The brewery – located at 205 N Main St, Cape May Court House, NJ 08210 – has announced its closure yesterday (January 18th, 2025) via social media accounts. Their post states that the final day of the brewery’s operations will be on Sunday, January 26th, 2025.

Bucket Brigade Brewery Closing

Bucket Brigade Brewery’s announcement via social media.

Their post on Facebook reads:

After careful consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the doors of Bucket Brigade Brewery for good on January 26th. For the past 7 years, your support, passion, and friendship have meant the world to us—we can’t thank you enough for the memories we’ve shared and the community we’ve built together.

Over the last two years, it’s been clear that Bucket Brigade has evolved under Karl’s son Karlson’s leadership as head brewer. In just a year and a half, he’s earned 15 awards and taken the brewery to bold, exciting places. But with those changes came growing pains, and ultimately, Bucket Brigade Brewery wasn’t able to adapt as a brand to keep pace with Karlson’s innovative direction.

While this marks the end of Bucket Brigade, we’re excited for what’s next: Karlson will be taking over our building and launching his own venture, **Obscura Brewing Co.** Inspired by his love of pushing boundaries and exploring the unknown, Obscura Brewing Co. captures Karlson’s spirit of innovation—and with his stellar track record, we have no doubt it’s going to be something truly special.

Mark your calendars for March 6th, when Obscura Brewing Co. opens its doors for a soft opening party and AC Beer Fest ticket event. We’re thrilled to see Karlson carry on the tradition of great beer and a welcoming atmosphere—just with a fresh, new twist.

In the meantime, we’re holding a blowout sale at Bucket Brigade through January 26th. Enjoy Karlson’s outstanding beers at a fraction of the cost—mix-and-match a case of any packs for just $25. Stock up, reminisce, and toast these final days of the Bucket as we close this chapter.

We invite you to stop by, share your favorite stories, and say goodbye to Bucket Brigade in person. If you’d like to claim any donated memorabilia, please coordinate with Karl Sr directly.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for helping us make the last 7 years so unforgettable. We’re sad to say farewell to Bucket Brigade, but we’re equally excited to see Karlson forge a new path with Obscura Brewing Co. Cheers, and we hope to raise a glass with you soon!

https://www.facebook.com/Obscurabrewing

https://www.obscurabrewingco.com

-Bucket Brigade Brewery – Facebook Post

Cape May Brewing out of Cape May, New Jersey, has teamed up with Giant Food Stores to create another in the Giant Foods series of craft beers. This one being “Ocean’s Hidden Giant”. Ocean’s Hidden Giant will be a hazy, hoppy, Double IPA using New Zealand hops. “Intensely hopped” and “intensely juicy”. It will swim in at 8% ABV and will come in pounder cans. Look for this in Giant Food Stores most likely in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Also look for it at the Cape May Brewery. More info will be posted when we have a release date.

Also See

• Cape May Brewing Acquires Flying Fish Brewing

For More Information on Cape May Brewing Company

The following comes from Untappd. Cape May Brewing Company is a regional brewery from Cape May, New Jersey. They have 511 unique beers, and over 467,000 ratings, with a global average rating of 3.74 (as of 3.17.24). Their Untappd description reads: Cape May Brewing Company began with one simple question: Where’s all the beer down here?? With that in mind, we decided to provide South Jersey with fresh, delicious, local beer to put New Jersey on the map as a craft beer state. In July 2011, we found our home at the Cape May Airport, excitedly purchased our forklift, and delivered our first keg of Cape May IPA to Cabanas Beach Bar and Grill. Since then, we’ve proudly crafted balanced and flavorful ales and lagers for thousands of happy locals and visitors. Throughout the year, hundreds of our beers can be found throughout New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Delaware. We are proud to distribute our beers to hundreds of bars, restaurants, and liquor stores, on draft and in cans, ensuring premium freshness and excellent service. Our Tasting Room is one of the largest and most accessible in the state, with a spacious and sunny Beer Garden. You can visit our gift shop, “The Brewtique,” and take our interactive, self-guided tour. While many production breweries are only open a few hours per week, we are open daily for tours and tastings. We’d love for you to stop by! – Ryan Krill, Bob Krill, and the CMBC Brew Crew.

