Culture Shift with Don Vogt | Craft Beer, Community Building & Jersey City Art

Culture Shift host Duda Penteado sits down with Don Vogt, co-founder of 902 Brewing in Jersey City, for a conversation on craft beer, building community, local art, and creating a neighborhood hub.

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In this episode, Don shares the origin story of 902 Brewing—from homebrewing in a Hoboken backyard to opening a massive brick-and-mortar brewery and rooftop space in Jersey City's Libertad Art District.

This episode covers: • The transition from gypsy brewing to a permanent Jersey City location • The real story behind the "902" name • How 902 Brewing serves as a community gathering place for families, veterans, and charities • The "All People Free" campaign and raising awareness for modern-day slavery through custom beer cans • Partnering with local Hudson County artists and honoring local legends (Bob Hurley, Chuck Wepner) • Preparing Jersey City for the 2026 World Cup with cultural and family-friendly activations • How brewing technology has accelerated IPA production times • The complexities of out-of-state beer distribution and supporting the local film industry

Watch, subscribe, and stay connected for more conversations with creatives, artists, founders, educators, and culture builders.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Welcome to Culture Shift with Duda Penteado the Archivist. And I'm here today with a good friend, you know, then makes the best beer probably around Jersey City and New Jersey, I'll say, right? Let's say New Jersey. Right? Let's say New Jersey. I love it. Craft beer, you know, very thought out, and it's not just about the quality of the beer, but the whole package. And so, Don, if I'll further do, introduce yourself and Don Vote, 902 Brewing, 101 Pacific Avenue, Jersey City.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Um, 902's been around about 11, 12 years now. We've been in Jersey City about six years, right after COVID, uh, 2020, March 2020, we opened up our spot and um went um from gypsy brewing to um having our whole brick and mortar location.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

But before we get a lot into what's happening right now, um let's go to the beginning. Where is your passion to I mean, people people say, hey, I like wine, I like beer, but craft beer is a different thing. It's like really making great wine, you know. I I'm gonna share this personally. I I I struck I stopped drinking beer for many years, and then one day somebody says to me, Hey, I want you to try this craft beer, and it was actually IPA. Once I drank it, I was like, wow, this is this is like different. And I realized the connection between just the love of making wine, right? And and the love of making beer and make custom made, right, with this special spices and everything. So then I began to study. I brought a few books, and I'm like, wow, this is a whole new world open up. So I'm sure somewhere along the line, where your passion for not beer, but craft beer started.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Yeah, but my you know, I came in on this uh on the business end of it. My partner Colby was homebrewing for years. Um we were winning competitions. We had a black IPA that won a bunch of competitions. Um he was homebrewing in his house, having fun. We all used to go over there, have some beers, drinks, drank up. Me and him had a short house down in um Bel Mar together for years. And the beer was great. Beer was fantastic. And he came to me one day and just said, let's make a business out of this. You think we can make a business?

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Everything is starting with you guys just making beer in their backyard.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Making beer in the backyard.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Which town or which backyard?

SPEAKER_00 2:43

902 Washington Street in Hoboken, right on Washington Street in Hoboken. Wow, that's the name. Yes, that's where the name comes from. Nobody no one understands. 902 is the area code in Nova Scotia, Canada. Everybody thinks that's where it came from. No, it's 902, Washington Street, and Hoboken. Wow. Everything with us is Jersey City, Hoboken, Hudson County involved. Wow. So how old were you when that happened? Oh, that's about how old was I? About 38, I think.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

20 years ago. No, no, 10, 10, 15, 10, 12 years ago. 10, 12 years ago. Yeah. And then after you got, wow, this is pretty good. We're weaning stuff. Why don't we push this to the next level?

