What's Happening in NJ? Releases, News, Gatherings

[Ben1]

For some reason, Magnify seems to get NJ beer geeks all fired up when it comes up in conversation.

Did someone mention the Doo Doo Scale!?

 

[PubGrubTrub]

I've had two so far but their Main Event was unreal. Apparently there was some threats made on the thread.

It's a long long story.

The whole thing could be its own book.

 

[Ben1]

The whole thing could be its own book.

Well get writing Stephen King we need deets!

 

[Os]

so... Brotherton Brewing, anyone?

 

[gregkoko]

so... Brotherton Brewing, anyone?

 

[Os]

yeah, had the same reaction... based down in Burlington County... Hunterdon picked them up... guy used to be the chef at Tired Hands... hearing good things about the IPA and DIPA...

 

[PubGrubTrub]

Just saw that they have a "launch event" next Tuesday at the Cloverleaf.

 

[screwyouguys]

so... Brotherton Brewing, anyone?

I believe this might be known by
ForkAndSpoonOperator or DigDug1810
Either way burl county my stomping ground I'll look into and report back

 

[screwyouguys]

yeah, had the same reaction... based down in Burlington County... Hunterdon picked them up... guy used to be the chef at Tired Hands... hearing good things about the IPA and DIPA...

There in shamong twp
Right next to valenzano winery
Near pic a liili inn

 

[PubGrubTrub]

Well get writing Stephen King we need deets!

A few have asked so here's what I've either heard or seen over the last 9 months or so (and I apologize up front, this is a TL;DR for sure)...

From what I can tell it largely started last winter - either very late '15 or early '16. It's not uncommon for newly approved labels on TTB to be shared in Facebook groups. One such poster, at that point a big Magnify supporter, posted a few newly approved Magnify labels for upcoming cans. Since most of us in the group at the time were big Magnify supporters as well, there was some excitement.

A few days later the original poster of the Magnify labels was confronted in the Magnify tap room by both the owner and the owner's father with accusations that posting the labels "ruined their marketing plan." There were legal threats as well if more labels were posted, a thread made both verbally and in writing after. Now, mind you, there are beer blogs that will post newly approved labels from TTB in articles, on social media, etc., because once they're federally approved and listed on TTB, that's public information.

From there it's generally devolved into two groups - those Magnify regulars who frequent the brewery and support it no matter what and a population who thinks the brewery's response to the labels was utterly ridiculous. Both sides have dug in their heels.

The first threat came during a discussion between two members of the camps that originated in public on FB before going to a private message. The Magnify regular invited the other person to "come to the brewery for a glass of STFU served by the Magnify Crew." Needless to say the invite was taken more as a threat than an actual invitation to sit down and have a beer.

Most recently there's been some discussion about whether or not Magnify is experiencing diacetyl problems. This has been brought up on BA as well. It appears a handful of people have approached the brewery after experiencing what they perceive as buttery flavors in their beer, usually from cans. The response has been almost universal to the multiple inquiries: "That's the first we've heard of it. But if you come back to the brewery we'll make it up to you." The first part of the response has perked up some ears, since it's been reportedly brought up by multiple people. How is it the first you've heard of it if someone else asked the same question? I haven't purchased any Magnify beers recently and I haven't personally detected it with the recent ones I've tried, and I know diacetyl is one of those things that not everybody can detect, but I'm curious to see if I experience the same thing.

There have been allegations of poor customer service if you're either a new, casual or infrequent visitor to the tap room. Some of the new visitors report cold treatment while other, seemingly regular customers are treated far better. I've only been once and had a decent experience so I didn't personally see it, and to be honest this was a far more prevalent complaint in the spring than now, so it's possible this feedback made it to the brewery and they've adjusted (if so, that's a good thing). But I have heard of some poor experiences which, to be fair, could happen at any place so it need not be considered brewery specific.

