E-Malt.com News article: US, NJ: Egg Harbor City factory may be site of next brewery

Jason Chapman's vision for the Pinelands Brewing Co. emerges inside a long-abandoned soda factory on Liverpool Avenue, pressofAtlanticCity.com reported on May, 19.

Massive steel equipment would fill the dusty expanse where he would make his Pitch Pine Ale and Mason's Wheat, to be bottled and labeled with an emblem of the region he has always called home.

"I think we're in a good area, at a good time," said Chapman, 33, of Hammonton. "We might as well take a good shot at it."

A good deal of work is ahead for him and co-founder Luke McCooley, 29, of Galloway Township, who are in the midst of a lengthy approval process with the city and state that would allow them to sell their product to wholesalers and retailers.

They hope to open by the fall, in which case they would be one of only a few breweries left in southern New Jersey.

The Tun Tavern in Atlantic City, Iron Hill Brewery in Maple Shade and Flying Fish Brewing Co. in Cherry Hill are the only others currently operating.

Many southern New Jersey breweries have closed in recent years, including Cedar Creek Brewery, a brewery-pub formerly on Philadelphia Avenue in Egg Harbor City, and others in Brigantine, Harvey Cedars, Vineland and Wildwood.

But more beer-making companies are coming online. The Cape May Brewing Co. expects to open soon in a warehouse at the Cape May County Airport, while Turtle Stone Brewing is another "nano-brewery" looking to open a small operation in Cumberland County later this year.

"That's a big trend, this nano-stuff," said Jeff Linkous, the Little Egg Harbor Township author of The Beer-Stained Letter, a blog about the New Jersey craft brew industry. "People are looking at trying to keep their day jobs and get into this as an enterprise somehow."

Flying Fish, the largest craft beer brewer in the state, has a similar license to the one McCooley and Chapman seek. It sells beer to distributors but can also give tours of its brewery and have tastings for visitors.

McCooley said that Pinelands aims to offer brewery tours by appointment and sell its brews at several local bars and liquor stores.

They would start off small, with a brewhouse that could make one barrel, or 42 gallons, of beer at a time. If they attract enough investment, they hope to get a seven-barrel system, but that carries a price tag of about $70,000.

McCooley said they also hope to find local hop growers to supply the flowers that give beer its bitterness, as well local pig farmers who would take the leftover grains from the brewing process to use as feed.

"We want to help out the local economy as much as we can," he said.

The 19 other breweries operating in New Jersey - according to the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control - are in the northern half of the state, farther away from some southern New Jersey areas than breweries in Delaware and Pennsylvania.

There used to be many more local beer makers, but they have come and gone for a variety of reasons.

Egg Harbor City, with a strong German heritage, has been the site of several breweries.

"My grandfather used to talk about how his uncle used to send him uptown with a bucket to get a bucket of beer," said Mark Maxwell, president of the Egg Harbor City Historical Society. "He just covered the bucket to keep the flies out."

The Pinelands Brewing Co. began as the informal name of Chapman's home brewing operation, which he started around 2000 and now runs in the basement of his Hammonton home.

"It makes a great party favor," he said, motioning to the soda kegs full of his own concoctions that line his floor.

Chapman, who works full time as an HVAC technician, said he had always thought about making his hobby a more serious pursuit - but he knew much more about barley and hops than he did about licensing and legalese.

He recruited McCooley, who studied business at Richard Stockton College, and the two are now navigating the sea of paperwork and approvals necessary to get fermenting.

"He has a talent, and his talent's pretty good," McCooley said. "It's brewing beer."

The potential site for the brewery is only a few blocks from where Chapman once had an apartment and made beer on his back porch.

It was built in the beginning of the 20th century and was last used as a flea market. It sits in a redevelopment area of the city's downtown where the government has been desperate to attract more businesses.

The building's yellow exterior is chipped and neglected, its interior dirtied and in need of basic utility work.

But after looking for more than a year for a location, Chapman said he immediately knew this building had all he needed: a walk-in refrigerator, a drain in the middle of the floor, a booth already assembled like a bar for tastings.

For whatever reason, a traffic signal was hanging from the high ceiling. They are keeping it there, with plans to turn on the green light when they begin brewing.

Although a lot remains to be done, Chapman's optimistic. They recently signed a lease for the facility, and hope to get approval soon from the local planning board.

He said he's already found a lot of enthusiasm for the idea, and talked to local farmers who would be interested in growing some of the ingredients for his brews.

"I'd love to source things as close as possible," he said. "I'm an American brewer - I want to use American ingredients."

His varieties so far include Mason's Wheat - named after McCooley's 4-month-old son - and Evan John Porter - named after Chapman's 14-month-old son.

McCooley said they are still looking for investors and requesting quotes for prices on equipment, which may determine how large the operation is at start-up.

"We don't want to rush it," McCooley said. "That's how businesses fail."

Given the lengthy paperwork necessary, they are aiming for an opening around September.

"Hopefully we'll kick it off with a fall brew," Chapman said.


20 May, 2011