Newly opened brewery in Monroe is a labor of love for Orange County natives

After nearly four years of building buzz with standout hazy IPAs and crisp lagers, Foreign Objects Beer Company has finally opened the doors of its own taproom in Monroe.

On Dec. 10, 2021, co-owners Tim Czarnetzki, Sean Bowman, and Steve D’Eva welcomed longtime fans and curious locals alike to what they call “The Nerve Center” to enjoy the brewery’s signature “New American Hoppy Ales.”

The Nerve Center, located at 150 W. Mombasha Road, may be brand new, but Foreign Objects has had a jam-packed journey and the three co-founders’ lives in craft beer extend far back past that.

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Partners are from Cornwall

Czarnetzki and Bowman are from Cornwall — they've known each other since 5th grade — but it was while living in Washington, DC in 2006 that Czarnetzki started exploring craft beer. Czarnetzki says his interest collided with his search for a business he could call his own so he set out to open a brewery.

Deciding DC might not be the most affordable market, and eyeing the exploding craft beer scene in the Pacific Northwest, Czarnetzki moved to Seattle. He called Bowman, who was living in Florida, to come join him, and in 2011, they opened the Urban Family Brewing Co.

For their head brewer, they recruited D’Eva, who had started his own beer path at Tired Hands Brewing Company in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

Urban Family quickly garnered rave reviews in Seattle and interest among craft drinkers, but there were challenges.

The original space was tiny, Czarnetzki says — a three-barrel system with 10 tanks, and a bar that seated 35 people. Even after moving to a big warehouse in another neighborhood, and brewing well-received beer that always sold out, Czarnetzki says he and Bowman weren’t making enough money to be comfortable.

By 2016, Czarnetzki and Bowman had reached a turning point.

“2016 had seen the beginning of the IPA explosion on the East coast,” Czarnetzki says. “And we were eyeing that. I had been away from New York for a long time, same with Sean. We felt like it was time to come back and do a new project back east.”

Czarnetzki and Bowman sold their shares of Urban Family and headed home. The original plan was to open a “huge facility” in Westchester, but Czarnetzki says the astronomical cost of rent just didn’t make sense for their project.

Then, after spending an incredible amount of time, money, and energy building what Foreign Objects would finally call home in Monroe, COVID-19 and the subsequent shutdown hit two weeks before The Nerve Center’s opening.

Czarnetzki says the team paused production for a year, and sold Foreign Objects to Joey Redner, founder of seminal Tampa, Florida brewery Cigar City Brewing. Czarnetzki, Bowman, and D’Eva still maintain ownership, too, and remain in charge of the overall Foreign Objects vision. 

Foreign Objects began ramping up production again over the summer of 2021. Redner connected the founders with Bolero Snort Brewery in Carlstadt, New Jersey, where Foreign Objects now brews — the Nerve Center in Monroe will remain the taproom and a vital hub for the brewery, while their production needs are met at Bolero Snort, still a close enough distance to maintain that hands-on approach Czarnetzki, Bowman, and D’Eva want.

“That was always a big thing for us,” Czarnetzki says. “The brewers are the owners, we brew it ourselves. We're not just sending it away for someone else to do it.”

Monroe is the perfect fit

Monroe provided a perfect fit for Foreign Objects’ home base. It’s but a 20-minute drive from Czarnetzki and Bowman’s native Cornwall, after all.

That’s not where the appeal ends, according to Czarnetzki, pointing out Monroe is right in the middle of the “gorgeous Hudson Valley,” and close to hiking attractions like the Appalachian Trail. The town is scenic, central, and comfortable — it means getting to pour Foreign Objects beer at home, Czarnetzki says.

While the pandemic may have interrupted Foreign Objects’ production and delayed The Nerve Center’s opening, Czarnetzki says it’s been great to experience more and more of the brewery’s longtime fans — as well as locals new to the brand — walk through the taproom’s doors.

There, they can expect a modern yet welcoming space splashed with signature Foreign Objects visuals: the founders flew in Molly Dolan, the artist who designs their labels, to paint two murals.

On tap, beers run the gamut from one of the brewery’s in-demand “hoppy ales,” Wet Gravity, brewed with Citra and Azacca hops, to hoppy ales “hyper-fruited” with passionfruit and tangerine or mango and guava, to traditional German pilsners. Czarnetzki, Bowman, and D’Eva are lager enthusiasts, and look forward to increasing production of their “Ungespundet Lagerbier” (lightly carbonated German lagers) category as they continue to increase their brewing operation.

Changing saisons

The partners come from a strong sour and saison background, Czarnetzki says. Bowman had brewed one of the first sour IPAs in 2012. Demand for IPAs, however, has remained leaps and bounds beyond any other beer style. Foreign Objects immediately rose to the occasion, applying a more well-rounded approach to create complex yet easy-drinking IPAs that balance New England haziness with West Coast bitterness.

Their noticeably outstanding beers coupled with Foreign Objects’ branding sparked what Czarnetzki calls a “gangbusters” debut out of the gate.

Foreign Objects is known arguably as much for its aesthetics as it is for its brews. 

“We have an amazing artist (Molly Dolan) based in Seattle who does these painted watercolors for each label and that's gotten us a lot of notice,” Czarnetzki says. “A lot of purchasing is based on the design of the labels, which I think we were probably a little bit ahead of the time with. Now a lot of breweries are spending lots of money on branding, but I think that definitely got us ahead of the game.”

Czarnetzki explains that in addition to thinking about how to innovate on each new beer— bringing in their own interpretations of how to best use constantly evolving methods for hopping brews — names and artwork are all part of the brainstorming and development process.

D’Eva concepts the feel for a beer’s design and passes this on to Dolan, who creates watercolor paintings by hand and then digitizes the finished product so it can turn into a can label. Thanks to this process, Foreign Objects’ beers stand out on shelves, recognizable the moment you walk into a beer shop.

In addition to brewing more lagers and continuing to quench the hoppy-ale thirst of imbibers both in the Hudson Valley and other states entirely through distribution, there is a lot in the works for the team.

Czarnetzki can’t reveal too much yet, but promises that we can expect “big Foreign Objects” news in 2022 and 2023. While you wait, enjoy beers from Foreign Objects and curated guest breweries, too, at the Nerve Center; updates and hours available at the brewery’s website and Facebook page.

If you go

 Foreign Objects Brewery Nerve Center

Where: 150 W. Mombasha Road, Monroe

Hours: 1-9 p.m. Thursday, Friday, 1-6 p.m.Sunday

Info: info@foreignobjectsbeer.com; foreignobjectsbeer.com.

Courtney Iseman is a Hudson Valley freelance writer. Contact her at thnewsroom@th-record.com