When Michael Kane launched Kane Brewing Company (Ocean, New Jersey) in 2011, he brought more than fifteen years of homebrewing experience, national and international travel, and business savvy to the brewhouse. Appropriately named, Kane Brewing is an embodiment of Kane himself with a sense of place specific to his hometown.
“I didn’t leave my day job to start the brewery until I was thirty-five,” says Kane. “The beauty of what I wanted to do is a long-term approach, to open a brewery and do my own thing with no partners or investors. I’ve spent a lot of time focused on being able to do this on my own, and I have a clear vision to bring craft beer to New Jersey. I don’t say that without the knowledge of great breweries in the area,” Kane continues, “But more to bring awareness to what is not exactly a ‘craft-beer’ state.”
Kane, who grew up in New Jersey, says that the state has an educated consumer base for craft beer without a lot of craft-beer production. “It wasn’t [about] getting consumers on board,” he says in reference to the European-beer-style-loving East Coast beer drinkers. “It was getting retailers and wholesalers to realize there was a market for this kind of product.” So Kane decided he would use his two favorite beer categories—West Coast–style ales and Belgian-style beers—as a platform to bring local craft beer to New Jersey.