You can find them on their following social media pages:

• Cape May Brewing Company – Official Website
• Cape May Brewing Company – Instagram
• Cape May Brewing Company – Twitter
• Cape May Brewing Company – Facebook
• Cape May Brewing Company – Untappd

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The Infamous Milko Pour

Well, we’re finally doing it….. we’re finally doing a milko pour beer review. (And not just one… but two… as another will be coming soon, from Fourscore Beer Co). Is this us jumping the shark? Chasing a fad? A little bit of all of that? Who knows really. Is this just the latest marketing craze or fad or ‘new idea’ in brewing that everyone is trying out?

Its been popularized by several breweries in the area (to us) (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, etc.). Breweries in PA (the page and group) have really tried pushing it as well.

Got to try this one from Gusto Brewing when we had our trip to Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey. This was a great brewery and fun place with a wonderful talkative, upbeat, and cool staff. Outside of the beer I had on the ferry (Cape May IPA) the milko pour was my first of the day, before hitting a few other breweries in New Jersey on our way back to PA. You can read about our trip here: The Trip Home – Delaware, Cape May, and New Jersey. (Make sure to check out our travelogue section for more trip articles.)

So what exactly is the “milko” pour or a milk pour? Well, I covered some of that in a previous article here on the blog – about Human Robot’s 1st Ever Milk Tube Race. You can read that full article here: “Human Robot: The First Milk Tube Race in the World – USA vs. The World – Oktoberfest Invitational World Beer Fest“.

But let’s break it down a bit more for this article as well, and I think a great starting point is provided by Pilsner Urquell. Straight from possibly the best source on the topic:

The Mlíko is a special treat. It’s not the kind of beer you’d order again and again while you’re at the pub with friends. In traditional Czech pubs in the 19th and early 20th centuries it was served as a dessert, or as an elegant drink for women who weren’t big beer drinkers. Sometimes the bartender would give a Mlíko as a nightcap after the bill was paid.

These days, Tapsters at our Tankovna bars often give out a round of Mlíkos at the start or end of a shift. It’s something fun to change the mood, and it’s a different way to enjoy the Saaz hop aroma and the smooth, refreshing sweetness of Pilsner Urquell.

To pour a Mlíko, the Tapster opens the tap just slightly, letting the glass fill to the top with foam. Some of this foam settles, becoming beer – you get a full glass but you only pay for a half.

The History of the Milko Pour – Pilsner Urquell

A fun little discussion forum pop-up on the milko pour, courtesy of the BeerAdvocate’s Forum Pages:

• What’s up with the milko (milk) pours?

The person’s post reads:

There’s a new trend in American craft beer: the mlíko (or milk) pour.

I’ve seen breweries from Pennsylvania to Utah promoting these on Instagram in recent weeks, but first encountered the phenomenon at Human Robot, which serves a roughly 95%-head pour of one of their Czech-style lagers in a stange and calls it a “Milk Tube.” It’s meant to be chugged.

Whats up with the milko pours?

The comments on the five page post varies from “no ways” and “f* that” to “I love it, its so creamy, so delicious”, etc. One of the first comments posted in reply reads:

I had my first Milk Pour on a small brewery’s (outstanding) Bohemian Pils last week. Tried it because I knew it was a Czech tradition.

Gotta say, the special tap really makes a creamy and delicious head — not at all like a bad AAL pour with too much foam.

FWIW — I had already tried the Pils with a regular pour and knew it was a great take on the style. Not sure the pours change up the flavor of the beer itself (once you get thru the head), but the mouthfeel of the head was nice.

This is definitely a ‘mileage may vary’ type of thing, especially for the craft beer community at large.

Another interesting article on milko pours is by Atlas Obsucura (Gastro Obscura): Czech Milk Beer Milko Pilsner.

Alright Already… Get to the Beer Review

When will they ever get to the fireworks factory?!!!!? (…..if you get that, you get it, if you don’t, you don’t.)

Ok, let’s finally get to this beer review and tackle it. Firstly, though, let me say, this won’t be quite like a normal beer review, primarily because it was a chug. In the sense, that we both CHUGGED it… because thats “what you do” with this style (the milko pour) – or so we’re told. The bartender told us its best to chug, so chug we did. So I won’t quite be able to give the same kind of review as I do of a normal beer pour and beer review. But lets get down to it!

