The Ship Inn, Milford, NJ

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flyangler18

flyangler18

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Had an opportunity to meet up with some HBTers and sample some fine British-syle ales at the Ship Inn in Milford, NJ. The Best Bitter on the hand pump is just exceptional!

The brewery was of particular interest to me because they use a 7bbl English system- lots of wood, copper and brick! Some pics:

The Hot Liquor Tank (Barrel)
IMG_5840.JPG


The Brew Kettle
IMG_5842.JPG


Mash Lauter Tun
IMG_5841.JPG


The Grain Mill
IMG_5854.JPG


The mill is separate from the brewhouse and the grain is auger fed into the MLT.
 
Being a English-style brewery, The Ship Inn employs open fermentation vessels. As such, there is a mirror mounted over the FV to allow both visitors and ostensibly the brewmaster a way to see fermentation:

IMG_5848.JPG


IMG_5849.JPG


And a pile o' malt:
IMG_5843.JPG
 
The Ship Inn is the place I call my 'local', even though it's not within walking distance. Fine English-style ales, a good selection of top-shelf whiskies, and traditional English pub grub. Can't beat it!

They've got a curry on the menu. My wife, being an aficionado of Indian food, was unimpressed when she first ordered it. I said, "Remember, darling, it's English pub food." She replied, "Oh, yeah; I forgot."

Moral: Never expect fresh-from-Mumbai curries in an English pub. Unless the kitchen is run by a bloke named Mohinder Singh. :D

Bob
 
They've got a curry on the menu. My wife, being an aficionado of Indian food, was unimpressed when she first ordered it. I said, "Remember, darling, it's English pub food." She replied, "Oh, yeah; I forgot."

Moral: Never expect fresh-from-Mumbai curries in an English pub.
Click to expand...

Quite true! Funny, we were actually discussing just that point during our time there yesterday! :D
 
I used to live across the river for a bit...haven't been to the Sh*t in a while but it sounds like the food hasn't changed much ;)

The Milford Oyster House used to be exceptional and we would eat there and then wander down the street for drinks.
 
brewt00l said:
The Milford Oyster House used to be exceptional and we would eat there and then wander down the street for drinks.
Click to expand...
The Oyster House moved into a bar up the road a bit. The food there has always been good and Jean and I would do the same thing before they moved. Often the opposite. Meet friends at the Ship Inn, have a couple of beers and then wander down to the Oyster House for food. It was nice when they didn't have a liquor license because the BYO policy saved a few bucks.

We’ll have to plan another Milford meeting in the future.
 
flyangler18 said:
Being a English-style brewery, The Ship Inn employs open fermentation vessels. As such, there is a mirror mounted over the FV to allow both visitors and ostensibly the brewmaster a way to see fermentation:
Click to expand...

It's also probably good for when they rouse/skim the yeast. They use primarily, if not exclusively, Ringwood yeast.

About Our Beer
Open fermentation (the fact that the top of the tank is open to air) allows us to skim healthy, happy Ringwood yeast :) from the top of the beer to save for the next batch.
Click to expand...
 
One of my favorite places to have a beer, it's worth the 1 hour and 15 minute drive for me...I sampled all of the beers that they had on tap last time I was there, and thought they were all great. Their fish and chips is worth the trip as well.
 
BlackDogBrewing said:
One of my favorite places to have a beer, it's worth the 1 hour and 15 minute drive for me...I sampled all of the beers that they had on tap last time I was there, and thought they were all great. Their fish and chips is worth the trip as well.
Click to expand...

BDB- You should have joined us on Sunday! I was in town and organized a meet n' greet with some HBT locals.


:mug:
 
Because of the coupons mentioned in my previous post, my wife and I have been making the trip to the Ship Inn a monthly ritual. We had a pleasant surprise last night. Not only do they have the cask-conditioned Best Bitter on hand pump, but they added a hand pumped English IPA. Fabulous! If you’re in the area, get it before it's gone.
 
Somehow this place existed without me knowing about it. Sounds about perfect- I love English Ales and English Pub food, and that's a beautiful neck of the woods. Thanks for the reviews.
 
elkdog said:
I love English Ales and English Pub food, and that's a beautiful neck of the woods. Thanks for the reviews.
Click to expand...
Wife and I made our routine trip to the Ship Inn last night. Over the last six months or so, I've noticed a change, but couldn't pin it down. Got the inside poop from our waitress. As I had thought, the place changed hands. Bottom line is that they used to focus on the beer and now they're more concerned with the food (which has improved.) The last owner was the brewer. He was into the process and eager to give me a tour. Now they farm out the brewing to a guy who works for River Horse in Lambertville. He's either struggling with the British styles or spread too thin between the two jobs. To that end, only two of the beers on tap were "British." My wife had the ESB. Not bad, just kind of meh. Lacked the complexity that I remember from their beer. I tried a Pan Head Porter on a hand pump. Could be that they just didn't move enough of it, but it had definite signs of oxidation and souring. Right on the edge, and still drinkable, but flawed.

To drive the point home. They had a two page newsletter on the table. No mention of beer in the entire thing. They have forgotten their heritage as New Jersey's first brewpub. Sad.
 
AnOldUR said:
My wife had the ESB. Not bad, just kind of meh.
Click to expand...

I drove down to the Ship Inn in June or July. I was super excited being that I mostly brew English-style beers and LOVE a good plate of Fish n' Chips.

