Last Wave at the Shore

My mother is from New Jersey and every summer, as long as I can remember, we have made a trip to the Jersey Shore to visit our family. We still stay in the same house. It was my great grandmother’s house and it became a the perfect place for my great uncle and aunt to retire. The cottage is less than a four minute drive to our favorite beach spot. The house feels the same as it always has; warm and welcoming, and the smell of the upstairs where I have slept every summer for years is so comforting. My great aunt goes out of her way to make sure everything is perfect for our stay. We have so many summer traditions at the shore including outdoor showers, cheese fries on the boardwalk, sitting on my favorite green velvet sofa, eating giant slices of pizza with cousins, really the list goes on and on.

This year, Mac and I got to squeeze in a date night. I had gotten several recommendations to check out Last Wave Brewing Company in Point Pleasant. It wasn’t too far from where we visit, so we decided to check it out.

The décor colors were on point for the Shore. It was very welcoming and they had just added a beer garden. To get to the beer garden you go past the tank area. It was really neat to see and we met one of the brewers, Perry. She was killing it the entire time we were there!

The indoor space was cool with high tables and plenty of places to sit and sip. There were two gender neutral bathrooms and the one furthest from the front door had a changing table. Both bathrooms were clean and well-maintained. The outdoor space was great, complete with a fun beachy mural. You could tell it would be perfect for families, with lots of space and even chalk out to draw on the ground. If you choose to sit outside be prepared for them to give you a plastic cup. That being said, they were the nicest plastic cups I had ever seen! They were made by Tossware and they felt heavy and even looked like glass, with a nice thick bottom!

They did not do flights, but they did do generous “4 oz” pours. There were so many I wanted to try that I went with the 4 oz pours.

Sour

Mac went with the sour (on the left, 5.2% ABV) the entire time and it was an excellent choice. I think it was actually my favorite too! It was brewed with pomegranate, lime, and passion fruit. The color was great and it was sweet and so easy to drink.
From the Lab: Hefeweizen
I started with the hefeweizen (on the right, 5.5% ABV). The traditional hefe flavors weren’t as strong as I would have liked in this one, but it was still refreshing.

One Drop

This one is a must try if you visit this summer. One Drop (5.5% ABV and 5 IBU) was brewed in collaboration with Urban South Brewery. It is a sour brewed with mango and natural coffee. The natural coffee used was still in the fruit and offered a very subtle coffee flavor. The color for this brew was crazy! It looked like tang and frankly was just as tart and fruity. I loved it and thought it would go perfectly with a stack of waffles or a plate of cheesy eggs!

A-Frame

I really wanted to try one of their flagship brews, so I went with the A-Frame hazy IPA (6.1 % ABV). It was a refreshing solid IPA. Lots of piney flavor. Any hop-lover would love this after a day at the beach.

Right Coast

Since I love Porters I finished out my samples with the Right Coast coconut porter (6.5% ABV and 12 IBU). The coconut flavor was very faint and just on the tail end, but good. It was a great porter and it made me wish I had a chocolate chip cookie to dunk in it!

Last Wave does not serve food, but you can bring in outside food. I asked one of the bartenders for recommendations and I’m so glad I did! They have a set up with Bam Bam Burger Co. where you can order from your table using a QR code and they will deliver it to you! We tried their buffalo chicken egg rolls, crispy coconut shrimp, and chicken Bam Bam bites tossed in teriyaki sauce. Everything was delicious and even better since it was delivered right to us!