jesskidden

Yeah, I think the most common brand is Polar's Cape Cod Cranberry (out of Mass.) http://www.polarbev.com/products_ccd_cran.html and I've seen it from their other brand, Adirondack, too, but it doesn't show up on their website. Supposedly, Canada Dry also makes a Cranberry soda. I didn't realize Wegman's Wedge was Grapefruit- the name always sounded like a "Slice-7 Up" lemon-lime clone. I've been having a difficult time finding any Grapefruit soda since the Genuardi's by me closed up (they carried Safeway's , the parent company, store brand). Even the Mexican Jarritos Grapefruit was sold out last time I checked my Shop Rite with the big Mexican section. Haven't seen Squirt in many years, but it's still listed as brand marketed by Cadbury Sweppes (7-Up/Dr. Pepper/Canada Dry).

Stopped into my local Target (East Windsor, NJ) to look for these sodas, even tho' I've never had any luck with Jones sodas at a Target- the shelf is always empty, save for a "shelf-worn" 12 pack or two of a weird diet flavor or two. The shelf this time around was a bit fuller, but still no Halloween flavors. Walked around looking for mark-down bargains and came upon a huge Halloween display (6 or so aisles worth) and found the canned Halloween sodas. None of the 8 oz. cans interested me- I was specifically looking for Cranberry soda (a New York state/New England regional specialty, I suppose- at times I can find Wegman's store brand, but even they don't seem to re-stock it often and then it's only in 2 liter bottles). Found the bottled Jones' flavors on yet another shelf, with more Cranberry than any other flavor. Marked "On Sale" for $3.49 (reg. $3.99), I almost bought a case worth, but settled on 4 4-packs. After I got to my truck and checked the receipt, I found that they rang up at $1.49 each and toyed with going back for the rest but those stores give me a headache. Don't know if it was a different sale price OR, perhaps, they rang up at the 8 oz. cans price due to some barcode programming screw-up. Surprised to see that Jones uses corn syrup- I thought all "gourmet" (i.e., expensive) pops had switched back to real cane sugar. I also see that Target sells their own brands of soda- some interesting flavors (sassparilla, ginger beer) and a line of their own "Italian" sodas (couldn't find a bottler listed on the label, so couldn't tell if they were really from Italy) with some other fruit flavors, including some odd combos like pomegranate blueberry (made with cranberry, go figure).

I don't know what non-German beers called "Kolsch" you're seeing in the UK, but the ruiling that only Cologne brewers can use the term is limited to the EU countries, so some US brewers use the term without any problems. (We are also home to many "Champagnes" made in California, New York, New Jersey, etc., "ESB's" (a term that exclusive to Fullers, IIRC. in the UK) from various breweries and, well, then there's that little matter of a beer called Budweiser than ain't from Budweis...).

Great? Well, in some ways it made history in that IIRC it was one of the beers (in it's pasteurized "keg" beer form) that helped spur the creation of CAMRA. Even the US version was suspect- I seem to recall that it was one of the ONLY beers I've ever seen with an ingredient list that included potassium metabisulfite on the label. But, at the time, it was (along with Bass) one of the very few UK beers commonly found in the US, and, as such, was "different" from the typical US industrial lager or Euro pilsner. I think it had the distinction of being primarily an "export" brand, since it was so disliked in it's home country. (Just do a Google on it...). The brand was discontinued in the UK and later re-appeared in Canada but I think that version is gone, too. I do see mention of the beer in some bars lists of beers, but don't know where it's coming from these days.

Oh, I'm not saying it's anything out of the ordinary for New Jersey but, in the case of Applegate Farms, the place had only been OPENED for a few months, it seems, before the surrounding property on all three sides was clearcut. Granted, a nature preserve it wasn't, but sitting in the back at the benches they'd set up, one could "escape" temporary from the sprawl with some imagination (and a pistaschio sugar cone!). On the other hand, I get a kick out of the "victory" of making Wal-Mart stick some fake gables on the building and considering it conforming to the "Colonial" feel of the town.

