Egans & Sons – Montclair NJ
Tonight I spent a couple hours at Egans & Sons in Montclair NJ. It is a very nice looking bar / microbrew. They have recently expanded to add another 15-20 tables, nice addition plus an outside patio. Being a Monday night it was not very busy, even with Monday Night Football and game 5 of the World Series, there were still seats at the bar. What I couldn’t get out of my head, literally, was the volume at the bar, it was extremely loud. I can only imagine what the decibel level is on a Saturday night.
So, as I said above this is a “Microbrew”. It doesn’t appear they brew anything on premises, they only had 2 cooper vats (maybe 200 gal) from what I could see tucked away on the second floor and I’ll leave it at that.
I started off the night with a pint of Palm, a Belgium Amber ale. It was server appropriately in the proper glass (tulip) at a good temp. I was very pleased with that. Overall a pretty good beer. At the same time I also sampled the house brewed Pale Ale. While I wouldn’t turn this beer down if someone bought me one, it was not that impressive. It was fairly light on the hops and the aroma was nothing to write home about. It would have been a much better Pale Ale if there was a bigger hop presence and a bit more bitter.
Next (after a bushmills 10yr) I had the house Fall Festive ale. It was a take off on an Oktoberfest ale. It was a pretty good beer, good color, nice head, a sweet malty flavor.
I enjoyed my evening at Egans, An above average selection of beer (for the area), couple of taps and more in bottles. I think I’d like to try the food next time I’m there.
Somehow I’ve missed this place. I haven’t picked up an Ale Street News in a while…is it a new bar? It’s interesting that they do a good belgian, but the pale is weak.
Bye the way, thanks for the six pack of your home brew! The wit was my favorite. Killer. The Dubbel was right on the money too. I thought the red was good, but a little thin? I’ve found that with other organics though.
Deb and I had a good time on Friday night. Too bad Market in the Middle was a little disappointing. We’ll have to try it again.
Let me know when you’re free for lunch at Basil’s.
Pete