Beer: Everyday Balloons
Brewery: Gusto Brewing Company
Style: Pilsner – Czech
Pour Style: Milko Pour
ABV: 5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Crispy, glimmering, and the liquid reward for a lawn well mowed — this is a Czech-style Pilsner brewed with Pilsner malt and hefty additions of Saaz. Upon reaching terminal gravity, it lagered at near freezing temperatures for one month. Notes of unsalted crackers, floral stuff, and earthy noble hop jazz.

As per Untappd, Gusto Brewing Company is a nano brewery in North Cape May, New Jersey. They have 148 unique beers and a total of 15,600 ratings as of 1.7.22. They have a global average rating of 3.91. Their Untappd description reads: We aim to cultivate something truly unique, to give like crazy, and whip up really swell beers. [something small + something weird].

Lets jump into this with the aroma, it smells malty, pilsner like, and beer like. There’s not a whole host of descriptors I can give for the aroma on this beaut, because I think its pour style kind of dilutes it all. The foam certainly changes a lot of aspects of this beer I imagine (really makes me wish I had gotten it regularly afterwards for a style comparison). This smells like a malthouse but muted a bit, or dampened (but obviously not wet dampened, just like a lesser version).

Appearance is… foam. Ever been to a foam rave? Where they just douse you in foam and its everywhere, and it comes up to your knees, then up to your chest, and everyone is partying and jumping around, losing their ever loving minds? ….Just me? …Nobody else? No… well… ok… but anyhoo….. the appearance is similar to that. You can see why it has the nickname ‘milk’ or ‘milko’ pour, because the foam legitimately turns the beer into looking like your drinking a glass of milk. (Though if you notice, you can still see some of the regular pilsner looking liquid at the bottom, which looks like your typical pilsner – clear, golden light yellow, blond, beer looking beer).

Like I said, we both picked up our glasses, and chugged! I was able to completely down mine in the single chug, my friend had to do it in two. (Not bragging…. just stating). It goes down pretty easily, but it goes down like foam too, not like a pure liquid, so it kinda goes down ‘weird’. It tasted like what a good pilsner (a well crafted pilsner by a craft brewery, not like a Miller Lite or Coors or the similar) but doused so heavily in foam, that it tampers it so greatly. I could taste the pilsner while chugging, but the foam just overwhelmed everything. And here is where I will admit to not understanding the craze behind this, other than what certain groups and parties and pages have put out to make people more interested in them. I feel like its more ploy and noise than bang for your buck or interest. Yes, the pour was cheaper than a regular of the pilsner, and it was certainly a different style, and interesting to try something ‘new’ or innovative (even if it its an old technique brought back), but it just… felt more novelty than good, and was not my cup of tea (or beer if you will). I’d love to be able to talk to people back in the Old Countries and see their perspectives; both as customers and as brewers; about this style, and what their thoughts are on it. I believe some people and pages have a vested interest in trying to make it more of a thing than it is, and therefore the popularity explosion (especially in Pennsylvania), and especially when novelty for novelty’s sake is more important than the quality. But then again, I think its a case of mileage may vary and can be different dependent on the person. As seems to be the case with that BeerAdvocate’s discussion forum post on the subject. Personally, I don’t think its my cup of beer. Personally, if I’m gonna drink a Pilsner, I’d rather have it the way I’ve always drank it – like a normal beer. But, I also think Pilsner is on the lower side of the spectrum of beer styles that I enjoy, so there is that as well. I’m much more of a stout, porter, and barleywine kind of guy than the light, lite, airy, summer time mowing the lawn style beers. So take it for what its worth on that alone. I do think this somewhat contributed to me getting a bit sick later in the day; doing a chug of this straight foam side-pull milko pour with nothing else in my stomach after riding a ferry (where, admittedly I did have a small can of Cape May IPA, and I did take a single sip of my friend’s wine at the winery we visited); but I think filling my belly with a chug of pure foam, certainly did it no small favors. But I don’t know nor really worried about it now anymore.

I do think it would be interesting to do a side-by-side comparison with the same beer, one with the side pour milko pour, and one regularly. I imagine I will like the regular better, but don’t know for sure.

My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Average Untappd Rating: 3.87 (and this is for all pour styles of the Everyday Balloons) (as of 1.7.22)

Your Thoughts?

Whats everyone else’s thoughts on the milko pour? Enjoy it? Hate it? Keep it? Leave it? Let us know in the comments section below. Or let us know on our social media pages!

