Man Skirt Brewing opens Saturday in Hackettstown

HACKETTSTOWN During the past few weeks, the doors of Man Skirt Brewing have been propped open while owner Joe Fisher has toiled away inside, prepping for his long-awaited grand opening this Saturday.

But the brewery — located on the corner of Main Street and Grand Avenue — has been licensed to serve beer for weeks. So Fisher’s been welcoming walk-ins with open arms, taking time off from his busy schedule to pour some pints and talk shop.

“I want people to feel like they’re in my house when they’re here, so they can feel comfortable walking in when the doors are open,” said Fisher, 40, of Lebanon. “That’s what beer is about, making friends.”

Fisher will open Saturday serving Man Skirt Brewing’s three flagship beers out of his seven-barrel setup — Better than Pants, an English-style bitter, the “nice roasty toasty” Great Porter, and Gold Bar, a blonde ale named after the brewery’s original use as a bank.

Better than Pants is already on tap across Main Street at Marley’s Gotham Grill, and Gold Bar will soon be for sale at Bea McNally’s, just across Grand Avenue, once it’s finished brewing this week.

“I ordered my own beer for the first time the other day,” Fisher said. “It was a mind-blowing moment.”

Aside from the three flagships, which Fisher said he will always have on tap, Man Skirt will serve one to two rotating seasonals.

The first, which won’t be ready in time for Saturday, is a German Bock brewed with peppercorns called Pfefferbock.

And though it’s fall, don’t expect to taste any gourds in your glass anytime soon.

“You probably won’t ever find a pumpkin beer here,” Fisher said.

Fisher made the decision to open up a brewery in 2010 and purchased the property — formerly the United Jersey Bank and the People's Bank of New Jersey — in April 2014. The building still has a bank vault, which Fisher said he may use for barrel aging or to host special tastings

Fisher hung a storefront with sign outside over Main Street nine months ago, and passersby have been eagerly awaiting the opening ever since.

Equipment was delivered in the winter, but Fisher didn’t receive his state license to brew until about a month ago.

“Getting our state license was the last big hurdle, then it snowballed. We started brewing right away,” Fisher said. “Now I’ve got 3 or 4,000 pounds of grain in the back, I’m scribbling recipes down as I go.”

Fisher said he’s already encountered unforeseen delays during brewing, from a tank leak to having to backtrack after a little yeast was left behind, but nothing he cannot handle.

He said it’s been strange having aspiring brewers reach out to him for advice before he’s even opened.

“It’s weird being the experienced one, Fisher said. “I was the guy sending private messages and asking for advice three years ago and now I’m giving it.”

Nearly everything in the near-completed brewery is labeled, from the fermenting tanks and bar to every table and chair, thanks to a wildly successful Kickstarter fundraising campaign that Fisher launched this winter to help fund the tasting room.

164 businesses and individuals — from Hackettstown’s Active Fitness to “Homer J. Simpson” — donated 164 $25,240 to help launch the brewery in exchange for prizes including special growlers and getting their name on items in Man Skirt tap room.

“When the Kickstarter blew up, that was awesome,” Fisher said. “I’m surprised by the amount of fans Man Skirt’s gotten, how people have invested in its progress. They don’t know me, but they’re excited about this little idea.”

While the doors have been open for a few weeks, and Fisher will happily drop what he’s doing to pour a pint, he’s still hard at work with all facets of Man Skirt.

But brewing doesn’t pay the bills yet, so in addition to up to 16-hour days at the Man Skirt, Fisher is still logging 40-hour work weeks at Picatinny Arsenal, where he works as a computer programmer.

Monday, he went from programming mortar ballistics targeting computers to cleaning out yeast in about an hour.

He arrived at the brewery straight from Picatinny just after 6 p.m. to begin cleaning and working on his Gold Bar Blonde Ale, separating the ale from the yeast before it added any strange flavors to the brew.

Fisher is still Man Skirt’s only employee — brewing, serving, delivering, and cleaning — and he plans to keep it that way for the foreseeable future.

“It’s going to me just me for a while,” Fisher said. “Which means a lot of days like Sunday, where I worked from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m., brewing and cleaning, brewing and cleaning, and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. It’s a lot like home improvements. I’m never going to be done and I’m always going to find something I missed.”

But the long hours don’t bother him because he’s doing what he loves.

“As long as I still have the passion, and I still do,” Fisher said. “I wake up and I want to come here and clean. I’ve never cut up my hands like they are right now, but I love it and I’ll keep doing it.”

So anyone looking to don a utili-kilt for their work uniform may have to be patient.

“A lot of people have asked to work here,” Fisher said. “We’re not hiring right now, but we will be in the future once our cash flow can support it or I can no longer do it alone.”

As Fisher prepares to officially open his doors this weekend, he doesn’t expect much to change for him.

“The only difference is I’ll have regular tasting room hours,” he said. “As opposed to unofficial ones.”

Man Skirt Brewing opens at 4 p.m. Saturday. Regular tasting room hours will be from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday.

”But if it’s outside those hours and you see those doors open, come on in,” Fisher said. “I’m always happy to talk shop.”

Fisher said Man Skirt walk-ins so far have typically fallen into two categories.

“Some people say they have been seeing my sign on Main Street for months and were dying to see the inside,” Fisher said. “But also many are my electronic friends who I’ve never seen in person before.”

Fisher has actively updated followers on social media, particularly by sharing photos of his progress on Facebook and Instagram, which has helped Man Skirt develop an active following who are eagerly awaiting the opening.

“It’s one of these surreal things, to have all these people following the brewery,” Fisher said. “I mean I’m nobody special, I’m just a guy who makes beer.”

Visit http://manskirtbrewing.com/ or follow Man Skirt Brewing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more updates and information.

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

If you go:

Man Skirt Brewing Grand Opening

When: Saturday, Oct. 3, from 4 to 9 p.m.

Where: 144 Main Street in Hackettstown