How are your local breweries doing?

Yes, the old folks connection.

Cheers!

 

I got to pet some really great dogs at both spots and that's really all that matters.

 

Pittsburgh really has a lack of creativity in my opinion. It's a very objective scene where everyone is kind of living in the same space, but Dancing Gnome and Lolev are kind of just the best versions of all the others. I've heard Coven is good but the service was so outrageously bad and pretentious I won't go back. Trace is alright but it's more an event space and Hitchhiker is fine, I just don't like smoothie sours much. There's so many tiny neighborhood spots that are just meh but fun to try once, and then the bigger spots are just alright. I never find much outside of the two I mentioned that really blows my mind. Two Frays is fun but that's more nostalgia bc that's one of the first breweries I went to properly drink at with friends in undergrad.

 

In New Jersey, about 1/7 of the breweries have closed in the past few years. Although new ones open, seemingly established ones continue to close. As in other states, the key factors are (1) capitalization, (2) location, (3) business model, and (4) quality.

Although this is supposedly a "progressive" state, our laws and regulations governing craft brewing continue to be archaic and prevent our breweries from competing against those in neighboring states. For example:

1. It is virtually impossible to open a brewpub. Those who do cannot sell beer outside the location. There are only a handful of breweries with full food service and that is only because they hold a "plenary" liquor license, which are scarce and incredibly expensive (especially in North Jersey - millions of dollars). Current law prohibits brewery licensees to partner with food vendors. They cannot own their own food trucks.

2. Unless they hold a plenary license, brewers are prohibited from serving other New Jersey-made beer, wine and spirits in their tasting room.

3. Brewery license holders are prohibited from making/serving non-alcoholic THC drinks.

4. Brewery license holders are prohibited from delivering food and beer directly, or through third-party delivery services like DoorDash.

5. Brewery license holders breweries are prohibited from establishing satellite tasting rooms with the same privileges as their main tasting room. So, if a brewery opens a second location (example, Magnify), it must brew all of the beer served at each location on-site. For example, it cannot ship cans between Fairfield and Medford. Similarly, Meyers Lighthouse Brewing cannot serve beer brewed in its Philadelphia brewery.

The above information is largely taken from an excellent op-ed written by one of the owners/brewers at Muckraker in Sussex County. https://www.nj.com/opinion/2025/10/...tml?gift=6911f0cf-d320-40f5-a93f-7788a244ff50.

Given this environment, it is not surprising that so many New Jersey breweries have closed recently, including: 7 Mile, Alementary, Backward Flag, Bradley Brew Project, Brotherton, Bucket Brigade, Chimney Rustic, COHO, Dark City, Flying Fish, Forgotten Boardwalk, Four City, Highrail, Jughandle, Red Tank, Ross, Tomfoolery, Tuckahoe, and Vinyl.

At the same time, new breweries seem to be opening monthly but their survival will depend upon the factors I listed above. Interestingly, I think that "quality" may be the least important factor since the average patron is not a beer nerd and doesn't necessarily know the difference between really good or mediocre beer.

Unless the applicable rules change, this trend is likely to continue in New Jersey.

 

It's a little out of the way, but I'd wholeheartedly recommend Cleveland.

I mean, you could do worse than Pittsburgh, but if you're just looking to check out a bunch of local breweries, I'd set your expectations low.

 

Agreed. I love the city of my birth, but I'm just not that terribly impressed with the craft beer scene here.

Indeed, but if he's coming for beer, those other things may not be of interest.

So, Braddock and Sharpsburg? Definitely better off heading over to Millvale for Grist House and Burghers.

Cleveland ROCKS!

Good summation. If you don't mind me asking, where'd you go to undergrad?

 

Carnegie Mellon, I got a massive grant from the school that made it the cheapest option and it wasn't bad. I also studied music, so it was a little easier to evaluate the beer scene due to playing out and such.

