Two Days, Two Wheels, Two Breweries-- Two Winners

And about four hundred miles.

But I'm not complaining. Any time I can combine great weather with great beers and events, I'm a happy biker. Mother Nature may not be playing nice with Texas and Florida, but she's being really nice to Jersey this time around.

On Saturday, I took a great, scenic ride up the Palisades Interstate Parkway to Harriman State Park and through beautiful Seven Lakes Drive with Kenny Mok. That was just the appetizer, however, because the ride ended in Butler, NJ at Ramstein Brewing.

Greg Zaccardi, who has been doing his German wheat beer thing for twenty years now, was unveiling the 2017 edition of his Oktoberfest Beer, and the line to get in was already pretty long ten minutes before Greg's doors even opened.

Whenever Greg does a release, the beer faithful heed the call and show up dutifully to see what wizardry the brewer is about now. This time it was his malty, beautiful-to-look-at and better-to-taste Oktoberfest Lager, which had already been voted #1 Oktoberfest by Beer Advocate in 2012. It was also one of the ten best in America in 2007, according to Draft Magazine.

And, of course, when Greg has a winner--which is often--he doesn't monkey around with it. This current version is, as I mentioned, a sight to behold, and its smooth, malty flavor combines perfectly with the German Noble hops. There is a very slight, very pleasant hint of sweetness to this beer, and it went very well with my Bierwurst, peppers and onions from Paul's Pig Roast, one of the vendors doing business in the makeshift biergarten on a gorgeous September day.

Zaccardi is involved in every aspect of the operation, too. If he's not giving orders to the staff as to how he wants things run, he's helping Roger Freitag tap the traditional Oktoberfest Cask. And if he's not doing that, he's wheeling beer around on a hand truck in between shaking hands and meeting the many people who pack his place regularly. Zaccardi is a "regular joe," who shows no pretentiousness in any way. People respond well to that; his staff does, too.

And they also respond well to what comes out of his tanks, considering the crowds that filed in, filled their growlers, got their beer and milled about enjoying the day. The many smiles on happy faces, even those trying to consume those giant sandwiches with a modicum of elegance attested to that. Zaccardi gets these crowds and this clientele for one simple reason: he cares about--and pays strict attention to-- what he makes. I can't wait for the next release.

Sunday, however, saw Ron Adamson and I head out of state to Pennsylvania. Our--my--mission was to show up at Funk Brewing in Emmaus, PA and demand that they increase their allotment of Silent Disco to Jersey. My son had picked me up a sixer one night, and I liked it so much, I had him go out and get more the next day.

But it was already all sold out. Same story in another of my favorite liquor lockers. This, I asserted, will not stand. So off we went.

We got there at 11:59 (Funk opens at noon on Sunday) and walked in to the comfortable Tap Room as its very first customers of the day, though we weren't alone for long, as the place started to pack out. We got to meet "Ack" the barman, and I made my intentions known to him while looking at the on tap menu for the day.

Ack said, "If you think you have a hard time getting Silent Disco, you'll have an even harder time getting Citrus IPA." I hadn't yet had that one, and fortunately, Ack had both available for sale in cans, but only Silent Disco on tap this day. Having had that and enjoyed it, I opted for a $10 flight. I tried "Falliage, Funktoberfest, Squeeshie's Blood Orange IPA and something called Tumbleweed, billed as an East Coast Pale Ale.

Just two words: blown away.

Every beer was excellent. The Falliage, one of the darker saisons I've seen, was designed to supplant the plethora of pumpkin beers that seem to glut the market in the fall. For The PubScout's money, the best commercially available pumpkin beer comes from Schlafly's. But excepting that one, I'd replace all of the others with Falliage, so Funk's plan worked for me.

Check out this description:

Highly aromatic Belgian Saison, subtle notes of black pepper (check), dark fruits, ginger and cloves, (check) which work well with the caramel malt and Chai spice (check.). Man, what an absolutely great beer. But the Funktoberfest (5.9%) was dead-on style as well and positively delicious. The Squeeshie's (I didn't inquire about that name) was nothing short of tremendous, and the Tumbleweed could easily become a go-to beer.

But Ack saw we were serious beer lovers and ugly bikers (and likely big tippers) so he popped the top of that elusive Citrus IPA he had mentioned earlier.

Just two more words: Get some.

We sure did. A bunch of Silent Disco's and Citrus IPA's--as much as we could fit-- rode home in our saddlebags. Good thing we didn't bring our cars.