Iron Hill Brewery, the video

Iron Hill in New Jersey in moving pictures …

A thanks to everyone who took the time for an interview, and to Kevin Davies, Mark Edelson and Kevin Finn for persevering to overcome the none-too-friendly Garden State regulatory climate, and having the confidence to put a kitchen and a brew kettle in Maple Shade.

Launching the first new brewery in New Jersey in 10 years is monumental, and as some have noted, a homecoming since Iron Hill is a triumvirate of Jersey guys committed to creating great beer and pairing it with equally great food.

Speaking of that none-too-friendly climate, a couple of state Treasury investigators – on Iron Hill’s opening day no less – strode through the doors to conduct a spot check, looking to see that all taxes were paid on building materials and equipment. On top of that, they’ve been going through Iron Hill’s invoices and checking up on IH’s contractors, to make sure they’re registered and, again, that taxes have been paid.

That may be standard procedure for bureaucrats, but it's not much of a welcome from New Jersey, a state that the reputable and highly regarded Iron Hill, a taxpaying company that just created jobs in Maple Shade, chose, say it again CHOSE, to do business in. It’s rather insulting, too, given that it was IH’s opening day, a time when Mark and the Kevins probably wanted to devote their attention to the patrons who would come through the door, not some auditing regulatory nonsense that sits at the core of why New Jersey is tough business terrain.