Day two of our search for N.J.'s best craft brewery finds the crew at two North Jersey stops.
The first set of male twin elephants was born in 2010 in Thailand.
The things you learn while working the beer circuit.
Twin Elephant's co-founder, Tim Besecker, is an identical twin, so somehow that and elephants came together to produce the Chatham brewery's name.
He and fellow homebrewer Scott McLuskey knew they were on to something when the beer they made for Tim's and Cindy DeRama's wedding was enthusiastically received - at a winery, no less, where the reception was held.
They scouted locations for three years before finding a vacant warehouse in Chatham Borough; McLuskey, now Twin Elephant's owner and head brewer, stumbled upon it while walking his dog one day.
Twin Elephant's tasting room was busy and bustling when we stopped in mid-afternoon; Jen Pruskowski and other bartenders poured Lil Shimmy Ye ale and other brews nonstop, several little kids scampered and down the back walkway, and a half dozen patrons, familiar with our search for N.J.'s best craft brewery, came over to say hi.
"There's no other form of entertainment in the tasting room except conversation,'' McLuskey said.
Three of the eight beers listed on the board had already "kicked'' or run out, so my advice here is to visit Twin Elephant early in the day. As a result, I tried five brews instead of the usual eight in this round of the competition. My favorites: Little Shimmy Ye, Table Legs saison with blueberries.
DEMENTED BREWING, MIDDLESEX
Tom Zuber had a simple reason for opening a brewery: job burnout.
A software engineer for 15 years, the home brewer decided to take the leap to full-scale brewery. He scouted locations for nine months before finding a vacant janitorial supplies business in Middlesex and opening Demented Brewing.
"It was the first place I saw that really looked like a brewery,'' Zuber explained.
The brewery's brick walls lend an old-world look, while the tasting room's walls are downright devilish; one-eyed monsters, winged beasts and a Jersey Devil or two scamper across a hellish, beer-laden landscape in artist Drake Barry's fantastical mural.
A steady stream of customers stopped in to pick up four-packs of Double Dementia IPA, Demented's first official can release.
"We like to brew for the seasons,'' Zuber said. "There was a stout series - Seven Deadly Stouts - (over the winter). Wheats and cream ales in the spring, IPAs in the summer, an acorn squash abbey ale, sweet potato porter in the fall. . .
"Keep things fresh, keep things rotating,'' he added.
You can find Demented - on tap, in cans or bottles - in about 500 restaurants, bars and liquor stores around the state.
My favorite brews here: Wrath, a bourbon-barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stout; and Sloth milk stout on nitro.
MAGNIFY BREWING CO., FAIRFIELD
Owner Eric Ruta was not at Magnify Brewing when we stopped, but mom was behind the bar.
"He's very driven,'' Sheryl Ruta said of her 25-year-old son. She smiled. "He's a hard person to work with.''
In the next breath, she said it was "awesome'' when Eric told her he wanted to open a brewery. "'It's great to work with your kid,'' she added.
Magnify's philosophy, Eric Ruta said later, "is to create a community around craft beer in northern Jersey. It's exciting to see that community grow.''
There are can releases, mostly IPAs, every other week. "Hop-forward beers should be consumed fresh, so people are picking up fresh, limited IPAs direct from the source just a day after canning and drinking them the way they should be,'' Ruta said.
New Jersey craft breweries, as opposed to brew pubs, are not allowed to serve food, so you're welcome to bring your own food to the former. At Magnify, several families with kids happily camped at a table feasted on wings, pizza and sandwiches.
Five brews were available on tap, so naturally I tried them all. My favorites: Cold Side IPA and Low Visibility pale ale.
Peter Genovese may be reached at pgenovese@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PeteGenovese or via The Munchmobile @NJ_Munchmobile. Find the Munchmobile on Facebook and Instagram.