Belated Christmas Cheers

Lot's of stuff going on for the Holidays, as I am sure is true for most of you. What with all of the preparations and parties and the family get-together it doesn't leave much time for bar-hopping. I did manage to stop into one though on my way to visit my sister-in-law. This one is just about a block away from the train station in New Brunswick, and it is a pretty decent brew-pub.

Harvest Moon


It is nice to see a real brew-pub these days. In New York City there were never very many and most of the ones that were once here have disappeared. Even Hearland Brewery, who kind of revitalized the concept now is what is known as a Contract Brew Pub. This means that their beer is brewed to their specifications at an off-site brewery and then shipped to their multiple locations.

Being suspicious by nature I did ask if Harvest Moon really brewed their own beer and was assured that they did. Now I saw the equipment, but some places that used to be brew pubs kept their equipment for display purposes only.

Harvest Moon's Brewing Tums


They had a nice selection but I only has time to try a couple of them.

Harvest Moon's Beer List


I decided to start off with the Elmes' Mild Manor. It was much darker than I expected but wasn't at all heavy. As advertised it did have a nice floral smell and was nice and malty. I pleasant change from the overly hopped IPAs that you find everywhere these days.

Bar Man Visting Elmes' Mild Manor


Now don't get me wrong. It isn't that I dislike IPAs, as I am sure most of you know by now. It is just that I like to be able to have something different if I want it. In fact my next choice from the menu was the Hops Double IPA. Although the hops did come through, it wasn't that over-powering. At least not to my somewhat jaded palate. It went well with my hamburger and French fries.

I would certainly stop in here again to try out a few more of their beers. I would imagine that it probably draws a real college crowd at night given its proximity to Rutgers. Not quite sure, but this looked like it might be part of the previous night's crowd. I think if you can't pay your tab they lock you in the dungeon.

Dungeoned Deadbeats


I had a wonderful Christmas with plenty of good eats: Duck, Goose, Chicken, and all sorts of side dishes. I brought my Hero's Glogg and, sadly, it didn't go over as well with this crowd as with the tailgate crew. Oh well, I made sure that there wasn't anything left over.

Although everyone was most generous, once again I didn't get my most hoped for gift, the always popular Ear and Nose Hair Trimmer. As you can see, I really do need one.

Badly In Need Of A Trim


Maybe next year.