The official planning of Varitage Brew Works kicked off in November 2020 when we began a dialogue with our town representatives about bringing a brewery to Bloomfield. That month, we presented to the Town Council our case in support of bringing craft beer to Bloomfield—and, most importantly, how it would benefit the community. These initial talks jumpstarted the broader conversation about developing a brand new ordinance that would allow craft beer to be brewed to Bloomfield.

 

Once Bloomfield passed the craft beer ordinance in January 2021, we secured the name Varitage Brew Works with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. From there, we had to lock in our location, and after scouting a few places that qualified to make beer under the new ordinance we fell in love with what has become Varitage’s home—58 Washington St. After a few months of negotiating our lease terms, we signed on the dotted line.

 

It goes without saying, but creating a brewery from scratch is quite complicated and time-consuming. But there’s value in showing the world what this journey is actually like. To peel back the curtain a little bit, we’ve partnered with BKM Video to create a docuseries about building Varitage Brew Works (think of it as a “brewtrepreneurial” series). This is the story of how we brought craft beer to Bloomfield, NJ.