Brewbound Awards 2024: Beer Champion of the Year - The Brewers Guild of New Jersey

Dec. 31, 2024 at 12:18 PM

After several years of legislative battles, the newly united New Jersey guild finally peeled back strict restrictions on taproom operations first enacted in 2018. Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bill into law in January, which allows breweries to host an unlimited number of special events in their taprooms, work with food trucks and restaurants to offer food service and snacks and sell non-alcoholic beverages. The new law also increased the state’s production cap on brewpubs from 10,000 barrels to 300,000 barrels a year, created a farm-brewery license and modernized the state’s licensing system. The persistent work of the state’s brewers, the guild and former Brewers Guild of New Jersey executive director Eric Orlando made these changes a reality, improving the operating environment for Garden State breweries.