Thank You For Reading

Thank you for reading everyone. Hope you enjoyed reading, let us know if you have any thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns. We got a lot of stuff coming here on the blog, so make sure to follow, like, subscribe, and keep tuned for what we got to show!

-B. Kline

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

How Did We Get Here?

We started the day off in Delaware at Rehobeth beach, and at 8:45AM we were on the Lewes – Cape May ferry to get over to New Jersey. It was very choppy (was told it was choppier and windier than its been in a long time). Made for a certainly interesting venture.

Had a Cape May IPA at 9:01AM on the trip (when they opened the alcohol sales) and then we began our day in New Jersey by visiting the Cape May Bird Observatory, took a small stroll, then went to the Cape May Beach and visited the lighthouse, Battery 223, and watched swans, ospreys, and hawks.

We then stopped at Willow Creek Winery, and then moved on to Gusto Brewing where we got to try a milko pour (my first time having one). After that was Cape May Brewery. The next stop after this was planned out to be Bucket Bridge, but we saw 7 Mile Brewery while at a redlight and swerved in.

After 7 Mile Brewery where we ran into someone who went to LVC (Lebanon Valley College) – the same college my parents graduated from, and as it turns out, she graduated the same year as my dad. (She didn’t know him though.) we visited Bucket Brigade Brewing as planned.

Unfortunately…. we didn’t get to really finish out the rest of my adventurous trip itinerary. I definitely overplanned and expected to get a lot more done (I still wanted to hit Slack Tide, Bonesaw, Death of the Fox, and Flying Fish, before even entering Philly where we were then going to hit Humanrobot, Crime and Punishment, Fermentary Foam, and Monk’s).

But unfortunately, a member of the crew ended up getting sick, and at about 4:45PM yesterday (after Bucket Brigade) we ended up calling it, and made the 4 hour drive home. Where we got home after a few stops, at around 10PM.

So yesterday, we hit:

• Willow Creek Winery
• Gusto Brewing
• Cape May Brewing
• 7 Mile Brewing
• Bucket Brigade Brewing

I’ll write up a bigger two-day story of the trip in the days ahead. Meanwhile here’s a few pictures from yesterday:

Tonight (after work) I’ll do a total trip recap, and then in the following days I’ll write up my usual beer travelogue and brewery tour visit whatever you want to call it. So be on the lookouts for those two articles!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Coming soon, in the upcoming days we will be introducing a new segment to the blogs – Brewer Interviews. This segment is pretty straight forward. We, The Beer Thrillers, conduct an interview with a brewer (or brewers). Be it in person, over the phone, or through e-mail. Local to Central PA or far away, the game plan will be interview all types of brewers from all different types of breweries.

I think it’ll be a fun and informative new segment to the blog. We’ll get to hear from new voices, different people, and all learn all kinds of things about the different brewers, breweries, and brewing methods. Plus, it’ll provide some exposure to the brewers and breweries (as well as ourselves), so it seems like a win all around.

I know A. Parys is already working on an interview with a beer scientist from Cape May Brewing Company. I have talked to Tyler Budwash of Pilger Ruh Brewing, as well as several other brewers, so we are set to go with some exciting interviews to kick this new segment of the blog off.

Similar to how our beer reviews are prefaced such as: “BEER REVIEW: X (X)” where X is the title of the beer and (X) is the title of the brewery, the new brewer interview series will be similar. They will be titled, for example: Brewer Interview: Tyler Budwash (Pilger Ruh Brewing). So you know who the brewer is, and what company he is brewing for (at time of interview).

This is likely to expand greatly, and will include all manner of people working in the beer and craft beer and specifically brewery industries. From brewers to owners, to bartenders, to beer scientists, lab workers, hop farmers, home brewers, you name it. As well as expand regionally, going from the Central PA area to cover all sorts of areas, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Vermont, and the list will just continue.

Of course, if you are a brewer and would like to be interviewed, please contact us, you can contact us through the page here – CONTACT PAGE – or you can contact us on our FACEBOOK page through the messenger system. Or even contact us through TWITTER message or INSTAGRAM message. All will work. (Best results will be the CONTACT PAGE and FACEBOOK MESSENGER).

Hope you guys will find the new segment fascinating and interesting. And hope to hear from some brewers interested in being interviewed. Cheers everyone!

-B. Kline