Kinda sad what happened to their Freehold site (it's actually "Freehold Township", rather than "Freehold Borough"- two different municipalities- the latter is the old city, the former is what was once rural and now quickly-filling-up-with-McMansions-and-strip malls suburb). It took a while to build the Applegate Farms Ice Cream stand in a wooded area between the junction of Route 537 and Rt. 33 and the well-known "Since the 1700's" Moore's Tavern, but when it was done it was nicely situated, with a classic old barn and silo, just slightly funky, "roadside Americana" look. BUT, soon after a huge, ugly Wal-Mart AND Sam's Club were built sort of to the left and behind it, someone (either Wal-Mart or another developer) clearcut all the trees! So, instead of sitting on some benches behind the store and looking into woods, it's now a clear cut wasteland, soon to be... I don't know... more malls or parking lots, I suppose. The funny thing about all the development in this town is that they CLAIM to have a strict code on new construction so it will "blend" with the "historic" look of the area - so they "made" Wal-Mart put some fake gables on the facade of their stores. Yeah, looks just LIKE it did in the 1700's! http://tinyurl.com/krpau

Catch that, did ya, Tongo It was meant just for you. May I note that all my favorite beers are usually filed under "Good Stuff", so "Nice" is pretty high up there for me- some more exuberant folks might say "FAN-F*CKIN-TASTIC" for the same opinion.

I agree with your problem with the article's "attitude" -I was actually looking for a different article which I *thought* was by beer writer Lew Bryson which was the best, in-depth article on light-stuck beer I'd seen but couldn't find it after a quick Google, so the Beer Advocate article was an easy (yet difficult) default. The facts are there but I, too, don't care for some of BA's methods. I *will* say that "skunked" is a term that is often mis-used to mean any off-taste in a beer, often attributing it to age- beer that's past it's "best by" date- or mis-handled. True "skunking" can occur with minutes- ever have a nice hoppy ale in a glass, outdoors on a sunny day? Doesn't much matter if it came out of a brown bottle, aluminum can or keg, or from the brewery the day before, it can get lightstrunk that quick.

Well, it certainly depends on the pilsner (and how true it is to the style). I'd say Jever, Prima and Pikeland and "well hopped" (if not "strongly" hopped), more noticable since there's not a lot of strong malt flavor to balance it. Certainly most Euro and Micro pilsners are hopped more than the typical US macro beers which "evolved" ("devolved" maybe?) from the style. But, yeah, 30 years ago, before the micro-inspired "HOP arms race escalation" there weren't many beers with a noticable hop profile outside of Ballantine India Pale Ale (most people wouldn't finish a bottle) and, later, Anchor's Liberty Ale. No, you got it wrong. Hops are the REASON beers in clear or green glass GETS skunked. "Light" bodied European pilsners (which, insanely, tend to be bottled in green glass- "Tradition", you know...) don't have a lot of other things going on to HIDE the skunkiness. ( http://beeradvocate.com/news/stories_read/527/ ) I NEVER buy beer in green bottles unless I'm buying a full, closed & sealed case (or, in the case of some beers like Pilsner Urquell) a sealed 12 pack. I've been doing that since Ballantine XXX Ale was my regular "house" beer (and, man, that stuff was good, especially in deposit bottles [for whatever reason], even after Falstaff took over and brewed in Rhode Island and, later, Fort Wayne, Indiana. The current stuff from Miller is a mere shadow of what it used to be).

So, I'd say you DO know what "clean" tastes like, it's the lack of those same "esters and phenols or such". Well, that I'd don't understand at all. My problem with pilsner is that it's TOO "drinkable", especially in hot weather, so that even if they tend to be on the low end of alcohol level, if I don't watch it, I've had too many. (If I note that's happening, I switch to a real hoppy IPA to "slow down"). Was working in the garden today and had picked up a 12 pack of cans of SLY FOX's Pickland Pils in the morning and gotta say again, that's NICE stuff and, if it was readily available, it might just replace Victory Prima Pils as my "summer beer". Me in my bib overalls, a cold can of Pikeland in a gloved hand and a hoe and my sweat soaked hat in the other- woulda make an excellent "retro" ad.

