Beer tourism is quickly becoming an appreciable sector of the tourism industry. Last year, Nielsen found that the average American visits about two breweries during an average vacation. That’s pretty awesome.

And we’re thankful for it. Travelocity recently began ranking metropolitan areas by their beer-worthiness, and Cape May County (represented as Ocean City) was ranked #15 in the small metro area group.

That’s pretty huge for us. Beer tourism, in general, is pretty huge for us. We love our out-of-towners. (Hey, y’all… You know we’re still here in the off-season, right?!?)

In general, New Jersey’s craft beer scene is still in its infancy. Since the change in New Jersey’s legal structure in 2012 that allowed for tasting rooms, we’ve seen a veritable explosion in breweries throughout the Garden State.

With the easy access to delicious, fresh produce, it’s only a matter of time before New Jersey takes its place among the truly well-respected beer destinations. In the meantime, we’re still in the bottom five states in breweries per capita.

But Cape May County is seeing an upswing. Since we opened, four new breweries have followed in our footsteps, and three more are in planning stages. Add that to the handful of breweries in Cumberland and Atlantic counties, and we’re seeing Deep South New Jersey becoming a beer destination set to rival just about any across the country.

“A crowd draws a crowd,” says Head Brewer Brian Hink, “and as long as the other breweries around us are making standout beers, the more the merrier!”

And Brian knows a thing or two about beer tourism. He’s recently achieved something that very few people this side of retirement achieve: Brian’s visited all fifty states, sampling delicious brews along the way.