FREEHOLD — Local breweries and wineries will have to make room for the latest business to offer homemade alcoholic beverages: a craft distillery.
On May 27, the Freehold Borough Planning Board approved plans for a craft distilling business at 54 W. Main St.
Larry Metz, who owns the 4,000-squarefoot structure where the distillery will locate, said Crossfit of Freehold previously occupied the space. Crossfit has relocated to the former Metz Bicycle Museum, which is on the same property.
Metz said a law permitting a distillery license was recently passed by the state Legislature.
“There will be limited amounts of distilled spirits on-site that will sell for retail and commercial,” he said.
The distillery will be owned by business partners Steve Loures and Ken McCartin.
“The craft distillery will make small batch spirits using local products,” Loures said.
Sandy Hook Bay coconut rum made with local honey, and vodka made with corn grown in New Jersey are two products Loures mentioned.
The distillery, Copper Kettle Spirits, will produce “a few hundred bottles per month,” said Loures, who is an experienced home beer brewer.
“Each distillation run or batch amount is only 40 gallons. That allows us to maintain quality crafting of our pure spirits. We will do five distillation runs per month to start,” he said.
Each bottle will cost between $18 and $25, Loures estimated.
Copper Kettle Spirits distillery tours will include samples and tastings, plus stories of the Prohibition-era New Jersey rum runners who operated in Sandy Hook Bay, Loures said.
In addition to retail sales, the distillery will sell to businesses.
“A lot of restaurants like the New Jersey local products,” he said.
Construction of the distillery is expected to begin in two to three months. An opening will follow several months later, according to Loures.
A New Jersey law permitting a craft distillery license took effect Dec. 1, 2013. It entitles the licensee to manufacture up to 20,000 gallons of distilled alcoholic beverages. The fee for the license is $938. Prior to the passage of the law, the fee for a license was $12,500.
The license allows the licensee to sell and distribute their products to wholesalers and retailers in accordance with New Jersey’s liquor laws. Distillers who certify that at least 51 percent of the raw materials used in distillation are grown or purchased in the state can label their product “New Jersey distilled.”
Also at the May 27 meeting, a resolution of final approval was granted by the Planning Board to Delray Holdings to construct eight duplexes with 16 residential units on Orchard Street. Four of the units will be designated as affordable housing, borough Business Administrator Joe Bellina said.
Attorney Gerald Sonnenblick is representing developer Peter Passarella.
Certain technical aspects related to the development of the homes, and the filing of a subdivision map that will require borough approval will be the next order of business, Sonnenblick said.
He said the developer is not ready to discuss what the residences will cost.
The board initially approved the application to construct the eight duplex homes on Orchard Street in July 2014 after much discussion over the use of the parcel in the preceding years.