New Brewery Open in Wildwood, NJ

South Jersey has slowly become a hotbed for craft breweries.

For those unfamiliar with the term "craft brewery," I'll try to break it down.  There are generally three types of breweries.  There's the "macro" brewery, they make big-name, national beers like Miller and Budweiser.

Then there are "micro" breweries.  They're much smaller than the national names.  Microbreweries are allowed to produce no more than 15,000 barrels (460,000 gallons) of beer each year.  While many microbreweries have locations where customers can sample their wares, 75% of a microbrewery's beer must be sold off-site.

Craft breweries produce up to 2 million gallons of beer and they must contain at least 50% of traditional malt rather than oats, barley, and wheat.  Craft breweries are independent operators, and they tend to view their beers as an art form.  Craft breweries create some exciting, non-traditional flavors.

Wildwood is home to a few local breweries and Angelsea Aleworks is the newest addition to the local brewery scene.  They're open at the old Breakers Billiard Club and Bar site in Wildwood at New Jersey Avenue.  One of the owners/Head Brewer of Angelsea is a Wildwood native.  The ownership team have actually been caterers, whose specialty is barbecue.  That experience has lent itself to some of the choices available at Angelsea Aleworks.

They offer a nice selection of beers that you can sample with flights.

Wilwdoos is the MudHen, on W. Rio Grande.  They're a craft brewery with lots of interesting choices.  They have a restaurant and a full bar, in addition to the brewery and craft beers.

Cape May Brewing Company is another popular brewery, located in the Cape May Airport complex.  With choices like Devil's Reach, Turtle Gut, and The Bog, they are an example of why these local breweries are so cool.

CraftBeerClub.com