15 Best Jersey Shore Breweries

Kane has been a cornerstone of New Jersey craft beer since 2011, and it’s routinely ranked the best brewery in the state. The hexagon-logo cans — Head High IPA chief among them — dominate shelves at nearly every bottle shop in Monmouth and Ocean counties. The Tasting Room, redesigned in 2023 with upcycled oak bar tables and barrel high-tops, now pours 16 beers on draft at a time, from fresh hazy IPAs to barrel-aged imperial stouts. Co-founder Michael Kane, an award-winning homebrewer, still drives the small-batch and limited-release program that keeps regulars coming back for drops like Across the Galaxy and seasonal releases like Sea Summit.

CMBC opened in 2011 as three guys brewing in a 1,500-square-foot space; it’s now a 23,000-square-foot operation pouring over 100 beers a year across flagship, seasonal, and small-batch lines. The self-guided tour has a Wildwood-boardwalk-inspired design, and the tasting room’s 20-plus taps flow into a spacious indoor-outdoor Beer Garden with regular live music and food trucks. Don’t skip the Brewtique for beer-to-go and merch. Standout pours include the citrusy Crushin’ It IPA, the rich Honey Porter, and — for the brave — the aptly named Coastal Evacuation Double IPA.

Founded in 2011 by cousins Augie and Chris Carton, this Atlantic Highlands taproom is the closest thing the Shore has to a craft-beer household name. The flagship Boat Beer — a crushable 3.5% ABV session ale made with Kölsch yeast, German malts, and American hops — is practically synonymous with a day on the water. Beyond Boat, Carton pushes boundaries with the Citra-and-Galaxy-hopped Hook pale ale and cult favorites like 077XX. The outdoor Beer Garage and playful, food-inspired names (Clam Jam, anyone?) make this one of the most distinctive stops on the list.

Founded in 2017 by Jason Goldstein, Icarus has become the Shore’s New England IPA headquarters, releasing 3–5 new beers a week and rotating roughly 30 brews on draft at any given time. The Brick taproom is spacious, with an intimate Barrel Room and an outdoor Beer Garden complete with firepits and live music. Guests can bring their own food or order from local spots — Burger25 next door will even deliver to your table via QR code. Fan favorites include Yacht Juice IPA and the oat-fluffed Making Whoopie.

Often called the “granddaddy” of Jersey Shore craft beer, Beach Haus introduced its American Classic Pilsner to a scene once dominated by mass-market lagers, then grew into one of the state’s largest independent breweries after transforming Belmar’s historic Freedman’s Bakery Building in 2014. The 11,000-square-foot production facility and nearly 10,000 square feet of hospitality space now anchor a full-blown community hub — bars, restaurants, and outdoor space just a block from Belmar Marina. Self-guided and guided tours run regularly, and Winter Rental and Cruiser IPA are year-round staples.

Brothers Jason and Tadhg Campbell opened Slack Tide in 2015 in Cape May Court House, naming it for the calm moment when the tide stops moving — exactly the vibe they’re going for. A 2023 expansion into a new 8,000-square-foot facility added a proper tasting room and outdoor seating area without losing the laid-back, locally sourced approach that built the following in the first place. Regular food-truck partnerships and seasonal collaborations keep the tap list interesting, and the Knockdown Black IPA and Angry Osprey IPA are the ones locals order by name.

Founded by Sean Towers and Amanda Cardinali, The Seed is Atlantic City’s counterpoint to the casino strip — a brewery built entirely around “living beers.” Wild yeast, local grains, and foraged ingredients drive a rotating lineup of saisons and mixed-fermentation ales that change with the seasons and the harvest. It’s mindful, unpredictable brewing in the best sense, and it’s earned a devoted following among beer geeks willing to drive out of their way for it. Try the house saison, Wheat Fields and Swallows, or whatever seasonal pale lager is pouring that week.

This family-owned Cape May brewery started as a homebrewing hobby and grew into one of South Jersey’s most adventurous taprooms without losing its cozy, homey feel. The tap list ranges from the tropical sour Hawaiian Eyes to the coffee stout Poke the Behr to Two Two, a double IPA with a loyal following. Indoor seating and a pet-friendly beer garden make it an easy stop just minutes from Cape May and Wildwood beaches, and it sits right along the Cape May County Bike Path if you’d rather pedal than drive between stops.

Founder Bob McLynn’s path to Asbury Park Brewery ran through the music industry — from a formative European beer tour in 1994 to co-founding Saint Archer Brewery before it was sold to Miller/Coors. Teaming up with local musicians in 2016, he built APB around the same synergy of beer and sound that defines Asbury Park itself. The current Cookman Avenue taproom leans into that history with a wall of vinyl and rotating live shows, plus a dog-friendly policy (and free popcorn) that keeps the crowd loyal. Scarlet Ale and the Sea Dragon IPA remain the beers to know.

Housed in a former Harley-Davidson dealership in Wildwood, MudHen is as much a restaurant as it is a brewery — a full bar and smokehouse menu backed by 8 to 12 rotating beers brewed on-site, including its international gold-medal-winning Wee Heavy Scotch ale. The light-filled dining room overlooks the brewing floor, an upstairs lounge has a fireplace for cooler nights, and the garage-style outdoor area opens to firepits and covered patios. Named for the historic “MudHen” train, it’s a genuine South Jersey destination with live music and trivia nights that keep locals coming back off-season, too.