craft brewery
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 ...
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. Founded in 1995 by Gene Muller in Cherry Hill, it moved to its Somerdale location in 2012. It is today the largest craft brewery in New Jersey.
History
Flying Fish was established in 1995 as the world's first virtual
microbrewery
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 ...
, something novel that drew a lot of attention. Flying Fish sold their product completely over the internet and shipped it to the customers location. Capitalizing on this early notoriety, founder Gene Muller took Flying Fish into brick and mortar, constructing the first microbrewery in South Jersey. Following his success online, Muller partnered with Andrew Newell to help secure funding for a permanent establishment. While New Jersey once boasted more than 50 breweries, Flying Fish was the first new brewery built in Southern New Jersey in more than 50 years.
After opening in 1996, Flying Fish hit financial trouble due to a "craft brewing bubble" that popped. Many of the craft breweries closed down due to lack of profit and over saturation of the market. With this level of competition, Muller recalls the time as very difficult to stay afloat. Flying Fish was able to gain more funding so it could buy a larger volume of packaging, making their pricing more competitive in the market and was able to stay open.
Business grew, and Flying Fish began to produce a range of beers year-round, along with a variety of seasonal specialties. Flying Fish beers are ten-time medal winners at the
Great American Beer Festival
The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual beer festival hosted by the Brewers Association, held in Denver, Colorado. Typically held in late September or early October, the event is currently held at Denver's Colorado Convention Center. ...
, the most of any New Jersey brewery. In 2012, Flying Fish moved from Cherry Hill to its new facility in Somerdale, making it the largest brewery built in the state since prohibition. The transition saw Flying Fish go from a 10,000 square ft. to 45,000 square ft. building and increase productivity from 20 barrels to 50 barrels at a time. However, due to new automation in the Somerdale location it has been able to brew three times the amount of beer in less time. The tasting room at Somerdale offers weekly one-off and barrel aged beers.
On November 9, Flying Fish announced that Gene Muller would be moving solely to the founder position of Flying Fish. In his stead Lou Romano became president, effective November 20, 2017. Romano, who began working in the beer business at age 16, came most recently from
Oskar Blues Brewery
Oskar Blues Brewery is a craft brewery with locations in Longmont, Colorado, Brevard, North Carolina, and Austin, Texas. The company began as a brewpub in Lyons, Colorado in 1997 and began brewing beer in the basement in 1999. In 2002, they beca ...
, where he served as National Sales Manager since 2013. Before that, Romano served in a variety of capacities, including Director of Marketing & Wholesaler Development, for D. G. Yuengling & Son.
Community and charity
This facility boasts many sustainability features, to increase water and energy conservation, to brew the award-winning beer in the most environmentally friendly way possible. In 2014 Flying Fish worked alongside the
Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey
The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF) is a nonprofit organization based in Princeton, New Jersey, and their work consists of protecting the endangered species of wildlife that live, breed, and migrate through New Jersey. CWF is a ...
in an effort to help educate locals about the
Piping Plover
The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from e ...
"Bahamas Project" and showed a connection between The Bahamas and the U.S. for the endangered beach nesting bird species.
Flying Fish is also known for its ties to the community: each year, the company donates more than $100,000 in goods, services and merchandise to local nonprofit causes. Flying Fish also has partnered with Great American Brewery Runs, an organization that partners with local breweries to host festivals and charity runs. Flying Fish hosts the "Flying Fish 5k" at its Somerdale location. In 2013, following the events of
Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...
, Flying Fish crafted a new hybrid beer called "Forever Unloved Sandy" in which all proceeds went to charitable efforts to restore New Jersey.
Products
Regular seasonal drafts are the Oktoberfish, Farmhouse Golden Ale, and Grand Cru Winter Reserve. The latter two are bottle-conditioned. Less available (often only in growlers at the brewery) are Big Fish Barleywine, a Coffee Porter, Love Fish (a cherry-infused Belgian Abbey Dubbel available around
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
), Black Fish, and Imperial Espresso Porter. In January 2012, Flying Fish added Red Fish, a hoppy red ale, to its lineup.
In the summer of 2004, Flying Fish produced a blueberry flavored Abbey Dubbel available only in 1/6 kegs to recipients of the brewery's mailing list.
First in the region to be featured at the
Great British Beer Festival
The Great British Beer Festival (sometimes abbreviated as GBBF) is an annual beer festival organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). It presents a selection of cask ales, and the Champion Beer of Britain awards, and is held in August of e ...
, Flying Fish has also been featured at the
Oregon Brewers Festival
Oregon Brewers Festival (OBF) is a four-day craft beer festival held annually from 1988 to 2019 and 2022 at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Oregon, except in 2020-21 when the COVID-19 pandemic and
2023 when low attendance and ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
's Biere de Mondial Festival and has also won several medals at both the Real Ale Festival in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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and the World Beer Championships.
Exit series
In 2009, Flying Fish began releasing a series of beers named after
New Jersey Turnpike
The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highways in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although maintained by NJTA, is not consi ...
exits, each in styles intended to represent the part of the state served by that exit. New beers in the series are released at variable intervals, usually several months apart, with an extended hiatus as Flying Fish moved into their new facility in 2012. The inaugural release in the series honored the brewery's home exit, Exit 4, in March 2009.
The Exit Series generated some controversy with the New Jersey chapter of MADD criticizing an implied association between driving and alcohol.