Our second Winner was Hackensack Brewing Company (click for full brewery review).
HBC is another relatively young brewery that has elevated their game in a very short time. We’ve been here several times and it continues to get better with every visit.
What we love: the beer, the staff, atmosphere and proximity to the rink. HBC is the closest brewery to the Ice House at just 1.9 miles away. Very easy to drop someone off for a game, visit HBC for a sample (flight of 4 – $10) and make it back in time for face-off.
Over their first year of operation, HBC not only refined their brewing process but has greatly broadened the spectrum of categories they now offer…such as hazy, doppelbock, porter, stouts, coconut blonde and even a ginger beer. We think it is challenging to improve upon your initial beer lineup yet alone adding new, great tasting ones weekly. We’re told Musket Haze is a top seller and it is a solid NEIPA, we also had a variant of it called Guava Haze which was enjoyable. We tried their entire lineup and couldn’t label one beer as phenomenal but what was very impressive is every single beer was good to more likely great. We haven’t been to a brewery like HBC which offers so many styles and nails each one.
The staff is top notch. We had a chance to chat with one of the Founders, Mike, and understand why the place has such a positive energetic vibe. They are passionate about their beer, as most brewers are, but put together a well thought out place which maximizes their space, with lots of board games to entertain kids and adults alike, a few TVs to stay connected and another room by the brewing equipment which has enough space for indoor cornhole. They even have changing tables in the bathrooms…we’ve seen many other “family friendly” places that completely overlook this. The entire staff was knowledgeable about their beer and the local brewery scene plus with the recent addition of the beer guru – Jay, we expect them to continue staying ahead of the industry with new, interesting beer variants while not compromising on quality.