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Yes, we said we're gonna take it to business, obviously, licensing, everything takes about a couple years in New Jersey. Jersey's slow with that. You know, we love our government, but we it's a little slow here, you know, we're processing paperwork. So it took after we made that decision, let's make it make it something real. It took about two years to get a licensing, processing. And that was just to actually um contract what's called contract brewing, gypsy brewing. So when we started this out, we were gypsy brewing. We were going to different breweries throughout the state of New Jersey, Climax in um I think Cranford, Kenilworth area. Uh, we started out Cricket Hill. Uh, we did a few other breweries. We we we started off our first five years brewing at their locations and distributing our beer from the other locations. Um, and we did very well. So you're renting for other people. We basically rented their fermenters. The easy way to say we rented their fermenter. Their brewers would brew our beer with our recipes and can and keggett, and we would distribute it ourselves. We were doing very well with that. Um, Kobe and I sat down, we had two other partners at that time and talked about, you know, let's open up a brick and mortar. We looked in Hoboken, we looked around, and then we asked when we settled in on Jersey City. My other two partners decided, 12 other partners at that time decided it wasn't really for them at that point anymore. Uh they walked away. Kobe and myself stayed in and we opened up the one on Pacific Avenue. We decided that two years before COVID. So 2020-2018, we decided to open up on Pacific Avenue.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Which is right here in the Libertad District. Okay, let me okay, let me digest. So um, when you guys decide to open um the grandiose plan to build because 902 is amazing. I mean, it is how you I love the way the more you work, I learn more about you. It's not just like having a beer, but it's a celebration of something. There is a party, always celebrating somebody's anniversary, a festivity, an event. So, I mean, obviously, when you thought about 902, it was like a place of gathering, right? Community gathering, neighborhoods coming together. So, from the beginning, you already draw the big plan with the rooftop and this and that.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

We had the rooftop deck. We had everything we that's uh, you know, it looked to see the size of our place. It's about community, it's about having events, bands, everything there to enjoy what we the product, but also bringing families together, bringing, you know, community together. You know, you see all the community different charity events we do. It's kind of bringing all that in the neighborhood together. Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Um we need to do a toast to that, you know. Look at this. I'm holding here um a special edition. I want to move into this. I'm holding here a special edition of the Libre Art District, and you're holding which one? This store. This tour, one of the artists we picked for this 2025 artist edition on 902.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Correct. This this image is on Harry's daughter over on um Community Power Avenue.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Well, that's awesome. And I think and I think what's amazing is not just the quality of the beer, but how you decide to do the packaging and the it's a super unique experience. Where where these ideas came from?

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Community. You know, it's about our neighborhood, it's about Jersey City, it's about Hudson County, it's about everything. We've been doing this for a couple years. I started off with doing the art district with Mustart, doing it with him. We did Art on Tap about a couple years ago. We had we started off with like four different artists coming in, doing like a little live art show at the at the brewery, working from there. I've done stuff with Coach Hurley from the St. Anthony's High School, um, Hall of Fame, basketball coach from Jersey City. We've done all different um local legends from Chuck Wepner to Bayon Bleeder, one of one of the only guys that knocked out Mohammed Ali, you know, to all different people in Hudson County. So our beer is about Hudson County, artists in the neighborhood, legends in the neighborhood, legends in New Jersey, more specifically Hudson County.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

That's awesome. Tell me a little bit about, I mean, you'll be around um 902 in this location for six years now, right? A little over six years now. Yeah, you're gonna do the seventh year now. But um tell me the give me some names and highlights, like few events than you do every year, then it's you'll find amazing.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

We do this last weekend, we just did a Halloween, um, a Valentine's Day event with um the kids. You know, a lot of our stuff involves children. Um we try to be community-based. Valentine's Day for the Kildren, New Year's Eve. We did a 12 to 6 o'clock showings for kids for New Year's Eve and uh Valentine's Day. Yes, no kids are drinking during the day. We don't we don't serve any children, of course. But then we also do with the Hudson County, we also do um a Halloween event every year with the county. We shut down Pacific Avenue, we give all the kids in the neighborhood bouncy houses, pick a pain, pumpkins. You did this year um live art for them as well.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

Yeah, I brought I brought two of my students to do workshops. They love it. My son loves the other one um comic guy there. Yes, yes, yes. Your son really enjoyed that. He enjoyed that. Yeah, we took him away from the video game and he made real art, you know.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

He made real art and maybe still draws every day. Um we do cornhole tournaments with the police, the firemen, other non-for-profits, the veterans event we do every year. So, you know, a lot of our stuff are community-based um events, Oktoberfest, you know. Right, right. Whatever event you can think of, we do there.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

