We have had I Drink Good Beer up and running for about four years now, and despite that, there are still a lot of unturned stones in our own back yard. High Point Brewing Company is one such place and probably one of the best kept secrets in our craft brewing community. After working as a brewer in southern Germany, founder Greg Ziccardi returned to the US to open High Point in 1994 with German purity laws in mind. Filling a neat little niche, all of Ramstein’s beers are made to reinheitsgebot with the same care and precision Greg learned in Germany with all his ingredients coming straight from Bavaria.
It may be a bit difficult to find at first, but once you spot the the Willy Wonka-esque secret door, you are one step away from a land of tasty German style beers.
There is nothing like having a beer at the source. With High Point’s tasting room open every day except for Sunday, there is more than enough people coming in for six packs and growler fills of the freshest beer around.
Heading into the brewery we found owner Greg Ziccardi taking a last minute zahme before Iron Heart began canning up Bolero Snort’s Lucky Buck. Bolero Snort is one of the breweries that Greg contracts up at High Point, with the other being Boaks Beer and a few recipes for the Harvest Group and their restaurants.
All together there are six fermenters that house the beers brewed at High Point. With each at 30 barrels per fermenter, Bolero Snort and Boaks are able to keep up with their demand without disturbing the flow of Ramstein production.
The brew house at High Point has been here since 1996 and it is awesome to see that it was made locally in New York and still kicking today.
What looks like an intense chemistry project is actually a filtration system for the beers they brew at High Point. All of the Ramstein beers are filtered for maximum clarity to give us a crisp and clean final product.
Making around 4,000 barrels a year, Ramstein is packaged in bottles and kegs and distributed across the tri-state at some of the best tap rooms around. If you see Ramstein on the beer list, do yourself a favor and grab a pint (or bottle for that matter).
After hanging around the brewery for a bit it was time to head back to the tasting room and see what they had on tap. Four awesome beers with price points that are more than fair.
We love wood burning stoves and seeing as this is the only heat source in the brewery, Greg keeps a stash of hard wood and keeps this thing going through the winter.
Being in business for 17 years will definitely bring some media to a local brewery. It was cool to see all the little snippets about Ramstein and High Point from over the years.
Aside from newspaper articles, there were many awards displayed that Greg has won over the years. He is notorious for upsetting the New Yorkers at TAP-NY with his Double Platinum Blond bringing home medals on many occasions. An awesome story, as all is well and fun in craft beer.
I still kick myself that it took us so long to visit this brewery. Greg and his team are doing spectacular things at High Point, helping the smaller guys get beer out to the masses and making authentic German style beers for the drinkers of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. If you are looking for a little slice of Germany in your life, head on over to High Point and get your fill of Weizens and Lagers. This Saturday they will be releasing their Maibock which is one of our favorites here at I Drink Good Beer, and we are very much looking forward to a few pints. Come join us, will you? Thanks to Greg, Howard, and Darren for showing us around and having us in for the day. High Point is one of the best breweries in the state and we hope for another 17 years of lagers and ales. Cheers.
-Brian