To bring greater awareness to the current issues impacting breweries and brewpubs across the Garden State, the Brewers Guild of New Jersey is proud to announce the launch of its “Guilded For the Cause” campaign, and the release of its first Guild collaboration beer as a part of the campaign, Key Lime India Pale Ale. The beer, brewed by Kane Brewing Company located in Ocean Township, NJ, will be distributed statewide the week of November 1st and sold in 4-packs and draft at Kane Brewing Company for home delivery and to-go sales, and at various restaurants, bars, liquor stores and groceries stores across New Jersey.
The inaugural “Guilded For the Cause” collaboration beer is an IPA brewed with key limes and lactose, featuring locally-grown grains sourced from Rabbit Hill Farm in Shiloh, NJ and Bullock Farms, home of Screamin’ Hill Brewery, in Cream Ridge, NJ. Coming in at 6.5% ABV, the beer features a grain bill of Violetta Pilsner Malt and Raw Wheat, with additions of Sabro, Cashmere and Motueka hops. Proceeds from the sale of this beer will go towards Brewers Guild of New Jersey and its advocacy efforts on behalf of its licensed brewery and brewpub membership.
Founded in 2018, the Guild was established to better represent the policy interests of New Jersey’s pioneering independent craft breweries and brewpubs in the region’s ultra-competitive alcoholic beverage market. The Guild’s membership is the foundation of today’s flourishing New Jersey craft beer industry which has grown exponentially in the last decade. As breweries in the state face the financial impacts and business implications of the current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the “Guilded For the Cause” campaign hopes to provide the necessary resources to continue the fight for all breweries statewide through what our members know best: great New Jersey craft beer.
The Guild hopes that this edition of our collective creative effort, and each edition of new collaboration beers released by Guild members going forward, helps communicate to New Jersey craft beer enthusiasts and supporters what breweries need and how they can help. While the Guild has been working on various items over the last few years to improve brewery rules and regulations, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the industry to double-down on these efforts and ask for the public’s assistance in seeking new reforms and rights which will help sustain the state’s craft brewing industry in the months and years come.
Overall, here are some of the priorities of the Guild and what we hope to accomplish with the public’s help:
- Revisions to the decade-old craft brewery law to improve the customer experience and the business climate for locally made craft beer in the state.
- Rules like the mandatory tour requirement, entertainment and event restrictions, distribution limits and the inability to organize festivals in your community are some for foremost policy priorities the Guild wishes to accomplish with your help immediately;
- Maintaining home delivery privileges on a permanent basis so that craft beer fans can continue to enjoy their favorite local ales and lagers without the need to leave their homes, in a convenient and safe way. Put this priority in the “turning lemons into lemonade” category, but as the pandemic has shown, new temporary privileges like this for breweries are hugely welcomed by craft beer drinkers and should be kept on the books permanently;
- Gaining support for government-sponsored financial programs to make it easier to open a brewery and expand operations in our state. Buildings, equipment and materials are really expensive, and a reliable level of state support will go a long way in continuing to make the industry successful long-term;
- Reforming laws which ensure fair negotiations between craft brewers and other parts of the state’s alcoholic beverage distribution and retail industry. For generations, the cards have been stacked against small breweries trying to compete against the behemoth interests in the industry.
Now is the time for laws to change to give New Jersey’s craft breweries a fighting chance to level the playing field and make it easier for you, the consumer, to choose what beers are available.Stay tuned as new collaboration beers are announced and how you can help your local brewery accomplish our goals. Each win for New Jersey breweries is a win for you, our loyal fans, allowing us to serve you better and make more awarding-winning New Jersey craft beer. Please follow the Guild on Facebook and Twitter, and Guild members’ various social media platforms, for updates on new “Guilded For the Cause” releases and how you can help the Cause.
#GUILDEDFORTHECAUSE
For more information: https://www.brewersguildnj.com