The production of beer in New Jersey has been in a state of recovery since

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

(1919-1933) and the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

(1929-1945). Currently, the state has 123 licensed breweries:New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. " New Jersey ABC list of wineries, breweries, and distilleries" (5 February 2013). Retrieved 10 August 2013.New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. " New Jersey ABC license update" (16 April 2013). Retrieved 10 August 2013. a large production brewery owned by an international beverage company,

Anheuser-Busch InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, commonly known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. AB InBev has a global functional management office in New York City, and regional headquarters ...

, and 122 independent microbreweries and 19

brewpubs Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

. The growth of the microbreweries and brewpubs since the 1990s has been aided by the loosening of the state's licensing restrictions and strict alcohol control laws, many of which were a legacy of Prohibition.

History

The first

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

in New Jersey was established in a fledgling settlement of Pavonia in what is now Hoboken when the state was part the Dutch

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...

colony. It was short-lived and destroyed by a band of

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

in 1643 during Governor Kieft's War (1643-1645). Large German immigrant populations in Newark and Jersey City led to the establishment of a healthy brewing industry in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Brewing beer became the fourth-largest industry in Newark,Holl, John
"Brewers Make a Comeback In a State They Once Left"
in ''The New York Times'' (6 July 2004). and names like Kruger, Hensler, and Feigenspan were among the leading industrial families in Newark. Later, regional (and later national) brands Ballantine, and Rheingold, and

Pabst Pabst is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adolf Pabst (1899–1990), American mineralogist and geologist *Daniel Pabst (1826–1910), American furniture maker *Frederick Pabst (1836–1904), American brewer *Georg Wilhelm ...

, among others operated large breweries in Newark and surrounding towns. With accusations of German propaganda and persecution of German-Americans during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, many of the state's brewers relocated to the American midwest. Prohibition closed many of the remaining breweries in the state. For instance, of Newark's 27 breweries before Prohibition, none of them exist today. As the industry reorganized and consolidated in the 1970s and 1980s to compete nationally, brewers like Ballantine (in the 1960s), Rheingold (1977), and Pabst (1985) closed their doors. One of the nation's first modern craft breweries was Vernon Valley Brewery, which was opened in 1985 by Gene Mulvihill, in the old Action Park amusement park

The brewery closed in 1992. Presently, the state is home to one large-production brewery,

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...

in Newark, which opened in 1951 and is used for brewing Budweiser and

Rolling Rock Rolling Rock is a 4.4% abv American lager launched in 1939 by the Latrobe Brewing Company. Although founded as a local beer in Western Pennsylvania, it was marketed aggressively and eventually became a national product. The brand was sold to Anheu ...

. New Jersey offers a limited brewery license for microbreweries and a restricted brewery license for brewpubs that has allowed the industry to grow in recent years. In 1995, the Ship Inn Restaurant and Brewery in

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

became the first brewpub in New Jersey. In 1996, David Hoffman opened what is the oldest of the current craft microbreweries in the state called

Climax Brewing The Climax Brewing Company is an American brewery founded in 1994 by Dave Hoffman. The facility officially opened February 1996 and is located in Roselle Park, New Jersey. The brewery was founded by Dave Hoffman, owner of the now closed Brewmeis ...

Roselle Park Roselle may refer to: * Roselle (plant), a species of hibiscus (''Hibiscus sabdariffa'') **A drink made from that plant, also called "Hibiscus tea" Roselle is the/a name of: ; People * Mike Roselle - American environmental activist and author ; ...

, then followed shortly afterward by

High Point Brewing High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

. In 2016, New Jersey craft brewers produced 111,416 barrels of craft brew. In 2012, New Jersey liberalized its licensing laws to allow microbreweries to sell beer by the glass as part of a tour, and sell up to 15.5 gallons (i.e., a keg) for off-premises consumption. The same legislation permits brewpubs to brew up to 10,000 barrels of beer per year, and sell to wholesalers and at festivals."New Rules Let More Beer Flow"
in ''The New York Times'' (4 January 2013). Retrieved 5 February, 2013.

Brewery licenses and regulation

Breweries in the state of New Jersey must obtain licenses from the

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, statutorily named the Tax and Trade Bureau and frequently shortened to TTB, is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, which regulates and collects taxes on trade and imports of alcoho ...

(TTB) of the

U.S. Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

, and from the

New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control The New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (Division of ABC or, simply, ABC) is an agency of the government of the state of New Jersey that regulates commerce in alcoholic beverages in that state. The 21st Amendment to the United State ...

. New Jersey taxes beer at a rate of 12 cents per gallon.N.J. P.L.2009, c.71
/ref>

New Jersey Class A manufacturer's licenses for breweries

References

External links

Garden State Craft Brewers Guild

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beer in New Jersey *

History

Brewery licenses and regulation

New Jersey Class A manufacturer's licenses for breweries

See also

References

Further reading

External links