The first time I ever tasted New Jersey Beer Co. was when brewery chairman Paul Silverman (of SILVERMAN) gave me a taste at a local event. It was so yummy! I started noticing more and more that local bars were serving NJ Beer Co. but, to be honest, I never really thought of ordering one. Shame on me, as someone who is all about shopping local. Why wasn’t I drinking local? I guess I was used to ordering the same old beers that I knew about.

Fast forward to about a month ago when I was invited by Paul to visit NJ Beer Co.’s craft beer brewery in North Bergen. I had no idea the amount of work and effort that goes into just one bottle. Making beer is part art and part science. It was so interesting to hear about the process from beginning to end. While I was interviewing Paul, I got to sample their different beers and really taste and enjoy them. That was it. I vowed to only drink NJ Beer Co. when it is available. So next time you’re at the bar in Jersey City, ask for NJ Beer Co. beers! Support your local brewers.

How did NJ Beer Co start?

Paul: Six years ago, a craft beer fan started the brewery. He got some friends and family to invest and even mortgaged his parent’s house. After the brewery’s first year, I was looking to start my own brewery. I spent a morning at NJ Beer Co. seeing what it takes to start a brewery. The NJ Beer Co. men needed an investor and asked me if I would consider investing in their brewery instead of starting my own. It was St. Patrick’s Day weekend, 2011.  While I was deciding whether I should invest, I was watching the Today Show Sunday morning.  On comes craft beer expert, John Holl, (who lives in Jersey City). He is the editor of All About Beer Magazine, recommending Garden State Stout from New Jersey Beer Co. for St. Patrick’s Day

John has written several books including his recent cookbook, Dishing Up New Jersey. He’s on the Today Show and he was talking about our Garden State Stout.  So the next day I called the brewery, I said, “I’m in, I’m doing this!”

That’s such a good story! 

The very next day, I started to help to turn things around. The founder has since left. We have two brewers, Dave and  Mehmet. Our GM Ari, and our salesman Mike. We have a great team in our tasting room too.

It’s insane. Now I have an appreciation when I drink a glass of beer.

Head Brewer Dave Manka has sampled batch after batch, testing it and making sure it’s right.

Does the beer always taste the same?

Dave: Very close. We’re dealing with the hops and the barley which change from season to season. So we have that variable of something we don’t have a lot of control over—the growing of those two products.

It’s a science.

Paul: Exactly. So the brewers carefully watch the gauges, the temperature, the timing. I don’t have as sophisticated a beer palate as our brewers, but I can tell when the beer is good.

Do you love beer? Yes.

Did you always love beer? Yes.

Awesome. So give us a tour of NJ Beer Company.

We make all of our beer, and we also make the beer for 902 Brewing in Hoboken. We buy German malt, the best quality stuff we can get. Like a big tea kettle, the grain goes into our tank, and we run warm water over that, and we’re creating a sweet tea. We drain that into the kettle, and we boil it, and we add the hops in there and anything else. In our Stout, we add Belgian chocolate and raisins, and it goes in the kettle at that point and after that, we’ve created a wort which is your pre-beer. Then it goes through a heat exchanger; it’s basically like a big car radiator. One pipe has our boiling water, and one pipe has the city water going the other way, and they just trade heat, so it gets quickly to room temperature.  The liquid runs through a hose like this into one of the fermenters.; the yeast is in there waiting. The beer comes in and the yeast starts eating, giving off a little bit of heat, a little bit of natural carbonation, and alcohol while the brewers are monitoring the entire process.

How long does it take from start to finish? 

From water to finished beer, three weeks and then a few days to get it in a bottle or a keg. If you want a higher alcohol beer, it takes longer because the yeast needs to be eating longer. We make one that’s 9%, and that takes a month.

How many people brew the beer? 

Dave and Mehmet are our only two brewers. Our original brew master was an accountant and he lived in Buffalo, and he had just finished college.

Anything else you want to show me here? 

Once the beer is finished we send it to the bright tank, and this is where we carbonate it, and we let it rest a little bit. These two tanks are liquid Co2 and its simple, you just connect it to this hose and on the other side of these fittings—it looks like an aeration stone in a fish tank. Then you package it from here.

So I didn’t realize that it was so process-intense to make beer. How much beer do you guys make? 

160 barrels a month is the goal.

Do you guys taste every batch? Yes.

So are you guys just drunk all day? Just from the fumes, I’m feeling a little drunk. 

You can get fatigued with drinking beer. We’re in this because we like beer.

When people come for tastings, do people get drunk?

Not really.

So where do you guys currently distribute your beer?

We’re only in New Jersey, but we are statewide. We’re in about twenty Buffalo Wild Wings, and in Jersey City bars like Park & Sixth, Barcade, LITM, Hamilton Inn and many others. We’re in a lot of the big liquor stores like Super Buy-Rite and Gary’s, and in Jersey City Madame Claude Wine, CoolVines and Central Avenue Liquors.

Are you guys looking to expand past the state? 

We want to stay local, it’s just so much fun to be local.

A local rock star. 

To be able to say we’re New Jersey Beer Co. served and sold only in New Jersey is fun. If you want to drink it, you have to come to New Jersey.

How many types of beers do you guys make?

We do four year-round, our 1787 Abbey Single, Hudson Pale Ale, Garden State Stout and LBIPA. Our fall seasonal beer is a Brown Ale; the summer is the Beach Watch and we have the Deep Cold Winter. We use great ingredients appealing to all and Dave and Mehmet get credit for that.

What would be the best to eat with the Beach Watch?

A large variety. Chicken off the grill would be nice.

So you guys were recently voted Best Beer in New Jersey right?

Paul: Not exactly best beer. Favorite brewery, by the readers of New Jersey Monthly Magazine!

And you guys won, Mazel Tov. How long have you guys been around?

May 10th was six years.

What’s next?

We have some new flavors coming out, including a double IPA that’s going to have an Atlantic City theme.

We encourage our fans to request our beers. The best things our fans can do is go to bars and restaurants and stores and make a request for NJ Beer Co. beer.

Be sure to check out NJ Beer Co. on their site, Instagram, or Twitter.