Flying Fish Brewery Tour

A few years ago, after I finished my last season in the D-League, I went to Mulhouse, France to visit my brother, who was also playing professional basketball at the time. Along with the castle visits and tours around France, the trip that stood out the most to me was a drive down the Route des Vins d’Alsace or Wine Route of Alsace. It is something that really needs to be experienced in person. Along the way, we stopped in several small towns to tour some of the local wineries and sample their exports.

I believe it was on the third town and possibly seventh winery that I began to lose any sense of balance, cognitive function and vision I previously had. The wines were strong and my tolerance was low. It ended with me nearly wiping out down a flight of stairs and my brother insisting that I eat something.

The trip down the wine route stands out to me not only because of the drinking in quaint French towns, but because I was able to experience the process from a seed in the ground to me ending up on the ground. This process always intrigued me. That is why this summer – also known to my wife and me as our last before kids – we decided to take tours of several craft breweries in the area.

For me, I prefer beer over wine any day. The only beer I drink anymore is craft beer. I don’t know the exact date that I became a “beer snob,” but I believe it was in college. Probably when, after night upon night of drinking Natty Light, I said to myself, “There has to be a better way.” That is when I discovered the section in the local liquor store filled with obscure six packs. I perused the rows of beer until I discovered a beer logo containing a skeletonized flying fish with propellers on its wings.

I loved the logo and loved the fact that it was brewed locally in Cherry Hill, NJ. I later realized that I loved the beer. Now a trip to the liquor store ends with my wife growing impatient with my lack of decision making, grabbing a six pack of Flying Fish’s Belgian Abbey Dubbel and heading to the door. Although I have lived in the area for years I have yet to take a tour of the facility. This weekend I decided to embark on the site of my favorite beer.

Flying Fish was founded in August of 2005 by Gene Muller, and became the first microbrew with its own website. It has grown in size and stature over the years now becoming the number one microbrew in New Jersey.

The Flying Fish Brewery is located on a dead end street in a large unassuming warehouse. The only sign letting people know its location is their famous logo adorning the glass front door. As I walked into the small facility I noticed a crowd of people awaiting the next tour. As they waited, they sampled some of the beers the brewery is famous for.

I walked up to the bar and introduced myself to Mike Zarzecki, aka “Diesel” who poured me a Flying Fish Extra Pale Ale. This particular beer is the best selling local craft beer at the home of the Philadelphia Phillies, Citizens Bank Park.

I picked Diesel’s brain about the best way to sample the beers. The trick seems to be going from the lightest beers to the heaviest beers. I tried not to mirror my performance from five years earlier, but wanted to warm up my pallet prior to the start of the tour.

After getting through half of the six beers they had to sample, including Diesel’s personal favorite Farmhouse Summer Ale, we walked through the large yellow door leading to the inner workings of the brewery. You could notice the change in temperature immediately. It was hot outside this past Saturday and the inside of the brewery was no different. I began to sweat as I do whenever I am warm, nervous, embarrassed or pretty much breathing. I started airing myself out in hopes that I would not cause a scene like I did on Easter Sunday.

(This past Easter Sunday, we headed to church only to find that the congregation had quadrupled in size. As we stood in the aisle of the non air-conditioned parish, in plain view of everyone, I began to sweat. Knowing I had a light blue dress shirt on, and that even the slightest drip would be visible, I became nervous. That nervousness led to more sweating which led to more nervousness and so on and so on. By communion my shirt was an embarrassing combination of light and dark blue.)

As I tried to avoid a wet shirt, Diesel stood on the steps of one of the large canisters and began explaining the brewing process. Around him were several large metal stills, which boiled the malted barley, turning the solution into what is known in the business as “wort”. The wort is transferred to several different canisters in which hops are added before reaching a cooling tank. The mixture is then transferred to the fermenters where yeast is mixed in to ferment the sugars, and release CO2 and ethanol alcohol. The mixture sits in these tanks for a longer period of time before it is released into the assembly line for bottling.

Each of these holding tanks produces 600 cases of beer. Flying Fish tries to distribute five or six of these tanks worth of beer per week. The entire system of tubes and tunnels connecting one tank to another was intriguing. A system Flying Fish will have to duplicate, as they move the location of their brewery in a few months time, to a larger facility a few towns over.

The new facility will allow them to keep up with the high demand for Flying Fish. The Cherry Hill location will continue to brew until its tanks are empty and the new locations product is ready for packaging, as to not disrupt the quantity of beer available to its customers.

As we exited the tour and prepared to sample the second half of beer, Diesel informed us that he is the last person to taste the beer prior to it being distributed throughout the tri-state area. Not a bad job, huh?  While many people sit at an office wishing they could have a beer, Diesel is making sure those future brews have all the quality Flying Fish has to offer. Which means if you have a bad beer, it is probably his fault. (Just kidding, Diesel)

The second half of the tasting tour was my personal favorite. I sampled the Hopfish IPA, my personal favorite Belgian Abbey Dubbel and a beer which may knock that out of the top spot, the signature beer of Flying Fish, Exit 4, named after the New Jersey Turnpike exit the brewery is located off of.

Exit 4 is similar to the Belgian Abbey Dubbel but contains more of a kick. It received the Gold Medal at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival. It also boasts a 9.5 percent alcohol per volume percentage, which is perfect for the taller gentlemen like myself.

With this beer I can calmly sip out of a goblet while sophisticatedly getting silly. When you are in your 30’s it is important to look classy while drinking. Nobody wants to hang around a 31 year old, shot gunning cans of beer, while wearing the 30 pack box as a hat. It is much cooler to sit back and relax while inebriation sets in. I suggest picking up a six pack of Exit 4, and getting sophisticatedly silly today.

As I exited the brewery and handed my wife the keys, I was excited to kick off my summer of brewery tours with a stop by the producer of my favorite beer.

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