Flying Fish Brand Will Live On After Bankruptcy, But NJ Brewery To Stay Closed

SOMERDALE, NJ — The brand and intellectual property of South Jersey's first microbrewery were acquired by an industry member this week at a bankruptcy auction, according to court documents reviewed by Patch.

Flying Fish Brewing Company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late December. After failing to re-organize and stay under current ownership, the Somerdale brewery put its assets up for auction.

Guilford Hall Brewery, based in Baltimore, will continue to sell Flying Fish beers to distributors throughout the East Coast. However, Flying Fish will no longer operate out of its Somerdale location.

"The facility wasn't a part of the purchase unfortunately and as this happened quite fast, we are figuring out options for future stages of operations," said Jared Fischer, Guilford Hall Brewery's general manager.

Last week on social media, Flying Fish expressed hope that someone would purchase the business at the auction and keep the brand alive. Flying Fish not only operates a brewery but also sells its beer to different distributors.

Stefan Popescu, who owns Guilford Hall Brewery, is set to purchase Flying Fish's name, brand and rights to the brewery's wholesale-distribution contracts for $152,500. The brewery plans to continue distributing.

Overall, about 55 people and entities submitted winning bids for various Flying Fish assets, yielding a net total of $597,925. Many of the other buyers submitted winning bids of individual pieces of equipment — generally for less than $500 each.

In 1996, founder Gene Muller established Flying Fish as the first-ever "virtual" brewery through online sales. Soon after, the company opened South Jersey's first microbrewery — a 10,000-square-foot facility in Cherry Hill.

Flying Fish moved to the 45,000-square foot Somerdale building in 2012.

Last year, Flying Fish planned to merge with Cape May Brewing — a fellow South Jersey industry member. But Cape May pulled out of the deal weeks later.

"After extensive analysis during the diligence phase, Cape May Brewing Company has determined it will not complete the planned acquisition of Flying Fish," wrote Frank Stempin, president of Cape May Brewing Co. "As a result, all plans associated with the close have halted, and the acquisition will not proceed."

Flying Fish declared bankruptcy on Dec. 29.

Guilford Hall Brewery will receive the following intellectual property from Flying Fish:

• the Flying Fish name and brands, including Hazy Bones, Salt and Sea, Hopfish, Blueberry Braccot, Mango Smoothie, Block Party, and Citra Pale Ale.
• recipes and trademarks.
• the brand's packaging and labels.
• Flying Fish's web address.
• rights and obligations under relevant wholesale-distributor contracts.

Flying Fish last opened to patrons on Sunday. Neither the business nor its attorney returned Patch's requests for comment as of this writing.

On Feb. 8, Flying Fish announced plans to close the Somerdale facility after Sunday, pending the results of the bankruptcy auction.

"We deeply appreciate your patronage over the years and we do so hope we can continue to serve you all again soon!" the business wrote on Facebook.

Several New Jersey micobreweries have closed in recent months, with several citing state restrictions that went into effect in 2022. As a result, breweries could only hold up to 25 on-site events and 52 private parties per year. And patrons were required to tour a brewery before consuming its beer.

Gov. Phil Murphy, who faced significant criticism for allowing the restrictions to stay in place for more than a year, signed a law in January that rescinded those policies.