she adds. Rinn Duin distributes
to 11 counties around New
Jersey and hopes to fill in the
rest by the end of this year.
The brewery also plans a beer
garden.—TN
FLAGSHIP: St. John’s Irish Red
RIVER HORSE
BREWING COMPANY
E WING
OPENED APRIL 1996
riverhorse.com
Few Jersey breweries can be
found in as many retail locations as River Horse. Though
founded in 1996, things really
took off when current owners
Chris Walsh and Glenn Ber-nabeo, self-confessed former
“finance geeks,” took over in
2007. Walsh describes River
Horse beers—including favorites like Hop Hazard and Tripel
Horse—as “super approachable.” His favorite part of the
job is being part of something
that people truly love. “It’s a
business, but it’s a fun one,”
Walsh says.—CM
COMING SOON: 20th Anniversary
Barrel-Aged Tripel
SPELLBOUND
BREWING COMPANY
THE BREW
CREW:
OUR EXPERT
PANEL
Our list of the top New
Jersey craft brewers
is based on a vote by
these 16 New Jersey
beer experts.
• Tom Broderick
Store manager, Joe
Canal’s Discount Liquor
Outlet, Iselin
• Michael deSimone
Morris Tap & Grill, Randolph; and Paragon Tap
& Table, Clark
• Brian Estrafalholte
General manager, Gusto
Grill, East Brunswick
• Tony Forder
Editor-in-chief, Ale
Street News
• Mark Haynie
Correspondent,
Mid-Atlantic Brewing News/
co-author, New Jersey
Breweries (Stackpole
Books, 2008)
• Jon Henderson
President/executive producer, Good Time Tricycle
Productions/Atlantic City
Beer & Music Festival
• Bryan Kolesar
Blogger, The Brew Lounge;
author, Beer Lover’s
Mid-Atlantic (Rowman &
Littlefield, 2015)
• Matthew Marks
Manager, Keg & Kitchen,
Haddon Township
• John Mirsch
Craft beer manager,Joe
Canal’s Discount Liquor
Outlet, Egg Harbor
Township
• Chris Morris
Author, North Jersey Beer
( The History Press, 2015)
• Ryan Mould
Beer blogger
• Tara Nurin
Correspondent,
New Jersey Monthly
• Bob Probert
Beer writer
• Jay Reilly
Director of customer
services, Craft Nation
• Dana Russo
Bartender and certified
cicerone, Cloverleaf
Tavern, West Caldwell
• Melissa Surach
Manager, the Thirsty
Quaker: Homebrew
Supplies, Jersey City
MOUNT HOLLY
OPENED OCTOBER 2014
spellboundbrewing.com
Spellbound’s Palo Santo Wood
Aged Porter earned co-owners
John Companick, Mike Oliver
and Scott Reading one of the
state’s two Great American
Beer Festival medals in 2015.
Credit their will to experiment.
The owners found some Palo
Santo wood left over from a
home brew three years prior.
They added a few short sticks
when making their porter. Fans
cheered. Now it’s a year-round
brew. The wood imparts the
flavor of coconut and hints of
black licorice. “Three little pieces of Palo Santo wood, and the
craft beer community helped
to win a medal at GABF,”
Companick marvels. The team
distributes to five Central and
South Jersey counties—TN
FLAGSHIPS: IPA; Porter; Pale Ale
THIRD STATE
BREWING
BURLINGTON CITY
OPENED JUNE 2015
thirdstatebrewing.com
Co-owner and head brewer
Bill Pozniak once spent a week
brewing at the famed Pilsner
Urquell brewery in the Czech
Republic as a prize for winning
a national pilsner competition.
Last year, he joined friends
and fellow home brewers Jay
Mahoney and John O’Brien to
open the tiny Third State in
downtown Burlington. The trio
will locally distribute limited
quantities this year, with eyes
on opening a larger facility in
the future. (The current one will
be used as a tasting room and
pilot brewery.) “We started this
through…a passion for brewing
[and] a need for something to
keep us busy when we retire
Head brewer Bill
Pozniak, left,
prepares to stir the
mash tun at Third
State Brewing. Below: The bottling
line at River Horse
Brewing.
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