Craft Brewery Coming To Hammonton

HAMMONTON _ Shawn Grigus, who recently closed his Tap It Homebrew Supply Shop in Egg Harbor City, will open Tomfoolery Brewing here with his bride of about two weeks, Hammonton native Gayle D’Abate.

They are transforming a former brewery bottling plant at 334 N. Washington Avenue into a craft brewery in the next several months, where they will convert their home brewing recipes into commercial offerings.

Visitors who take a tour will be able to sit at a bar inside and drink the beer. If an outdoor beer garden is approved by the town, they will also be able to sit outside and drink in the warm months.

Tomfoolery Brewing Co. will use a seven-barrel system, and will probably put out 200 barrels of beer the first year. The short-term goal is to work up to about 1,000 barrels a year, Grigus said.

He and D’Abate hope to put out about three to five different beers at a time, and rotate different offerings.

“We were looking in Hammonton, and when we found out this was a bottling plant for the old brewery, we decided that would be perfect,” said D’Abate.

Grigus said the couple has signed a lease, and has started the renovation. He expects to open in about eight months.

Both he and D’Abate have day jobs. Grigus is a biochemist with the Department of Homeland Security at the FAA Tech Center and D’Abate is an electronics engineer at the Tech Center.
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