45°
What's The Best Craft Beer Bar in Passaic County?
- Amazing Grapes, Pompton Lakes
- The River of Beer, Bloomingdale
- The Shepherd & The Knucklehead, Haledon
Passaic County has become quite the craft beer bar scene, stepping up its suds game and offering residents a host of “hoppy” options. We asked for the best in the county; you gave us your picks. Now, three finalists are competing in our “DVlicious Best Craft Beer Bar in Passaic County” contest. Each is being profiled this week.
Raise your glass and drink in the following; then click on your favorite. You can vote multiple times, albeit once per day.
Voting ends 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24. The winner will receive a framed DVlicious certificate as well as the pride in knowing it has raised the bar in Passaic County.
Number of Craft Beers: Expect 22 kinds of brew on tap, 230 plus in bottles, and 60 plus in cans. Among the options now: Firestone Walker’s Double Jack, an intense double IPA; Luponic Distortion #3, with orange, peach and pineapple notes; and Wookey Jack, a spicy, dark IPA. Also available: New Jersey beers Angry Erick King Knut, a maple flavored brown ale and Carton Red Rye Returning, a piney American. To check out the latest pours, click here.
Why It’s Liquid Gold: The liquor store offers live entertainment and a chummy atmosphere in its cozy, little bar area on Friday and Saturday nights. Decorated with works from local artists, it has a number of events in October that revolve around craft beers including a one-of-a-kind keg from River Horse Brewing (Ewing Township, N.J.) that has a base of its Hipp-O-Lantern brew gussied up with bourbon oak chips, vanilla and cinnamon.
Staff is always willing to let customers sample before they buy, but customers need to bring along their own growlers, or buy one there, if they want to take the draft beer home with them. Amazing Grapes has a limited menu of bar foods like thin crust pizza (three-cheese, pepperoni, or truffle), wings and jumbo pretzels that you can nosh on while bending an elbow and playing board games at one of Amazing's tables.
On docket for the future: an expanded lis of edibles with a food-truck type kitchen in the near future, (think sandwiches served on fresh-baked bread, steak frites and artisanal cheese plates).
Cheers to Beers: 23 Wanaque Ave., (973) 831-5700, www.facebook.com/GrowlersPomptonLakes/
Click here to follow Daily Voice North Passaic and receive free news updates.