 

You had a much better college beer drinking experience than me. For me it was going to Frat parties and drinking PBR. I was a poor college student and that was all I could afford. And for completeness I was ignorant about better beer when I was of college age.

Cheers!

 

It's really strange, I drank pretty much only Corona until there was a special on SNPA at the corner bar and was much more into whiskey. Something about the reputation of IPAs and hoppy beer made me want to drink it to seem "edgy" and that led me to going to too many local breweries in search of more aggressive beers, to the annoyance of my girlfriend. I also remember Lagunitas Lil Sumpin' and New Belgium Tripel, as well as Flying Dog Gonzo being some memorable examples. After that, I started trying as much craft as possible without any regard for style or reputation, and here we are.

 

Reading alot of satellite taproom closings recently. That kinda goes against the theory about the bills are getting paid by the on-site patrons vs the beer manufacturing/retail sales, but perhaps the satellite locations are in an oversaturated market area and other breweries are offering a better overall on site experience. Thoughts?

 

Crooked Stave and Casey merging? Thats really interesting. Both were big “trader” brewers back in the 2010’s for their world class sours/woods. I still grab Crooked Stave when I see them on shelves in states that distribute them. They are world class IMO. I’ve always been mixed on Casey, some great ones and some misses. They were always more of the hype-train, because of limited to no distribution.

 

How can you tell if the brewer was inspired or not when they made the uninspired beer? I think most beer is probably made by someone following directions that their boss gave them, so they’re not particularly inspired, but they still make excellent products. I really am not asking in a smart ass way, so I’ll apologize in advance if I come across that way.

 

So, I think there's probably way more to the business side of things, but they've been friends for a long time. Casey has been contract brewing some of their clean/canned beers at Crooked Stave for a little while. At least a year or so. They had to lay off their head brewer back in October and they decided not to renew the lease on the barrel cellar in Glenwood Springs, too. I believe the plan is to retain the tasting room in downtown Glenwood, but that's it. The rest will be at CS. 2026 will be the last year of the Casey membership, too. For what it's worth, Casey was nomad/contract brewing at a few different mountain breweries going back to when they first opened, so it's a bit of a return to the old days.

 

Maybe "inspired" was not the right word? Would you prefer World Class? Outstanding? Thought-provoking?

For me "uninspired" = "lifeless" or "run of the mill", so it doesn't really point to inspiration as much as it does the quality of the end product. Quite possible that I'm trying to anthropomorphize beer a little too much. Terrible fault of mine, that.

 

Thanks for the answer, you’re not the only person to use that word, so I was wondering exactly what it meant. In my mind, an inspired beer would be something new and different, which isn’t necessarily a good thing in the beer world when you think of the crazy shit brewers put into pastry stouts.

On the other hand, most of us would say that Ken Grossman was truly inspired when he came up with SNPA, but 45 years later, the people making that beer are following a recipe and procedures that make a great beer, even if the original inspiration is now middle aged.

 

Funny you say that. We were gonna do Cleveland on the way back. What we'll probably end up doing is 1 night in Pittsburgh, 3 nights in Toronto and 2 nights in Cleveland

 

T

Thanks for the insights, I tried to look for some articles about this consolidation online but couldn’t find anything. I don’t really care much when I hear about obscure / average local breweries closing up, but when I hear of highly coveted (in the past) juggernauts breweries like Casey in CO, or Cycle in FL that aren’t doing well or closing up, that kinda upsets me. Those are the kinds of breweries we want to thrive, ones providing niche beer styles exceptionally well.

 

Obviously if you have questions about Pittsburgh, I'd be happy to give you my $0.02. There are definitely places worth going, but I think you'll be happier spending more of your time in Cleveland. Beer-wise, that is.

 

We have a healthy beer scene in Western, MD. Some breweries, I have no idea how they stay open. But I was talking to the owner of Michaux Brewing just over the border the other night, and they keep their decisions local yet marketable.