Back in March, I tried Ramstein Hefeweizen at the Philadelphia Craft Beer Festival. Since then, a visit to their brewery in Butler, NJ has been on my list of things to do. I had a chance to go on Saturday, for one of the monthly tours.

On tap were the Double Platinum Blonde, Northern Hills Amber Lager, Golden Lager and Imperial Pilsner. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite, although the Platinum was amazing. I’m starting to like the hoppier beers; I think the trick for me is that it can’t be the first one I try for the afternoon/evening.

Founder Greg Zaccardi was there to give a tour, and gave a really informative short talk about the history of the brewery and how the beer is made. This was my fourth brewery tour (Guinness, Budweiser, Brooklyn) so I’d seen it before but I wasn’t bored for a second. I learned something about filtered vs unfiltered beer, and I think that is a quality I’ve been able to detect in beer but unable to describe accurately (the buttery beer mishap of 2011). Mr. Zaccardi also went out of his way to ask if there were any home brewers in the crowd (nudge nudge Ceetar) and said that he would be happy to answer any questions about his craft. I thought that was extremely generous of him and gave me another reason to love his beer.

There was a large crowd on hand, especially by the time we were ready to leave. There was a long line to purchase merchandise, growlers and six-packs but well worth the wait to take some of the beer home. I really hope that this success grows enough for Ramstein to open up its doors more than one day a month, because I would love to become a regular!