Jersey's Finest, and a new age of NJ craft beer

Sen. Norcross draws first pint

Call it a great beer collaboration, if you want.

But Wednesday evening's release event for Flying Fish and Iron Hill's third swing at a Jersey's Finest brew had the hallmarks of a new day dawning, an ushering in of New Jersey Craft Brewing Industry, Version 2.0.

An American IPA dosed with experimental hops was the feature, the vehicle to celebrate the camaraderie of Jersey craft brewing; the industry neighbors that production brewer Flying Fish and brewpub Iron Hill are; and the growth spurt that New Jersey's industry has been experiencing on either side of an overhaul of the state's regulations. 

New Jersey has moved into a new era, thanks to the state Legislature and a bill signed by Gov. Chris Christie last September. Flying Fish president Gene Muller and Iron Hill co-owner Mark Edelson walked point on the legislation, logging a lot of hours talking to lawmakers and attending committee hearings.

Jersey's Finest ice sculpture

Coming at the end of a Garden State Craft Brewers Guild meeting, Wednesday's event was attended by a bevy of Iron Hill-Maple Shade faithfuls, plus new and longtime Jersey craft beer industry faces, and featured a trio of other brews put on tap for the occasion. 

On had for the ceremonial first pour were Michael Kane, founder of Kane Brewing (Ocean Township);  Ryan and Bob Krill, owners of Cape May Brewing (Rio Grande); Becky Pedersen and Ben Battiata, owners of Turtle Stone Brewing (Vineland); and Tim Kelly, brewer at the Tun Tavern brewpub (Atlantic City). 

Michael Kane and Casey Hughes

Kane and Cape May Brewing both celebrated first anniversaries last summer; Turtle Stone's one-year mark is coming up in March.

Flying Fish, as many people know, is up and running in a newer, larger home in Somerdale, while Iron Hill just started work on its second New Jersey location (its 10th overall), targeted to open in Voorhees in mid-summer.

If you looked a little closer in the crowd you would have spied John Companick, whose Spellbound Brewing is on the drawing board.  (Savvy beer folks know of John's association with Heavyweight Brewing, the former Monmouth County brewery that closed up shop in New Jersey in 2006, but morphed into the Earth, Bread + Brewery brewpub in Philadelphia.)

A closer listen to crowd chatter would have cued you to the news that Bolero Snort Brewery just launched and has two beers that will soon be hitting taps in North Jersey.

Such growth, lawmakers say, was the goal when they and the governor updated New Jersey's craft brewing rules. State Sen. Donald Norcross, who took the honor of drawing the first pint of the Jersey's Finest IPA, calls the current quick pace a bonus.

The senator, a Camden County Democrat, was a key sponsor of the legislation that freed New Jersey craft breweries from a regulatory chokehold that made it not just tough to launch a brewery in the Garden State, but to keep one in business. One of the event's brews, a dry-hopped, cask-conditioned blend of Flying Fish Hopfish and Abbey Dubbel, paid tribute to the legislation, taking its name for the Senate bill number, S-641.

"There was an article today (Wednesday) about Pennsylvania," says Sen. Norcross. "They have gone from 10 to over a hundred breweries in the last decade, and that's the type of expansion we're looking for in the state of New Jersey. The design was to try to increase the productivity of our craft brewers in the state. We have the added benefit that this is actually turning out the way we had it planned."

From left: Ryan Krill, Tim Kelly, Casey Hughes

Indeed. 

New Jersey's first craft brewery, Ship Inn, opened in 1995.

Until Iron Hill opened its Maple Shade brewery-restaurant in 2009, New Jersey slogged through a 10-year drought of new, home-state beer-makers. Though still not the friendliest of business climates in which to site a brewery, the state licensed five new breweries in 2011, and two last year.  

Right now there are at least four brewery license applications, such as one from Pinelands Brewing in Ocean County and Tuscany Brewhouse in Passaic County, pending with state regulators. Other projects across the state are in various stages of development, like Spellbound Brewing.

"If not for that bill passing, we were seriously thinking about putting our production site in Pennsylvania or New york," says Bob Olson of Bolero Snort Brewery. "The fact that it has will definitely keep us here." 

Gene Muller (right) talks to Ben Battiata

Bolero Snort launched this month with a pair of contract-brewed lagers, Ragin' Bull and Blackhorn. Bob, who spoke by phone Thursday, says the business plan for self-distributing Bolero is to have its own brewing facility, ideally sometime next year. In the interim, High Point Brewing (Butler), makers of the Ramstein wheat and lager beers, will do their brewing, stocking Bolero's warehouse in Bergen County.

Working together

Brewery collaborations continue to be popular. In Garden State, the Jersey's Finest banner owes to a Garden State Craft Brewers Guild initiative from a few of years back. 

Flying Fish and Iron Hill were the first breweries to put their minds together for a Jersey's Finest beer, offering a mashup of stouts (chocolate and coffee versions brewed independently and later blended) in January 2011. The Tun Tavern and Basil T's in Red Bank followed suit with a brace of chocolate-chili pepper beers. 

By that summer Flying Fish and Iron Hill's brewers, Casey Hughes and Chris LaPierre, were working together to produce August 2011's Iron Fish, a black Belgian IPA that, with a tongue-in-cheek nod, employed about every beer trend you could think of back then.

Flying Fish and Iron Hill's latest round of collaboration is much more straight-forward, using some hops from a Washington State farm that also grows apples and berries. 

"It's a nice hoppy IPA, using all experimental hops," Casey says. "I'm really happy with it. I think it turned out really nice: golden, light, dry, crisp, drinkable with a nice hop character, nice bitterness to it. 

"We kind of went by the seat of our pants and just brewed, and played around with the hops as we had them. It's funny. If you look at our recipe, it says 'high alpha hop, low alpha hop, and Roy Farms hops.'"

