Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

RED BANK: CRAFT BREWERY LEASES FIREHOUSE

john-cocozza-070717-1-1-500x375-5600600John Cocozza and partners plan to open a craft brewery called Ross Brewing Company in the former Liberty Hose Company firehouse on White Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

In another sign of a possible tsunami of craft beer coming to downtown Red Bank, the former Liberty Hose Company firehouse on White Street has been leased to a startup brewery, the principals said Thursday.

40-white-092314-2-500x375-5405598The interior of the firehouse as seen in 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

Ross Brewing Company, headed by 42-year-old Little Silver resident John Cocozza, has leased the ground floor of the two-story, century-plus-old structure, which was approved for retail use in May, 2016.

Cocozza said he’s seeking a brewery license that will allow for on-premises consumption of his product as well as takeout purchases. An “outdoor refreshment area” is planned along the eastern side of the building, which abuts a driveway belonging to Bow Tie Cinemas, he said.

Cocozza, who has managed craft-beer pubs in Matawan and Jersey City that purchased their beers from small brewers and has been home-brewing for 10 years, said he was filing development plans with the borough Thursday, and hopes to open the business in the first quarter of 2018. It will specialize in brews made with locally sourced ingredients, including blueberries, raspberries, cranberries and pumpkins, he said.

Ross Brewing is owned by Cocozza; brewer Tom Smolka; and Cocozza’s father-in-law, Mike Feaser, who will oversee both construction and daily production. Broker Joann Clark of Blue Winn Commercial closed the deal.

The scene could soon be awash in craft suds.

• After many months of buildout, Adam Rechnitz’s Triumph Brewing Company, a large-scale restaurant and beermaking operation in the West Side Lofts building on Bridge Avenue, is said to be nearing completion.

• As reported by redbankgreen last month, wedding photographers John and Lovina Arcara plan to create a craft brewery in a vacant retail space at 77 Monmouth Street, next door to Jamian’s Food and Drink.

• And in June, the new owner of the long-vacant former Fameabilia building at 42 Monmouth Street told redbankgreen that a microbrewery was planning to set up shop there. No plans for a brewery there have yet been filed at borough hall.

Already making its own beers is Birravino, Victor Rallo’s restaurant on Riverside Avenue.

Cocozza, who said he was filing his development plans with the borough Thursday, said he hopes to open the business in the first quarter of 2018. But it doesn’t matter who opens first, or that there’s competition, he said.

“I can’t wait for Triumph to open,” he said. “If all these breweries open, Red Bank could become a brewing destination, and the breweries will push each other to make better beer.”

Ross Brewing announced plans in June, 2015 to build its operation at the former Yellow Cab dispatch office at the train station, but there were issues that “we couldn’t get resolved,” Cocozza said. That site has since been approved as part of a 45-apartment development by Matawan-based Denholtz Associates.

“But we still very much wanted to be in Red Bank,” Cocozza said.

Mike Morgan Jr., who along with his father and brothers bought the firehouse from the borough in 2014 for $400,000, told redbankgreen that he’s encouraged that Cocozza “has that experience as a brewer.”

Construction of the brewery will occur at the same time two luxury apartments are being built on the second floor, he said.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
Red Bank 5K Fun!!!
Red Bank Classic – June 14th, 2025 (photo by Partyline contributor Adam Kaplan)  
RAINBOW OVER RED BANK
Saturday, before and after the storm that rolled through town. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)    
Mini Ballers Bring the Heat at Fusion Basketball School
As the temperatures heat up, so does the competition in the mini baller clinic at Fusion School of Basketball. These little tykes are intens ...
DOZENS OF PLEIN AIR ARTISTS “PAINT RED BANK”
Plein air artists take over town for first ever "Paint Red Bank" event. (click to read)
RED BANK: SIGN ON ICONIC DANNY’S STEAK HOUSE COMES DOWN
The sign hanging from the shuttered Danny's Steak House comes down ten months after a manager reported Danny's Steakhouse would be back "bet ...
FOR YANKEES FANS, GOOD TRASH PICKIN’
A collection of framed photographs of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and other New York Yankees greats was placed curbside along with a ...
RED BANK: NEW HANDICAPPED PARKING, WEST SIDE MEETING PLANNED
New handicapped parking sign West Side advocate had pressed for is installed, with meeting planned to discuss other concerns. (click to read ...
SUNSET AT SUMMER’S START
Crazy sunset clouds shot from Monmouth Boat Club on the Friday evening at the start of Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. ...
SIDEWALK GOES FROM WORST TO FIRST
P (photo by Brian Donohue) What had been, in our estimation – and apparently in the eyes of the several people who have emailed and te ...
RED BANK: PEERING FROM ON HIGH, ACROSS THE DECADES
Roofers on the Azalea Red Bank top off the project in the shadow of a sculpture depicting another generation of construction workers who toi ...
BRICK FACELIFT CONTINUES ON MONMOUTH STREET
A million-dollar brick sidwalk makeover of Monmouth Street in Red Bank continues.
JAY AND SILENT EAGLE
A very loud blue jay squawks at an indiferent bald eagle in a treetop alongside the Swimming River in Red Bank this week. (Partyline photo b ...
PIZZA LOVING SQUIRREL SPOTTED IN RED BANK
Pizza squirrel spotted in Red Bank. (click to read)
GET YOUR MA SOMETHIN’ NICE AT THE RED BANK FARMERS MARKET
It’s a beautiful and sunny Mother’s Day for the first instance of the farmer’s market, held every Sunday, beginning in May ...
SIGN? WHAT SIGN?
Folks in Red Bank Wednesday exercising their riparian rights to access tidal waters first encoded into Roman law in 500 AD and later adopted ...
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Partyline contributor captures photo of backyard fox.
STRIPER RUN AT MARINE PARK
An angler pulls in a striped bass from the Marine Park bulkhead Tuesday evening. (photo by Partyline contributor Boris Kofman)  
COLD AS CANADA? CHECK.
A pair of goose sculptures propped atop an air conditioning unit on River Street in Red Bank.
SUNRISE OVER A GLASSY NAVESINK
Sunrise over the Navesink River, seen from NJ Transit Train 3320. (photo by Partyline contributor Karly Swaim)  
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
NJ Transit "heritage" locomotive makes an appearance at the Red Bank station.