From Garage To Brewery: Lacey's Backward Flag Celebrates 5 Years

LACEY, NJ — The backward flag, found on the right shoulder of military uniforms, symbolizes the message of always moving forward and never retreating. Even before founding the Backward Flag Brewing Co. five years ago, Torie Fisher did just that.

The veteran-owned, women-owned brewery will celebrate its five-year anniversary from 12-10 p.m. Saturday (click here for event details). At the event, the American Legion will present Backward Flag with its veteran-owned small business award, Fisher said.

Backward Flag has come a long way in the past few years, going from a passion project in a garage to a notable brewery.

Fisher served in the U.S. Army for 13 years and began brewing out of her garage — about 5 gallons at a time. She decided to turn her passion into a business.

"I was still actively serving in the military with no professional background in beer," Fisher told Patch. "It was a hobby at home, and it was something that I developed more of a passion for over time."

Converting her passion into a business took plenty of reading, research and outreach to breweries and an entrepreneurial organization for veterans. She also achieved her Cicerone Certification, which verified beer professionals.

When Fisher founded Backward Flag, the establishment looked different than it does now. They could only make a couple barrels of beer at the time. Their tap room was small, and they didn't distribute at all outside their premises.

Related article: Lacey's Backward Flag Brewing Featured On Fox & Friends

Now Backward Flag uses a 10-barrel system, allowing them to make 410 gallons of beer at a time. They also distribute to restaurants and retailers throughout New Jersey.

But their biggest change has been their focus on veteran outreach, Fisher says. She combines Backward Flag with her nonprofit, Arms 2 Artisans, which helps veterans transition to post-service life through an artisan-skills program. Additionally, most of the staff are either veterans or family of vets.

The outreach efforts extend to Backward Flag's anniversary celebration, where they invite other veteran's organizations.

"Every year at our anniversary party, we make it more about other people than about us," Fisher said.

They wanted to make the celebration bigger for their five-year anniversary. Then the pandemic hit. The lockdown made things difficult for Backward Flag at first because they often ran events and brought people into their tap room.

Then Backward Flag started canning more beers and offered curbside and delivery service.

"Even when we were doing curbside and delivery, we had some people who were purchasing a good amount of beer almost weekly," Fisher said. "We kind of know that they don’t really need that much beer, but they were doing it to support us. We definitely appreciate it."

Once New Jersey allowed them to host people outdoors, the business got back on track. Although the celebration won't be bigger, it will be largely the same, with beer, entertainment and veteran outreach.

And in 2020, maintaining tradition is something to feel proud of.

"(Each year) we’ll give donations to organizations that we support," Fisher said. "This year, it’s not really going to be any different."

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