Talking to Trap Rock brewer Charlie Schroeder

The recently enacted law that gives a boost to New Jersey's 25 craft brewers probably helps the dozen-plus brewpubs across the state the most, allowing those breweries to get their names out before the public like never before.

Unlike production brewers that could put their beers in bars and on store shelves, brewpubs in New Jersey had been relegated to selling beer from the place they made it. That restriction limited exposure for the pub breweries' beers and left a drinking public somewhat bewildered at the idea of being unable to get those beers at packaged goods stores. After all, Sly Fox, for example, had a couple of restaurant-breweries in Pennsylvania, yet it's beers were on store shelves.

The new law changes that in New Jersey. Brewpubs, like their production brewer colleagues, can now sign up with beer wholesalers for distribution, giving the pubs a much wider reach than the foot-traffic into their establishments ever allowed.

But imagining that happening is easier to do than making it happen, given the expense of taking on expansion to serve not only the pubs' patrons, but carving out a niche in the crowded and competitive craft beer markets. (Brewpub owners can also own up to 10 locations.)

Still, that idea of a wider reach was fast on the minds of the folks at Harvest Restaurants, which operates nine establishments in upscale areas of Union, Somerset and Morris counties and counts Trap Rock brewpub in that mix.

Harvest is uniquely situated to quickly take advantage of the new regulatory changes and has envisioned putting the beers made at Trap Rock in Berkeley Heights on tap at its other restaurants. It's Hathor Red and Ghost Pony lagers are have been contract-brewed at High Point (Ramstein) for the other Harvest establishments for a while now.

But with a major change in the rules – a change that, in effect, hits the reset button for the state's craft beer industry – it makes sense for a restaurant company that has a brewpub under its ownership to bring things in house.

From that vantage point, Trap Rock brewer Charlie Schroeder took time out from a busy end of the week brew day to discuss such growth and what it would entail.

BSL: Talk about how busy Trap Rock has become. Craft beer has been in New Jersey since 1995, but has really grown hot with the national trend for about four years now.
CS: I'm selling more beer this year than I did last year, and last year was a very big year for me. I finally did over 500 barrels, and I'm beating that this year. Keeping up with demand, even with the new fermenter, isn't easy. I could probably use another fermenter. I'm trying to sell more kegs, but I don't have enough room to store kegs, and I run into the issue of running out of beer, especially the Oktoberfest. This is the first year I'll make three batches of that.

I don't sell a lot of kegs, but it's an important part of the business because people will drink it at their house. (Their guests) will want to know what it is, then they'll be interested and then they'll want to come here and purchase a growler or have a pint here. So it's really about getting the name out there. That's really the only way we can get the beer out there to market, is for customers to buy it and take it home.

BSL: The recently signed craft brewing legislation liberates brewpubs, lets them sell through wholesalers. Because Harvest Restaurants has a number of establishments, the bill signing could conceivably make Trap Rock the supplier of house brands. What's the process of moving forward?
CS: It may mean we find a bigger location or keep the current location and expand possibly next door, or find a bigger building ... I'm not sure yet. We haven't sat down and talked about it because it (the bill signing) just happened a couple weeks ago.

BSL: But this is definitely something that's out there?
CS: There have been conversations (in the past). It's just a matter of sitting down and strategizing, figuring out what's going to work. This legislation is something I have been waiting for for the last five years. The owner has always wanted to do something. Back in 2000, 2001, that's when we first started contract-brewing the Ghost Pony and the Hathor Red at Ramstein.

What we want to be able to do is have my India pale ale on draft, a wheat beer, a dark beer, Belgian beers, and put them in bottles, too. That is something they want to do, and this gives us that opportunity now to do that.

BSL: With some necessary changes.
CS: Now there's a need to expand. Before, when you're just selling within your own walls here, there's no way can expand because you're just selling to who comes in through the door. And you're hoping that you're getting more and more people each year, then you run out of room in the brewery to make more beer.

BSL: In terms of branding, it's important to be able to bring all of the beers here to the other Harvest restaurant locations?
CS: Absolutely. (Patrons) ask all the time 'Why can't I get the beers you make here at those locations?'

BSL: So in effect, the law change and letting you work with a wholesaler could make Trap Rock a focal point of Harvest Restaurants identity.
CS: Oh yeah. It ties it all together.

BSL: So what kind of timeframe are we looking at, in the best-case scenario, of being able to site something and everything comes in at reasonable expense for brewing equipment?
CS: I think it's going to take six months to a year to really get it where it needs to be. I don't think it's going to happen any sooner than that. There are other restaurant projects (the owners) are working on; I don't know where I fit into that. They could decide they want to do it now, and it could be three months, or they need to wait to get certain locations lined up, and then we would do it.

BSL: Have you talked to any distributors yet? They were watching the legislation's progress.
CS: I've been approached ... I have one that wants to talk to us, and another one I can talk to ... There's three, three of them. But I don't negotiate that. That's up to the ownership.

BSL: When the craft brewing bill was working its way through the Legislature, one of the talking points focused on job creation. What's a conservative forecast for jobs that could come from a bigger Trap Rock operation?
CS: I have two people now that are working with me. There's a strong possibility of a third depending on how big of an operation I get into next year ... So I have two guys right now that would come on, and a third person with experience, depending on what size brewery or how busy we're going to be. And that I can't predict yet.

BSL: As far as brewery size goes, the objective is to get Trap Rock beers into the other Harvest restaurants?
CS: Yeah. I would say for me it's knowing what size brewery I can get, what space am I going to be able to get. And from there, I'll know how far I can expand out, beyond the restaurants. But the restaurants aren't going to pay the bills. They're going to help. But it's going to take more than that to pay the bills to make the amount of barrels we need to. It's not going to be 1,000 barrels ... I'm looking at 3,000 barrels within the first two years. I don't see why not.

