A Night at the Museum

Two Thursday evenings ago, the Newark Museum presented their 3rd annual “An Evening of Hot Chili & Cool Brew” fundraiser.

As for the Cool Brews, there were 23 breweries on hand, each pouring anywhere from 1 – 5 varieties.  Several of your favorite New Jersey craft brewers were in attendance including Ramstein / High Point Brewing, New Jersey Beer Company, Gaslight Brewery, Cricket Hill and Climax Brewing.  While I sampled a few of the beers I already love like the Garden State Stout from New Jersey Beer Company, Brooklyn Brewery’s Local 1 and Maredsous 8, I also enjoyed trying these beers for the first time: Cricket Hill’s Nocturne Dark Lager and Jersey Summer Breakfast Ale, Ramstein’s Classic Hefe-Weizen (Dunkelweiss) and Climax Brewing’s Nut Brown Ale fresh off their recently installed 6-pack bottling line!

Now onto the Hot Chili…There were 10+ caterers filling out the center of the room, offering up several varieties of chili including traditional beef, short ribs, seafood and vegetarian.  I particularly enjoyed Encore Catering and Rutgers Catering who had some unique spices in the recipes and were heavy on the fixin’s and the cornbread!

Several hundred guests mingled throughout the Engelhard Court section of the museum, sampling beer and chili over a 4-hour period.  The Exhibition Viewing of “Patchwork from Folk Art to Fine Art” was open from 5-8 pm.  Also on hand was a unique collection of brewery memorabilia provided by the Brewery Collectibles Club of America.  There were numerous pieces in the collections from Krueger Brewing Company.  This Newark-based brewery which closed in 1961 was the first brewery in the world to sell beer in cans.

As the evening started to wind down, several prizes were drawn including beer samplers and Continental airline tickets.  And then we moved on to dessert…beer floats!  Weyerbacher Pumpkin Ale over Vanilla Ice Cream and Brooklyn Chocolate Stout with Espresso Chip…yum!

It was a fun night filled with great beer and tasty chili.  Look out for this event next October…Cheers!!

About the Newark Museum:
The Newark Museum opened up in 1909, and over the course of a century as grown from being two galleries at the top of the Newark Free Public Library to an eight-building campus.  It is the largest museum and art institution in the state, and invites you to enjoy unforgettable experiences in the arts and natural sciences.  Take an inspirational journey through 80 galleries of world-class collections including American, Asian, African and Classical.  Experience another era in the Victorian Ballantine House—a National Historic Landmark.  Enjoy the exciting science collections and space travel in their popular planetarium.  Stroll through the beautiful sculpture garden, visit the museum shops and enjoy a delicious lunch or snack at the café.

From the Mission Statement:
We believe that our art and science collections have the power to educate, inspire and transform individuals of all ages, and the local, regional, national and international communities that we serve.  In the words of founding Director John Cotton Dana, ‘A good museum attracts, entertains, arouses curiosity, leads to questioning—and thus promotes learning.'”

Links to upcoming events:
http://www.newarkmuseum.org/FeaturedExhibitions.html

http://www.newarkmuseum.org/UpcomingExhibitions.html

The Newark Museum is located at 49 Washington Street in Newark’s Downtown/Arts District, 3 blocks from NJPAC.  Attended on-site parking, provided by Central Parking, an independent operator, is available (for a nominal fee) in the Museum parking lot, with entrances located at Washington St. and Central Ave.