Chatham Brewery Supports Fight Against 'Unjust' NJ License Rules

CHATHAM, NJ — Breweries across New Jersey are banding together to fight New Jersey rules for brewery licenses, which have resulted in tight restrictions on New Jersey's craft breweries.

Twin Elephant Brewing in Chatham has teamed up with the Brewers Guild of New Jersey to serve a craft beer-turned-collaborative project to support efforts to loosen restrictions on New Jersey's craft breweries.

The Brewers Guild of New Jersey and Icarus Brewing Company in Lakewood spearheaded the collaboration, which asks each participating brewery to pledge a percentage of their Brew Jersey profits to the Brewers Guild of New Jersey to help fund the fight.

According to the group, 42 breweries in five states have committed to brewing their own batch and donating a portion of the proceeds, including those in North Carolina, Vermont, and New York.

Each brewery that produces Brew Jersey is asked to donate 25 percent of the proceeds from their version to the Brewers Guild of New Jersey to support the fight.

Twin Elephant Brewing has not yet begun selling the limited edition beer, but plans to do so by early 2023.

Each Brew Jersey can label will contain a QR code that directs consumers to the project's website, which explains the craft breweries' point of view and provides release dates for all breweries producing Brew Jersey.

The restrictions were spelled out in a special ruling issued in May 2019 by the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, however, enforcement of the ruling was delayed until July 2022.

The special ruling limits establishments to 25 on-site events and 52 private parties per year. Each company may attend up to 12 off-site events. Breweries could hold an unlimited number of events prior to the ruling.

Breweries must also provide walking or virtual tours of their facilities before allowing patrons to drink any beer, and they can no longer collaborate with food trucks or vendors or serve coffee.

Cindy DeRama, the owner of Twin Elephant Brewing, previously told Patch that she believes that the new restrictions would harm the role of small businesses in the community.

"With this special ruling from the ABC, it limits breweries to engage their communities and customers. Being limited to 25 special events includes limiting live music, charity events, local artist pop-ups, etc. Breweries become part of their local communities and support their towns and local businesses and vice versa," DeRama said.

ABC officials stated in issuing the ruling that they interpreted the 2012 state law creating the limited brewery licenses as having the goal of promoting beer sales through existing retail options such as liquor stores and restaurants.

"It’s clear that these rules, supposedly meant to 'balance interests', are not balanced at all," the guild says on the Brew Jersey website. "New Jersey’s craft beer industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade, only to see it now systematically stifled by artificial and arbitrary limits."

The Twin Elephant Brewing Company taproom hours are as follows:

• Wednesday: 3 p.m. – 10 p.m.
• Thursday: 12 p.m. – 10 p.m.
• Friday: 12 p.m. – 11 p.m.
• Saturday: 12 p.m. – 11 p.m.
• Sunday: 1 p.m. – 7 p.m.