You know, we're gonna talk about a little bit of the artist edition, but I want to begin with uh the old people free. I want to thank you for helping. You know, this is one of my causes. Here's the shirt, and here's the can. Um, the old people free, it is an important humanitarian cause uh dealing with modern-day slavery. You know, we talked about this before. There's 50 million and plus people uh involving modern-day slavery, more slaves today than ever. And and 40%, which is involved 40 million and plus, are connected into making bricks. So we create a project between art, film, and obviously, you you just were so gracious to come up with this edition, which I did a post this week, by the way. We have about a thousand likes already. Everybody's going crazy with the post, and apparently we ran out of the product. Okay. We're gonna have to do another edition. We'll get another edition going for you very soon. Yeah, yeah. So I want to thank you because it's incredible. You know, I feel then when you work, just in my case, we have here another 70 artists, then we we just did an edition. Um, but you really care. And now it is meaningful. Isn't that some people what do I mean by that? Some people sometimes they they just they're just doing something for the sake of the brand, but now here's uh uh integrity and meaning of love. We'll have the liberty.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Stuart. Stuart for Pacific Fleet, one of the OGs for the neighborhood, you know. Guy was here before it was anything this neighborhood and trying to, you know, try to unfortunately he moved out recently, but you know, he was here trying to make this neighborhood something, and we're gonna make it something for him.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

He did he did the most amazing, right? Flea market events here, right? Exactly. We'll have also here.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

So Will? Will Will okay? What else can you say about Will? He's just a great artist, an unbelievable artist.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Yeah, we'll we'll work with a lot of events last year and um in um Libre Art District, Educational Murals. Let me see another one here. We have um what it is, what is Amir Amir Free Mind. Free Mind. Amir's the Amir's the Free Mind. Okay, so now you guys know. Uh so here's great. It's like a political discourse, and you you see it, you see what it is. It's amazing. I love that. Um, what else we have here? We have this tour with that no must start. Must art, must art. We just I just did a recent interview with Family. I love his art, and again, beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Again, he's the first one we started with with Art on Tap. He's the one who brought the idea to us. We ran with it. It was a great live art experience I did with him. So we're gonna bring more of that to the neighborhood here.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

Amazing. Then we have what else we have here. Let me see another artist here. We got uh uh uh uh Clarence. Clarence Clarence.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

We got we got uh Cheryl.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

We got Cheryl Amazing the Tiger here.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

We got Greg.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

We got Greg Brick, a good friend, a guy being dumb uh about um um Jersey City landscape writer artist being here in the neighborhood more 30 years. Amazing, amazing edition. So we still have some of that stuff available.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

We still have a handful of them left, you know. Yours is almost out, distorts is out, more start have a couple left, will have a couple left, but there's a few more that's hanging around there.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

And what about Libert R District?

SPEAKER_00 12:54

That's we got definitely have Liberty Art District. You're still there. That's always gonna be around.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

We will, we're gonna. And then all we should do is should put the soccer balls in Libert R District. That'd be good, yeah. What do you think? I have an idea. We'll talk about this later. We will, we will. Um yeah, thank you. I mean, this is amazing. Um, it's like thinking about connecting community, I think makes the whole experience special, right? Um thank you. You're being like a great help. It's it's great to talking to you, and uh every time uh I'm I'm thinking about what we're gonna do ahead, I want to say that because Amir, you then we created a LibreArt District, right? You were the one of the co-founders of this entire vision. We've been working in the LibreArt C for a year now. What do you think? I mean, you'll be in the neighborhood, what do you think has happened and where you want to go with this? What do you what is the hope here?

SPEAKER_00 13:59

So I you know, this whole neighborhood from day one I came here, eight years, more than eight years ago, when we were doing our build-out, was about community. Um, Kevin Four Leary's Al and um Rhea from Harry's daughter came to my Palletti Board meeting and spoke on our behalf and talked about we need the brewery here in our neighborhood, bringing everything together. Um and this Libid Art District, this little foundation has kind of solidified that what we we were already doing in the neighborhood, made it a real thing, made us all connect in a way that we're all bringing everybody together at some point, you know, and we're gonna bring everybody and we all help each other to flourish and make this a better business for each other, better, better neighborhood for everybody. You know, we have great local leaders in this neighborhood that are trying to help us to develop this neighborhood as well. So it's it's a great neighborhood.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

