Bar Tending & Beerspectives
by Matt Martinkovic
Brewsearch & Development - Northside Lounge, Manville NJ
We at the Northside Lounge would like to thank Max and Guarav at Olde Saratoga &
Mendocino Brewing for the single greatest tap take over we have held to date. The beer
selection was amazing and their fervor for helping us set this up cannot be appreciated
enough.
When I was at TapNY brewsearching I met Guarav at their table and needless to say the
beernexus crew was blown away by their beer. I had to ask if they were distributed in
New Jersey and we lucked out. Well, not entirely. From emails to phone calls to the
office and our supposed salesman I was getting nowhere with their distributor. It was a
good thing that Gaurav and I set a date as far out as we did because it enabled me to
work directly with Gaurav and Max to have this organized.
We worked hellishly to make this event work and they worked even harder to get us
quality beer. Guarav went as far as buying a red velvet cake to pair with their Mendocino
Imperial Stout aged in Buffale Trace 1st use bourbon barrels. What a pair! The beer
alone was quite complex and delicious, now add that to the mix? Whew!
The most impressive part of the whole event was the cask conditioned IPA dry hopped
with Simcoe and Amarillo hops. Once again, there they go one step further. That was
brewed especially for us and our event. Being that we are the first bar to ever do a tap
take over in NJ (yes, the very first!!) with Olde Saratoga & Mendocino Brewing, Max and
Gaurav really made sure it would be memorable.
So, once again, thank you both and thank you for everyone who came out. For those
who missed out, I hope this short piece gives you an idea of the quality of character that
these guys and their beers truly displayed.
If you can find their beers in the Garden State,or anywhere else for that matter, I highly
recommend Saratoga IPA, Mendocino Imperial Barley Wine (one of my favourites), and
Saratoga Summer Ale (tis the season).
Cheers,
Matt
Mendocino Brewing for the single greatest tap take over we have held to date. The beer
selection was amazing and their fervor for helping us set this up cannot be appreciated
enough.
When I was at TapNY brewsearching I met Guarav at their table and needless to say the
beernexus crew was blown away by their beer. I had to ask if they were distributed in
New Jersey and we lucked out. Well, not entirely. From emails to phone calls to the
office and our supposed salesman I was getting nowhere with their distributor. It was a
good thing that Gaurav and I set a date as far out as we did because it enabled me to
work directly with Gaurav and Max to have this organized.
We worked hellishly to make this event work and they worked even harder to get us
quality beer. Guarav went as far as buying a red velvet cake to pair with their Mendocino
Imperial Stout aged in Buffale Trace 1st use bourbon barrels. What a pair! The beer
alone was quite complex and delicious, now add that to the mix? Whew!
The most impressive part of the whole event was the cask conditioned IPA dry hopped
with Simcoe and Amarillo hops. Once again, there they go one step further. That was
brewed especially for us and our event. Being that we are the first bar to ever do a tap
take over in NJ (yes, the very first!!) with Olde Saratoga & Mendocino Brewing, Max and
Gaurav really made sure it would be memorable.
So, once again, thank you both and thank you for everyone who came out. For those
who missed out, I hope this short piece gives you an idea of the quality of character that
these guys and their beers truly displayed.
If you can find their beers in the Garden State,or anywhere else for that matter, I highly
recommend Saratoga IPA, Mendocino Imperial Barley Wine (one of my favourites), and
Saratoga Summer Ale (tis the season).
Cheers,
Matt
| Northside Lounge, 100 Brooks Boulevard, Manville, NJ 08835 908-722-7712 |
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Matt Martinkovic is not only a recognized beer authority but a well known ecological writer whose
work has appeared in the The American Midland Naturalist (University of Notre Dame) among other
industry publications. He also has been an agricultural consultant on, of course, the growing of hops.
work has appeared in the The American Midland Naturalist (University of Notre Dame) among other
industry publications. He also has been an agricultural consultant on, of course, the growing of hops.
| More From Matt: Beerspectives #1 |