The 11 best breweries at the Jersey Shore

Being down the Shore is basically synonymous with indulging. That might translate to guzzling down pizza, soft-serve, and fudge in one boardwalk outing, or it might mean an afternoon of day-drinking. (We’ll take the latter.)

The Philly-favored beach towns between Atlantic City and Cape May lay claim to some excellent breweries. New Jersey law doesn’t allow them to serve food (besides single-serving snacks), so plan accordingly. Many breweries will have take-out and delivery menus.

Fans of Human Robot Brewery will love the Seed, an Atlantic City brewery that serves ultra-foamy side-pull pours, a Czech tradition popularized stateside by the Philly brewery, who dubbed the chuggable draft a milk tube. (The owners are friends.) Not only do Sean Towers and Amanda Cardinali brew knockout beers — from dark lagers and Italian pilsners to dry-hopped saisons and double IPAs — they also designed the chicest, coziest warehouse taproom around, decorated with a hodgepodge of antique chandeliers, grandfather clocks, and houseplants. It’s located in a mostly residential neighborhood, but if you go, plan to stay put for an entire afternoon: It shares a complex with Little Water Distillery and an ax-throwing center.

📍204 N. Delaware Ave., Atlantic City, 📞 609-246-7324, 🌐 theseedbeer.com

Cape May’s newest brewery — opened in February 2022 — was years in the making. Catherine and Steven Wilson home-brewed for a decade before they started converting a former gift store into a taproom complete with a three-barrel brewhouse. You can build your own flight from four of the 12 beers on draft, which on our visit included a lime-infused kolsch, a crisp ESB made with local honey, and a dry, nitro-pour stout. You can lounge on leather couches or velvet armchairs inside, or head outside to play cornhole in the Behr garden.

📍513 Seashore Rd., Cape May, 📞 304-609-2347, 🌐 behrbrewing.com

The Brew Pub is committed to Avalon’s posh-coastal aesthetic. The indoor dining area (complete with empty beer kegs stuck to the ceiling) exudes country-club chic. And the outdoor dining area (dotted with palm trees) strains for beach-garden swank, even if the dunes obstruct Shoreline views and the open area overlooks a loading zone on 79th Street. Nevertheless, the nearly five-year-old taproom manifests the upscale, corporate-resort vibe to which it aspires, and in spite of itself puts together a competitive beer list of five in-house offerings. A standout is the Belgian Beach Bum Witbier, which is light enough to pair with confit duck fries and a roasted pork sandwich, but spicy enough to be enjoyed by itself.

📍 125 79th St., Avalon, 📞 609-967-2116, ✉️ avalonbrewpub@icona.com, 🌐 avalonbrewpub.com, 📷 @avalonbrewpub, 🕑 Sunday to Thursday noon to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 11 p.m.

Identical twin firefighters from Cape May decided in 2016 to upgrade their home-brewing passion into a small business. A year later, they bought the 70-year-old H.B. Christman & Sons building in Cape May Court House, and the Bucket Brigade Brewery was born. In the tasting room, relics of Christman’s auto parts store and memorabilia from other long-gone businesses adorn the walls in tribute to local history. And the brothers give their nine-deep roster of mostly ales, pilsners, and lagers firefighter-related names in honor of their colleagues. A charming outdoor patio offers plenty of seating, and occasionally a barbecue-themed food truck will make an appearance, otherwise, it’s a BYOF (bring your own food) destination. For now, they’re focused on the core mission: extinguishing thirst.

📍 205 N. Main St., Cape May Court House, 📞 609-778-2641, ✉️ info@bucketbrigadebrewery.com, 🌐 bucketbrigadebrewery.com, 📷 @bucketbrigadebrewery, 🕑 Monday to Thursday 2 to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 9 p.m., Sunday noon to 8 p.m.

In business since 2011, Cape May Brewing kicked off the craft beer scene at the Jersey Shore. More than a decade later, the brewery has grown into the premier craft beer provider at the Shore. The brewery has physically grown, adding a merch shop, the “Brewtique,” and a “Brewtanical Garden” to its already substantial tasting room. (It’s not done expanding: In spring 2022, Cape May announced it would acquire Camden County’s Flying Fish Brewing.) It boasts nearly 20 taps daily.

