Rutt’s Hut Is Throwing Clifton’s First Craft Beer Festival on October 24

Some pairings just make sense the second you hear them. Rippers and beer is one of them.

On Saturday, October 24, from noon to 5 PM, Rutt's Hut is hosting Rippers & Beer, the first ever craft beer festival in Clifton, right in the parking lot at 417 River Road. Twenty eight breweries, one legendary hot dog stand, and a fall Saturday in North Jersey. The event is billed as "a proper Jersey Saturday afternoon," and honestly, it is hard to argue with that.

For anyone who somehow grew up outside the blast radius: Rutt's Hut has been serving in Clifton since 1928. The Ripper is a Thumann's beef and pork hot dog dropped into hot oil and deep fried until the casing splits open, that split is the rip, and it gets finished with mustard and the famous yellow relish. It is one of the most iconic foods in New Jersey, full stop. People have strong opinions about wellers and cremators, and they will defend them in public.

The festival comes from a neighbor. Steve Bauer, owner of Ghost Hawk Brewing in Clifton, grew up on this place. His father brought him as a kid, and his grandfather was going to Rutt's Hut after World War II. After years of pouring at beer festivals around the country and noticing how few of them happen in North Jersey, Bauer decided to build one, and he built it at the spot that raised him. That is the whole story in one sentence: a Clifton kid with a brewery, throwing Clifton a festival at a Clifton landmark.

The brewery list is stacked. From New Jersey: Kane, Brix City, Oakflower, Autodidact, Alternate Ending, Twin Elephant, Czig Meister, Wild Air, Gearblock, and Esker Hart, among others. That is a genuine who is who of the Jersey craft scene in one parking lot. From out of state, Other Half out of Brooklyn, Kills Boro from Staten Island, Requiem from Philadelphia, and Widowmaker from Braintree, Massachusetts. Twenty eight breweries total, pouring samples all afternoon while Rutt's Hut serves Rippers and the rest of its menu in between pours.

And there is a mystery beer. Ghost Hawk brewed a special collaboration with Rutt's Hut specifically for this festival. Bauer is not saying what it is yet. All he will confirm is that it is in the tank and it will be ready on the 24th. A beer made with a hot dog institution is either going to be a fun lager built for fried food or something completely unhinged, and either way, people are going to line up to find out.

Zoom out and this is also a big fall for Rutt's Hut. Last month the Ripper landed at Prudential Center for Devils games, the stand's first arena deal in nearly a century of business. Now the flagship is hosting a festival of its own. A place does not stay relevant for 98 years by standing still, and Rutt's Hut is quietly having one of its biggest years ever while changing almost nothing about the dog itself. That balance is the whole trick, and almost nobody else pulls it off.

Practical stuff: Rippers & Beer runs Saturday, October 24, noon to 5 PM, in the Rutt's Hut parking lot, 417 River Road, Clifton. Twenty eight breweries, Rippers all afternoon, and one secret collaboration beer. Get there early, eat first, then sample. A Ripper before the first pour is not a suggestion, it is strategy.

KEEP READING: More New Jersey food news and events on KezusGuides.