Was notified by a few people of an alleged issue at a recent brewfest. The organizers supplied water to each brewery tent for glass rinsing purposes. The allegation is Magnify was using its own beer to rinse glasses, perhaps in an effort to go through their product faster to make it seem they were in higher demand. It was drawn to the organizers' attention, they waited to see it actually happen, saw it happen, confronted the brewery, the brewery denied it was happening, the organizers said "We just saw you do it. Thanks for coming, we've got it from here" and the brewery was dismissed from the event. I wasn't there to witness it but I've heard it from at least two independent and trustworthy sources.

Two relatively popular gastropubs that are owned by the same consortium, at one point, refused to carry any Magnify product, either cans or on draft, because of extreme arrogance demonstrated by the brewery during a one-on-one meeting. I don't know if Magnify still isn't on draft at these establishments but one of the restaurants did a NJ brewery night earlier this summer and there was no Magnify to be seen on the draft menu. I'm sure in the future bars will refuse to carry breweries for something far less offensive but it was odd not seeing them on the list for that event.

There's also been allegations of Magnify aggressively attempting to swipe lines from other breweries at bars and restaurants, sometimes targeting those of other NJ breweries. I'm not in the industry so I don't have first hand experience with witnessing it, so take it for what it's worth. Have also heard about the owner mocking homebrewers openly in his tap room. The first sentence I figure happens a lot in every state but we know it can and does piss off other brewers; the second baffles me in that many in the beer culture brew on their own so what good does it do to target that segment?

Recently it's become apparent there are two distinct camps - those who are solidly behind Magnify and will support them no matter what they do, and those who are permanently skeptical of everything and anything Magnify does. It's this vicious circle because each side feeds into the other. The mention of Magnify, depending on the audience, can elicit a surreal, emotional reaction. It's kind of unfortunate, because in the middle you have this overlap of people who would like to see the brewery succeed and continue to kick out good beer, but would also prefer to see the brewery "play nice" and not engage in behavior similar to what's been alleged. I consider myself in the overlap because I want access to more good local breweries, but the allegations are concerning.

 

[DigDug1810]

http://www.brothertonbrewing.com/bb1/

yeah think they are in a makeshift brewery like structure for now next to where Valenzano does their weddings on old indian mills road.. they are building up a actual spot on 206 next to Valenzano's full winery.. instead of sticking with Valenzano name for beer they branded it Brotherton Brewing I guess

Need to get some of the Single IPA.. heard that was tasty and heard the DIPA is tasty too

i'd like to add i'm quite excited to see what they do.. this is my hometown and i love that part of NJ and for others to experience it. Right on the edge of the pine barrens. Kind of wish there was a bit more bucolic of a location they could pick besides off rt 206 directly but that does make it way easier for people not familiar with the area to find it when it opens and probably for parking/events etc. etc.... everything has it's pro's and con's....

I was looking back on the tree-house blog and seeing pictures of their small picturesque setup made me want for something like that in my hometown area i guess.. idk.. i'm a sucker for set and setting

 

[ForkAndSpoonOperator]

I believe this might be known by
ForkAndSpoonOperator or DigDug1810
Either way burl county my stomping ground I'll look into and report back

http://www.brothertonbrewing.com/bb1/

yeah think they are in a makeshift brewery like structure for now next to where Valenzano does their weddings on old indian mills road.. they are building up a actual spot on 206 next to Valenzano's full winery.. instead of sticking with Valenzano name for beer they branded it Brotherton Brewing I guess

Need to get some of the Single IPA.. heard that was tasty and heard the DIPA is tasty too

i'd like to add i'm quite excited to see what they do.. this is my hometown and i love that part of NJ and for others to experience it. Right on the edge of the pine barrens. Kind of wish there was a bit more bucolic of a location they could pick besides off rt 206 directly but that does make it way easier for people not familiar with the area to find it when it opens and probably for parking/events etc. etc.... everything has it's pro's and con's....

I was looking back on the tree-house blog and seeing pictures of their small picturesque setup made me want for something like that in my hometown area i guess.. idk.. i'm a sucker for set and setting

Steve, the brewer, is my brother. Been a minute since I talked to him, so I don't have any insider info, but I'd trust him to the ends of the earth with APA/IPA/DIPA and saisons.

