NJ breweries continue to close. Here's why it will keep happening, brewers say

Sixteen breweries have closed in New Jersey since 2023, but that doesn't tell the complete picture of what is happening to the industry in the Garden State.

"It's actually a higher number because of breweries that have quietly or publicly ... changed hands," said Scott Wells, president of Brewers Guild of New Jersey and co-owner of Bolero Snort Brewery in Carlstadt. "... We're looking at around 25 in the last 18 months."

In January, New Jersey craft brewers expressed relief at Gov. Phil Murphy’s signing of a bill easing some restrictions on their businesses they say was long overdue. But they said there is more work to be done before the state’s brewery industry is on equal footing with its competitors in neighboring states.

The liquor license reform bill, signed by Murphy on Jan. 16, just before the legislative session’s deadline, combined parts of a bill that previously passed both chambers with some of the concerns from Murphy’s November conditional veto.

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The legislation allows license holders for New Jersey breweries, cideries, meaderies and craft distilleries to hold 25 off-premises special events and an unlimited number of special events and private parties onsite.

It also allows the hiring of servers and wait staff and the sale of some food items, such as chips and packaged snacks, and non-alcoholic beverages. The new law increased the number of barrels a brewery can manufacture from 10,000 to 300,000 per year, and gets rid of a requirement for a tour before a customer can try a beverage.

While breweries can work with outside vendors like food trucks, they still cannot sell food or make online sales like out-of-state breweries can.

"The law changes did not achieve parity with our neighboring states," Wells said. "All the changes did was nullify the special ruling that was levied by the [Alcoholic Beverage Control] in 2019, which was already pretty absurd. Now in the few months since the law went through, the ABC is doing anything they can ... to make it difficult for us to operate."

Wells expects several more breweries to close this year, he said.

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John Ross Cocozza, owner of Ross Brewing Co. which closed its tasting room doors in Port Monmouth in May, said increased overhead and labor costs, as well as the stagnation of laws, led to their closure.

"Even with the governor signing in the law at the beginning of the year, it was way too late," he said. "We had 12 breweries go out of business just last year, while waiting."

Both Wells and Cocozza said support from bars and restaurants in the state could be stronger.

"In New Jersey about 10% of our tap handles are dedicated to in-state breweries," Ross Cocozza said. "The national average is 26%, and in states where they really support craft beer, it can get as high as 50%. We are at the absolute bottom, and the bottom line is, New Jersey bars and restaurants do not support local breweries."

Behind the scenes, big-name beer distributors like Molson Coors or Anheuser-Busch play a hand in the lack of support.

"Those distributors have engaged in a propaganda campaign to dissuade bars and restaurants from carrying local beer for their customers," Ross Cocozza said.

Shore restaurants like Saltwater Social in Highlands and Baseline Social in Oceanport, are known for offering ample local brews, but not many places do the same.

"Seventy-five percent of the state's breweries are tasting room only with little to no distribution ...," Wells said. "Those of us that are heavily dependent on distribution saw distribution sales fall dramatically as bars around the state boycott local beer."

That lack of name recognition has a real effect.

"... It has a massive impact on our ability to sell to liquor stores in those communities," Wells added. "Those losses could never be made up in tasting rooms."

Some breweries have opened recently, including the new Icarus Brewing location in Lakewood, and Tall Oaks in Farmingdale. In order to compete with out-of-state spots, both offer things like outdoor patios, firepits, and neighboring restaurant or vendor partnerships.

The New Jersey Craft Beer site shows there are 145 breweries in the Garden State, about the same number as in October 2022.

"We're 46th in the country for breweries per capita," Wells said. "Over saturation doesn't really exist in New Jersey ... We're just fighting for a smaller piece of the pie than other states."

New Jersey breweries that have recently closed

7 Mile Brewery, Rio Grande

Alementary Brewing Co., Hackensack

Backward Flag Brewing Co., Forked River

Birravino, Red Bank (still a restaurant but no longer brews beer)

Devil's Creek Brewery, Collingswood

Flying Fish Brewing Co., Somerdale

Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing Co., Cherry Hill

Highrail Brewing Co., High Bridge

Human Village Brewing Co., Pitman

Jughandle Brewing Co., Tinton Falls

Kelly Green Brewing Co., Pitmann

Lunacy Brewing Co., Haddon Heights

Raritan Bay Brewing, Keansburg

Red Tank Brewing, Red Bank

Ross Brewing Co., Port Monmouth

Tuckahoe Brewing Co., Egg Harbor Township.

This list may leave out breweries in jeopardy of closing, those that have changed hands, or others facing hardship. If your closed brewery was not included, let us know at [email protected].

Megan Burrow contributed to this story.

Gabriela L. Laracca joined the USA Today Network New Jersey in 2021 and eagerly brings her passion for cuisine and culture to our readers. Send restaurant tips to [email protected]. Follow on Instagram at Jersey Shore Eats and subscribe to our Jersey Shore Eats newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: New Jersey craft breweries keep closing, brewers say