Pretzel Beer Blog Review

Originally posted at Pretzels Beer Blog
by Pretzel

1The Stoutmeister and I headed “down the shore” to meet up with John MacBeer to check out The Mudhen Brewing Company, which is a relatively new brew pub, having opened this past April and is located in Wildwood.  I was intrigued by the Mudhen Brewing Company logo that features both a hen and a train.  Mudhen refers to the historic Wildwood railway that ran from Cape May Court House to nearby Angelsea in the 1880’s.  This 5 mile stretch of track was laid through the Grassy sound Bog.  At high tide, the tracks would be underwater, causing damage to the rails, and sometimes resulting in a derailment, stranding passengers in the boggy terrain until the tracks could be fixed.  The train became known as “The Mudhen”.

Although the parking lot is a decent size, it cannot handle all the patrons on a heavy day.  We lucked out, as someone was pulling out of a premium spot, just as we were pulling in.  This pub is awesome!  It’s huge, but still feels like a cozy neighborhood hangout.  There is the main dining room, which is large, and has an upstairs loft which I assume is for private parties.  Another wing of the building contains the bar, and a smaller more informal dining area.  Both dining areas overlook the outside area featuring plenty of outdoor seating, a fire pit, a 2 corn hole court (with beautiful custom logo equipment), and a tent where a singer with an acoustic guitar entertained the masses with a good repertoire of music.  The decor prominently features the chicken and railroad theme throughout.  And I love the dark blue accent wall with the neon Wildwood sign in a retro-60’s font (check out the pictures below).The Beer Posse opted for the smaller bar area for lunch, and proceeded to order enough flights to cover their 10 brew Plus 1 cider offering.  The Sea Tiger was our overall favorite (with MAC the lone dissenter, preferring the Henpecked Hefe), and we elected to take a crowler home to share with the rest of The Beer Posse.  There was a wide variety of brews to please everyone’s tastes. The Stoutmeister however would like to see a wider range of ABV’s provided.  The food was very delicious pub fare. I opted for the beer chip nachos and the shrimp tacos.  The Stoutmeister went for the Mudhen burger, while John MacBeer settled for the pulled pork sandwich.  Even without the beer selections, I would eat here in a heartbeat.

Next, we requested a brewery tour, and the staff was only too happy to comply with our request.  Maddy first informed us that this was only her second tour, but she was awesome.  Very knowledgeable, and informative.  She went through the entire brewing process, was able to answer all our difficult and insightful questions, and was very personable.  She originally worked for Cape May Brewery, and brought her expertise to The Mudhen.  Thanks Maddy!

After the tour, we needed a little exercise, so after chasing the kids off the corn hole field, we decided to team up girls against the boys.  I want to know why … When the Stoutmeister is my partner, he stinks out loud!  But when he is my rival, he is all of a sudden a world class corn holer!  MAC and I put up a good fight, we alas we went home corn hole losers!  As you know, I always fuss about kids hanging out at breweries.  But I do not hold this stigma against kids at a brew pub.  After all, it is a restaurant and many families are SHARING a meal together.  Plus they were all well-behaved (I know, that is unusual these days!).  It seemed like everyone at The Mudhen Brewing Company was enjoying the day.As we headed home, we all agreed Mudhen Brewing Company is worth another road trip or 2!  So far, the Mudhen is my favorite NJ brew pub!  Nice job Mudhen!Beers on Tap:

• 1883 IPA – IPA (ABV: 6.6%)
• Mud Light Pilsner – Pilsner (ABV: 4.0%)
• Henpecked Hefe – German Hefeweizen (ABV: 5.7%)
• Deep Tracks Stout – Stout (ABV: 5.6%)
• Baker’s Double IPA – Double IPA (ABV: 8.5%)
• Sea Tiger – Imperial White IPA (ABV: 8.1%)
• Saison Du Surf – Farmhouse Ale (ABV: 5.9%)
• Duneslager – Lager (ABV: 5.0%)
• Rising Tides IPA – Irish Ale Malt (ABV: 5.5%)
• Primary Cut – Nitro Porter (ABV: 5.5%)
• Ironbound Hard Cider – Cider (ABV: 5.2%)

Favorite Beers of the Day:

• The Stoutmeister – Sea Tiger Imperial White IPA
• Pretzel – Sea Tiger Imperial White IPA
• John MacBeer – Sea Tiger Imperial White IPA, Henpecked Hefe

Additional Posse Comments:

• John MacBeer – (When tasting the Henpecked Hefe), That’s right up there with the Shark Tank!  Oh, I mean the Sea Tiger!
• The Stoutmeister – The nachos were excellent!
• Pretzel – Love the chicken/train theme!
• The Stoutmeister – For the amount of seating, the amount of parking spaces was not enough.
• John MacBeer – Cool decor, great tasting food, will definitely be back.
• The Stoutmeister – I love chickens!

Website:

• The Mudhen Brewing Co – https://mudhenbrew.com/
• The Mudhen Brewing Co on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MudhenBrew

Overall Pretzel Score (8.67 out of 10):