BSL: What about bottling?
CS: My customers want bottles. There are still diehard growler fans that will always buy growlers. But I have customers that want bottles. It moves in that direction. If you're a brewery opening up, you do draft and then people want to take it home – it's the same thing here – and drink it when they feel like it. They don't want to have to feel that they have to drink a whole growler in a day or two.

BSL: So the smaller size becomes important ...
CS: They want a smaller size; they want a 12-ounce bottle.

BSL: But you're not looking at a bottling line?
CS: That depends on the size of the brewery. We can bottle here. So there's strong possibility of me bottling here for the other restaurants, certain beers.

BSL: The higher-gravity beers?
CS: I'm not sure yet. We're working on different labels. We haven't really talked about exactly what's going to the different restaurants. But we have the flexibility here to bottle anything we want. For me, this is a good place to start from. You can bottle 10 cases and send it out and see how it does.

Christie signs NJ brewery bill

Gov. Chris Christie on Friday handed New Jersey's 25 craft brewers something they have long sought: a lifting of regulatory burdens that have hemmed in the state's growing craft beer industry since the small-batch brewing took off in the Garden State in the mid-1990s.

And with that, Christie also gave Garden State brewers a reason to celebrate, as they can now begin to look more like their brethren in Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania, where making beer has flourished as the craft beer industry overall has grown.

"This law will have as great an impact on the small-brewing industry in New Jersey as the original law that legalized craft brewers," says Flying Fish founder Gene Muller, who, as an officer of the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild, helped push the bill Christie signed though the Legislature. "It will give us the opportunity to compete – and collaborate – with small brewers in our surrounding states.

"For example, I've been kicking around an idea with (Dogfish Head's) Sam Calgione and other Delaware brewers to host concurrent beer fests on each side of the Delaware Bay. Now we might be able to do that. Now we'll be able to host out-of-state brewers at our guild fest."

Here's what the new law does:

• Allows New Jersey's 13 brewpubs to distribute their beers to liquor stores and restaurants through the wholesale distribution system. Previously, brewpubs could only sell their product in the restaurant immediately adjoining the brewery.
• Increases the current cap on the number of brewpubs a company may open in New Jersey, by raising the limit on plenary retail consumption licenses for brewpubs from two to 10.
• Permits brewpubs to increase their annual production to 10,000 barrels a year, up from 3,000.
• Permits brewpubs to offer samples of their product on site as well as off site with a permit from the Alcohol Beverage Control director, at places such as fairs or charity events.
• Permits the state's 12 production breweries to sell beer brewed at the licensed location for consumption on premises as part of a brewery tour. Also allows those breweries to sell a limited amount of beer for off-site consumption.
• Allows production breweries to offer samples of their beers both on and off the premises, as currently permitted for the state's wineries.

The new law, which takes effect immediately, also holds some added importance for the state's crop of new breweries, as well as any breweries in the planning stages.

"The other great thing about the bill is that startups will be able to do a little bit more retail, giving them the cash flow to get their business up to speed faster," Gene says.

Says Michael Kane, whose eponymous brewery in Ocean Township has built a wide following and celebrated its first year in business this summer: "We want to wait for more clarity (on what's allowed), but obviously we're excited. It's good for everybody."

It's a great day especially for the consumer, says Ryan Krill, one of the founders of Cape May Brewing. Breweries now will be able to accommodate beer enthusiasts who often have been surprised to discover state law limited how much beer could sampled or made available for retail purchase, Ryan says.

"That's all behind us now," he adds.

Now a 6-barrel brewery, Cape May started at a sixth of that size last year and early last month saluted its first anniversary.

Christie put his name to the legislation just days shy of a Monday deadline for signing it, and three months after the bill cleared the state Senate and Assembly with bipartisan support. But more importantly, he signed the bill amid a growth phase for the industry.

Since 2010, seven new breweries have been licensed since; two – Great Blue in Middlesex County and Port 44 Brew Pub in Newark – have gone out of business. Meanwhile, Blackthorn Brewing is in development of a 25-barrel brewery in Toms River. Also, the guild's festival held annually in June saw the most home-state breweries – 19 – pouring in the event's 16-year history this summer.

Until Iron Hill brewpub opened its Maple Shade location in 2009, New Jersey endured a 10-year drought on new breweries opening. Now, Iron Hill is in the process of adding a location in Voorhees. (It's worth noting that, had the measure not been signed, Iron Hill would have maxed out its allowed locations in the home state of the owners of the nine-pub chain.)

"When we were contemplating first building in South Jersey, everyone said we were crazy because South Jersey was a craft beer wasteland. When we opened our Maple Shade location and it quickly rose to become our No. 1 store, we realized that New Jersey was a great and underappreciated craft beer market," says Mark Edelson of Iron Hill, who like Gene Muller, logged a lot of hours and trips to Trenton to shepherd the legislation along.

"As we became more involved in New Jersey, we realized that it was the laws that were holding back craft beer in this state, not the beer drinkers. Today is a great day, where legislators in both parties have really come together to create legislation that will allow New Jersey to have the success in craft beer seen in all of the border states and give New Jersey beer lovers many more New Jersey-produced options. Cheers New Jersey!"

Reaction from other brewers across the state Friday to the bill's signing was one of relief and gratitude.

"That's fantastic. We actually changed something for the positive," says Greg Zaccardi, owner of High Point Brewing in Butler. "That is awesome. Finally. Let's all raise a glass to this one."

Charlie Schroeder, brewer at Trap Rock brewpub in Berkeley Heights, was a little more ebullient: "It's a hell of a good day. It's time to party with Gov. Christie. We should all get in our cars and drive down (to Trenton) and have some beers with him."

