CHERRY HILL, N.J. — A New Jersey brewery is using the state’s congested and often-derided turnpike to promote its beer.
Cherry Hill-based Flying Fish Brewing Co. (motto: “Proudly Brewed in New Jersey: You Got a Problem With That?”) has undertaken an ambitious project of releasing a special beer in honor of turnpike exits, one at a time.
The beers are being made in limited runs and sold in 750-milliliter wine-size bottles.
The first, a Belgian-style ale, came out this year in honor of Exit 4, the exit nearest the suburban Philadelphia industrial park that Flying Fish calls home. The next beer, Exit 11 Hoppy American Wheat Ale, is scheduled to start hitting bars and stores in the region Wednesday.
Joe Orlando, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, said it’s a bad idea to associate a highway with alcohol. Flying Fish has answered the authority’s concerns with disclaimers that the beer isn’t endorsed by the authority.
“But don’t expect to see it in any of our rest areas,” Orlando said.
Initially, that didn’t satisfy Mindy Lazar, executive director of New Jersey’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “The combination of a roadway and advertising for any kind of a beer doesn’t make any kind of sense,” she said.
But Lazar said Friday she now understands that the brewery opposes drinking and driving.
