Dear EscapeMakers,

Grab your friends and flasks and make your escape to Central Jersey, where their craft beverage scene is booming once again! Regulatory changes and sophisticated consumers are powering a boom in craft beverage making, including wines, beer, hard cider, and distilled spirits!

Self-guided bootlegger's trail!

Use the new Central Jersey Canal Region Map to help you design your own Central Jersey craft beverage tour. Stops include:

• New Jersey's farm distillery, Sourland Mountain Spirits, has returned the making
of vodka, gin, rum, bourbon, and other spirits to a Central Jersey mountain region once famous for bootleggers.

• Ironbound Hard Cider in Hunterdon County has been generating press related to its historically-inspired, high-quality hard ciders as well as it's 26-foot high "mother grill."

• Three of Central Jersey's original craft breweries: Harvest Moon, River Horse, and Triumph Brewing, continue to lead the way amid an explosion of smaller brewers.

• Central Jersey's winemakers offer extraordinary wines, often paired with great local music. Recently featured in the local press, Unionville and Old York Cellars are just a few miles apart in Hunterdon County. Scattered around Mercer County, you'll find Hopewell Valley Vineyards with its own brick oven, Terhune Orchard Winery, located on an active farm and Working Dog Winery, near the NJ Turnpike.

Where to Stay:
Find an overnight haven at the affordable 100-room Chauncey Hotel, located on a bucolic retreat less than 10 miles from the Terhune and Hopewell Valley wineries, Triumph and River Horse brewing, and from Sourland Spirits! If you prefer a quaint historic respite, try the Inn at Glencairn, where you'll enjoy your coffee in a tavern room that was once the site of a Revolutionary War incident!