Guild bill passes Assembly, 64-13

Tote board from Assembly vote

With a favorable Assembly vote in their pockets, New Jersey's craft brewers are now turning their attention to a Monday state Senate session and scheduled vote on companion legislation that would give those brewers more leeway in marketing their ales and lagers to Garden State beer enthusiasts.

Lawmakers in the Assembly on Thursday voted 64-13, with one abstention, to pass legislation to modernize New Jersey's craft brewing regulations, a long-sought change to the rules under which the state's combined two dozen production breweries and brewpubs do business.

Members of the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild, which developed the legislation with the help of lobbyists from the Kaufman Zita Group, are optimistic for passage in the upper chamber. (As many Jersey beer drinkers know, the guild is umbrella group that represents most, but not all, of the state's craft breweries.)

The Senate version of the bill has key bipartisan sponsorship from Republican Sen. Tom Kean Jr. of Union County (home to Trap Rock brewpub and Climax Brewing) and Democrat Sen. Donald Norcross of Camden County (home to Flying Fish Brewing and the planned Iron Hill Voorhees location). If passed by the Senate, the legislation would go to Governor Chris Christie for his consideration.

However, even with the tailwind that the legislation is now enjoying, the guild is renewing an action alert, again asking beer enthusiasts across the state to call or email their senators and urge them to vote yes on the bill. (The guild has posted a link to the state League of Municipalities so beer drinkers to find their legislators.) The state's restaurant association has been a staunch opponent to changing the brewery rules, complaining the proposed rewrite would erode the three-tier system under which alcoholic beverages are produced and sold.

Heading into Thursday's session, the guild had expected votes in both the Senate and Assembly. However, the legislation did not make it onto the Senate's list of bills to be considered for a vote.

And, when the bill came up for a vote in the Assembly, it wasn't without some surprises: Assemblyman Anthony M. Bucco, an early sponsor of the bill, was among a bloc of Republicans voting no that also included Assemblymen Alex DeCroce and Jay Webber, whose legislative district includes Butler, the host town of High Point Brewing.

(If you've ever been to a Ramstein beer open house, then you know that High Point Brewing enjoys a lot of support from local elected officials, including some who have swung the mallet during the ceremonial oak barrel tappings.)

Bucco and DeCroce were joined in dissent by  Republicans from the Shore area: Monmouth County Assembly members Sean Kean, David Rible, Amy Handlin, Caroline Casagrande, and Mary Pat Angelini; and Ocean County Assembly members Brian Rumpf and Diane Gove.

In fact, Republicans accounted for all of Thursday's 13 no votes and the lone abstention, from Assemblyman Ronald Dancer. (Despite opposition from that particular group of Republicans, the bill did pass the Assembly with bipartisan backing.)

And like DeCroce, Assemblywomen Angelini and Casagrande voted against craft breweries in their districts: Carton Brewing (Atlantic Highlands) and Kane Brewing (Ocean Township) and Basil T's in Red Bank; while Assemblywoman Donna Simon's dissent was a vote against newly licensed Flounder Brewing in Hillsborough.

Metaphorically speaking, the Assembly's vote, and recent affirmative Senate committee votes on the bill, represent a tectonic shift in Trenton's attitudes toward craft brewing, a small, but now-growing, industry the Legislature had largely ignored and even rebuffed when it came to the industry's prior pleas for a rule rewrite that would make the Garden State competitive with its neighbors Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania.

Until lately, the most craft brewing ever got from Trenton, after lawmakers authorized small-batch brewing back in the mid-1990s, was a millstone of a rule hung around the industry's neck: a regulatory change a few years ago that made it difficult for production brewers to cut loose distributors they had entered into agreements with.

But as craft beer and the craft brewing industry raised its profile nationally over the past few years, the legislative climate in New Jersey has grew more favorable. The measure just approved by the Assembly, and to be taken up by the Senate on Monday, would allow brewpub owners to operate up to 10 establishments and to sell their beers through wholesalers – essentially enabling beer drinkers to get those brews at places other than the pubs.

Right now, the only place you can get an Avenel Amber is at J.J. Bitting in Woodbridge; the same thing goes for Ironbound Ale (Iron Hill in Maple Shade) and Leatherneck Stout (Tun Tavern in Atlantic City). As many beer drinkers know, if you enjoy those brews, you must go to those brewpubs to get them.

For production brewers, meanwhile, the legislation would allow retail beer sales to tour patrons for consumption on and off premise, a change that means going beyond the sip-size samples and two-six pack/two growler limit that have been the customary practice in the Garden State for practically all of the 17 years that craft brewing has been going in New Jersey. (For instance, the legislation would allow people to buy a keg – 15.5 gallons – from the brewery.)

The legislation's sponsor, Assemblyman Craig J. Coughlin, a Middlesex County Democrat, sized up the proposed regulatory changes as some key help to small businesses, and as a way to bring New Jersey in line with the national craft beer trend – a $7 billion industry that finds craft beers enjoying unprecedented popularity. (For whatever it's worth, Middlesex County is home to three brewpubs – Harvest Moon in New Brunswick, J.J. Bitting, and Uno Chicago Grill in Metuchen.)

"Like much of the rest of the country, New Jersey is experiencing a craft beer brewing renaissance," Assemblyman Coughlin says. "The appeal of these regional beers is making microbreweries and brewpubs tourist destinations. To help these small businesses capitalize on their newfound popularity, we need to update the state's antiquated laws regarding microbrewing."

Said co-sponsor Patrick J. Diegnan, another Middlesex County Democrat: "By making these changes to our brewing laws, we can help better promote New Jersey's existing breweries and attract new brewers looking to make their mark on the world of craft beer. This is good for economic development, job creation and our state's tourist industry."

