Wander Back Beerworks set to open new brewery in Vineland, NJ
A new brewery in Vineland is joining the South Jersey craft beer scene, joining Glasstown Brewing Company in Millville, as the only breweries in Cumberland County.
The Vineland-based company Wander Back Beerworks will start in Late May with two beers, Wanderback Lager and Perfectly Cromulent IPA and will begin self-distributing beer in Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland and Gloucester counties before opening its tasting room.
A third beer, Future Proof Pils is already in the plans.
The names who are starting Wander Back may be familiar to people in the local brewery scene with three veterans of the brewing industry. One of the founders of Cape May Brewing Company, Christopher Henke, along with Cape May's original head brewer, Brian Hink, and Justin Vitti, Cape May's former general manager of sales and distribution.
The trio brings a combined 33 years of experience in brewing and distribution to Cumberland County.
“I had no plans to go back to brewing,” Henke said in a press release. “It was never in my vision to open another brewery. But when these guys came to me, it was like Doc and Marty asking me to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance – you just don’t say no.”
Until they are able to get a tasting room in Vineland, Wander Back is brewing their beer out of Hidden Sands Brewing Co.'s facility in Egg Harbor Township.
So why Vineland?
“There are 144 breweries in New Jersey,” Hink says, “and if you look at the map on NewJerseyCraftBeer.com, there’s a gigantic hole in Vineland. A few have tried – it seems like a logical place to open a brewery."