Beer Good

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Originally uploaded by reallyct

Do you like beer? I know you do. How about really good beer? Brewed by a really good guy? Who has two hyperadorable rescue dogs? Yeah, that's beer you can get behind!

Saturday marked the launch of the New Jersey Beer Company with an event in North Arlington at the Copper Mine pub. The owner, Matt, is a very close friend, first of devoted partner's from high school and then, obviously, mine. Aside from his not permitting me to kidnap his puppies, I can say nothing bad about Matt, and as we have followed his journey from "I'm going to open a brewery," to "customs is holding my equipment hostage," to "Saturday 3-8pm beer launch," I have grown more and more excited (as I'm certain, has Matt).

So when the day arrived, we were up, at 'em, and on the road to New Jersey (a place reserved only for special occasions and invitations; ooh, wait, and the beach; I always forget I like Jersey's beach). I brought tennis balls just in case there were any dogs that would need entertaining - there weren't, grrrrr. The bar had that terrific neighborhood vibe that many bars strive for and few achieve. There were regular patrons making conversation with the owner and watching a variety of professional sporting events (the one with the bat, the one where you kick balls, and the one where you drive around a circle very fast), and, yes, they were ordering the new beer on the block!

Matt launched three beers this weekend: a pale ale, and abbey single, and a stout. It's the middle one that I couldn't identify and, when I tasted it, was more surprised still; I had assumed it would be, for lack of a better descriptor, sweet; but it was far more nuanced than that. Each beer had such a delightfully unique character and each conjured up, for me, a different way to be enjoyed. There was a fourth beer making the rounds, a version of the pale ale with extra hops, and wow if I wasn't educated about how slight changes can produce tremendous differences in the finished product.

Shameless plug, or not, I would encourage all of you to join the New Jersey Beer Company's Facebook page so you can find out where near you they're serving and upcoming events where you can support local enterprise and one of the nicest guys I know. Also, if I haven't yet mentioned it, the beer is really, REALLY, good. So drink up!