Guild bill clears NJ Assembly panel

Iron Hill's Mark (on crutches) after hearing

Garden State craft brewers won another round in Trenton when a bill to modernize the rules under which they operate cleared a second key legislative panel on Thursday.

The Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee advanced the bill, A-1277, by an 8-2 vote, handing the state's craft brewing industry the prospect of the measure landing on Gov. Chris Christie's desk before the end of year, or possibly even before the Legislature takes a summer break at the start of next month.

A Senate version of the measure cleared a corresponding committee in that chamber in March by a unanimous vote.

Despite that, it's not a straight shot toward getting the bill posted for votes by the full Senate and Assembly. The legislation must now go through an appropriations committee (a circumstance tied to the fact the bill would increase production ceilings for craft brewers). However, based on the current momentum – and despite dissent by two lawmakers – the bill is unlikely to get held up, supporters say.

The two Assembly committee members who voted against the bill on Thursday, Republicans Sean Kean and David Rible of Monmouth County predicated their reservations on fears that new freedoms the bill would grant brewers would come at the expense of taverns and restaurants with bars. (Incidentally, Monmouth County is home to three craft breweries, though not in the Kean and Rible's 30th district. But East Coast Beer is, and the folks behind the Beach Haus brand are planning a brewery in New Jersey. Still, there is this: Distributor Ritchie & Page, which acquired Bud purveyor Crown Beer a while back, operates out of the 30th district.)

The lawmakers' dissent drew from arguments laid out to the committee by lobbyists for the tavern and restaurant groups, who complained the bill would undercut the value of bar owners' licenses at a time when some owners are struggling in the economic downturn. Additionally, the lobbyists said, the bill attempts to side-step long-established rules and practices for the state's alcoholic beverage industry.

That aside, Thursday's committee action indeed represents sea change for craft brewing in New Jersey.

Since the mid-1990s, when craft brewing was first sanctioned by the Legislature, the state's small-batch brewers have been hemmed in by regulations that left them at a disadvantage compared with brewers in neighboring states.

That's a reason Iron Hill brewpub, founded by a trio of New Jerseyans, got its start in Delaware and likely why Triumph Brewing in Princeton, an early pioneer of craft brewing in the Garden State, opted to expand in Pennsylvania rather than in New Jersey.

Other long-time craft brewers in the state could be counted on to utter the refrain that if they had known New Jersey would prove to be so difficult for doing business, they would have looked across the Delaware River to start their breweries.

Over the years, attempts to make the rules more business-friendly often had trouble finding a sympathetic ear in Trenton.

But this time, efforts to level the playing field – spearheaded and shaped by the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild, the trade group that represents most but not all of the state's microbrewers and brewpubs – have gained traction as craft brewing's profile and fortunes have risen across the country. (Nationally, craft brewing is a $7 billion a year industry.)

Essentially the legislation would put New Jersey on par with Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Production brewers would be allowed to retail kegs (half barrels, quarters and sixtels) directly to the public and serve more than just small samples during tours, for which the breweries could charge. Currently, production brewers are limited to selling only two six-packs or two growlers to tour guests and often provide the beer samples for free. However, under the bill – and unlike in Pennsylvania – production breweries would not be allowed to serve food, a concession made for the sake of bars and restaurants.

For brewpubs, the bill would boost the number of locations that can be held by a single owner from two to 10, and allow brewpubs to distribute their beer through wholesalers. That means beer drinkers would be able to get their favorite Gaslight or Trap Rock beers at a packaged goods stores, instead of exclusively at those brewpubs, as is the case now.

Until last month, New Jersey only had one brewpub owner that ever maxed out the licensing, Basil T's in Red Bank, which owned a second location in Toms River before spinning it off several years ago. (The Toms River location kept the Basil's name until changing it to Artisan's a couple years ago.)

In May, Iron Hill brewpub, which owns a location in Maple Shade in Burlington County, announced it had signed a lease for a second store in Voorhees in Camden County, with a projected opening around the end of the year.

Before the Assembly committee, Mark Edelson, one of Iron Hill's founders, pointed out that unless the law is changed, the Voorhees location means Iron Hill, which owns eight other locations spread among Delaware and Pennsylvania, would be legally finished investing in New Jersey.

Assembly panel to hear guild measure*

The call list

Legislation put forth by the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild that the organization says would level the playing field under which New Jersey's small-batch breweries operate continues to wend its way through Trenton.

And as summer nears, the prospects for Jersey-brewed craft beer are growing sunnier: Some of the opposition to the legislation has softened or gone away.

Despite that, the path isn't completely clear for New Jersey's craft brewers.

State lawmakers on Thursday are expected to take up the measure, A-1277, that would enable the state's beer drinkers to buy their favorite brewpub beers at packaged goods stores and buy beer directly from production brewers for on- and off-premise consumption. The Assembly's Law and Public Safety Committee is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m.

Essentially, the legislation would put New Jersey on par with its neighbors Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania, where brewers enjoy a freer hand as far as dealing directly with consumers and operating brewpubs.

For example, those states allow brewpubs to also be production breweries and sell beer through distributors. Think Sly Fox and Victory Brewing in Pennsylvania and Dogfish Head in Delaware. Production breweries in those states can also sell their tour guests full pints of beer.

New Jersey, however, restricts brewpubs to selling their beer only at their locations, and limits brewpub owners to owning only two establishments. Production brewers are now limited to giving guests who tour their brewery small samples; the current rules also restrict production breweries to selling up to two six-packs or two growlers to the public. Additionally, brewpubs cannot hold production licenses, and production brewers cannot also own brewpubs.

