The Newsmagazine of Long Beach Island and Southern Ocean County

By Victoria Ford | on June 22, 2022

They came thirsty, hungry and ready to handle the heat. They came from near and far to indulge in craft beer and hot sauce tastings on Saturday, June 18, with the return of the HopSauce Festival after a two-year COVID-19 hiatus.

Veterans Memorial Park in Beach Haven was loaded with festival goers holding 5-ounce sample glasses. The warm weather and sea breeze made it the perfect day to kick off a Long Beach Island summer.

A popular stop on the tasting tour was Ship Bottom Brewery, which had a wide variety of beers and ciders to taste. Bartender Zach Zarko said the brewery has been part of HopSauce since the beginning, thanks to its proximity to Spice It Up, where owner Regina Lotito co-masterminded the HopSauce festival, along with Jetty CEO Jeremy DeFilippis.

The festival raises funds for the Jetty Rock Foundation, whose mission is to protect oceans and waterways while supporting the communities that rely on them. At press time, DeFilippis was still in the process of calculating the day’s total, but he was confident “we had our best HopSauce to date and expect to have raised at least $25,000, if not more.”

This year, Ship Bottom Brewery came up with a signature beer to represent the collision of hot sauce and beer being portrayed at the festival: the “CHEGG IPA,” described by Zarko as “a spicy hot sauce beer born out of the festival.”

Another popular tent was Crafted on the Cape, a brewery based in Cape May that was ecstatic to be invited back to the festival after the COVID hiatus. Particularly popular among younger patrons who demolished their stores of the Cherry Lime Sour by the end of the day, Crafted on the Cape began in 2011 and is proud to be one of the “oldest breweries in Cape May,” according to team member Jenna Tesauro.

In the Jetty tent, Wholesale Operations Director Jake Sudol and screen printer Max Doyle chatted with attendees as they poured Jetty’s brews. Doyle described the fest as Jetty’s largest beer event, showcasing the brews Jetty has been concocting for the past three years with its craft beer contract.

“We all like beer and hot sauce around here!” Doyle and Sudol exclaimed.

Among the hot sauce connoisseurs was enthusiastic BS Hot Sauce owner Brian Stark, who started his hot sauce company in Little Egg Harbor as a hobby. As his hot sauce combinations grew in popularity and expanded in flavor, his family told him to stop giving his hot sauce away for free and start selling it, he said. His sauce was too good to go unnoticed. Three years ago, Stark auditioned for the HopSauce Festival by sharing his garlic habanero sauce, and “that’s what got us in,” he said. Hot Sauce lovers waited in line to try his spicy duck sauce and others, as Starks’ energized personality and unique sauces quickly became a crowd favorite.

To add to the local hot sauce brands, many hot sauce vendors were from out of state. Brian Fleischauer of Horseshoe Hot Sauce had heard about the HopSauce Festival in upstate New York. When he received an invitation to join the festival, he said, he did not hesitate to make the trip. He had witnessed how far the news had spread and wanted to be in on the action.

In addition to the hot sauce and craft beer, other vendors included Priority Bicycle of New York, which has partnered with Jetty to design 50 bicycles. Priority’s Glenn Kirby yelled to the crowd of a chance to win one. Kirby is from Tribeca, N.Y. and could not believe “how awesome this festival is!” He and other out-of-state attendees truly got a taste of what the Long Beach Island community is all about.

Attendees were offered a plethora of food to pair with the craft beer and hot sauce tastings. Present were food tents from Chicken or the Egg, the Mermaid Room, Country Kettle Chowda and the Tide Table Group (Bird & Betty’s, Parker’s Garage, Old Causeway, Black Whale, Mud City Crab House and Ship Bottom Shellfish).

As a backdrop to all the activities, performers came from all over the country to be a part of the festival, including Lobsterdamus by Dillon, a staple of the indie hip hop scene in Atlanta, Ga., clothed in lobster-print board shorts. His performance at HopSauce was livestreamed on Twitter. Lobsterdamus interacted with festival goers and frequently checked in with the crowd, asking for their energy as he had driven “all the way from Atlanta, Ga. to party with y’all!”

Participants were encouraged to use the hashtag #HopSauceFest when sharing on social media. As a result, Instagram was flooded with festival goers posting pictures, videos and TikToks of fresh oysters topped with hot sauce, selfies in “Hop-erator” shirts, and snaps of friends dancing to the music. Participants were thrilled to be back, laughing and sharing their experiences.

Signs for the Jetty Rock Foundation bore a QR code and text number for attendees to donate. Jetty Rock raises money for charity through community events, sponsorships, planned giving, private donations and the sale of its Jetty Rock Oysters. Local residents volunteered to “pour it forward.”

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