Yeah, I want to thank you also. We connect about two years ago when I came with the celebration of the 10-year anniversary of JCY Map. We did right here on on uh it was two years ago already? Yeah, it's gonna be two years. We're going to last year was 11. This year's gonna be 12. It's yeah, we're going two years now. And we had an amazing celebration, and you guys, you came and he sponsored pizza, and then then from Cine Lee's and Mike brought coffee and Amir Call Other People. So it's all about neighborhood. I feel like we created an incredible event. We closed the street and we did a huge three-day event. Um, you help us to bring some beverages for the adults, for the parents, you know, which is important too, right? What when we do the closing, we want people to have a good time responsibly. But um, you know, what we do is after we finish a mural every year, we we we present the documentary and we bring the family, the friends, the parents, right? Because it's about community. And it I mean, I could not wish a better place for the 10th anniversary happening so organically, and since that time, we start working and getting organized in the in the Libert Art District. So, um, what do you think is the opportunity this year?

SPEAKER_00 16:26

I think our big opportunities this year for the neighborhood, definitely the World Cup. Um, you know, what else we got going on around here? All little all little events. But this is you know, bringing the arts together, bringing everybody together. The World Cup is gonna be the big one. I think the 250 year for the um for this country is gonna be a big thing. Fourth of July is gonna be huge. Right. Um, we gotta plan out something big for the neighborhood for Fourth of July. Agree. Um, World Cup is obviously the biggest one you gotta do.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Well, no, just for because far for July, the other events, they're always gonna be here. Uh the World Cup, I think is very special. I mean, I was talking to a lot of guests today, and I know you know what I'm gonna say. Jersey City is being a place of creativity and innovation in many different ways. There's incredible artists that came out of here, incredible who have incredible beer, incredible food. So Jersey City is being this place where art happens, and I mean, food is art. Craft beer is in a way an artistic approach as well. So um the woke up is coming right here to our neighborhood, and the finals are gonna be here. So, I mean, we gotta get ready for this. I hope, Don, we can organize some real events then and can connect the streets with some events in in places. And I think Daniel Chu is one of the places we're gonna highlight. We're gonna highlight we are now negotiating to do a mural about the World Cup, and eventually we'll be able to put this together. So we have a very unique.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

We're gonna ask some activations with for the kids, you know.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

You know, you know, balls, games.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

Yeah, we have we're beer, it's 21 and over to drink our beer, but we're about the neighborhood about the kids, and that's right, you know, right what parents have a good time, and with the kids have a good time.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

But those can have their own refreshing beer, but also trucks with foods and cultural diversity, but also games for kids and you know, watching games in a very relaxing and interactive way. Correct. No, we just don't want to do, I think, um, watch parties, right? See here, watch a game, drink, and eat and go home. No. No, we want to create activities, we want to create an experience, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:40

We want to see the kids kicking the soccer ball in in the parking lot. We want kids playing the video games, FIFA games in the brewery on TVs. You know, we want to have all that going on for the kids and for the neighborhood.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

Yeah, I love that. We should bring the video games, right? A whole video game with soccer and things.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

EA Sports. Let's get them down here and let them do FIFA games at the brewery outside. Get a nice trailer outside, have the kids playing outside, you know, and kicking some soccer balls out there as well. More important, get them on the video games and outside playing soccer.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

I mean, kicking the ball. You know, the game that we saw last year that you're kicking the ball, you guys score. Yeah. I was playing that game myself. I'm a Brazilian, though, I couldn't help. You probably didn't get many goals, did you? It's like, yeah, I got some, man. I got some, you know. I retired, but I'm still kind of good, you know. But listen, uh, what I want to say is um uh in closing, what do you what do you what do you think about how technology has played an important um it has been technology, means technology around beer and distribution. How's that has impact the beer industry?

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Oh, it's definitely impact the beer industry. Um time putting out beer, taking beer from the brew house to the fermenters and out to get the customers uh increases speed and time. Um lagers, obviously the word lagering means time that the logs beer sits there, loggers for overtime. Um the IPAs now, we put our IPAs out within two weeks after after brewing. Our loggers don't sit there for six weeks. We make sure my brewer does not want to make sure they don't move out off our tanks. They like the he like he's old school, likes it lagering. But our IPAs, we can put them out there in two weeks. That's technology. The way they get the move, you know, the science behind all of it. Just get it out there uh and back out to the customers.

