E-Malt.com News article: USA, NJ: Flying Fish Brewery to expand and relocate to Somerdale

It’s been 15 years since Gene Muller opened Flying Fish Brewing Co. in a Cherry Hill warehouse district. The fast-growing craft brewery has been providing beers to New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland at a pace the company’s 10,000-square-foot facility can’t keep up with, Njbiz.com reported on November, 21.

So Muller, along with the Camden County Board of Freeholders, announced on November, 21 the brewery is relocating to Somerdale, where it will occupy a new 42,000-square-foot facility in a redeveloped shopping centre. It’s a $6 mln expansion for the company.

“We’ve been at capacity for a while — we’ve been looking for a couple of years to expand — so this all fell into place,” Muller said. “We’re behind in production, which is a good problem to have, but it’s starting to become a problem-problem.”

Muller said the new facility will have a brewing kettle that can accommodate 50 barrels of beer, instead of the current 25-barrel kettle, and the fermentation tanks will be able to accommodate 150 barrels, instead of the 50 barrels the old facility can hold. The system also would be fully automated.

“With the new system, if we brewed around the clock, we’d be able to do in two days what now takes us two weeks to do,” Muller said.

Muller said he’s already started hiring and training workers to staff the new building, which is expected to be fully operational by May. The company anticipates creating 10 to 15 jobs right away, with an additional 20 to 25 positions being created as the expansion finishes.

Muller also said he’s happy the company is staying in Camden County, and gave credit to Somerdale Mayor Gary Passanante for making the process “less painful.”

“When you’re a little company, we all wear a lot of hats,” Muller said. “When folks go out of their way to be nice and help you get the job done, it’s a great plus.”

Muller said Flying Fish is not receiving any local or state incentives for the relocation project, but “if someone wants to give us something, they know where to find us.”


25 November, 2011