Weather Permitting

This weekend marks MudHen Brewing Co's return to the Wildwood Farmer's Market. I'll be working it, as many Saturdays as the weather allows, through Labor Day weekend.

I'm not a morning person, but I can manage selling beer I help make with a smile on my face for a few hours every weekend!

We'll have a smattering of beers for sale in 4-packs and 6-packs, as well as Crowlers. The market will be open at 8AM sharp, perfect for early birds to stock up on beer to enjoy for the weekend.

Also back on tap this weekend - Captain Doug's Porter! Our award-winning porter is often requested by locals and visitors alike. Light-bodied enough to enjoy during the warmer months, it's still a robust, flavorful porter that beer drinkers of all kinds can enjoy.

We'll have it on Nitro, of course, listed as our Primary Cut beer selection while it lasts!

Forgetting to Write Blogs

Okay, so it's not that I'm forgetting, per se, rather there's so much going on that the blogging kinda takes a backseat to everything else. I've been returning things, coming up with weekly Beer Chats for ongoing beer education in-house, ordering items for packaging to go beers (did you know there's a national shortage on growler lids?!), and so on. Not to mention we did three racks this week. THREE. And, as I type this, Tony is just about to knock out the first half Kitty Cats & Fireworks - coming to MudHen Fourth of July weekend.

On top of a marathon canning run last week and everything else going on, I worked the first beerfest of 2021 up in Morristown, NJ with our marketing coordinator. The Beer, BBQ, Bacon festival started at noon on Saturday. So, I was up at 6am to get to the brewery by 7:30am to load out by 8am. Thankfully, no highway shenanigans were had, although we did show up and get placed, unloaded, half-way set up, and then... promptly asked to move to another location on the field.

A lot of things happened in Morristown that made me wonder if it's because two women were representing MudHen or if it was just happenstance. Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty certain the dude who stopped at our tent and asked if we were "the brewers or just the cute faces" wasn't asking Three 3's or Spellbound reps that question.

Another guy asked if we were sisters... pretty sure he wasn't asking the dudes if they were all brothers.

And still another asked if I was married. Not sure if he meant to one another or to someone else, but it was still a really weird, random question I've only ever gotten working a beerfest with another woman. Things that make you go hmmm.

And things that make you go mmmmm!: This weekend we're debuting 2021's third iteration (already?!) of Fruitie Patootie. It's mango and pink guava flavored. A little sweet, a little tart, and perfectly balanced to quench your thirst on what will be a warm, beautiful weekend down here at the shore. Also back on tap this weekend is the Düneslager - it's been lagered since late March, patiently awaiting its return to service. Stop in, stock up on cans, or grab a Crowler or Growler of your favorite, and celebrate that Summer is nearly here!

Fourteen Hour Days

It's no surprise, to either Tony or myself, that our days in the brewery are getting longer. As the sun lingers in the western sky a little more each day, heralding the oncoming Summer - and maybe a return to semi-normalcy - we also find our days stretching little by little.

But a fourteen-hour canning day was unexpected. I'd only read about absurdly lengthy canning days, and it always seemed it was due to there only being one person doing the task.

It couldn't be helped, seeing as how there's always new things to learn on our Wild Goose machine, and this was our first experience doing 12oz cans on it. We take what we know of the machine, as well as what others have taught us, and apply it. What weights to go by, our personal preference on can fills, and what can actually be sold as viable product all go into deciding the final product. There's always loss when we dial in for a new beer type on the machine, but we usually manage to get everything up and running fairly fast.

Of course, the day we try to can two new (for the machine) brands in a new size can (for the machine), we run into issues we have to stop and troubleshoot, which slows everything down.

Smaller can sizes meant I, as the in-house Can Weigher(tm), had to seriously adjust to keep up with the flow of things coming down the line. And even though we achieved a good rhythm of cans going through the labeler for the Pils canning, with the help of some Bob Marley in the background, it seemed the labeler had had enough by the time we got around to canning Holly Beach Wheat.

With several people assisting the machine components and ensuring cans don't tip over or get jammed up somewhere, it's inevitable that we're only able to move so fast. A long day was expected, but once we hit the twelve hour mark, we resigned ourselves to just Doing The Thing and getting the product packaged.

And holy MOLY what a package it is! The cans are simply beautiful. The gold foil on the Pils cans shines in the late morning sun. The copper foil on the Holly Beach Wheat makes the lettering and painting simply pop. Stop by this weekend and grab a 6-pack of either for $10 and enjoy it. These beers are sure to welcome you to the shore and remind you that Summer 2021 is just around the corner.

A beautiful day down at the shore - perfect for picking up a 6-pack of this crisp Belgian Wit style beer

Don't you wish you were here?! Grab a 6-pack for your favorite person (or yourself - or both)!

See you soon!

Mother's Day at the MudHen

Mother's Day is fast approaching and - thankfully - I'm ahead of the game this year. Having already ordered my mom a gorgeous bouquet of tulips from my favorite flower delivery service, I naturally forgot to put her card in the mail this morning!

Oh, well. We can't all be perfect, right?

Speaking of Mother's Day - what better way to show Mom you love her than bringing her out to MudHen Brewing Co? We'll be having Bloody Mary and Mimosa specials as well as a special Mom's Day menu available. If your mom enjoys beer, treat her to a strawberry Fruitie Patootie (or two)! After all, who doesn't like a strawberry blonde?

Just tapped last weekend, the strawberry is 2021's second iteration of the rotating fruited blonde ale series you've come to know and love. Organic strawberry puree was added (by yours truly) to a crisp, balanced blonde ale and is available only on draught while it lasts! If mom's far away or you have other plans for Mother's Day, stop in and grab a crowler or growler of her favorite brew.

Isn't she gorgeous?! Photo by social media guru Hannah.

Mother's Day menu and information can be found here: MOTHER'S DAY | Mudhen Brewing Co. We'll see you soon!