Jersey Lags in the Battle for Better Beer

Don't get me wrong here. In the past few years, the Garden State has made some great strides in bringing better beer to its residents and visitors. The relaxing of the formerly draconian laws about beer--especially the variety known as "craft" beer-- has been a boon to both beer nuts and brewers. The explosion of new breweries in NJ will attest to that, and many, now freed of the law's former shackles as to how they can get their beer onto the public palates, are producing some great stuff. The beer drinking public, in turn, has become the beneficiary.

But we're still light years behind states like North Carolina. To wit (no pun intended), the missus and I had to stop in a Lowe's Food to pick up some supplies. Like other NC supermarkets, such as Publix (my personal favorite) and Harris Teeter, Lowe's has quite an impressive supply of exceptional beer from not only NC, which is also exploding beer-wise, but beers from around the nation and the world.

But upon entering the establishment, the very first thing that attracts my eye is a well-lit, inviting bar. It's actually called "The Beer Den." And the bar has eight taps pouring some really nice beer. You can order yourself a pint and actually walk around the store with it to finish your shopping! And if that isn't enough, they'll pour you samples to taste to help you decide which brew to carry around with you! And when you've finished your shopping, you can head back to the bar for a growler or a grunt of your choice to take home. Then head to the checkout line.

The choices are so extensive that beer has its own, long aisle of cold ones and a big supply of end cap stuff you can take home to chill yourself. If you can't find something to suit your fancy in these stores, stick with wine--which is also sold and is available to sample and carry around while you shop.

That kind of action--minus the carry-while-you-shop feature, is not happening in NJ, unless you're in a liquor store that has the license to sell beer. I realize there's layers and layers of legal nonsense that prevents NJ from being as "beer enlightened" as NC, and that such an arrangement might not sit well with the various powerful lobbies who fought to prevent NJ's current beer renascence. So I don't anticipate that kind of revolution in my lifetime.