Michael Izzo

@MIzzoDR

CHATHAM – When the owners of Twin Elephant Brewing say they wouldn’t be where they are without the help of friends and family, they mean it.

Nearly all of the material and man hours that went into creating Chatham’s first brewery, set to open May 7, came from family and friends of the three owners, Cynthia Derama, Tim Besecker, and Scott McLuskey.

“Technically we’re kind of a nano brewery,” Derama said of Twin Elephant’s two-barrel system, capable of brewing 64-gallons per batch.

While the entire state is in the midst of a craft beer boom over the past several years, northern New Jersey has seen particular growth recently, with Twin Elephant the latest in a string of new breweries in the area.

Instead of going to the liquor store and picking up a six pack at the end of the work week, these breweries give people the option to stop in for a pint, sample several beers in a flight, or take home up to 64 ounces of their favorite brew in a growler. Per state law, all first-time customers must take a brewery tour before sampling any suds. Early April saw the opening of Jersey Girl Brewing in Mount Olive. Man Skirt in Hackettstown, Magnify in Fairfield and Angry Erik in Lafayette are other recent additions to the local craft beer footprint. Still to come are Czig Meister in Hackettstown and Krogh’s in Newton, which is associated with the popular Sparta brew pub. Others like Butler’s High Point Brewing, Fairfield’s Cricket Hill Brewing, and the Long Valley Brew Pub have been around for more than a decade.

Finding a space, name

The three owners of Twin Elephant all grew up in the area and still live locally. Derama, 34, and McLuskey, 33, are from Berkeley Heights, and Besecker, 36, is from Murray Hill. Derama and Besecker are now married and living in Basking Ridge.

The trio purchased the Watchung Avenue space – located about a mile from both the Chatham and Summit train stations - in April 2015 when it was just four walls and a concrete floor.

“We were talking about opening a brewery for five or six years,” McLuskey said. “I feel like a lot of homebrewers have those kinds of conversations after a few beers. Well after all that time those conversations started to become serious.”

“And I said if you guys want to do this, then let’s do this,” Derama said.

“So we decided to look for a space,” Besecker said. “And once we did, then it all became real.”

While finding a brewery location close to home wasn’t a necessity, they certainly aren’t complaining.

“We were patient looking for the perfect space for two years,” Derama said, “And we ended up finding one 10 miles away.”

“We had a little trouble finding a place that wanted a brewery, a lot of no callbacks,” Besecker said. “But in the end we got a place in our stomping grounds.”

Previously a physical therapy office, the building was all open space, and they had a lot of work to do to turn it into a brewhouse, including installing their own trench system.

Like many businesses, it’s wasn’t easy deciding on a name.

“Coming up with a name is one of the hardest things you can do,” McLuskey said. “Especially when you’re doing it with three people.”

Besecker said his identical twin brother had used the name Twin Elephant for a film company because elephants are one of the mammals least likely to have twins.

“That was the name that kept sticking out,” Derama said. “Because it speaks to the rarity of our beers.”

“And for the record we are just one of the twins,” McLuskey said. “There’s no ‘s’ on the end of the name.”

Flagships based on style

Those rare beers and the small system mean the owners aren’t planning to start with any flagship beers, instead opting for a variety and quick turnover with their offerings.

“We want to keep the variety and keep it hyperlocal,” Besecker said. “To keep the fun of homebrewing.”

On tap opening day, McLuskey expects a milk stout, a porter, a brown porter, a saison made with rakau hops, another saison make with hallertau blanc hops, an India pale ale, an American red ale, and a red Kölsch.

Besecker and McLuskey have been homebrewing together for about a decade. Derama has been brewing for about six years. McLuskey is heading the brew process at Twin Elephant.

“We all have input be Scott is the one that really knows the ins and outs,” Derama said. “The details, chemistry and recipes, the hops rations.”

McLuskey said he likes to incorporate as many “crazy” yeast strains as he can courtesy of Al Buck’s Jersey-based East Coast yeast. The variations lend themselves well to saisons, a style not overly common in the market compared to IPAs, but one he expects to brew frequently.

“Much of what we brew will come from our homebrew recipes,” McLuskey said. “Hops rule, so we’ll be doing some IPAs. And there are West Cost IPA roots in our sasion. And of course we’ll have seasonals. We’re looking for a variety.”

The trio suspects they might have flagships based on style, which different variations in each batch. For example, there may always be a stout, but one week it may feature coconut flakes, and the next variation might use chili peppers.

“We want people to try new flavors and learn new things,” Derama said.

“We want to make the tap room an educational experience,” McLuskey said. “Not a bar, but a place to discuss and learn about beer.”

Besecker said the plan is to continue adding to their brewing system until they can no longer fit in the building.

The owners also plan to self-distribute to select restaurants and bars, starting with the Stirling Hotel, where Derama used to work as a bartender.

Derama is now the only one of the three currently working full-time at the brewery, as New Jersey brewing laws prohibit her from serving alcohol at another business while owning a brewery. At the moment, Besecker is still working at a media company, and McLuskey is still working in construction.

A detailed tap room

Besecker said the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild informed Twin Elephant they were the 50th brewery in the state to receive a license.

But receiving the licenses and permits required to own and operate a brewery in New Jersey takes time, which allowed the trio to put a lot of detail into the taproom.

“Obviously if we could have gotten our permits faster we would have pushed for that,” Derama said. “And we would have gotten this all done in time.”

“But it might not have been as detailed as it is now,” Besecker said.

The tap room’s design came from Jim Drietlein, a Brooklyn designer and friend who took Twin Elephant on as a “pet project.” The result was a lot of dark colors, natural wood, and open space.

“It’s a proven fact that atmosphere can make beer taste better,” McLuskey said. “And there are a lot of roots here. Everything that’s in this place, we know the person who owned it or did the work on it.”

Most of the wood in the tap room was reclaimed from a barn that collapsed, which belonged to a friend. The beams, pallets, and even ladders were taken and shaped to transform the space.

“Everything in this tap room’s got a story,” Besecker said. “There’s a ton of character here.”

That includes the cedar trim, donated by a former football coach, and a long church pew once used at the Stirling Hotel. Both were burned and stained for the tap room.

“A lot of this is DIY, with us and our friends doing the work,” Derama said. “We’d be nowhere without our buddies.”

And now, after plenty of hard work, and more than a little help from their friends, it’s finally time to share their beer with the world.

“It’s been a really fun ride this first year,” Besecker said. “Stressful, but you can’t lose sight of the journey. Now we’re psyched to open.”

Twin Elephant Brewing opens Saturday, May 7, at 13 Watchung Avenue in Chatham. Hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Fridays, noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays. Thursday hours might be added soon.

Go to http://www.twinelephantbrewing.com/ or Follow @twin_elephant on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more information and updates.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636;mizzo@GannettNJ.com