I drank every beer that they had on tap, and noticed a pronounced butterscotch off-taste on ALL of them. Obviously, that made me think diacetyl. Now I know that is acceptable in some styles, but in the IPA, it almost over-powered the hops completely. It was definitely not intended, and since it was in every beer, I figured they were using one yeast strain and moving the beer off the yeast too fast.

Overall, I liked the place, but the beer was slightly disappointing.
 
i frequent the Ship Inn and also love it, particularly their bitter on the hand pump. where else can you get reasonably priced honest pints and bring home a growler for $5? i heart any beers on hand pump:)
Airborneguy said:
I drank every beer that they had on tap, and noticed a pronounced butterscotch off-taste on ALL of them. Obviously, that made me think diacetyl.
Click to expand...
i spoke with JW their new brewer about this and he says the Ringwood Yeast is what they use on ALL their beers and it produces this flavor and it's not really an "off" flavor but rather a by product of said ringwood.

AnOldUR said:
Now they farm out the brewing to a guy who works for River Horse in Lambertville.
Click to expand...
^where are you getting your information? i think your waitress was grossly misinformed. as stated above, a guy named JW - i think full name is James Walsh (see article in Ale Street News i think it was in the NJ section about him) - just became the brewer there recently with very little experience under his belt. as far as i know they don't sub anything out to River Horse:confused: and on that note, ever since River Horse sold out to the banks (about 5 years ago) their brew has gone down hill big time. the beers don't even taste the same any more. and their great packaging has turned to complete crap that looks like a 4 year old drew it :(
 
jessup said:
i spoke with JW their new brewer about this and he says the Ringwood Yeast is what they use on ALL their beers and it produces this flavor and it's not really an "off" flavor but rather a by product of said ringwood.
Click to expand...

Not if Ringwood is properly managed. Ringwood is famous for throwing diacetyl, but you don't just throw up your hands and say, "Oh, well!" You manage your ferment to reduce it to manageable levels.

as stated above, a guy named JW - i think full name is James Walsh (see article in Ale Street News i think it was in the NJ section about him) - just became the brewer there recently with very little experience under his belt.
Click to expand...

That might explain it. Thanks for the info!

Cheers,

Bob
 
Bob said:
Not if Ringwood is properly managed. Ringwood is famous for throwing diacetyl, but you don't just throw up your hands and say, "Oh, well!" You manage your ferment to reduce it to manageable levels
Click to expand...

ahh, i see! i have zero experience using Ringwood and thought it might actually be a desirable flavor in english beers. while i do taste the diacetyl in their beers, the flavor has been there for as long as i can remember; that length of time is about 4-5 years. also: caveat of the fact the guy JW was a nice dude and i don't wanna bash his product. after all, the guy said he had 6 months homebrew experience prior. cudos to him for even being able to pull off being the head brewer with that background!

i am pissed i missed a HBT gathering, though. :mug:
 
Agree, the yeast doesn't have to taste that way.

Definitely not bashing, overall, I like it, including the beers. Their Fish n' Chips were amazing, one of the best I have ever had (best in Brooklyn at a place opened by an Australian dude). I will DEFINITELY be back there one day.

For the record, I actually like the butterscotch/diacetyl taste in beers, but in a "pro" beer, I still have to recognize it as "undesirable". Also, remember that is some recipes, it is acceptable.
 
jessup said:
where are you getting your information? i think your waitress was grossly misinformed . . .as far as i know they don't sub anything out to River Horse . . .
Click to expand...
I didn't mean that they sub their brewing to River Horse, but that the Ship Inn brewer works at both places, not full time at Ship Inn. From the way she made it sound, he spends most of his time at River Horse and had been having trouble getting use to the gear at Ship Inn. Her words were that his beers had a "stronger flavor" than the previous brewmaster. I think she was being fed a line of BS and is trying to sell it to the customers who noticed a difference.

I don't know all the facts, but from what's been said here, I'd guess that he's an assistant brewer at River Horse trying to make it on his own at Ship Inn with limited experience.

A quick Google of Ringwood yeast on the Wyeast site doesn't even list it as being used for most of the English style beers. Perhaps as Bob says, proper management is the key. From my recent encounters, I'd say he has yet to master that.

It’s easy to get drawn in by the pub history, atmosphere and food, but in my opinion they are not producing quality beer. Hopefully in time the new guy will get a grip on it, but I don’t think that the new owner places too much importance on that end of the business.
 
The Ship Inn has used Ringwood since day one, AFAIK. It's basically a Ringwood brewery of the type Alan Pugsley used to Johnny Appleseed all over North America: Wood-clad vessels, unheated mash tun, bricked-up copper-clad kettle, open ferment with Ringwood yeast.

Pugsley worked at the Ringwood brewery in Hampshire (the one in England) waaaaaay back in the day, and when he moved to Maine in the 1980s he started building small replicas of the Ringwood plant all over the place. Understandably, he also brought along Ringwood yeast. Breweries all over the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states - including everything from Magic Hat to Long Trail to Weyerbacher - got their start as a Ringwood technology and Ringwood yeast brewery.

Let's hope JW figures it out quickly. The Ship is my local. ;)

Cheers,

Bob
 
Had to revisit this thread to give some credit where due.

We have been back to the Ship Inn a couple of time since my other posts to this thread. The beer being produced there have not just gotten better, but are now excellent. The Brewmaster may have had a rough start with the new (to him) equipment, but is very talented. Last night I had their December Brown and the Black IPA. Both hand pumped beers. No time to go into details now, but both the food and beer are fantastic. If you’re in the area, don’t pass this place up.
 

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