Co-founded out of a garage in Brick Twp NJ by two high school buddies Brian Ciriaco and John 'Merk' Merklin in 2007. They used their interest in home brewing, a passion for craft beer and a love of the Jersey Shore as their main inspirations in their effort to help put the Jersey Shore on the Craft Beer landscape.
Soon after founding the company they met through a mutual friend an avid home brewer Tom Przyborwski. After dinner and a few beers, Brian and Merk offered to bring Tom on board to serve as their head brewer. Tom accepted and the trio put together a fairly robust home brewing system in Merk's garage and they immediately began brewing. Their first creation, Beach Haus® Classic American Pilsner would be brewed almost every weekend for the next 2+ years, perfecting their brewing and mastering the style. It was a beer that while being very much craft was also reflective of the existing style preference of the area. Many a friend and neighbor were impressed in those early days and the trio were inspired to continue to build on their idea.
Seeking help in bringing their vision to a commercial reality Brian and Merk came in contact with another Jersey Shore local, Chris McCallion, who enjoyed all things beer and the Jersey Shore as much as they did. Impressed with their ideas, their beer and seeing the void in the New Jersey brewing landscape at the time Chris joined on as a partner and part of the management team in 2009.
2010 saw the first distribution and sales of Beach Haus® Classic American Pilsner through local NJ distributors Ritchie & Page Distributing, Harrison Beverage and Kohler Distributing. The next two years saw the release of Beach Haus® Winter Rental, Kick Back Amber Ale and Cruiser IPA into the market as well as an increase in distribution in areas of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York and Delaware.
In 2013 the partners agreed it was time to build a brewery of their own. After visiting and discussing several locations throughout the shore they discovered an opportunity involving a very iconic property, located in downtown Belmar NJ, that was home to one of the most successful bakeries in NJ, Freedman's. The Beach Haus boys immediately fell in love with the property and its history. Chris, and his partner at MB1 Capital, Joel Brudner purchased the building with Beach Haus as its anchor tenant. There were many a donut and beer shared between the owners of each company as they discussed details of what the Beach Haus® Brewery would be.
In early 2014 Freedman's closed its doors for the last time and construction of the Beach Haus® Brewery commenced. Opening its doors in the Spring of 2015 the Beach Haus® Brewery is happy to be brewing in Belmar NJ and welcoming visitors from near and far each day.
Along the way the family has grown. John 'JP' Mullaney came on as Regional Sales Manager, and Matt Knehr joined us as the Tap Room and Retail manager. Like everyone else they wear more hats than their titles suggest and both have enjoyed working in the brew and cellar houses on occasion as well. Dylan Kohan works alongside Tom Przyborowski in the brew house each and every day, brewing, filtering beer and racking kegs.
We were born to brew. That's all there is to it. The sea, sand and sun are right there in our DNA - we can't help it. So it makes sense that our family of Beach Haus® brews are like that too. They're crafted to perfectly accompany all the special moments of your day, big or small. We'll leave it to you to decide what those are. And wherever you find yourself, we'll be there to join you.
