First Education-Based Microbrewery Set to Open in Moorestown

The Community House of Moorestown, Rowan College at Burlington County, and King's Road Brewing Company will open the first education-based microbrewery in New Jersey on Main Street on Saturday, Dec. 20. Last year, the three partners announced plans for this project.

“We are excited that we are going to be having a full-time tenant; one of the goals of this was to have financial certainty in having a long-term lease agreement with King's Road,” said Haynes Hendrickson, vice president of the Community House board of trustees, according to South Jersey Media.

King's Road Brewery will put its tasting room in the Community House library. The brewing space will sit in the basement below. Out back, there's a separate space that can work as an outdoor seating area.

Rowan College's certificate program for students interested in craft brewing launched its classes this fall. Students will get hands-on brewery work with stainless-steel tanks used in brewing and fermenting, plus a bar and tasting room. The microbrewery gives them real experience.

“The educational component certainly allows us to be more involved in one of the core tenets of our mission: education,” Hendrickson explained. “If we can have an educational component to it, that helps us to continue to deliver on our mission.”

Plans for the brewery started when the pool at the facility closed. What should they do with that space? The cost and timeline to get a shell of a location ready for someone to rent kept growing, so things shifted.

"I am starting to feel very optimistic about the vibe of people realizing this is actually going to be open on Main Street and what that's going to do for restaurants and shops and foot traffic on Main Street," Hendrickson said. "It's going to be wonderful."

The hands-on work for students lets them be more involved in one of its core missions. They're still getting the space tenant ready.

Those interested in joining a Founder's Club will have access to membership benefits and be remembered as a dedicated resident who helped bring this project to life. Founder's Club memberships are donations to the facility to prepare the space.

Brewery hours are expected to be: 

More information is available at www.communityhousebrewery.com/founders-club.