Andy Gioia was pretty content with his job as a line cook at Mumford’s Culinary Center in Tinton Falls. He had a degree in microbiology, and the food industry allowed him to put some of that knowledge into practice, using it in a more approachable setting than, say, laboratory work.
But then, the cable guy knocked on the door.
“He came over to install the cable, and it was pretty late, probably the last job of the day for him, and I offered him a beer,” Gioia recalls. “I opened up my fridge and I had all this craft beer in there, and he was like, ‘Do you home-brew?’”
If this were a cartoon and not a real-life story, there would be a lightbulb over Gioia’s head at this very moment.
“I don’t even know who this person is,” he says now with a laugh that acknowledges how unusual it sounds that this random encounter set his career on a completely different path.
The next day, Gioia and his wife were picking up glass carboys and he started homebrewing in their Asbury Park apartment.
“It quickly became an obsession and a passion of mine.”
It also became his career. Gioia was always someone who was interested in science and chemistry (in case the microbiology degree didn’t give that away), and brewing connects those two threads. “It’s the perfect blend of those things,” he said. Over time, his thirst for more knowledge about the industry led him to the American Brewers Guild, which is like trade school for brewers.
“A lot of the basics, you learn that as a home brewer,” he said. “Home brewing taught me most of what I know, in terms of the science, biology and recipes development.”
But it was with the ABG where he was able to level up his knowledge and learn how to scale his recipes from the five-gallon carboys to 1,000 to 2,000-gallon runs. There was also critical skill development, like how to fill kegs and run canning lines.
With more knowledge to pull on, Gioia put his passion into action and landed with a local brewer, first as an apprentice before ultimately rising to the position of head brewer. He found the industry to be very welcoming and started experimenting with different types of beers and visiting different breweries. During his years on the job, Gioia began to unpack the logistics of owning and operating his own brewery, and in October of 2022, he opened Birdsmouth Beer in Oceanport along with his business partner, Rocco Laginestra. The facility is on the campus of Fort Monmouth, in the same building as the former commissary.
In addition to its unique location, Birdsmouth also offers a product that is a little different from most local or craft breweries; they only do lager beer. According to Gioia, the majority of breweries at this scale work in ales, many of which have a higher alcohol volume than lagers.
“The focus of the beer is always drinkability. We make beer-flavored beer,” Gioia said, adding that they make about six beers, three of which are available year-round and three others that rotate seasonally. All are around five percent ABV.
“We’re trying to cut out all of the frills and not getting caught up in the showiness. We’re trying to just be straightforward. It’s not screaming for attention," he said, noting that even the names of the beers are meant to be approachable and unpretentious; American lager, dark lager, Mexican lager, etc. "You want to enjoy your company, you want to enjoy your food, it’s supposed to be part of the experience, not having your pinky up and overanalyzing it.”
There’s a hint to that ethos in the brewery’s name. A birdsmouth is a woodworking joint, but is all substance, no style.
“We like the imagery. It’s very utilitarian, it serves a purpose,” Gioia said. “We consider ourselves more craftsmen than artists. It’s function over form for us. We also really like birds, logo is the NJ state bird, the goldfinch.”
Right now, Birdsmouth is essentially a wholesaler, getting their beer into kegs and on tap at bars and restaurants in Long Branch, Red Bank, Asbury Park and plenty of other Jersey Shore spots, but also in Jersey City and points north. They’ve also got a family-friendly tasting room where customers can buy canned beers and can also bring their own food.
Oh, and cable guy, if you’re reading this, the tasting room is open from Wednesday to Sunday.
"We’re trying to cut out all of the frills ... It's not screaming for attention"