Hidden Sands Brewing Co.

Atlantic County Magazine – GACCA Article, Print Date 10.23.2020

((shameless plug)) Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum, located in the Tropicana Casino and Resort.

Hops are the running theme this month, as we concentrate on a completely unique venue in our county, Hidden Sands Brewing Company, located on Washington Avenue in Egg Harbor Township. Now, last week I grazed the surface of Hidden Sands but this week we’re going to delve a little deeper. Founded by John Cipriani, Matt Helm, and Tony Cepparulo in 2014, Hidden Sands has been consistently delivering topnotch brews for the last few years. I think in order to fully understand what Hidden Sands is all about I feel we need to backtrack just a smidge, like say, oh I don’t know, 12 million years. ((a harp is strongly strummed while the screen goes blurry then refocuses on Sophia from Golden Girls stepping into frame)) Picture it, Middle Miocene Epoch, 12 million BC, the Atlantic Ocean covered what is now New Jersey from the Raritan Bay to the Delaware River. Over the course of a bazillion millennia, the ocean retreated and advanced repeatedly, eventually depositing a super thick layer of minerals that became known as the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer. ((Random Fun Fact Alert)) Did you know eons ago, when New Jersey was swamp land, prehistoric crocodiles (up to 45 feet in length!) were indigenous to the area? That equally mystifies and terrifies me. Anyhoo, the aquifer is comprised of 2 separate formations, the top formation (Cohansey) consisting mostly of sand and the bottom formation (Kirkwood) consisting of silt and clay. Together they create a geological super transformer- ((picture all of the Autobots forming one giant one)) -pocket of water called an aquifer system. So Cliff Note’s version, picture a giant lake below the Pine Barrens, filled with deliciously pure, naturally filtered mineral water, that has been filtering and re-depositing water since, like, forever. It’s very cool.

So why are we talking about a prehistoric subterranean lake? Because, it’s the foundation for Hidden Sands’ products. The company draws its moniker from the nickname of the top formation of the aquifer, the “hidden sands”, because the sand is, well, hidden. To add to the coolness, they draw their water from it as well, creating a completely and unequivocally unique product. There is something to be said regarding the kind of water used in your cooking, baking or brewing. You know how people say the best bagels in the world are from Brooklyn, not for any reason other than NYC water used in the baking process? In fact bagel shops and bakeries around the country pay top dollar to have NYC water shipped to their locations or replicated just to mimic that classic Brooklyn style. The same principle applies to Hidden Sands; their water gives their product a totally unique, non-replicable taste. For a second there you thought I was going to say their beer taste like bagels, didn’t you?

I’m rambling about water, I know, but it’s SO important to express the science behind it, thus paving the way for my second point: the product itself. Hidden Sands produces quality beer, rotating their recipes and trying new flavors on a weekly basis. Currently they offer a great variety of seasonal products like their Lager, Amber Sands, (a hazy amber ale with German malt, lightly toasted and sweet with a light hop presence), their Stout, a rich Imperial Stout (black and creamy with hints of coffee and chocolate, my favorite to pair with a winter stew), and Sour Ale, currently offering their Citrus Splash, (with heavy notes of, that’s right, orange, lemon and lime). In addition they’re currently offering a slew of great IPA’s (Indian Pale Ales), like they’re Strawberry Double IPA (imperial class Indian Pale Ale). What makes it imperial class is the double amount of hops used in the process, resulting in a huge contrasting hoppy high and a profoundly, malty depth in every sip. And here’s a curve ball, they make hard seltzer too! So all of you ladies getting low-cal wasted on White Claw, definitely check out Hidden Sands.

But the wow factor for me doesn’t end with just the brew masters and the products. It’s so much more than that; it’s the venue itself. They offer several tasting areas (which is rare): a main floor tasting room as well as one on the lower mezzanine level and one on the upper, all overlooking the extremely pristine brewery itself, with their gleaming pot stills. Also, you can rent any of the areas for an event ((beer wedding, anyone?)). They also have their own outdoor beer garden.

And one more point to touch on: their website. If you don’t have the time to spend at the venue but definitely want to try the products, you can easily go to their website and use their beer locator feature. I had no clue my neighborhood liquor store ((where I spent most of my stimulus money)) sells Hidden Sands products! You can also place your order online ahead of time, making everything even more convenient.

My take-away from our visit is this: in an age where society is “mass-production-centric” it’s so important to have companies like Hidden Sands, where they’re business ethic is craftsmanship and artistry. This place is a unique, top quality experience you must try at least once in your life, or twice, or 100 times, it’s totally up to you, just try it. But please remember Quarantina’s invaluable words of wisdom when beer-crawling, “wear a mask and always always always wash your hands”. Until next week…#stayjerseystrong.