Yankee Brew News Archive

What's Brewing: Connecticut

Originally Published: 10/96

By: Gregg Glaser

Hammer & Nail Brewers of Connecticut, in Oakville, a micro, began bottling their Brown Ale and Vienna Lager last September. Twelve-ounce bottles are available. The brewery has also expanded distribution into Rhode Island, says partner Peter Hammer.

Farmington River Brewing Company, in Bloomfield, has added a new beer to its line, Nut Brown Ale, a sweetish ale brewed with Centennial hops by owner/brewer Bill Hodkin. The two other beers produced by the 15-barrel micro are Mahogany Ale (an ESB), and a hoppy Blonde Ale.

Ted Steen, Head Brewer and partner at the long-awaited Bank Street Brewing Company, a Stamford brewpub, reported in early August that finishing touches were being made at the restaurant. A late August or early September opening was expected. The 14-barrel brewhouse was designed by Pugsley Brewing Projects.

The Willimantic Brewing Company, in Willimantic, is busy renovating a 1910-era Post Office as a seven-barrel brewpub. A late October opening is planned, according to owners David and Cindy Wollner.

Essex Brewing Company, in Niantic, received its financing and SBA loan last August, and construction began on the 25-barrel micro. Partner Steven Pietryk says that the Essex beers will be named S.G. Hooker, after a fictional character created by him and his partners.

The New England Brewing Company, in South Norwalk, a micro attached to The Brewhouse Restaurant, has added three new bottled beers to its line: American Wheat, Raspberry Wheat and Oktoberfest/Märzen. The new Head Brewer at New England Brewing is former Assistant Brewer, Brant Wutzl. Former Head Brewer, Keith Symonds, left last summer to brew at the Westchester Brewing Company, a new brewpub in White Plains, New York.

Elm City Brewing Company, a micro and brewpub (The Brewery Restaurant) in New Haven, also has new brewers. Former head brewer, Ron Page, has moved to Easy Flow Brewing Systems, Inc. (see below). His assistants, Doug Hamm and Scott Morrison, now share the title of co-Head Brewer. Elm City has reduced its bottled product line.

Elm City Connecticut Ale is bottled by F.X. Matt in Utica, New York, and Blackwell Stout may reappear in bottles this fall. Mr. Mike's Light is being considered as a canned product, and the brewery may bottle their seasonal specials in limited runs. Elm City's specials for the autumn are Indian Summer Ale and Harvest Ale.

The Alewife Grille and Brewery, a seven-barrel Pugsley-designed brewpub in Glastonbury, now offers live acoustic music on Friday nights, and the occasional cigar dinner. In late October, Alewife will present a Winterfest party to introduce the Head Brewer J.J. Ramos' Winter Ale. The party will include a BBQ and a live band. In November, Alewife will host a homwww.ebrew.competition.

Blue Sun Brewing Company, in Danbury, is a start-up contract brewer. The company's founder and president, Rob Kriauciunas, has a background is advertising copywriting, package design and marketing research. He's also a homebrewer. Brewer for Blue Sun is Jack Owens, former Head Brewer at Dubuque Brewing, a micro and brewpub consultant and a graduate of the UC Davis Fermentation Science program. Other members of the team at Blue Sun include an investment banker, a business consultant and the partners of a design agency.

Kriauciunas plans to market Blue Sun Ale, "between a pale ale and a brown ale; on the malty sweet side," in the spring or summer of 1997. The beer will be packaged in cobalt blue bottles.

"Who honestly needs another mediocre beer with an animal or schooner ship on the label?," says Kriauciunas. "These are tired images that have been done to death. Our mission is to make outstanding beer and to present it in a timeless and exciting way." Why the name, Blue Sun?

According to the company's Web page (www.bluesun.com), "The Sun is not a cliché; it is timeless and powerful. A Blue Sun is the biggest, hottest and brightest burning star in the heavens and embodied what we are trying to accomplish."

Last summer Blue Sun was completing a $100,000.00 bridge financing before making a $1 million Direct Public Offering in Connecticut.

A new brewpub, the Post Road Brewing Company, was slated to open in Waterford on Labor Day Weekend. The owners are Doug Scott and Hugh Sokolski, both mechanical engineers, who fabricated the 7-barrel brewhouse themselves. Head Brewer is John Jaynes, formerly of the Modern Brewer in Massachusetts.

The 150-seat brewpub plans to brew ales: a Golden, Brown and Raspberry Wheat, to be followed by an IPA, ESB and a Porter. The menu is described as "modern casual."

Easy Flow Brewing Systems, Inc., in Branford, is a Connecticut company specializing in designing, fabricating and installing micros and brewpubs. Owner Bill Reeves says that Easy Flow has installed partial or complete systems in North Carolina, in Vermont for Jasper Murdoch's Brewhouse and in Connecticut for Elm City Brewing. Easy Flow will also design, build and install the brewhouse for Connecticut's Willimantic Brewing Company.

Future plans for Easy Flow include their own chain of brewpubs. Director of Brewing Services at Easy Flow is Ron Page, former head brewer at New Haven's Elm City Brewing, original co-Head Brewer at Norwalk's New England Brewing and many times New England Homebrewer of the Year.

In the "Perhaps But Not Yet" department: Jeff Conley of Fairfield has the financing but not the space for his Horse Tavern Brewing Company, a brewpub. Jeff reports that he's finding it tough to convince landlords that leasing space to a brewpub is a good idea.

Phil Hopkins, owner of the Hartford Brewing Company, a brewpub, is still on track to open a brewpub in New Haven called the Pound Sterling Brewery. Lawrence Berkman has plans to open the Adventure Brewing Company in the Bridgeport area.

The Brew House LLC, the parent company of the John Harvard brewpub chain, has long been rumored to have taken a lease on a building in Westport, but the official word from The Brew House is, "No comment."

Finally, talk on the street is that a brewpub may open in Wallingford, to be owned by a seasoned player in the Connecticut craft brewing scene.

Page 4 CT Column - August 1, 1996 Deadline