That's why, backers of the legislation say, New Jersey's behind-the-times regulatory climate could continue to cost the state business, tax revenues and jobs: If the rules are friendlier across the Delaware and Hudson, why open up in the Garden State?

As it did successfully back in March, when the legislation was heard by a Senate committee, the Craft Brewers Guild issued an action alert, calling on craft beer enthusiasts to reach out to members of Assembly committee and urge them to vote in favor of the bill. (See the accompanying chart of the committee members. Note the email addresses are not clickable.)

“By Wednesday, June 6th, please contact members of the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee to let them know you support the legislation as a craft beer consumer and ask them to vote yes on the bill,” the guild's action alert says.

If the committee approves the measure, it would advance to the full Assembly. (The Assembly speaker would decide if and when to post the measure for a full vote. The same thing applies in the Senate; the Senate president decides on when a full vote would be held.) If the measure is approved by both houses of the Legislature, it would then go to Gov. Chris Christie for his consideration.

Christie has shown some support for craft beer and the state's craft brewing industry, issuing a proclamation last year to acknowledge American Craft Beer Week, and this year signing a bill that freed homebrewers from an obligation to get a permit to make beer in their backyard.

The guild's action alert doesn't come without some concerns.

The Senate version of the measure cleared that chamber's Law and Public committee with a unanimous vote on March 5, but not before a parade of opponents – lobbyists for alcoholic beverage retailers, restaurants and the state's beer wholesaler organization – appealed to the panel to vote it down.

The wholesaler organization has since been appeased by some craft brewer give-backs (i.e. no self-distribution for brewpubs) and is no longer standing in the way. Meanwhile the industry group that represents alcoholic beverage retailers in New Jersey has also softened its opposition, forgoing objections it made in March.

However, the state's restaurant association continues to oppose the legislation, specifically allowing production breweries to sell pints to people who stop by for tours. It's quite likely the restaurant group will renew its opposition before the Assembly committee. But it's unlikely the guild is going to give up that part of the legislation.

During the March 5 Senate committee hearing, opponents complained the measure would further what they call an erosion of the three-tier system, the regulatory system for alcoholic beverages that inserts a layer – i.e. wholesalers – between brewers (distillers and vintners, too) and consumers as a way to prevent producers from directly marketing to consumers and controlling markets.

Guild members pointed out that the three-tier system was designed to prevent large producers from muscling out smaller ones, thereby lessening competition. 

In the decades since the 1933 demise of Prohibition – the three-tier system was born out of repeal of the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution – the wholesale network has come to favor the big producers (think of the mega brewers) at the expense of smaller ones.

In the era of craft brewing, guild members say, that circumstance has translated into unfairly choking off small producers' access to markets.

Additionally, the guild argued that exceptions to the three-tier system have been made throughout the country as a way to restore some kind of a balance in the marketplace.

*Edits made to update original post.

Guild bill clears Senate panel, gains sponsor

New Jersey's craft beer brewers on Monday move closer to gaining some long-sought regulatory relief they contend is vital to growing the state's 17-year-old craft brewing industry.

After hearing an hour's worth of testimony, a state Senate panel voted to advance legislation championed by the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild that would ease restrictions on the industry, such as allowing brewpub owners to have more than two locations.

"Every beer made in New Jersey that's sold in New Jersey, those dollars stay here," Flying Fish owner and guild member Gene Muller told the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee.

The full Senate could act on the legislation as soon as March 15th. The Assembly version of the bill is still pending in committee. (On Monday afternoon, Assemblyman Louis Greenwald, a Camden County Democrat and Assembly majority leader, signed on as a sponsor. The Assembly version of the legislation was introduced by Craig Coughlin, a Middlesex County Democrat.)

"This is an important bill. It creates jobs. It creates investment opportunities. It signals that New Jersey is again the innovation capital of the region. It's the right thing to do to maintain our leadership position and outcompete our neighbors," said Senate sponsor Tom Kean Jr., a Union County Republican, whose district includes Trap Rock brewpub and Climax Brewing, a production brewery.

The guild issued a statement later in the day on its Web site, noting the legislative process is far from over and renewed an appeal for support from beer drinkers.

"After a lot of give and take between the guild and representatives of the beer wholesalers, liquor stores, restaurant association and liquor distributors, an amended version of our legislation cleared the committee 5-0. One of the big reasons for the vote was that each committee member's office received more than 200 phone calls/emails from NJ consumers promoting the bill. We thank you for all your help," the message said.

The wholesaler and retailer groups used the committee hearing to rail against the legislation, and senators ultimately tossed a provision that would have allowed production breweries to sell beer through 10 off-premise retail salesrooms, a controversial freedom state wineries enjoy.

"The salesrooms came out. We heard from folks in the industry about their negative experience on the wine side. We decided to take those provisions out ... There's still enough in the bill that helps the industry expand and gives some of the privileges that neighboring states currently have that New Jersey doesn't have," the guild's lobbyist, Eric Orlando, said following the hearing.

Opponents also pushed for extending tax and monitoring rules that govern wine and liquor sold in New Jersey – namely a 24-hour warehouse hold on products – to apply to the proposed brewery regulation changes. Senators took that proposed amendment under advisement but did not act on it.

The wholesaler association likened the proposed salesrooms to so-called "tied houses" in which producers owned, or had a financial stake in, outlets where, by and large, only their beers were sold and served, thereby crowding out competition. They noted the three-tier system, the mercantile arrangement setup for alcoholic beverages after Prohibition, was designed to put a buffer between producers and retailers to prevent abuses that resulted from tied houses. 

The tied house argument was also leveled at brewpubs, with the beer wholesaler association contending that the pubs' very existence resulted from a weakening of the three-tier system.

Allowing brewpubs' owners to have more that two licensed establishments – the bill calls for 10 – would further erode the system, opponents said.

