Bar Review: The Shepherd and The Knucklehead – Haledon NJ

The Shepherd and The Knucklehead is a very small bar in Haledon NJ that boasts a large number of taps, 27 to be exact.  The Shepherd and Knucklehead is in a quiet looking building, is very welcoming, and friendly inside.  I was taken aback at first when we walked in, there was about 8 people in the bar (including an very knowledgeable bartender)  at 8pm on a Monday night.  There was no music playing and they were all watching and shouting out answers to Family Feud.  Will and I found this quite fun to watch.  As I mention this bar is quite small, about 12 very comfortable bar chairs (not stools) and 3 tables.  There is  also a jukebox by the front door which was put into action after Family Feud and Family Guy. But, don’t let the size of this bar fool you.

With 27 constantly rotating taps, this bar has an impressive selection of draft beer.  There are several taps that are changing on almost a daily basis, so there is always something new to try.   To me, only seeing 8 people in the bar, I was sure they were pulling off of sixtels (1/6bbl).  To my surprise, most of the tabs were drawn from 1/2 kegs, a couple were from 1/6 and a few were 5L.   I was also assured the night we were there was very rare to have that few people in the bar.

While Will and I were there, we enjoyed the Allagash White Ale, Old No. 38 Stout, Sixpoints Sweet Action Blonde Ale, and I finished off the night with an amazing beer the Founders, Curmudgeon Ale.

The Shepherd and Knucklehead is a great beer bar, small, unassuming, friendly, knowledgeable and the restaurant next door will deliver food.  I’m looking forward to going back and seeing what is on tap, in fact I probably will go back for Dogfish Head night in a couple of weeks.