I grew up in the area, and that's been what we used to a "custard stand" as long as I remember (early 60's), but that was back in the days when just about every town in the area had a custard stand (and cones typically cost 10-15-20-25 cents for the various sizes, based on the number of levels.). The "Spotswood" section of Monroe had one on Englishtown Road (now a florist), Spotswood had one next to the school on Main St. at the intersection with Devoe, later a lunchenette and now a bank's parking lot sits there. IIRC In Jamesburg, there was Lake Freeze at the corner of Railroad Ave. and Forsgate Dr., opposite the park entrance, which was expanded to also be a pizza joint by the last owners, DiBrizzi's. It closed after the flood and nearby road collapse last summer, never re-opened and the property's up for sale. (The building USED to have a giant cone on the roof and Jamesburg High School year books routinely featured a shot of a bunch of guys on the roof, "licking" the cone.) There were a bunch of other ice cream joints in EB- a Dairy Queen on Rt. 18 (that had a eat-in food section that served a nice char-broiled burger, too)- now a tuxedo rental joint and the recently torn down one on Milltown Road and the Rt. 18 North one after the Burger King that's probably been a used car lot now longer than it served ice cream. Sayreville (up on that hill on Bordentown, maybe?) and South River on the Causeway, Old Bridge's Carvel on Englishtown Rd, etc. Freehold's "Jersey Freeze" on what used to be the Rt. 9/Rt. 33 Circle still survives quite nicely, as does the former Jack Frost in Englishtown, now called Four Boys or Four Brothers or Four something-or-nother. Certainly "Magnifico's" (and it's predecessors) often featured the most impressive crowds on hot summer nights as one drove down 18...

I know this might sound like I'm trying to be a wiseguy or something but, if you're willing to do the "job" yourself, why would you *want* to sub-contract it out to the Stop 'N' Shop guy in the first place? I would have thought that freshness was a concern when buying any lobster and unless you had a boiling pot of water or a grill going out in the RV.... Or is it just a matter of not wanting to transport a live lobster?

Jever is my favorite German pilsner BUT (and it's a big "but") you MUST buy it by the case (or, depending on your retailer) a six pack taken out of a full sealed case, since, being very pale and very hoppy and in green glass, it is prone to be light struck (skunked) if you buy it off the shelf or from behind a cooler's glass door. Also, try to buy it as fresh as possible (both the case and the bottle label are marked with an expiration date of one year from bottling, so HOPEFULLY you can find some that's only a few months old). Fresh, non-light struck Jever is great stuff. This time of year, I tend to drink a bit "lighter" and when confronted with a bad selection in some store, I will still pick up Pilsner Urquell and, tho' "not the same as it was" it is still a very good pilsner (and tends to be fresher than in the old days of Communist ownership and cork lined caps) and refreshing on a warm day and decidedly "drinkable" ( as in, cleaning up the area the next morning, "...where did all these empty P.U. bottles come from? I couldn't have drank all these beers..."). For domestics, I second Victory's Prima Pils -again, look for the freshest- I *think* they only give the beer 3 months (or is it 6?) as a "best by" (take that LITERALLY), but in NJ I can often find it only a week or two from bottling date . Also, new to my state is another PA's brewers offerings, one of the handful of micros that are canning their beers and I'm quite impressed with Sly Fox's Pikeland Pils. Maybe it's just the novelty of good beer coming out of a can, but even poured into a glass (which, of course, all beers should be) it's a nice pils.

Yeah, where are they indeed? In the US, it seems, with the microbrewery revolution and the associated distain for the concept of "LIGHT", whether it be the old industrial "light lagers" or the (even lighter) "light/lite beers", it's become a race to the top of alcohol levels. Alcohol percentage is now allowed on beer labels and many micros use it almost as a selling point (in common with derided "malt liquor" style, oddly enough). When a southern state recently repealed a law that disallowed beer over 6%, posters proclaimed "Now we can get REAL beer!". Few micros make a nice "session" ale, there's no "sweet stouts" of low alcohol level (even the ones imported from the UK are on the high end of the scale), Kolsch's are rare, etc. We do get "Imperial pilsners", tho'. Beer strength has become associated with beer flavor to the point where people can't believe that Budweiser can have more alcohol that Guinness- "But, it tastes "stronger", it's darker, it feels "heavier"..." At the same time, beer glasses have gotten LARGER in most US draft markets- beer was often sold in 6/7 oz. sham pilsners, or 10/12 oz. mugs- now the 14 oz. mixing glass, psuedo-pint is the norm (often with a 20 oz. "large" offered as well). I keep waiting for the neo-Prohibitionists of MADD to jump on the subject of beer glass sizes, micro alcohol level and, hey, what the heck, might as well throw in all those cartoon and/or animal characters that decorate the labels, too, to attract the local news producers to the story at sweeps time. There's nothing I like more in hot weather that a good European pilsner (Jever is my favorite, at 4.9% alcohol- otherwise, I'll buy fresh Victory Prima Pils) tho' I was in a store with a lousy selection and picked up my old favorite yesterday, Pilsner Urquell, and it's still nice stuff despite the changes and new corporate ownership. I've actually taken to drinking Ballantine Ale (once my regular "house beer" 20-30 years ago- when it was on the high end of US beer alcohol content scale) as a "lawn mower/cheap" beer.

