Popular craft beer company opens Jersey Shore brewery

By Rob Spahr | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

BELMAR - Out with an "eyesore," in with a brewery.

That's what borough residents and officials celebrated on Friday when the East Coast Beer Company, the brewers of the popular Beach Haus brand beers, held the grand opening for the new Beach Haus Brewery on Main Street.

The brewery - which occupies what was Freedman's Bakery for more than 50 years - began brewing the company's 14 styles of beer in December and had a series of soft openings before officially opening on Friday.

"We've been quietly brewing in the background here. But from this moment forward, every ounce of our beer will be brewed right here in Belmar," said Joel Brudner, manager partner with the Wall-based real estate investment company MB1 Capital Partners, which owns the building and has a financial interest in the beer company.

Brudner said it took the brewery a little longer than expected to open due to inclement winter weather and unforeseen construction issues, but that it was still able to fulfill its promises to Belmar.

"When we opened the walls, we did find out that the building was built in sections, and you can't anticipate some of those things. And at the same time, we're making changes to ensure that this building stands the test of time," he said. "But whatever we said we were going to do, I think we did. And I think whatever the town expected of us, hopefully we did. We're going to be a good neighbor."

Part of the building process meant salvaging steel and wood from the Freedman's Bakery building and reincorporating it into the design of the Beach Haus Brewery, including the wooden bar and tables in the second-floor tasting room that were all made with reclaimed wood.

Prior to the opening of the new facility - which also features a retail shop on the first floor and an open-air patio on the second floor - the company rented a facility in Upstate New York in order to brew its beers.

"This is awesome, it's what you hope for when you start dreaming in the garage. Anytime you're building something and you advance an idea, this is one of the pieces along the way that you hope happens," John Merklin, who co-founded East Coast Beer Co. out of a garage with high school friend Brian Ciriaco in 2007, said of the opening of the brewery. "The realization of having our own brewery is definitely a dream come true, but we also worked very hard at all of this."

Merklin said the new facility would give the brewers more freedom to create innovative brews, such as Herb's Rye, a new wheat beer named after the building's longtime owner Herb Freedman.

"We certainly get to be a lot more innovative. It's our own equipment, our own kitchen now. Literally, there's not a style of beer we can not produce at this location, it's just a matter of working up towards it as we're dialing in the equipment," he said. "As far as the names, we're talking about total representation of who we are and the Jersey Shore is a big element of that. But there's so much history in this state and in this region, it's so much more than waves and sand."

In addition to the Beach Haus Brewery, the former Freedman's Bakery building will also feature new locations for several other popular businesses, including Jake's Downtown, Sea Zen Art Gallery and Koi Boutique.

"The building is 95 percent done. The tenants on the front end of the building should all definitely be in by around June 15 and the tenants in the back by the Plaza might take a little longer because we're still in discussions with them," said Chris McCallion, of MB1 Capital Partners. "It literally took hundreds of people to bring this all together. Nobody could ever do something like this on their own, and this took a tremendous team effort to make happen. And the town and the local residents have been very supportive, we could've never gotten this far without them."