Third State Brewing in Burlington NJ is joining the Swedesboro Brewing Family! News of the sale of Third State was announced on their social media channels earlier today.
I caught up with Swedesboro Brewing owner Marvin Bowe who gave me all of the details on the purchase… read on!
Third State Brewing was founded almost 10 years ago by partners Jay, Bill and John who at the time had a combined 50 years of home brewing experience… which they utilized to open the Third State brewery in the historic district of Burlington City.
Over the years Third State Brewing has gone on to win awards for its innovative beers, and has become an integral part of the Burlington downtown community, participating in and sponsoring numerous events such as September’s Hops and Rocks Festival.
Not only wanting to be a positive influence in Burlington, Jay Mahoney of Third State wanted to help his fellow New Jersey Brewing community… as he was also a President of the New Jersey Brewers Association.
The Third State announcement described the reasoning for the sale as “retirement”… which was further confirmed by new owner Marvin Bowe.
Marvin founded Swedesboro Brewing almost four years ago, and exactly one year ago he acquired a Collingswood brewery space which he reopened five months later as the Raccoon Taproom.
Needless to say Marvin is doing a lot of things right with two thriving breweries already and an employee operating model that is likely unmatched in the industry… Marvin’s brewery employees are offered full health benefits and retirement plans.
And now he is already moving into his third full brewery location, in less than four years!
I asked Marvin how he has been able to thrive in a marketplace that most consider is a very tough business! His answers are worthy of their own coverage (soon!) but beyond the great beers, facilities and staff… Marvin puts as strong a focus on the business aspects of his breweries as he does the beers.
Which leads us to Third State which for the Bowe family completes the Brewery Trifecta of having a location in each of the counties of Gloucester, Camden and Burlington.
The transaction for Third State Brewing was handled differently than Collingswood, which means Marvin is able to keep Third State operating throughout all aspects of the transition and beyond, continuing to brew and pour delicious Third State beers!
But Marvin has plans for improvements in the future which will increase brewing capacity, add more taps and likely see upgrades to the tasting room experience!
Mentor and Friends
Marvin tells me he first got to know Jay and the Third State team back when he was first starting Swedesboro Brewing in 2020.
Marvin entered the Craft Beer Brewing industry as a successful business owner in the advertising space. He knew how to successfully manage and guide a business, but was eager to learn from experts in the New Jersey brewing industry… with a goal of blending the two skillsets into a successful brewery business.
When Marvin and Jay met in 2020, at that point Jay had over six years of experience as a brewery owner, and with an eager student in Marvin… advice grew to become mentorship, and finally good friends.
As Third State says in their announcement, it was about a year ago when they started considering options for retiring and selling the brewery. When they saw Marvin had bought the Collingswood brewery last year, Jay suggested “hey what do you think about taking over Third State?”
Marvin had a lot on his plate at that time because while the Collingswood location he was moving into was a former brewery space… it really was an all new brewery creation; new remodel, brewery equipment, refrigeration, branding and beer recipes… all before they could sell one pint of beer at the Raccoon Taproom!
The gameplan for bringing on Third State is completely different… or at least the path to eventually getting more beers, more capacity, and more experiences.
Marvin loves the people at Third State, the location, the beers… but he is also a South Jersey history buff and makes the history of the area around the brewery a big part of the experience, and being in historic Burlington City was a big plus for Marvin in making the final decision.
In describing the “pluses” of Third State, Marvin called out the connection that the brewery has with the local community and loyal customers… and he absolutely does not want to lose that connection! He and his team are looking to embrace what Third State already has, but then also expand upon it.
Embrace and Expand
To keep the consistency going forward, as part of the transaction agreement Jay and Bill will stay on for a small amount of time to both fully transition over the operating aspects of the brewery, as well as fully bring over to the new ownership all of the brewing techniques and recipes of Third State.
You’ll likely see Bill on site regularly over the next few months leading the brewing room knowledge transfer. In fact, you’ll likely notice minimal changes across the board over the next few months… But upgrades are expected.
With three breweries spread out around South Jersey and a successful advertising business, Marvin has brought on his son Marvin (IV) to be the day-to-day General Manager of all three breweries.
Son Marvin is a trained biologist and really knows his way around compositions and making sure things are done properly with consistent high quality. You’ll likely see Marvin IV in Third State as part of the knowledge transition effort… which he and the team will then incorporate into future upgrades.
Founder Marvin has a core theme of craft breweries which he utilizes to differentiate from bars and restaurants. Variety
“Have you ever noticed most national chain restaurants have 6 beers on tap and they are all the same tasting lager?” For Marvin’s breweries he strives to offer a wide variety of styles… with 16 or 24 taps it is likely that every single tap has a completely different style of beer! And that is something beer lovers will seek out.
It’s a model that’s been very successful for them and they want to bring that to Third State… which is a huge plus for Burlington Beer Drinkers as it means there will be enough taps to carry forward the most successful and beloved Third State beers, but then have room to add additional varieties.
But then all of those planned extra taps becomes a trigger point!
To support 16-24 taps you need to upgrade the brewery systems to larger and more modern equipment. And with so much more beer being brewed, you need to improve refrigeration which likely means adding a walk-in cold box.
And to make it all fit within the Third State space… you start thinking about having to move some walls around, which also should mean tasting room upgrades.
It hasn’t all been worked out yet as the Bowe’s are just getting the keys to the brewery.
But be rest assured… so much will remain the same at Third State including your favorite beers, but then things are going to get really exciting!
Embrace and Expand
Links and Location
Third State Brewing – Party of Swedesboro Brewing Family
352 High Street
Burlington NJ