NJ beer: Hidden Sands Brewing Company on tap in Egg Harbor Township

Alex Biese | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Jersey Brewed: Hidden Sands Brewing Company 'Jersey Brewed' explores Egg Harbor Township's Hidden Sands Brewing Company

"Jersey Brewed," the USA Today Network and the Asbury Park Press' video series spotlighting craft beer culture across New Jersey, ventured down to get the inside scoop on one of the newest players in the South Jersey beer scene: Hidden Sands Brewing Company in Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County.

(Watch our video on Hidden Sands Brewing Company in the video player at the top of this story.)

Here's everything you need to know about Hidden Sands:

The water

At the heart of Hidden Sands' product is a not-so-secret ingredient: top quality water.

The brewery drilled a 650-foot well into the Atlantic City 800-foot sand aquifer for its water needs rather than rely on municipal water.

"That well is the main thrust behind this brewery," said managing member and co-founder Matt Helm. "Hence, the name Hidden Sands: it was named after the aquifer, 800-foot sand, and 'hidden' because that aquifer actually is beneath three other aquifers.

"We're taking that water raw from the Earth directly into the brewhouse, and we're brewing beer with that water."

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The beer

That water lends a distinct flavor to all of Hidden Sands' beers, most apparent in the terrific, unfiltered 800' Pilsner. This stand-out beer is brewed with German pilsner malts and hopped with Hallertau and Tettnanger hops.

There's a Jersey freshness to many of Hidden Sands' products thanks to ingredients such as the pine needles directly from the Pine Barrens lending piney notes to the mellow and approachable 107' India Pale Ale.

Sandy Blue Pale Ale features flaked oats and lactose sugar and is conditioned on blueberries as a nod to the beer's South Jersey origins.

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“We’re in Atlantic County, so we want to have a blueberry beer here," said Hidden Sands co-founder and managing member John Cipriani. "There are so many blueberry farms in Atlantic County, you pass them coming down the Atlantic City Expressway to get here, so from the very beginning we talked about doing a blueberry beer.”

Hidden Sands features the talents of brewmaster Luke Lindsey, who previously worked for the likes of Victory, Southern Tier, Lagunitas, Sam Adams and North Country.

The tasting room

Hidden Sands Brewing Company opened in January at a 10,000-square-foot building at 6754 Washington Ave., Egg Harbor Township, and is ready to expand into another 10,000 square feet next door.

Its two-level tasting room as at once sleek and industrial, with plenty of room for hanging out and sampling the offerings from their impressively extensive tap list.

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“The brewhouse itself, it wasn’t for years one through five," said Cipriani. "It was for years seven through 15.”

The tasting room is open by appointment on Mondays and Tuesdays, 3 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 3 to 9 p.m. Fridays, noon to 9 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays.

For more information, call 609-910-2009 or visit http://hiddensands.com.