SPEAKER_01 20:39

Do you still doing tours? Like at one point you did like people go, you explain how the beer is made and all of that.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

By request with the tours. Um it was mandatory by the state a few years ago. Um, we stopped the mandate, it was was taken back by the state because people didn't want it anymore. Um, but if someone will request it, we will do a tour and you know, my my brother will love to talk about beer.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Yeah, I did a lot of tours. Like, I want to know the process and then like the same way you go visit vineyards. I did a lot when the one was like crap beer because I think there's each one does a signature thing, and it I think it's important to learn. Just like you learn great food, you want to learn about a great drink, you know.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

Exactly. You want to know the process. You know, it's again, it's it's a for us is a time consumer process. It's time. It's six weeks. Beer sits there for six weeks while fermenting and the alcohol builds up, and everything happening. Um, you know, it's all about time.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

Yeah. Uh uh love labor. Um would you tell me a little bit about how works the the distribution industry in New Jersey, countrywide? Is it easy to move the product around the country? How how does it work?

SPEAKER_00 21:53

No, no, unfortunately, it's not easy to move around the country. You have to have a different license in every state of the union. Um So we have a New Jersey license. Um, we are trying to get multiple other states right now. Um, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington State, where it's Washington State, I think. Yeah, Washington State. We're working on that to get all people free out there. Um, but every state you need a different licensing. So it's not easy, even though we have a federal license um from TTB, you still each state you still need a distribution license. And you might need some states you need to have a facility there, some states you don't need a facility there. Every state has their own law laws, unfortunately. So there's not one general law for all states.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

So it might work with one, the other one that doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

What happens with Delaware doesn't happen with Pennsylvania. What happens in New York doesn't happen in, you know, West Virginia.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

I get it. You're gonna be this year again with the um Expo, the Film Expo in New Jersey.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

Film Expo at the old arena. Um it was great. With Dan from Cinder Lease has us done every year. We put out a signature beer for them as well for that event. And it's a great time. It's an important thing for the community for New Jersey to have that film industry here. We've done custom cans for a handful of films. I don't want to say TV shows films, which ones they are, because I don't know if we'll have to say which ones they are.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

Right, right. We we have well to just tap into a little bit of that, I think the combination is we know Governor Murphy was our former governor. Correct. One of the great things he did, he approved the greatest loss, incentive loss to bring the film industry to New Jersey. And and since then, hey, we have a visitor here. What do you want? Hello, my friend. Hello, you back here, huh? So, um, so what happens is um with those laws, you know, we activate the the real Hollywood, Netflix, uh the heavy duty guys on the industry. And but I think what's amazing is there'll be an event that you're doing with incredible local beer, and they serve the food also that is creating New Jersey. So it's like really highlighting food, great beverage, and a great experience with film, right?

SPEAKER_00 24:26

The Film Expo Def definitely does. It has a bunch of different local artists, um, food artists, and we have obviously our craft beer there. He bring, you know, Dave from Santa Luise is big in bringing everybody from the community to all his events. That's why he's a big impact on the Liberty Art District with us and helping that thing get get forward there. Mike from the grind is gonna be there. Um I'll be there. There's another handful of our you know, different restaurants in the from the area that he works with that will uh also be there. You know, it's it's about New Jersey. It's about New Jersey, Hudson County. Um Seacork is might be Bergen County, I think. Still. Yeah. But it's about Hudson and Bernie. Yeah, this is gonna be other yes.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

It is about New Jersey.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

It's about New Jersey for the most part, but then it's about Hudson County.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

So yeah, but the film industry tells the entire state. Is that about mainly probably is mainly located in Hudson County?

SPEAKER_00 25:25

Yep, yep. Again, we got the new studios coming in Bayonne.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Yeah, we'll have studios in Jersey City, you know, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 25:32

Then we've got to go come down Newark as well.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

So yeah, there's the one in Newark, one in Bayonne, and Dan runs the big one right here in Jersey City.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Right, George City. We're gonna hopefully have some more studios in Jersey City as well.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

It's great, it's great for the neighborhood, it's great for the industry.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

Hey Don, thank you so much, bro. I really appreciate it. And if you're looking for a great time, if you're looking at a place to do a party or a celebration 902, and this is the best beer with the best package here. Cheers, my friend. Cheers. To be continued. Thank you guys for watching another great episode of Culture Shift with Duda Pinchado the Archivist. And you know what I'm gonna say to you to be continued, there's a lot more to come. Hasta la vista, baby.