📍 1288 Hornet Rd., Cape May, 📞 609-849-9933, 🌐 capemaybrewery.com, 📷 @capemaybrewc

Hidden Sands may be the most accessible brewery on our list. It’s conveniently located off the Garden State Parkway. The sours aren’t so sour, and the IPAs aren’t so harsh, specifically its popular Grapefruit DIPA. There are no hard-to-pronounce names: they serve Sandy Blue and Honey Wheat and Sand Blasted Sour Orange. Maybe it’s also because it’s one of the youngest outfits on our list, opening in 2018. At any rate, it provides a beer garden, but no food trucks. So bring snacks.

📍 6754 Washington Ave., Suite B, Egg Harbor Township, 📞 609-910-2009, ✉️ webmaster@hiddensands.com, 🌐 hiddensands.com, 📷 @hiddensandsbeer

Ludlam Island Brewery opened in 2016, making use of a space recently vacated by another South Jersey brewer in Ocean View. Since then, the brewery has matured into a nine-tap pub with a wood-enclosed tasting room. They’re also known for some inventive concoctions, including Harry’s Coffee Pale Ale, in which brewers cook up a rye pale ale, walk to Harry and Beans coffeehouse next door and collect freshly roasted, organic Honduran coffee beans straight from the roaster, and then make a beer.

📍 9 Stoney Court, Unit C, Ocean View, 📞 609-263-6969, ✉️ billy@ludlamisland.com, 🌐 ludlamisland.com, 📷 @ludlamisland

In 2018, Wildwood got its first brewpub, and considering the result, it may not need another. MudHen Brewing Co. is dog-friendly, it offers live music, and hosts cornhole tournaments. It’s spacious and has street cred for taking over an old Harley Davidson shop. It provides an array of culinary choices from various types of cuisine and produces a plethora of craft beer options for every palate. How did Wildwood get so lucky?

📍 127 W. Rio Grande Ave., Wildwood, 📞 609-846-7918, ✉️ info@mudhenbrew.com, 🌐 mudhenbrew.com, 📷 @mudhenbrew

Slack Tide is a drinker’s brewery. A meat-and-potatoes kind of place, where the beer is cold and strong. The brewery, which opened in 2015, has been carefully built by its brother owners into an award-winning enterprise. It counts six flagship beers on tap year-round, but its tasting-room tap list carries six more seasonal offerings and six new releases. Indoor and outdoor seating is available, but it gets crowded fast.

📍 1072 NJ-83, Cape May Court House, 📞 609-478-2343, ✉️ info@slacktidebrewingco.com, 🌐 slacktidebrewingco.com, 📷 @slacktidebeer

In 1997, Atlantic City’s first brewpub opened under the name Tun Tavern, borrowed from the famous Philadelphia brewhouse that allegedly served as the birthplace of the U.S. Marines Corps. Nearly 25 years later, the brewpub is more Hard Rock Cafe than Flying Fish, mostly playing hoppy hits for the casino and convention crowd. But it still has some spunk sprinkled among its eight in-house offerings. Its “juicy pale ale,” an entry on its Diving Horse line, combines a fruity bouquet with 5% ABV and pairs nicely with a pub burger.

📍 2 Convention Blvd., Atlantic City, 📞 609-347-7800, ✉️ info@tuntavern.com, 🌐 tuntavern.com, 📷 @tuntavernac

The Somers Point brewers are beer-crazy, but they’re not dollar-foolish. That’s why you’ll find among its 12 taps a raspberry-lemonade hard seltzer, dubbed Training Wheels. But it worked out. The finance people got their diverse lineup, but the brewers can make a Milky Shake Galaxy - IPA: Milkshake, creamy to taste but sweet to smell, and carrying a 6.2% ABV. The small, industrial-style brewery, a converted Somers Point Ice Co. building, also added outdoor seating with retractable awnings and bike racks.

📍 705 W. New York Ave., Somers Point, 📞 609-788-0767, ✉️ contact@somerspointbrewing.com, 🌐 somerspointbrewing.com, 📷 @somerspointbrewing

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