"We have one brewpub that's a Pizzeria Uno in this state. Well, what's to prevent every Applebee's from deciding they want to become brewpubs?" Bob Pinard, executive director of the Beer Wholesalers Association of New Jersey, asked the Senate panel. "So I think we ought to walk before we run with the numbers on this thing ... Go to three, do it like some other legislation that has been proposed, have it (graduated). See what happens. In five years, maybe you can go up to some other number."

Other objections apparently insinuated that economic development was being used as a way to outflank the three-tier system.

"The federal government created an exception that said, 'You can, supplier of beer, you can retail only if, and only if, your retail establishment is immediately contiguous to your brewery.' So they made an exception, and we in New Jersey went along with that exception, and we allowed them to have two," Jeff Warsh, a lobbyist for alcoholic beverage wholesalers, told the senators. "Now we're saying they can have 10 under the umbrella of expanding businesses, allowing small businesses to expand. That's a fair policy determination on your part, but you should know at that time that this itty-bitty little exception that was supposed to create a couple of brewpubs is now going to create 10 brewpubs, times as many owners as there are. So that tied house tiny little exception is becoming a very big exception."

Committee member Sen. James Holzapfel, an Ocean County Republican whose district includes Artisan brewpub in Toms River, batted down the notion of brewpubs proliferating if the legislation were approved. Each brewpub would be expected to obtain a consumption license from its host town, an expensive proposition given the six- to seven-figure prices for the licenses.

While the brewers guild had no objections to dumping the retail salesroom request, it stood firm on brewpub expansion. Guild members noted the irony that Triumph Brewing, the Princeton brewpub that worked to bring craft brewing to New Jersey in the 1990s, has not expanded in New Jersey since then, but went on to open two new locations in Pennsylvania, where the regulatory climate is friendlier.

Guild members also defended the three-tier system, saying they cannot grow their businesses without partnering with distributors to reach markets. But they also pointed out flaws in the three-tiered system: Though it was instituted as a consumer protection aimed at curbing abuses by big brewers, guild members said, over the years it has created unintended problems with access to markets for small-batch brewers. Most states have allowed exceptions, so-called "carve-outs," to the system to promote industry growth.

"Once you take the (salesrooms) out of it, every single item in this bill is currently legalized in all of the border states of New Jersey. That's New York, that's Pennsylvania, that's Delaware," testified Iron Hill owner Mark Edelson.

Iron Hill, which has nine locations spread among Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is planning a second South Jersey location. Under current law, that would max out the company's investment in the Garden State. 

 "We're not cutting new ground here," he continued. "What were trying to do is be competitive in this market and make New Jersey more competitive ... None of the carve-outs proposed here are new and not currently – actively – being used to great effect in states, not only in the mid-Atlantic region, but across this country."



Tweet Follow @Beerstaindlettr

One more sponsor for beer legislation

The legislation to modernize New Jersey's regulations for its craft beer industry has picked up another sponsor.

Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, a Democrat from Hudson County, is the latest lawmaker to get behind A3969, which with companion bill S2870, would give the state's craft brewers some business freedoms already enjoyed by Garden State wine-makers and craft brewers from surrounding states.

Quigley, who serves the state's 32nd legislative district, counts among her constituents production brewer New Jersey Beer Company, which is located in North Bergen.

With the process of making laws, there's strength in numbers – the more sponsors, the greater the chance bills will be posted for floor votes in each legislative chamber, and the better their prospects for passage. Quigley is the fourth assembly member to sign on, joining Craig Coughlin, Jon Bramnick and Patrick Diegnan Jr. The Senate version right now has two sponsors: Tom Kean Jr. and Donald Norcross.

To recap, the legislation would:

• Remove the arbitrary two-brewpub limit per owner. For instance, say you already own the Ship Inn; you can open one more brewpub and that's it. No matter how savvy of a business person you are or how many jobs you pledge to create, or how much you vow to buy from local suppliers, you max out at two. How many other businesses can you think of that the state limits you to a mere two locations?
• Allow small breweries to sell beer directly to consumers from their brewery locations. (Right now, breweries can sell two six-packs or two growlers, that's it.)
• Allow small brewers to sell their product at 10 locations across the state directly to consumers. This relates to BYOB restaurants. Wineries already have this privilege, and it hasn't hurt bars or packaged goods stores (the former can always put the beer on tap or stock the bottles; the latter can probably price competitively.)
• Allow small breweries and brew pubs to offer samples to consumers both at their breweries or off-site, such as at charity events and festivals.
• Allow brewpubs to sell their beer at other bars and restaurants that they own but do not have a brewery on-site, yet have a retail consumption license.
• Allow brewpubs to sell their beer off premise, through distributors, in the same manner as production breweries. Imagine going to Canal's and finding your favorite Bittings, Gaslight or Tun Tavern brew on the shelf, or laying hands on an Iron Hill brew at a store in North Jersey. If you need a clear example for this, think of Pennsylvania's Sly Fox, which has brewery-restaurants and also does production brewing. Think Sly Fox again, because a diversified revenue stream (as opposed to relying on just foot traffic into the establishment for your revenue, like Garden State brewpubs have to) makes for a healthy company. Which is why Sly Fox just announced plans to triple their production capacity (yeah, it means shutting the Royersford restaurant-brewery, but they'll be opening a bigger production brewery.)
• Increase the amount of craft beer that both production breweries and brewpubs could produce annually.

Guild puts out action alert for brewery bills

The talking points are up and the action alert has been made.

The Garden State Craft Brewers Guild is asking New Jersey beer enthusiasts to reach out to their representatives in Trenton to support Senate bill 2870 and Assembly bill A3969.

The companion legislation would bring the rules under which the state's craft breweries operate more in line with marketplace conditions in the mid-Atlantic region and elsewhere nationally.

