Eight & Sand Beer Company is another fairly new New Jersey Brewery. Located on Evergreen Avenue in Woodbury, they opened in September of 2016. They took their name from the railroad slang that translates to “Quick and safe travels.” Notch-8 is the quickest setting on certain trains. Sand was spread on the tracks to help prevent slipping (Thank you, Google). Woodbury was once the hub of an important rail system in South Jersey and there is still an active rail nearby. The railroad theme continues into the tasting room, with the presence of some antique railway memorabilia.
It seems that nearly every week there is either a new winery, a new brewery or a new distillery opening in NJ. So many that it is hard to keep up with even those in South Jersey. More importantly, they are quite good. Take Eight & Sand Beer Company. They were recently voted one of the top 10 new breweries in the country by USA Today and one of the top eight in NJ on NewJersey.com. They also took a Silver Medal at last year’s Great American Beer Festival in Colorado. So it was a no brainer that I needed to check this place out (on our way with friends to a BYOB restaurant nearby).
Eight & Sand Beer Company is a terrific brewery, making a huge list of beers (shown below). This 80-seat tasting room exudes a very friendly vibe. It was not opening day or even opening week, but we had to act quickly to get a couple of seats (even with some finagling we were only able to get seats for our wives).
It was someone’s birthday on the evening we were there. I have never heard a more spirited rendition of Happy Birthday by a room full of strangers! Ok, so spirited may have been the operant word here, but it helped set the tone for a very friendly, positive experience for everyone.
19 beers were on the menu a week ago when I made my first trip to Eight and Sand Beer Co. on 3/10/18. But your intrepid blogger felt the duty to return to the scene of this imbibing because he had neglected to get a photo of the outside of the brewery. Ok, honestly, I also wanted to try a couple of brews I did not get to last time. As you can see there were 20 choices when I returned. My brews from the two tastings included:
- IPA #2 (6.2% ABV) – An excellent IPA, with a bit of citrus
- Coffee Porter (5.5% ABV) – A very tasty rendition; light enough to have a couple
- Nitro Dry Irish Stout (5.5% ABV) – again a light, but tasty rendition
- Track 18 IPA (West Coast Style – 6.8% ABV) – Perhaps a bit hoppier than IPA #2; worth a taste
- Brain Plate (Brown Porter-5.5% ABV) – Only a taste, but tasted like more
- TSX (Russian Imperial Stout (9.6% ABV)- A serious brew! Quite simply one of the best Imperial Stouts I’ve ever had!
- Steel & Snow Barrel-Aged Tripel; (10.5% ABV) – only a taste, but I will be back for more of this one!
The first four of the brews listed above were from my tasting a week ago. The brewery offers a rail of four beers in a tasting. They are quite good about also allowing you to do a small taste (plastic shot glasses of beer) to give you additional suggestions for your next pint. My favorite among all of the beers I tried was their TSX Russian Imperial Stout. It was smooth and full-bodied with a little more sweetness than in a number of Russian Imperial Stouts I have tried in the past. It is also a very full-bodied brew and one that I could not drink more than one or two in an evening (with an ABV of 9.6% that’s probably a good thing).
Had I not just finished the Russian Imperial Stout, I would have had a 9 ounce pour of their Steel & Snow Barrel-Aged Tripel. But after all, I told my wife I was just going back to get the photo…There’s always next time.
There really was not one brew among those I tried that I did not like. I can really understand what the buzz is all about. This place is a winner.
Eight & Sand Beer Company is open Thursday and Friday 5-10 PM; Saturday 12-10 PM; and Sunday 12-7 PM.
Coming Attractions
- For the writers among you
- Hybrids and some less common grapes utilized in New Jersey wines
- Wagonhouse Winery Revisited
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