Travelling to Whippany, NJ for business

I am going to be in Whippany next week and was wondering if there are any brew pubs and LHBS that I must visit around there. Any suggestions are welcomed, thanks.

Well, that's my neck of the woods, and it's not great beer country, sadly. No LHBS to speak of (there's one, but it's geared toward wine), and not a ton of brewpubs. Check out this site for some ideas, and avoid the house brews at the Gaslight in South Orange; their guest brews are good and their house brews are, well, not. South Orange is a cool little town, though, and the Gaslight serves up good beers that they didn't make. The Office, in Morristown, is a decent place for a pint; you'll find some regional brews there. A train ride into NYC is probably your best bet for beer tourism, though. The Blind Tiger, at Jones and Bleecker in Greenwich Village, is a superb beer bar among others on this map. I'd offer to meet up for a beer, but I'll actually be gone to LA for a conference next week. Safe travels.

Thanks good info. I do plan on at least seeing NYC this time around.

OK now I hate you! I clicked on the link and noticed that you had Ohhh 16 more brew pubs than my area!!!! I have to travel at least an hour for one. I think I am going to definitely hit the gaslight as it is only 12 miles from my hotel. Thanks again!

What days will you be there? I work in Parsippany, which is right down the road. There are a couple of nice Irish pubs in the area - Molly Malone's and The Auld Shebeen. If I'm around we could meet after work, shoot the ****.

-Joe

gunner65 said:

OK now I hate you! I clicked on the link and noticed that you had Ohhh 16 more brew pubs than my area!!!! I have to travel at least an hour for one. I think I am going to definitely hit the gaslight as it is only 12 miles from my hotel. Thanks again!

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Yeah, well, my second adult beverage love is bourbon, and I have a hunch you can get a much better selection than I can, probably for substantially less money. Additionally, I can't make my own bourbon. The grass is always greener, er, bluer.

elkdog said:

Yeah, well, my second adult beverage love is bourbon, and I have a hunch you can get a much better selection than I can, probably for substantially less money. Additionally, I can't make my own bourbon. The grass is always greener, er, bluer.

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LOL! yeah sometime you will have to come down and take the Bourbon Trail Tour! It is best visited by motorcycle!

I will be there from Monday-Friday am. I will be at the Alcatel-Lucent facility in Whippany. I will have a VERY loose schedule as the work is spread out.

Hi gunner! I had to spend a few days at Anritsu for some training in Fairfield. Man that area sucks, especially the roads with those "jug handle" turn arounds. I did not like the area at all, and I have been all over the US, coast to coast.

Are you getting some training on their microwave products?

If you have a rental car, go to JJ Bittings Brewpub in Woodbridge. A little bit of a drive, but much less than an hour. You are also close to Cloverleaf in Caldwell which is a great place I go to all the time. I am 3 beers away from finishing their MBA program in beer.

Even closer is Krogh's in Sparta, which also has excellent beer.

-Joe

elkdog said:

Well, that's my neck of the woods, and it's not great beer country, sadly. No LHBS to speak of (there's one, but it's geared toward wine), and not a ton of brewpubs...and avoid the house brews at the Gaslight in South Orange; their guest brews are good and their house brews are, well, not. South Orange is a cool little town, though, and the Gaslight serves up good beers that they didn't make.

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Totally disagree about the Gaslight. Yeah the have decent guest brews, but they also brew a decent beer. I'm local to the pub and in the absence of a lot of brew pubs in this area, it's a good place to go and sample some decent brew. It's in downtown South Orange which is a cool little town and the students from Seton Hall down the street frequent the pub. And they actually have a pretty good food menu. They usually have about 5-6 house brews on tap and I would encourage you to check it out and form your own opinion. Would like to hear your thoughts if you visit the pub.

axr

I've never had their beers in-house, but I did have them at last year's NJ Craft Brewing Festival in Camden.

The Gaslight's were the only beers I had to dump out. The three I had were absolutely awful.

I hope they were just having a bad day, but I sampled beers from a dozen other brewers that were delicious.

-Joe

axr said:

Totally disagree about the Gaslight. Yeah the have decent guest brews, but they also brew a decent beer. I'm local to the pub and in the absence of a lot of brew pubs in this area, it's a good place to go and sample some decent brew. It's in downtown South Orange which is a cool little town and the students from Seton Hall down the street frequent the pub. And they actually have a pretty good food menu. They usually have about 5-6 house brews on tap and I would encourage you to check it out and form your own opinion. Would like to hear your thoughts if you visit the pub.

axr

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Well, we can disagree about the beers- I had a bitter on cask there once that tasted like vinegar(too long on cask), and I think they need to make water adjustments, as we all do around here, when they brew lighter colored beers. Aside from those brews, I am in agreement about it being a good place to get some food and a beer- they have a pretty nice bottle list, as well. I had an Oaked Arrogant Bastard last time I was there, and that's a not a beer you'll find in a lot of places.

Morristown is right next to Whippany and has a lot of bars. I would recommend driving out to the Long Valley Brewpub. Great food and great beers. It would probably be about 35-45min from you, but a nice drive. Good luck

http://www.brewpubnj.com/

I am actually starting to get a little more excited about this trip hate leaving the family for a week but if I can find some interesting brew pubs and Irish pubs I will be in for a treat, thanks for all of the suggestions.

elkdog said:

Well, we can disagree about the beers- I had a bitter on cask there once that tasted like vinegar(too long on cask), and I think they need to make water adjustments, as we all do around here, when they brew lighter colored beers. Aside from those brews, I am in agreement about it being a good place to get some food and a beer- they have a pretty nice bottle list, as well. I had an Oaked Arrogant Bastard last time I was there, and that's a not a beer you'll find in a lot of places.

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Fair enough, Elkdog. Perhaps we'll some day belly up to that bar and discuss further.

Salud!

Airborneguy said:

If you have a rental car, go to JJ Bittings Brewpub in Woodbridge. A little bit of a drive, but much less than an hour. You are also close to Cloverleaf in Caldwell which is a great place I go to all the time. I am 3 beers away from finishing their MBA program in beer.

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+1 on JJ Bittings Brewpub Good food and even better beer and you can take a growler to go.

South Orange was a very pretty community. Unfortunate for me the Gaslight is not open until late afternoon. I had a Guiness and bangers at an Irish pub called Cryans. That was a pretty cool place to eat. Since SO is so close to Whippany I may travel back down there for dinner tonight or tomorrow night. Thanks for all of the input it really helps break up a business travel by having somthing to do when you are away.