 

[pythonhgr]

shamong twp?! WTF. Can't be a real place, has to be something Michael Jackson said in a song.

 

[screwyouguys]

shamong twp?! WTF. Can't be a real place, has to be something Michael Jackson said in a song.

Resident talk beer member. Dumpy DigDug1810 from there

 

[ForkAndSpoonOperator]

http://www.brothertonbrewing.com/bb1/

yeah think they are in a makeshift brewery like structure for now next to where Valenzano does their weddings on old indian mills road.. they are building up a actual spot on 206 next to Valenzano's full winery.. instead of sticking with Valenzano name for beer they branded it Brotherton Brewing I guess

Need to get some of the Single IPA.. heard that was tasty and heard the DIPA is tasty too

i'd like to add i'm quite excited to see what they do.. this is my hometown and i love that part of NJ and for others to experience it. Right on the edge of the pine barrens. Kind of wish there was a bit more bucolic of a location they could pick besides off rt 206 directly but that does make it way easier for people not familiar with the area to find it when it opens and probably for parking/events etc. etc.... everything has it's pro's and con's....

I was looking back on the tree-house blog and seeing pictures of their small picturesque setup made me want for something like that in my hometown area i guess.. idk.. i'm a sucker for set and setting

I'm actually talking to him now. Apparently, the brewery is going to be production only. No tasting room or even a growler station.

 

[Os]

I'm actually talking to him now. Apparently, the brewery is going to be production only. No tasting room or even a growler station.

can you get me a sample keg then?

 

[ForkAndSpoonOperator]

can you get me a sample keg then?

Maybe if one falls off a truck...

 

[screwyouguys]

Maybe if one falls off a truck...

well make sure it falls off truck in sj for team sj before anything heads north

 

[Gene1]

I'm actually talking to him now. Apparently, the brewery is going to be production only. No tasting room or even a growler station.

Interesting business model. That's a whole lot of high-margin revenue to miss out on.

 

[Gene1]

A few have asked so here's what I've either heard or seen over the last 9 months or so (and I apologize up front, this is a TL;DR for sure)...

From what I can tell it largely started last winter - either very late '15 or early '16. It's not uncommon for newly approved labels on TTB to be shared in Facebook groups. One such poster, at that point a big Magnify supporter, posted a few newly approved Magnify labels for upcoming cans. Since most of us in the group at the time were big Magnify supporters as well, there was some excitement.

A few days later the original poster of the Magnify labels was confronted in the Magnify tap room by both the owner and the owner's father with accusations that posting the labels "ruined their marketing plan." There were legal threats as well if more labels were posted, a thread made both verbally and in writing after. Now, mind you, there are beer blogs that will post newly approved labels from TTB in articles, on social media, etc., because once they're federally approved and listed on TTB, that's public information.

From there it's generally devolved into two groups - those Magnify regulars who frequent the brewery and support it no matter what and a population who thinks the brewery's response to the labels was utterly ridiculous. Both sides have dug in their heels.

The first threat came during a discussion between two members of the camps that originated in public on FB before going to a private message. The Magnify regular invited the other person to "come to the brewery for a glass of STFU served by the Magnify Crew." Needless to say the invite was taken more as a threat than an actual invitation to sit down and have a beer.

Most recently there's been some discussion about whether or not Magnify is experiencing diacetyl problems. This has been brought up on BA as well. It appears a handful of people have approached the brewery after experiencing what they perceive as buttery flavors in their beer, usually from cans. The response has been almost universal to the multiple inquiries: "That's the first we've heard of it. But if you come back to the brewery we'll make it up to you." The first part of the response has perked up some ears, since it's been reportedly brought up by multiple people. How is it the first you've heard of it if someone else asked the same question? I haven't purchased any Magnify beers recently and I haven't personally detected it with the recent ones I've tried, and I know diacetyl is one of those things that not everybody can detect, but I'm curious to see if I experience the same thing.

