Whims Brewing has opened in Atco on the White Horse Pike offering unique beer styles and interesting ingredients which will have you coming back again and again to see what’s new!
Currently they are open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Check the website for latest hours.
Whims Brewing is owned (and brewed) by Dorien Saunders, who has won several South Jersey Homebrewing competitions before opening his first brewery.
Dorien has earned a reputation as a very creative brewer who likes to use interesting ingredients in unique beer styles, to give customers a beer experience they have never had before… and it all tastes amazing!
As an example, the current Whims Tap list features ingredients/flavors such as; banana, bubblegum, honey, plum puree, grapefruit mint (right from the garden!), Pink Himalayan salt, pink guava, cinnamon and other unique ingredients.
And styles of beer? This is not a “Let’s make 10 IPAs for our 12 available taps” brewery.
Dorien’s current taplist offers beer styles of; Hefeweizen, Kolsch Ale, Cream Ale, Dunkleweizen Ale, Gose Ale, Pale Ale, Belgian Ale, Brown Porter, Petite IPA, and Young Saison.
Basically every one of his 12 beers listed are a completely different style of beer with unique ingredients.
Delicious beers you’re going to love, with “hints” of these unique flavors throughout the recipes.
Whims Brewing is located at 302 White Horse Pike in Atco which is the Town Square Plaza. Previously this location was home to Atco Brewing (Atco closed at the end of 2021).
The interior structure layout is similar to when it was home to Atco Brewing, but everything has been refreshed, and the Whims distinctive purple coloring abounds.
42Freeway first wrote about Whims coming to Atco back in February of this year. A month later in March, Mark of 42Freeway participated in a South Jersey Beer Scene Podcast with Dorien at his then not-opened-yet brewery! (Podcast Youtube Link)
Dorien and the Whims Brewing Experience
Friendly, chill and humble… Dorien is a guy who mostly let’s his beer do the talking.
I feel the description for his Intra (Young Saison) beer really captures his mindset for Whims beer and life:
With a special rustic oomph only wild yeast can provide, we have notes of sitting in a field of flowers, shooting your shot, and trying to live your best life
Whims Brewing, partial description of Intra (Young Saison with wrangled wild yeast)
Dorien wants each sip of Whims beer to be memorable, unique… and to take you places.
From our February article Dorien shared this beer brewing philosophy
A big part will be on barrel aging and mixed fermentation beer. Hope to use a lot of NJ and locally grown tristate ingredients including malt, hops, fruit, and herbs
Dorien Saunders, owner of upcoming Whims Brewing in Atco New Jersey
This leads to the creative use of ingredients in unique styles of beer.
No one should be surprised with this, as two of the competitions he won featured very interesting premises which lead to unique and delicious beers.
For a breakfast cereal competition Dorien used Pumpkin Life cereal to make a winning Cream Ale. Judges said it tasted most like the cereal
And for as Fantasy Draft competition where brewers had to draft (in turn) individual ingredients from a preset list, Dorien created a Strawberry Hefeweizen!
To hear more about these beers and competitions, check out another South Jersey Beer Scene Podcast episode from 2018.
Whims Beer Selections
While Dorien is starting out with a moderate sized brewing system, he is developing a full array of tasty and unique beers.
The website taplist currently lists 12 different beers!
The most recently added are Lil Fang and Intra.
Lil Fang is our petite IPA, we’re getting lime zest, citrus dreams, bubblegum kisses and a touch of cracker malt. This is well hopped with a pillowy body and a nice tight dry finish.
Next up is our young saison Intra, brewed with lemon peel and black pepper. Utilizing yeast harvested from flowers in our yard and fruit gathered on our anniversary. It’s got that special oomph that only wrangled yeast can provide. Notes of sitting in a field of flowers, shooting your shot, and trying to live your best life are abound.
Whims Brewing’s two most recent beers (July 29, 2022)
Or how about Purgatorio Gose Ale which features pineapple puree and grapefruit mint?
A kettle soured beer conditioned on pineapple puree and grapefruit mint straight from the garden. Lemony and bright, with pineapple and pithy grapefruit notes. Pink Himalayan salt lends a brackish quality with a touch of mint perceptible on the finish.
Purgatorio Gose style ale
Well I don’t want to republish the entire Whims taplist.. just want to give a hint.
To see what’s brewing, check out the website. Guaranteed there will be something that will make you say “oh, I have to try that!”
Don’t Forget Brotherton and Berlin Brewing
Just a reminder that when you plan your visit to Whims, you can easily make an fun afternoon out of it by visiting two other breweries, plus Rack’s Bar Atco is in the same center as Whims!
Brotherton Brewery is very close and located in a former fire station. 42Freeway covered their opening back in January 2021.
Berlin Brewing is just a mile or two down the White Horse Pike, and I understand they are under new ownership. I’ll have to stop back in soon.
Of course be safe when “beveraging”, but you can make a nice multi-stop trip on an adventure into Atco and Berlin!
Links and Location
Whims Brewing (Opening Spring/Summer 2022)
302 White Horse Pike
Atco NJ