The guild posted the upshot of the legislation on its website on Tuesday, along with a blueprint for contacting state lawmakers to express support for the bills.

Meanwhile, the Senate version picked up a new sponsor, Sen. Donald Norcross, a Democrat from Camden County. Norcross joins Sen. Tom Kean Jr., the Union County Republican who introduced the measure at the beginning of the month. The Assembly version is sponsored by Craig Coughlin, a Democrat from Middlesex County.

Coughlin, by the way, also has homebrewers' interests in mind. He just introduced an unrelated bill, A4012, which would throw out the state's requirement that homebrewers get a permit to make their beer. (Text of that measure hasn't gone up on the Legislature's website yet.)

But back to the commercial brewing legislation.

Here's what the guild says is the aim of S2870 and A3969, which were referred to law and public safety committees in their respective chambers:

• Remove the arbitrary cap (2 brew pubs) on the amount of brewpubs a company can open in the state. (Taking away this cap means brewpub businesses wishing to expand and create jobs in the state could without any unnecessary restrictions.)
• Allow small breweries to sell beer directly to consumers from their brewery locations. (New Jersey wineries already have this privilege. Additionally, this element mirrors A3520, which was introduced back in November.)
• Allow small brewers to sell their product at 10 locations across the state directly to consumers. (New Jersey wineries have this privilege already, bringing their product directly to consumers without any harmful impact on other wine or alcohol interests. Think BYOB restaurants with this one.)
• Allow small breweries and brewpubs to offer samples to consumers both at their brewery or offsite at such things as charity events and festivals.
• Allow brewpubs to sell their beer at other bars and restaurants that they own but do not brew beer onsite, yet have a retail consumption license.
• Allow brewpubs to sell their beer off-premise in the same manner as small breweries through the wholesale distribution chain. (This would allow consumers to buy their favorite brewpub beer at other locations in the state.)
• Increase the amount of craft beer both New Jersey’s small breweries and brewpubs could produce annually.

The current regulations were enacted in the early 1990s, a time when craft brewing in New Jersey seemed faddish, more likely to remain a niche interest and not grow into a part of the state's manufacturing base.

For the state's breweries, the rules now feel like size medium T-shirt on a XL body – they don't fit.

And for any New Jerseyan who's been to Sly Fox in Phoenixville, Pa., for instance, had lunch and a draft beer, then came home, stopped at a package goods store to pick up a six-pack of Royal Weisse, the existing rules can be confusing.

"This legislation removes some of the roadblocks that craft brewers in the state currently have to take their success to the next level," says Mark Edelson, one of the owners of Iron Hill brewpub in Maple Shade. "The current legislation has been in place for about 20 years and was negotiated at a time when states were just starting to craft legislation to launch our industry.

"This helped incubate our industry in New Jersey, but as our industry has grown, we are seeking two things: a more level playing field with some of the privileges currently enjoyed by New Jersey wineries (and) a more level playing field with small breweries in neighboring states."

But this is about more than beer. There's a spinoff benefit for the state by encouraging growth, and it's not all about excise taxes, either. It's jobs, Mark says, and not just brewery jobs, but also ones like pipe fitters, truck drivers and engineers.

"The economic impact is clear. This will allow us to promote and expand our sales, which leads to more revenue for the state and more jobs in the state," he says.

Assembly version for latest NJ brewery bill

Garden State craft brewers pick up another sponsor for legislation to ease regulations regarding their industry.

Bill A3969 was introduced in the Assembly on Friday by Craig J. Coughlin, a Democrat from Middlesex County, giving the measure bipartisan support.

Assemblyman Coughlin's 19th legislative district includes J.J. Bitting brewpub in Woodbridge, one of Middlesex County's three brewery-restaurants.

The Assembly bill is identical to the version introduced in the state Senate on Tuesday by Tom Kean Jr., a Republican from Union County. Sen. Kean's 21st District includes Trap Rock brewpub in Berkeley Heights and production brewery Climax Brewing in Roselle Park.

The text of the bills remains to be posted on the Legislature's website. But the brief description of the legislation says it "increases production limitations and revises privileges of limited and restricted breweries." (In New Jersey, limited brewery licenses are held by production breweries; restricted brewery licenses are held by brewpubs.)

The measures introduced this week were shaped by the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild.

But there are other craft brewing bills pending in the Legislature. S2040 and A3063 (identical to each other) propose to create a farm brewery/winery brewery license, while A3520 would allow craft brewers to directly retail to people who stop by their breweries.

Trying to make NJ more brewing biz friendly

A new front has opened in the campaign to make New Jersey a friendlier place for the craft brewing industry.

Bill S2870, which "increases production limitations and revises privileges of limited and restricted breweries," was introduced in Trenton on Tuesday by state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. of Union County.

The Garden State Craft Brewers Guild, which has been working on the legislation for the past year, is now lining up sponsorship in the Assembly and expects a version to be introduced in that chamber by week's end.

Just exactly what the legislation seeks isn't immediately clear. The bill was just published, but the text hasn't been posted yet on the Legislature's website.

However, as it worked with a lobbyist to shape the bill, the guild's wish list has touched on raising the maximum amount of beer that could be brewed annually for both brewpubs and production breweries.

Additionally, the guild has wanted to let brewpub owners hold more than two licenses, let them brew for the taps at other establishments (i.e. restaurant-bars) that they may own, and in a bid to become more competitive with neighboring states, allow brewpubs to hold production brewery licenses for their locations, so they may sell beer off premises through distributors.

For production brewers, the guild has wanted to let them individually set up a clutch of salesrooms across the state for sampling and retailing to the public.

Remember, those items represent what has been a working wish list. Stay tuned for what the bill actually does propose.