It does seem odd that the "Gallery" of photos is mostly of guests (I suppose it's the grand opening) rather than the diner- I'd like to see the outside shot of the place, since it took forever to built it (I used to drive by daily on my way to work). In the beginning, I'd heard that it was going to be the new "Dog House" (a bar that had been in a strip mall across the street, which was also owned by the Pines Manor owners, and was known for serving cheap drinks). The site, next door to a once classic truck stop/gas station, once was the home to a nice 40's-50's era diner (can't recall the name or maker*) that was always a bit less popular than the other Edison Route 1 diners (which helped keep it "classic" for a while) but was eventually "remodeled" into bland ugliness and called "Mom's Pancake House" - which was torn down to build The Skylark. * Did a quick search for this now-gone diner (and the other nearby Edison Rt. 1 diners that are also gone- the one across from the Ford plant and the one that was on the corner of Plainfield Ave.) in my diner books but can't come up with their names. I always hated how the various diner guides list them alphabetically by name of diner, rather than name of town.

Yeah, the fact that Sam Adams Triple Bock and the Double Bock of this thread are two totally different beers. Samuel Adams® Triple Bock® is the beer that truly started our odyssey into extreme brewing. Its deep, full flavor explodes with notes of maple, vanilla, oak and toffee. This flavor, along with its heavy, still mouthfeel has drawn comparisons to a vintage port, sherry and cognac. And Samuel Adams® Triple Bock® should be enjoyed in much the same way. We recommend serving it at room temperature in a snifter a few ounces at a time - one bottle should generously serve two to three. Its warming malt character and fruit esters make it an ideal after dinner aperitif. One can not help but appreciate Samuel Adams® Double Bock's huge malt character. We use an enormous amount of malt, half a pound per bottle, to brew this intensely rich lager. Its deep brown-ruby color is all made in the kettle - no black malt is used, resulting in a rich sweetness that is free of the rough taste of burnt malt. All that remains is the velvet smooth flavor and mouthfeel of the two row malt. Samuel Adams® Double Bock's intense malt character is balanced with a subtle piney, citrus hop note from the German Noble hops. (Copy/pasted from the extremely annoying Boston Beer website, where you have to give you age TWICE before entering- no minor would ever be clever enough to get through THAT!) And the Triple Bock is/was almost universally considered a mess and a failure. Don't know what you mean by a "box" of them- they were only packaged singly in a 24 bottle case that I saw- but I bought a case on sale, with an additional "20% off any case of beer" discount coupon [much to the distress of the retailer] when it first came out, and I agree, it never did really get better with age altho' I didn't hate it quite as much as most people (who liked to compare it to "soy sauce").

As a kid, my favorite pairing was a tuna fish sandwich on white bread, sliced diagonally, with orange soda. The twist was that I *dunked* the sandwich into the soda. (I still remember the nice color the bread turned....). Now, I've brought the combo up whenever the conversation has turned to "gross/unusual food combinations" but really haven't TRIED it in 45+ years but that's only because I don't buy orange soda much anymore (save for the Stewart's Orange N' Cream occassionally) and I usually will have tuna on a hardroll or wheat bread, but someday things are gonna all come together... PS - Just went to the Stewart's site to check the name of the Orange N' Cream- they make a Peach soda? Never saw that on the shelves... now have to add another "must have/try" soda to the list... http://www.drinkstewarts.com/flavors.html

Oh yeah, I have witnessed that. A biker gang of middle-aged guys bedecked in the leathery traditional garb came rolling in on their Harleys and to a T were all drinking Miller and Bud light beer. If they were drinking it to keep the calories down it didn't show. ← The common wisdom in beer marketing used to have it that "20% of the beer drinkers drink 80% of the beer" (well, percentages varied, but you get the idea), so most beer advertising by the big brewers used to try to appeal to those guys. (Think: "Schaefer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one.") When Miller got ahold of Lite beer and found out there was a small industrial area where the beer was popular due to it's "drinkability", they capitalized on that concept with the "Less Filling, Great Taste" campaign. "Less Filling", of course, meant "You can drink MORE of this beer" and, to some, "quantity beer drinking" is more important than "quality beer drinking". And it's not just among the drinkers of "Industrial Light Lager" than this is a popular conception, since it also works with hopping rates and ever increasing alcohol levels of micros, the latter to the point where beer with 5% alcohol is considered "low" rather than "normal" or "usual".