There have been allegations of poor customer service if you're either a new, casual or infrequent visitor to the tap room. Some of the new visitors report cold treatment while other, seemingly regular customers are treated far better. I've only been once and had a decent experience so I didn't personally see it, and to be honest this was a far more prevalent complaint in the spring than now, so it's possible this feedback made it to the brewery and they've adjusted (if so, that's a good thing). But I have heard of some poor experiences which, to be fair, could happen at any place so it need not be considered brewery specific.

Was notified by a few people of an alleged issue at a recent brewfest. The organizers supplied water to each brewery tent for glass rinsing purposes. The allegation is Magnify was using its own beer to rinse glasses, perhaps in an effort to go through their product faster to make it seem they were in higher demand. It was drawn to the organizers' attention, they waited to see it actually happen, saw it happen, confronted the brewery, the brewery denied it was happening, the organizers said "We just saw you do it. Thanks for coming, we've got it from here" and the brewery was dismissed from the event. I wasn't there to witness it but I've heard it from at least two independent and trustworthy sources.

Two relatively popular gastropubs that are owned by the same consortium, at one point, refused to carry any Magnify product, either cans or on draft, because of extreme arrogance demonstrated by the brewery during a one-on-one meeting. I don't know if Magnify still isn't on draft at these establishments but one of the restaurants did a NJ brewery night earlier this summer and there was no Magnify to be seen on the draft menu. I'm sure in the future bars will refuse to carry breweries for something far less offensive but it was odd not seeing them on the list for that event.

There's also been allegations of Magnify aggressively attempting to swipe lines from other breweries at bars and restaurants, sometimes targeting those of other NJ breweries. I'm not in the industry so I don't have first hand experience with witnessing it, so take it for what it's worth. Have also heard about the owner mocking homebrewers openly in his tap room. The first sentence I figure happens a lot in every state but we know it can and does piss off other brewers; the second baffles me in that many in the beer culture brew on their own so what good does it do to target that segment?

Recently it's become apparent there are two distinct camps - those who are solidly behind Magnify and will support them no matter what they do, and those who are permanently skeptical of everything and anything Magnify does. It's this vicious circle because each side feeds into the other. The mention of Magnify, depending on the audience, can elicit a surreal, emotional reaction. It's kind of unfortunate, because in the middle you have this overlap of people who would like to see the brewery succeed and continue to kick out good beer, but would also prefer to see the brewery "play nice" and not engage in behavior similar to what's been alleged. I consider myself in the overlap because I want access to more good local breweries, but the allegations are concerning.

I hope there's room for a third camp. I'll call it the "some of their beers suck a lot, but others are quite tasty, and I've never had a particularly bad experience there but they sure do seem to act like ******** sometimes, so I guess I don't know how to feel about Magnify" camp.

 

[deadweights]

A few have asked so here's what I've either heard or seen over the last 9 months or so (and I apologize up front, this is a TL;DR for sure)...

From what I can tell it largely started last winter - either very late '15 or early '16. It's not uncommon for newly approved labels on TTB to be shared in Facebook groups. One such poster, at that point a big Magnify supporter, posted a few newly approved Magnify labels for upcoming cans. Since most of us in the group at the time were big Magnify supporters as well, there was some excitement.

A few days later the original poster of the Magnify labels was confronted in the Magnify tap room by both the owner and the owner's father with accusations that posting the labels "ruined their marketing plan." There were legal threats as well if more labels were posted, a thread made both verbally and in writing after. Now, mind you, there are beer blogs that will post newly approved labels from TTB in articles, on social media, etc., because once they're federally approved and listed on TTB, that's public information.

From there it's generally devolved into two groups - those Magnify regulars who frequent the brewery and support it no matter what and a population who thinks the brewery's response to the labels was utterly ridiculous. Both sides have dug in their heels.

The first threat came during a discussion between two members of the camps that originated in public on FB before going to a private message. The Magnify regular invited the other person to "come to the brewery for a glass of STFU served by the Magnify Crew." Needless to say the invite was taken more as a threat than an actual invitation to sit down and have a beer.

