Beer Festivals don’t have to be rocket science. Just ask the folks at Maloney’s Pub in Matawan. Live music from 2pm to 9pm. Check. Great beer. Check. Get the word out. Check. That’s it! No tickets, waiting in line or any of the other hassles that go along with a large scale beer festival. The question for me was, would it work?
So, on Sunday June 12th at about 2:30pm, I headed up to Matawan to find out. As I crawled along Main Street, trolling for a parking spot, I already had my answer. Trust me, it’s usually not that hard to park on Main Street. The big doors that make up almost the entire front of Maloney’s were open revealing a lively crowd within and letting some of the live music spill out. This looked like fun.
And it was! The hook was that every one of their 75 beers on tap were available at $4 for a 10 oz. glass. It was a simple and brilliant idea! Think about it. There’s no pressure or incentive to “drink my money’s worth” or stay to the bitter end. It makes for automatic crowd control because people feel free to leave when their money or time runs out or when they’ve had their fill. While I was there, it was crowded but not packed. Enough people to create a buzz, but not a jostling mess.
It was obvious they were there for the beer too. I love to see that. I spied but one brown Miller Lite bottle standing admid a sea of 10 ounce pours. In those glasses were Six Point Bengali Tigers, Hopsicutioners, and St. Bernaduses (or Bernadi?), plus about 72 others. What a great atmosphere for trying new beers!
According to the staff, it was an opportunity to see new faces too. Only about 10% of the attendees were regulars and the rest were folks trying the place out for the first time. Of course, that was an unscientific poll, but it’s staggering if only half true. There were also tee shirt giveaways and some free buffet munchies to round out the event, but clearly the focus was on the beer in it’s many styles and forms.
Maloney’s Beer Fest was a success from both sides of the bar. It was billed as an annual event, so keep an eye out for it next year, but don’t wait that long to pay a visit. Whatever your palate is, you’ll find something on one of those 75 (and growing) taps that hits the mark. They also host many Beer Pairing Dinners. Coming up on June 24th is their second annual Dogfish Dinner.
Maloney’s Pub
119 Main Street
Matawan, NJ 07747
Phone (732) 583-4040
Peter Culos is the editor of “Beer Bites,” a new monthly feature about breweries, bars and good beer in the garden state. A graphic designer by day, and a life long New Jersey resident, Peter was first introduced to the novel idea that beer could actually have flavor during several visits to the UK. He’s been riding the craft beer bus ever since. It has been called the ultimate social lubricant and Peter’s philosophy on beer is, “I’d rather split my last good beer with a friend than drink the whole thing by myself.” Besides beer he also likes history, dogs, Jeeps and painting. In the past, he has written a History and Art blog for the Weider History Group and occasionally contributes to his own blog, history-geek.com. Life is short. Drink good beer.
On a recent Friday night, we met 6 of our friends for a family style meal at Hong Kong Fusion in Cherry Hill. We thought it would be a fun place for a group outing-if you order a little of this and a little of that, you can work your way through different parts of the menu pretty easily. I learned that share-sies are the way to go when I worked near Chinatown in New York City. I was blessed to have a colleague whose family owned a Chinese restaurant. She knew the best places to go and the best things to order, so we always dined family style and let her pick the food.
We decided to share several entrees. I selected the Jumbo Shrimp With Honey Walnuts, which were lightly fried and were served with a marvelous mango mayo. We also tried the Garlic Shrimp, the Sesame Crusted Tuna and the Oven-Crisped Soft Shell Crab (can you sense a seafood theme going on here?). All of these dishes were excellent. I have always been a wimp when it comes to trying soft-shelled crab (yeah, I know that I should be flogged for saying this when I live in the Middle Atlantic region a/k/a soft shell capital of the world). I decided to be brave and try Hong King Fusion’s version. The crabs were pounded flat and were lightly crisped. I need not have been fearful-they were great!
In a dining destination town like Morristown, it’s not hard to find a good meal (though it is sometimes hard to find parking). There’s excellent 
A few weeks ago,
Strawberry Day & Pig Roast – Saturday, June 4
Japanese Gourmet Fair – June 2 – 5
Taste of Westwood – Sunday, June 5
The Bright Side Manor is hosting a fundraiser on June 9th from 6pm – 8pm featuring a tasty lineup of barbeque brisket, chicken and a number of vegetarian options. All proceeds will benefit the Bright Side Manor Assisted Living Residence in Teaneck.
Image courtesy of 
Image courtesy of 
Image courtesy of 
The Court Jester in Aberdeen
t years, I have gravitated towards asking for a special outing with family members rather than birthday gifts. We get so busy that it is often hard to remember to take the time do something just for fun. Since I am a certified chocolate addict, I suggested to my son Michael that an afternoon with Mom on the 
e entrance to Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market, which is filled with all manner of excellent food purveyors and is worth a special trip on its own. We began our chocolate journey by getting some chocolate education from Jaylene, our bubbly and enthusiastic guide. She told us a few facts about the history of chocolate and let us sample a cacao bean. After getting our taste buds all worked up, she brought us into the market for our first chocolate stop at the Famous Fourth Street Cookie stall. There, we were treated to a huge chocolate chip cookie that was brimming with choice chips. Needless to say, our cookies were devoured faster than you could rip open a candy bar wrapper.
With tour company owner Valerie along for the stroll, we continued on to the next stop in our chocolate quest: Marcie Blaine Artisanal Chocolates. The chocolates are made in the back of a cute little gift shop called Verde, located at 108 South 13th Street in Philadelphia. We each got to sample all of the amazing flavors. In addition to ingredients like lavender and mint, there was also chocolate infused with bacon. I never thought of this combination before (I know, my bad) but, Wow, were they good! How appropriate to enjoy bacon when you are totally “pigging out” on chocolate!
