Somerdale NJ’s Flying Fish Brewery and Tasting Room is officially closed after a recent bankruptcy auction, which included the brewery contents and brand intellectual property.
But the Flying Fish name is likely to live on as Guildford Hall Brewery out of Baltimore MD bought the intellectual property of the brewery, which includes the name brands of the beers, trademarks, packaging, websites and some contracts. Their purchase price at $152,500 was the largest of the items sold.
Other large purchases were made during the auction including from some area breweries, which I chronicle at the end of the article
It appears that the building itself was not part of the auction, and we do not have details on what would become of it.
Flying Fish had been facing a series of financial difficulties over the last year or so. It was hoped that an acquisition by Cape May Brewing earlier in 2023 would have saved the brand and the Somerdale facility, but that deal had fallen apart after a deeper review of Flying Fish’s financial situation.
At the end of 2023, Flying Fish moved into bankruptcy proceedings, which led to creditors requesting the auction process take place.
Last Thursday, the same day the auction was confirmed… 42Freeway acquired the legal documents which give all of the auction results, although I’ve gotten myself a little bit jammed up over the weekend to get the story online earlier! I last wrote about the auction on February 9th, which was held on Tuesday the 13th
The Patch got their story online way before mine… and had had a chance to speak with the Guilford Hall Brewery team who said they will continue to sell Flying Fish beers to distributors throughout the East Coast. They also confirmed that they will not operate out of the Somerdale location.
On Friday, Flying Fish shared on their Facebook Page, The Patch article saying:
Well, at least we went out with a bang last weekend. Thank you to everyone that came out. We appreciate all of our customers over the years. We’re sad that we cannot continue operations as they were in our Somerdale location, but it’s nice to know the brand itself will live on.
Flying Fish Brewery – Somerdale
I had stopped in over last weekend, and yes it was a large and vibrant crowd who were entertained by a local band. While there was still hope for a savior to come at the last minute to buy the entire brewery and keep everything operating, I think most had realized that this was going to be the last weekend for the beloved Somerdale brewery, as people were buying cases of their favorite beers for the last time.
On Sunday Flying Fish tried to add some humor to the sad situation by creating their own Halloween Store style meme.
Coming soon… (Halloween Store at the Flying Fish Building). We kid, but who knows what will come of the building once its contents have been moved to their new homes? Signing off of this account now as it’s probably part of the IP that now belongs to the new owners. But I had to leave everyone with a giggle.
Flying Fish Auction Items
The documents for the auction results include 232 different items.
They were prepared with two separate lists; one of registered auction participants and a second of the item auction results. I had to dust off some of my old excel “Vlookup” skills to combine the two!
The auction ranged from framed pictures that were hanging in an office for $25, all the way up to the Flying Fish intellectual property purchased by Guilford Hall Brewery for the $152,500. Guilford Hall purchased 18 other items at the auction, but nothing else of note.
A Miura steam pressure packaged boiler went for $51,000 to Cadeco Industries who is based out of Houston, and appears to be a coffee processor. Case by Case Canning out of Los Angeles purchased the Pro Brew Beer Can Filling Seaming Line for $48,000. The company offers canning services to breweries.
The Frame Group out of Illinois was an active bidder taking 19 items for a total of $96,000. Their business model is to rent out equipment.
Locally, Bonesaw Brewery was an active participant in the auction purchasing 24 different items for a total of $74,525. Their larger purchases included a Muller stainless steel bright tank for $22,000, a pro chiller for $14,500 and a pair of JV Northwest Fermentation Tanks for $13,000 each.
Cape May Brewing, who last year was planning on purchasing the entire Flying Fish Brewery… stepped in for seven items totaling just under $10,000. The largest item being a Pentair Gehaltemeter for $4,600.
Mount Holly’s Train Wreck Distillery grabed 12 items totaling $9,100 dollars. The largest item being a Grain System for $4,200.
Links and Locations
Flying Fish Brewing Co.
900 Kennedy Blvd
Somerdale, NJ 08083
Guilford Hall Brewery
Website