Most recently there's been some discussion about whether or not Magnify is experiencing diacetyl problems. This has been brought up on BA as well. It appears a handful of people have approached the brewery after experiencing what they perceive as buttery flavors in their beer, usually from cans. The response has been almost universal to the multiple inquiries: "That's the first we've heard of it. But if you come back to the brewery we'll make it up to you." The first part of the response has perked up some ears, since it's been reportedly brought up by multiple people. How is it the first you've heard of it if someone else asked the same question? I haven't purchased any Magnify beers recently and I haven't personally detected it with the recent ones I've tried, and I know diacetyl is one of those things that not everybody can detect, but I'm curious to see if I experience the same thing.

There have been allegations of poor customer service if you're either a new, casual or infrequent visitor to the tap room. Some of the new visitors report cold treatment while other, seemingly regular customers are treated far better. I've only been once and had a decent experience so I didn't personally see it, and to be honest this was a far more prevalent complaint in the spring than now, so it's possible this feedback made it to the brewery and they've adjusted (if so, that's a good thing). But I have heard of some poor experiences which, to be fair, could happen at any place so it need not be considered brewery specific.

Was notified by a few people of an alleged issue at a recent brewfest. The organizers supplied water to each brewery tent for glass rinsing purposes. The allegation is Magnify was using its own beer to rinse glasses, perhaps in an effort to go through their product faster to make it seem they were in higher demand. It was drawn to the organizers' attention, they waited to see it actually happen, saw it happen, confronted the brewery, the brewery denied it was happening, the organizers said "We just saw you do it. Thanks for coming, we've got it from here" and the brewery was dismissed from the event. I wasn't there to witness it but I've heard it from at least two independent and trustworthy sources.

Two relatively popular gastropubs that are owned by the same consortium, at one point, refused to carry any Magnify product, either cans or on draft, because of extreme arrogance demonstrated by the brewery during a one-on-one meeting. I don't know if Magnify still isn't on draft at these establishments but one of the restaurants did a NJ brewery night earlier this summer and there was no Magnify to be seen on the draft menu. I'm sure in the future bars will refuse to carry breweries for something far less offensive but it was odd not seeing them on the list for that event.

There's also been allegations of Magnify aggressively attempting to swipe lines from other breweries at bars and restaurants, sometimes targeting those of other NJ breweries. I'm not in the industry so I don't have first hand experience with witnessing it, so take it for what it's worth. Have also heard about the owner mocking homebrewers openly in his tap room. The first sentence I figure happens a lot in every state but we know it can and does piss off other brewers; the second baffles me in that many in the beer culture brew on their own so what good does it do to target that segment?

Recently it's become apparent there are two distinct camps - those who are solidly behind Magnify and will support them no matter what they do, and those who are permanently skeptical of everything and anything Magnify does. It's this vicious circle because each side feeds into the other. The mention of Magnify, depending on the audience, can elicit a surreal, emotional reaction. It's kind of unfortunate, because in the middle you have this overlap of people who would like to see the brewery succeed and continue to kick out good beer, but would also prefer to see the brewery "play nice" and not engage in behavior similar to what's been alleged. I consider myself in the overlap because I want access to more good local breweries, but the allegations are concerning.

Thank you sir. Long, but worth the read. If those "alleged" threats are true or the mocking of home brewers, I would have to say that's a dick move on the owners part & doesn't do anything to help the craft beer community.

 

[deadweights]

shamong twp?! WTF. Can't be a real place, has to be something Michael Jackson said in a song.

Shamalamading dong. That was like a 50's hit song. I just wish all these new breweries would just open up in Monmouth County so I don't have to drive far. I'm still trying to convince Tim & Carl to move Conclave down by me.

 

[pythonhgr]

Shamalamading dong. That was like a 50's hit song. I just wish all these new breweries would just open up in Monmouth County so I don't have to drive far. I'm still trying to convince Tim & Carl to move Conclave down by me.

