South Jersey welcomes new brewery

PENNSAUKEN - What's in a name?

A lot when it comes to naming a brewery.

Craft brewers search hard for names that capture not just the spirit of the new venture and the beer that will flow forth from it, but also the history of the area where they have chosen to set up their vats.

Owners of Double Nickel Brewing Company in Pennsauken struggled with christening their new venture, which opens its doors to the public Saturday in the former location of Spa and Fitness Center at the intersection of Route 73 South and Route 130.

The name was the brainstorm of the 86-year-old father of the group's primary investor, who recounted an old story about the area.

The Tacony-Palmyra drawbridge (as well as the Burlington-Bristol Bridge upstream) once had a nickel toll. Truckers, especially, liked the bridge because its toll was cheaper than that of the southern Betsy Ross and other expanses. When the bridge commission hiked the toll to 10 cents, the truckers reminded each other by calling the bridge Double Nickel over their radios.

A longtime orthopedic surgeon living in Haddonfield, Dr. Robert Dalsey, is the brewery's primary investor (of seven). While a successful medical career has undoubtedly helped him have more than two nickels to rub together, Dalsey (who owns Sprains, Strains and Fractures, LLC), says he is opening the brewery not just for a love of good beer, but also with an eye to his children's futures.

A visit earlier this week, before the business had a soft launch for family and friends, revealed a vast and inviting space with plenty of room to grow.

On hand for a tour was Dalsey and head brewer and co-founder Drew Perry. Perry, now of Fishtown, grew up in Haddonfield and has known the Dalsey family for years. His mother works in Dalsey's medical practice, he explained, and the families are close.

He brings to the business a lot of brewing experience, including seven years at Flying Fish when it was in Cherry Hill.

"He grew up in town with my children,'' says Dalsey of Perry. "He even worked in our office when he thought he wanted to be a physical therapist. His mom still works for us, in X-Ray. I also fixed his finger once. His left index finger.''

Perry, who has been making beer since 2006, says he discovered his love of beer the usual way, "drinking with friends in college.''

He went on to participate in the AmeriCorps program, "and one of our projects was two blocks down from the Road Brewery in Oregon. That's kind of how I made up my mind,'' he recalls. Professionally, he has also brewed for Beltway Brewing in Northern Virginia, a contract brewery that makes beer for fledgling brewers, testing the market before they've built their own facilities, as well as bigger craft brewers who can't produce enough beer at current capacity.

That job gave Perry a lot of experience experimenting with seasonal and other special brews.

"There was a lot of recipe development,'' he says. "They would hand you a recipe and say, 'Go nuts! This is what I'm looking for, make me a prototype.'''

The decision to come home to help found Double Nickel was "a very easy decision'' for Perry.

As for Dalsey, "I wanted another project. My dad was a liquor salesman. I had worked in restaurants and bars for seven or eight years before I went to medical school. I wanted a project outside of medicine. And I enjoy going to breweries, I enjoy trying new beer.''

Dalsey and his partners scoped out appropriate properties for quite a while before finding a suitable building, he says.

Brewery facilities need to be tall buildings with plenty of space, and room for big trucks. Double Nickel found all that in their new space, as well as plenty of room to grow in the future, perhaps even adding their own silos to store hops.

"We wanted the ability to expand without the need to relocate,'' the way breweries including Flying Fish have done. Double Nickel is also in a redevelopment zone of Pennsauken, which has its own incentives.

"We thought this was nice to sort of promote commerce in the area, with much more visibility than more traditional industrial parks, where most breweries wind up. It's easy access (to routes 295, 73 and 130), and much more visible.''

Of course, turning a gym into a brewery took some time. Construction began in January and included challenges like filling in a swimming pool and ripping up flooring to make sure the place was handicapped accessible. (Breweries like upcycling, and the wood from the floor was transformed into tasting room tables).

The tasting room is large, with big windows that face a small patio space. There is an additional public space upstairs that the partners plan to offer to nonprofits for event use in the future.

The brewery tour (required by law before patrons can taste the beer) is through a cavernous space that includes three large beer vessels in a 30-barrel system, and a grist mill. Nearby are dozens of wine barrels for barrel-aged brews.

So, what about the beer?

Double Nickel will launch with a pilsner, a Vienna lager, an 8 percent IPA and a session IPA, Perry says. (Unlike the brewery, the beers won't launch with special names).

Initially, the beers will only be offered in growlers for those taking beer home. By early next year, cans and bottles should be available in liquor stores, with Double Nickel offerings on tap at restaurants.

"To start our taproom, we'll also have a stout and a strong rye, both meant to be aged in whiskey barrels. We've kegged them off to have a little more variety out there,'' Perry explains.

Beer connoisseurs can also expect seasonals, such as a spring offering, "similar to a Flemish brown, made with cranberries and peaches,'' he adds.

As for future offerings, Dalsey says, "we want the market to tell us."

If you go

Double Nickel Brewing Company is at 1585 Route 73 in Pennsauken, The brewery will open its doors at noon Saturday and stay open until 10 p.m. It is BYOF (bring your own food) for those who want to stay awhile. State liquor laws do not permit breweries to sell food. Double Nickel glassware and T-shirts will be available for sale. http://doublenickelbrewingcompany.com/​ or call (856) 356-2499