Monmouth County becoming a destination for Breweries

Another brewery is coming to Monmouth county, not far from two others that recently opened in Asbury Park and Belmar.

Jughandle Brewery gets its fermenters (courtesy Michael Skudera)

15 barrel fermenters arrived this week in the Tinton Falls Centre Plaza on Asbury Avenue where former Borough Mayor Mike Skudera and two friends, Pete Artherholt and Chris Hanigan, are getting ready to open Junghandle Brewing Company this May.

Home brewing craft beer has been a hobby of Skudera's partners for 15 years, and after seeing the other breweries opening in the area, they decided they could too, according to Skudera.

"Peter has a background in chemistry and his wife is a microbiologist, so they bring a scientific background to it, which really helps quality consistency and Chris has been home brewing also," said Skudera, the company's business strategist.

Fermenter is lowered into Jughandle Brewery (courtesy Michael Skudera)

Jughandle Brewing plans to offer 6 craft beers on tap and eventually expand to 14, according to Skudera.

"Customers can expect to sample a diverse style of beers at Jughandle Brewing. We will rotate with the seasons, and we're going to include an IPA, a Siason, Imperial Stout, Hefeweizen, a Sour, a Brown Ale, just to name a few," Skudera said. He added, "All of the craft beers will be made of high quality and natural ingredients, and we're also looking to use local products when in season."

Despite the opening of the other breweries in close proximity, Skudera doesn't think the market will be saturated.

"This area is now becoming a destination for breweries. We'll have awesome summer traffic, and we'll have a wide variety of breweries and good tasting beer for customers to choose, so I think having a good number of breweries in this area helps everyone out," said Skudera.

Fermenter is offloaded at Jughandle Brewery (courtesy Michael Skudera)

New Jersey breweries are not permitted to sell food, but Skudera pointed out that Jughandle Brewing Company is in a plaza that has pizza, wings, Chinese and Mexican foods.

The Tinton Falls Zoning Board approved Jughandle Brewing in September. The company received its first Federal Brewers Permit in October and is pending licensing by the State of New Jersey, which Skudera said is the final step before the brewing process can begin.