If someone could front me a ton of money I'll open one in Passaic County.... just sayin'

 

[pythonhgr]

I hope there's room for a third camp. I'll call it the "some of their beers suck a lot, but others are quite tasty, and I've never had a particularly bad experience there but they sure do seem to act like ******** sometimes, so I guess I don't know how to feel about Magnify" camp.

1000% this

 

[deadweights]

If someone could front me a ton of money I'll open one in Passaic County.... just sayin'

Start a kickstarter fund. That seems to be the norm these days.

 

[DigDug1810]

I'm actually talking to him now. Apparently, the brewery is going to be production only. No tasting room or even a growler station.

forever? weird.. thought i remeber reading they were going to move spots but i guess it's just a move to a production setup. that kind of sucks. They talk about barrel aged belgian style beers, guess if they end up bottling at some point or canning they will only be selling through distro and at stores. I don't think they either understand the craft environment as it is now or they just don't care to be bothered with it since they have a good thing going already with the wine... Odd they wouldn't want more foot traffic can only lead to more wine sales. Business people are pretty weird sometimes. Like Gene mentioned they are leaving $'s on the table and in the hands of distro (hunterdon? I imagine)

 

[ForkAndSpoonOperator]

Interesting business model. That's a whole lot of high-margin revenue to miss out on.

forever? weird.. thought i remeber reading they were going to move spots but i guess it's just a move to a production setup. that kind of sucks. They talk about barrel aged belgian style beers, guess if they end up bottling at some point or canning they will only be selling through distro and at stores. I don't think they either understand the craft environment as it is now or they just don't care to be bothered with it since they have a good thing going already with the wine... Odd they wouldn't want more foot traffic can only lead to more wine sales. Business people are pretty weird sometimes. Like Gene mentioned they are leaving $'s on the table and in the hands of distro (hunterdon? I imagine)

Certainly not how he would have done it if it was his call.

 

[PubGrubTrub]

I hope there's room for a third camp. I'll call it the "some of their beers suck a lot, but others are quite tasty, and I've never had a particularly bad experience there but they sure do seem to act like ******** sometimes, so I guess I don't know how to feel about Magnify" camp.

Gene, this probably best sums up the overlap group.

 

[PubGrubTrub]

Thank you sir. Long, but worth the read. If those "alleged" threats are true or the mocking of home brewers, I would have to say that's a dick move on the owners part & doesn't do anything to help the craft beer community.

The threat in the FB PMs definitely happened and it's happened twice. To be fair the person who received the threats was doing some speaking out because he felt there was some things that needed to be said regarding Magnify, and after a back and forth that was a PM he received. Another came from a second person more recently with the message "I will find you." Disturbing stuff.

I had Maine Event last night. It was good - nothing spectacular. I could see how people might go crazy for it if they haven't had something from Foundation or Bissell. But IMO comparing Maine Event to beers from those breweries is not a comparison that's beneficial to Magnify at this point.

That's the kind of opinion, if voiced in certain settings, could ignite a firestorm.

I've had several of their beers, some good and enjoyable, while others I thought missed the mark of what was trying to be achieved. Others I've had multiple times which lacked consistency.

I think they canned too fast. I think the addition of a second space as has been recently reported is giving them unnecessary added overhead during a time in which they haven't fully solidified their spot in the marketplace. If they can't correct the diacetyl issues that have been apparently detected, extra space won't fix that. And they have that pesky reputation problem. They've got a lot going on and all of it they can fix on their own - it's just a matter of whether they want to.

 

[regularjohn]

I hope there's room for a third camp. I'll call it the "some of their beers suck a lot, but others are quite tasty, and I've never had a particularly bad experience there but they sure do seem to act like ******** sometimes, so I guess I don't know how to feel about Magnify" camp.

You basically nailed it here. I never had a bad experience at the brewery with the owner or the staff, always had been pretty easy getting in and out as well. Also had some beers that were amazing, others were pretty meh. I only had one can that was basically total butter...instantly met the drain. I'll continue to support them (not like i go to every single release) but if the owner ever cops an attitude with me I wouldn't bother.