Newark's Beer Revival: An Interview and Conversation with Steve Hughes

Pod and Market

Over a century ago, walking down the streets of Newark, constant reminders of Newark’s preeminent brewing and beermaking industry would have scattered the landscape. Massive factories like Ballantine’s and Kruger’s would have churned out hundreds of barrels of lager and ale each day. Ornate mansions built by the owners and executives of these brands dotted neighborhoods. That is to say nothing about the hundreds of bars, taverns, and taprooms throughout the different ethnic communities throughout the city. While many have ascribed Newark’s success with brewing to the water flowing from the Appalachian Highlands to the city, the story is really a demographic one. Newark was host to English, Scots-Irish, German, Polish, and Irish (Catholic) immigrants, all with proven beer cultures that they brought from the Old World. It was this great demand for beer along with the requisite know-how that launched the city into the pantheon of great American beer cities. Nevertheless, a combination of Prohibition, deindustrialization, and a mass exodus of many of these same immigrant groups all but hollowed out Newark’s brewing industry. The only remnant of that industry, for decades, was the Anheuser-Busch plant that straddles the Newark-Elizabeth border. Steve Hughes, co-owner and operator of Newark Local Beer, is looking to turn this narrative around. Launched in 2021, Newark Local Beer sits at the base of Walker House on Broad Street and offers over ten different beers on site. Steve came onto the podcast to discuss his vision, why he is brewing in Newark, and what the brewery has in store for the city.

Guest:

Steve Hughes—Steve and his wife, Miller, are the owners of Newark Local Beer. He was born and raised in Hanover, New Hampshire. Miller grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. The couple now reside in Montclair, New Jersey with their two children.

Background & Articles:

Newark Local Beer website: here

NJ.com Article about the brewery: here

North Jersey Media Group’s 9 Fun Things to Do in North Jersey: here

Montclair Brewery: here

Four City Brewing Company: here

Departed Soles Brewing Company: here

Ghost Hawk Brewing Company: here

Alementary Brewing Company: here

Hackensack Brewing Company: here

Jack’s Abby: here

Exhibit A Brewing: here

Trace Brewing (in Bloomfield): here

Brief History of the Beer Revival: here

Quote:

“Beer is never a settled matter, and beer styles never live forever. As craft brewing has revived interest in taste and variety, we’re seeing preferences diverge from country to country. . . . Belgians are making hoppy beers, and Americans are making Belgian ales. The French are making cask ale, and the British are discovering craft lager. These trends get fed back into the cultural mill, shifting and mutating until they’ve created something yet again different and new. We can’t know how beer will taste in fifty years except to say this: It won't taste like it does now.”—The Beer Bible by Jeff Alworth