The folks over at Oaklyn’s Tonewood Brewing are people of few words. On their website you won’t find an “about us” page or anything on the brewery’s history. No clue from the site who runs the place.
And there is definitely no indication of the large second brewery they are building in Barrington NJ.
Well except for one Instagram post. Where the under-construction building can be seen in the background, but still no mention of anything in Barrington. You need a knowing eye to catch that detail.
But they are building in Barrington… Tonewood has taken over the old Mr Roberts Lumber yard and are in the process of completely transforming it into a large glass and brick building which at 14,000 sq ft will be more than double the size of their current Oaklyn location.
Let’s get this clear up front. They will operate two locations. Oaklyn is open, and will remain open even after Barrington starts serving customers.
Back to Barrington, the large storage warehouse from Mr Roberts is now the core of the brewery and tasting room. Added onto the front are large glass windows to let the light in, and the building continues into the brick offices that line Clements Bridge Road.
Not to mention that the new brewery license they’ve had to get for the second location will allow them to increase their capacity EIGHT TIMES to 50,000 barrels a year… just in Barrington. Over in Oaklyn they’ll continue to brew beer also.
Also in place is a large exterior grain silo.. prominently right at the main corner, and looking like it belongs exactly where it is.. like it was there for decades.
The new Barrington location is right in the heart of the Barrington “Main Street” district of Clements Bridge Road, next to Route 295.
The Old Rail is basically “across the street” and in my opinion, the arrival of this larger brewery will only be a benefit to the Rail as new people drive in to check out Tonewood and say “Oh while we are here, let’s go get a bite to eat at the Rail”
From the Tonewood Barrington doors, the White Horse Pike is 200 feet away. Haddonfield, Audubon, Lawnside are very close.
42Freeway’s First Post On Tonewood Barrington. Opening, Not Clear
This is one of Mark’s “story screw ups”. Ha. I have another coming.
Continuing the “hey man, we’re chill but it’s our business we don’t really need to share”…. while the Courier-Post and others had the big story of the new Barrington Brewery back in January 2020 (associated to the Planning Board meeting), Mark from 42Freeway sent Tonewood a Facebook message almost TWO YEARS prior in May of 2018!
I knew that long ago.
But I never got a reply, and 42Freeway never got the story.. never got the post.. and I was so dejected over the missed opportunity that… well that leads us here to today. Finally. Ha
And enough people are reaching out now to me “Hey what are they building in Barrington”, that yeah… let’s do this.
So staying true to their beliefs… we still arent clear when the new Tonewood Barrington Brewery will open.
This time around I did get a reply to my Facebook inquiry.
The Barrington location will be our second location, we’re keeping our original Oaklyn location. We’re currently are not ready to release any more updates. We are working hard on construction
Tonewood Facebook Messenger April 7, 2021
Please this is not a knock on them! I love their focus. They see the prize and are focused on it. Let’s get Barrington built and open.
And last year was no prize to be in business, so I am sure that is keeping estimates reserved.
But based on observations at the Barrington site, it seems a fair estimate from 42Freeway.com that we should see the construction completed this year. Maybe this summer?
But the bigger question would be, where do they sit with their new brewery license for Barrington? It can be a tough and slow process.
Not to mention last year impacted much of New Jersey Government, so who knows where that approval sits.
More on Tonewood Barrington to come, but in the meantime you can try their delicious beers at the Oaklyn location, or even on many area taps. Fuego is their signature beer.
Links and Locations
Tonewood Brewing Oaklyn IS OPEN
215 W Clinton Ave
Oaklyn NJ 08107
Tonewood Brewing Barrington IS NOT OPEN
50 Clements Bridge Road
Barrington NJ 08007
Courier Post Article, Jan 28 2020