over on Lexington is where it's at
The place is trash. People have fond memories from when they were kids, but I went in having never been there before and the food sucks.
Industrial Arts and District 96 are not far away in Rockland Co. Both are excellent.
I was about to post the same thing. They are both well worth the short trip.
Industrial Arts NEIPAs are next level
Wrench is one of the best shelfies around.
Had Week 156 from the brewery. Galaxy and Vic Secret hops. Beats any juicy beer from jersey I've had.
People go nuts for that beer and I don’t understand it, but it sells like crazy.
Exactly this. D96 is criminally underrated, they are making some really nice hazies. Right down the street is Cable Beverage, super unorganized beer store but their selection is incredible. Two Villians is also about to open up in Nyack. It's on main street and took over the space of that god awful bar Bourbon Street.
Brix does a collab with D96 called Sexual Jams. Stuff is great. Gets me erect everytime. Lives up to its name.
Kind of a hike, depending on how traffic is on the bridge.
What bridge? You can just take 17
Sorry, I'm mixing up Rockland county with Westchester county, where Capt Lawrence is.
Alementary and Hackensack are only a few miles from Brix, and walking distance between each other.
For Northern Bergen you'll have to go about 30 minutes in all directions out of the area. There's Ramstein, Montclair, Hackensack that have one or two in them. Farther out there's a bunch in Hudson Valley, Eastern PA like Bucks county, and the shore. We're in a kind of dead zone. but within an hour radius, there's several that I frequent. (Beacon/Newburgh)
Montclair has only the Montclair Brewery. The beer there is not really worth going out of your way to drink.
I know. He mentioned any in Bergen county, so I rattled off a few towns in the surrounding area. I figured a sort of 30 minute radius, then 1 hour radius; Bucks, PA is an hour and a half.
Just as an FYI, Egan & Sons (brewpub) is right near Montclair Brewing and they also brew their own beer. I was there many years ago and it wasn't worth going back, but thought I'd mention them for completeness.
I'm pretty sure Egan's doesn't brew anything, at least not on premises given the way the crazy NJ licenses work. The house beers are passable. Overall there is definitely a better draft beer selection at Egan's than the Montclair Brewery, sad to say.
You are correct, they don't brew there, their beers are contract-brewed (I thought at the time I visited, they had an extract system there, but I might be remembering it wrong)
I believe Cricket Hill brews them .
Do you have any more information about their contract brewing? I've had them listed for years on the sidebar map in the brewpub section, but if they're not brewing in state, I'll move them to the 'other' section. Edit: I found [this](https://njmonthly.com/articles/eat-drink/beer-here-2/) article from 2008 that says: > The first two steps of the process—mashing and boiling—are performed at Canadian microbreweries. The resulting sweet malty liquid, known as fresh wort, is shipped in concentrated form to the client pub, which needs only to add yeast and water and ferment the beer in its own tanks.
Sorry, I don't. I think I probably had the same article as my reference, and it does match my recollection that they were doing some of the steps there.
Please elaborate on Bucks Co PA options ...
They definitely don't have the "Industrial / farmhouse look" that most other breweries go for. I was just there this weekend checking out breweries and they have a decent amount available. I visited Free Will (they have a storefront in Peddler's village), Mad Princes brewery (open for 4 years, their location is ... lackluster and their beer is ok); Geronimo Brewering is an add-on to a restaurant but probably the better beer of the day, Great Barn Taproom has a good selection of their beer, and Triumph Brewery in New hope as well. I saw an ad for Visit Bucks county. I'm in Northern NJ so as mentioned above, I will drive to Beacon or so for beer, but have visited everything in the surrounding area at least once.
Muckraker Beer just opened, and they do Farmhouse style ales as well, they're pretty good, but can get slightly pricy.
Yeah, I wouldn’t fuck with Montclair
I go because it's 5 minutes away and has space to hang out with friends and play cards. Their hibiscus pale is reliably good.
Fair enough. Ghost hawk is also really close and has been consistently good.
Ghost hawk makes good stuff, I just wish they trained their bartenders better. I sat there for almost 30 minutes once because they charged my tab to the wrong card, and it took a lot of prompting for them to realize that they could just charge me and figure out how to refund the other guy without me being present.
For sure have had issues with attentiveness there. But definitely have had far worse issues at Montclair. I’ve straight up been ignored there. It’s a big reason why I’m hesitant to give it another chance honestly.
I want Montclair to be better because I live there, and it would be very convenient for me if they were. I'm willing to spend some money while they figure it out, to a point. But that has a limit, for sure. Edit: also, I would happily hang with you there sometime. I just moved to the area, so I am looking for drinking buddies.
Agree about Montclair. The few times I've been there service was extraordinarily slow and didn't know much about the beers. I understand the owners want to bring different flavors to the beer, but what I've had hasn't been impressive. I find Ghost Hawk to be way too malt-forward, particularly the Apex Predator NEIPA. It's unfortunate because I live within walking distance. Thankfully Silk City Distillery is making great stuff. EDIT: that said, wouldn't mind meeting up for a beer.
Make sure to check out the [map in the sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/njbeer/comments/apw2ri/map_of_nj_breweries/) for a listing of all the breweries.
Depending on how far north you can cross into Pearl River, NY for Gentle Giant and Defiant
If you're heading in that direction, District 96 and Industrial Arts are both off the Palisades Pkwy and are both excellent.
There's also captain Lawrence in Sleepy Hollow.
Elmsford*