New Jersey beer lovers couldn't help but be filled with local pride in Atlantic City last weekend.

The Golden Nugget Atlantic City Beer Festival returned to the popular casino on Saturday, Sept. 14, presenting more than 100 different beers from nearly 40 craft breweries.

The beers on hand at the Golden Nugget — mostly popular American craft products, although the international likes of Weihenstephan and Schofferhoer were available — were an incredibly enjoyable array of what beer lovers are craving these days.

Colorado and North Carolina-based New Belgium showcased its undeniably hazy, East Coast-style Voodoo Ranger Jucifer IPA. Brewery Ommegang out of Cooperstown, New York, had signature complex flavors on hand with a smoked porter aged in bourbon barrels with vanilla beans. The IPA from California's Lagunitas Brewing Company was a crisp, grounding reminder of why so many of us fell in love with good beer in the first place.

But as we find ourselves in the midst of another nonstop craft beer festival season in New Jersey it was heartening to see some of the players in the state's booming craft beer scene (with more than 100 breweries and counting) represented as well.

With the push towards ever-thicker, hazier and juicier India Pale Ales still going strong on the East Coast, River Horse Brewing Co. of Ewing's Clear Skies was a refreshing change of pace. A crisp, filtered IPA dry-hopped with Simcoe and Falconer's Flight hops, this was a friendly, accessible delight during an evening of robust flavors.

Along those same lines, Double Nickel Brewing Co. in Pennsauken scored with their signature pilsner-style lager. A rock solid execution of a classic beer type, this beer is clean and approachable without sacrificing subtlety, nuance or rich complexity.

Saturday's festival, coming at the start of fall, had plenty of beers that utilized pumpkin flavors, but far and away the most successful and enjoyable of these was the Holly Beach Pumpkin Ale by Tuckahoe Brewing Co. of Egg Harbor Township. Thanks to cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger, this amber ale was a spicy, comforting entry to autumn.

After taking first place in the American Pale Ale category at April's Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival, Beach Haus Brewery of Belmar's Free World Pale Ale returned to town for a strong showing. This unfiltered creation — made with Columbus, Cascade, Citra and Mosaic hops, then dry-hopped with Cascade, Citra and Mosaic — packs a remarkably flavorful punch.

And Mount Holly's Spellbound Brewing showed off its flagship porter, a rich and smoky offering with a flavor bold enough to make tastebuds take notice after several hours of beer sampling. There are notes of chocolate and coffee as well, with dark sweetness and bitterness at play in an incredibly captivating way.

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