From her roots in Pennsauken and a lifelong dream of owning a brick-and-mortar business, Megan Hilbert is now brewing the vision into reality.
Starting Aug. 15, Hilbert told What Now Philadelphia, she will take the reins at Eclipse Brewing, a nine-year-old microbrewery located at 25 E. Park Ave. in Merchantville, just next door to her hometown.
Hilbert is no stranger to the hospitality world—she bartended while attending Rowan University, later managed a tequila bar and currently operates three food trucks under the Red’s Rolling Restaurant brand. Now, she’s ready to take on her next chapter.
She’ll be stepping in for Eclipse founders Chris and Beth Mattern, who are retiring after nearly a decade in business.
“Merchantville does a ton of events at what’s called The Triangle and that parking lot is right next to the brewery,” Hilbert said. “I bring the food truck to those events a lot of the time. That’s how I know Chris and Beth, so we’ve created a relationship based on that.”
Hilbert also said she often jogs along the bike path behind the brewery. On one of her runs, she stopped to chat with Chris, who mentioned he was planning to retire—and the rest is history.
The brewery operates out of a two-story building resembling a house. Hilbert plans to keep the same staff and name but will rebrand the logo and update the tasting room and storage areas.
“I am going to completely change the vibe inside. It’s going to be darker with dark blues, charcoal and dark wood. I’m also going to build a bench along the wall and get rid of all the bulky tables,” Hilbert said. “They have an upstairs section that they only use for storage right now but I want to open that up for an event space for people to rent out and then just lounge on days we don’t have events.”
Hilbert plans to bring new artistic touches to the space. She hopes her friend, a muralist, will paint eclipse-inspired artwork inside, featuring the moon, sun and stars to match the brewery’s name.
Additionally, she envisions a community mural on the back of the building, along a side panel facing the bike path. She wants neighbors to help paint it, turning the project into a collaborative effort to bring people together.
Behind the building, the brewery features a beer garden. Hilbert plans to partner with a garden club in Merchantville to help keep the space vibrant, continuing the care Chris put into it.
When it comes to the beer, Hilbert plans to continue serving the existing lineup, including some of her favorites like the blackberry sour, peach mango sour and coconut cream ale garnished with fresh coconut.
She hopes to introduce a create-your-own seltzer option, using a standard seltzer base with a variety of housemade syrups for customers to mix and match. Nonalcoholic beer options are also in the works, and she plans to keep the tradition of offering root beer floats for kids.
“I feel like Eclipse is going to turn into something that’s very different for a brewery,” Hilbert said. “I’m very event-based, so I’m very excited to see where it’ll turn out, how it turns out and what kind of people I attract in here along with the normal brewery-goers.”
Although the ownership transfer takes place Aug. 15, Hilbert said she won’t be able to start brewing until the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control approves her brewer’s license. After that, Eclipse Brewing must legally close for two weeks to discard the existing beer and begin brewing from scratch.
If all goes according to plan, Hilbert hopes to reopen in September.