Not so strange- Miller bought the brewery and the brand name "Celis", ran it for a while (and, for some reason, limited the distribution), then closed the brewery and sold the equipment and the name to a brewery in Michigan. Michigan Brewery apparently ships the beer to Texas but doesn't have nearly the distribution that Celis had pre-Miller, since I haven't seen it on the East Coast yet. What's a bit strange (but not really unusual- see Bully Hill wine), is that Celis is again going to be brewing beer in Texas (well, contract-brewing) but can no longer use his own name. http://tinyurl.com/j6emd

Was doing some grocery shopping at this same Freehold Foodtown and found an end display of Coke products (opposite dairy) and there was a whole shelf of yellow capped 2 liter bottles (no sign). AND there was a sale on all Coca-Cola 2 liter bottles- 79 cents (with customer card). Also, their "natural foods" section finally got in new stock of Blue Sky Grapefruit, so I picked up 6 of them (altho', I don't understand why they don't market these by the six-pack- I would have bought 2 six's but I'm not about to buy 12 loose cans rolling 'round my basket) and also found a new soda line - White Rock Organics- with "organic can sugar". At least, I hope it's new- there's some sediment floating around (kinda like the old Squirt). http://www.whiterockbeverages.com/Organics.cfm

Here's a website that lists a lot of the well-known beer sellers/shippers who are on the 'net. (Note that Florida is listed as a state that many don't/won't/can't ship to.) http://onlinebeerstores.homestead.com/index.html

If I'm not mistaken... and I may be mistaken... the only flavours kosher for Passover are the Cream and BC. : ← Didn't mean to imply that I was looking for KOSHER Cel-Ray- ANY Cel-Ray would be OK by me. Called Canada Dry (see separate thread below) and they SAY they still make it but I can never find in any central NJ supermarket I frequent.

When I moved down to Monmouth County and the factory where I worked still existed in Edison , that store became my "regular" stop after work (well, besides venturing down further to Wegman's for some NY state "specialties" like Cranberry soda & Grandma Brown's Beans- oh, and going over to Genuardi's (now closed) in East Windsor for Grapefruit soda and Superfresh (A&P) for coffee) but haven't been there often since losing my job two years ago. SO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SEPARATE KOSHER BUTCHER? Not that I bought from them often, but it was a real neat thing I thought. I was surprised to see it turned into a cheese area. (Also, the rather large "natural food" section that they'd developed over between dairy and the bakery seems to be gone - or did I miss it?). Gotta say, they sure do cram a lot of interesting stuff into such a small store. I kinda like it BECAUSE it's small- the thought of drudging thru some "SUPER" store usually makes me take a pass on food shopping....

Well, while I'm normally a non-cola soda drinker, but the posts here and elsewhere in the food groups got me interested in Kosher Coke, so I started hitting various NJ supermarkets with good Kosher sections. Thought I'd gotten lucky at the Foodtown in Freehold when I saw an official Coca-Cola cardboard sign that said, "Look for the Yellow Cap for Kosher for Passover Coca-Cola". Unfortunately, it was taped under an empty shelf. "Yeah, I'm looking...." I thought to myself. Decided to stop into the Foodtown (same owner) in Manalapan, NJ and found it. Bought 4 2-liter bottles. Unfortunately, altho' they have a lot of shelf space for 1-liter bottles and cans of Dr. Brown, they don't carry Cel-Ray, only the Cream and Black Cherry. (But, they were having a sale on Goya sodas, so picked up some Grapefruit and "Champagne Cola"). On the other hand, they did carry Pickled Pigs Feet (been craving them ever since I'd read about Fat Domino returning to his New Orleans house and finding a gallon jar of PPF had floated up to his bedroom). Tell you what- you get funny looks when you buy Kosher Coke AND Pickled Pigs Feet. And, to top it off, they also had 20 pound bags of Royal Oak Lump Charcoal (which I'd never seen at Foodtown) on sale for $9.99- a better price per pound that Wal-Mart (and lump is about the only item I'd ever buy there- wait- they did have a lot of flavors of Cott soda in 12 oz. glass bottles- $2 a 4-pack- last time I bought lump, so that makes 2 items I'll allow my to buy at W-M) or Agway, my usual supplier in NJ for lump.