Well, it came up as an ad for me on Facebook and I had read the rumor on Reddit but it looks like it is official, Boaks is closing on 06/30/2016. Why do I think this is "significant"? To my recollection, this will be the first NJ brewery that has closed since the boom in the last two years. Now I tried them once at a beerfest in Pennsylvania and their beers just didn't seem to be my style. I never really followed them either so maybe other BA's can chime in on their thoughts about this? Any implications for any other possible breweries? Maybe a cautionary tale?
Just wanted to add - I did go on their Facebook and it looks like they've been on a farewell tour since the end of February. Wow.
I think the circumstances for Brian is pretty unique so not really a cautionary tale. He is a nomad brewer, Boaks is a one-man show, and he has a day job. His beers are getting lost in the noise that is today's beer market. He was a fork in the road where he either had to expand and take on lot of risk and 70 hour work weeks or pack it in. He did what was better for him. Maybe if he was 20 years younger, he may have chose differently. I will miss his spot-on abbey style beers.
@Scoats, good to know. I didn't know he was a nomad brewer. I also didn't learn until today that Boaks had actually been a while. It's sad to hear about this, regardless of how I felt about the ones I had tried. Thanks for the 411!
I never really cared for any of his beers that I tried. However, as someone who always tries to support NJ craft beer, I would have purchased the product here or there anyway if it were available in my area. I could be completely off here but it always seemed he spent more time growing and expanding into Pennsylvania rather then other parts of New Jersey first which I never quite understood. Regardless, I wish Mr. Boaks well in whatever his future plans are.
Not sure when exactly (so might not fit in the "two year" criteria) , but in recent years, the Port 44 brewpub in Newark and Turtle Stone Brewing in Vineland closed. And there was a very short-lived brewery on a long established farm somewhere out in Somerset County IIRC (named after a bird? - animal-named breweries, for some odd reason, popular in this most densely state in the union). And, of course, as noted above, Boaks was not a "brewery" at all - but brewed most of his beer at High Point (Ramstein) with some later done at New Jersey Brewing Co., maybe?
