Yankee Brew News Archive

What Does Redhook Mean to New England Craft Brewing?: West Coast Presence Signals Change in Market Dynamics

Originally Published: 02/97

By: Brett Peruzzi

The Redhook Ale Brewery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, opened last year, represents the first physical incursion from the West Coast coterie of craft brewers in the decade since the New England beer renaissance began.

West Coast beers have been available in New England for years, but Redhook marks the first time since Anheuser-Busch built a brewery in Merrimack, New Hampshire twenty-five years ago that a brewer based outside of New England has set up shop on our soil. Both the symbolism and business reality of such a move is worthy of consideration by every New England brewer and every drinker and supporter of New England-brewed beer.

In recent months, there's been a lot of competitively-priced Redhook beer on New England liquor store shelves. And, the Seattle brewer's visibility is also high due to its partial ownership by Anheuser-Busch, which gained a lot of press itself due to its media strikes against regional favorite, although contract-brewed, Samuel Adams, as reported in the last issue of Yankee Brew News.

So what's the real significance of this Washington state brewer's New England beachhead? The sheer size and scope of the venture can't be ignored. With a 100-barrel brewhouse in a 155,000 square-foot building sited on 20 acres, Redhook casts a long shadow over the mostly small-scale breweries in the region.. One New England brewer estimated that Redhook could brew more beer annually in Portsmouth than all the New England brewers combined.

Redhook's New Hampshire facility also offers the type of amenities that will no doubt increase its profile for both New England residents and visitors alike. In addition to offering the standard brewery tour, their is also an on-site brewpub, an outdoor beer garden, and a banquet hall for special events.

So why did Redhook come to Portsmouth? Founded in Seattle in 1982, it expanded to a second facility in Woodinville, near Seattle, in 1994. And finally, in 1996, it jumped across the continent to open its third brewery in New Hampshire.

The company offers its own reasons in its press kit, which include the fact that the area is in "close proximity to a large segment of the specialty/import beer drinking population." Translation: lots of potential customers. "Fresh beer is the best beer," the press kits also states, "with a brewery on each coast, consumers are guaranteed beer that is quickly sent into the distribution network."

Anheuser-Busch's 25% ownership stake in Redhook also includes access to the massive A-B distributor network. It's not hard to imagine, therefore, how Redhook has gained rapid and extensive shelf space in the region, a feat that sometimes takes years of effort by smaller regional brewers with fewer resources and alliances.

Also mentioned is a site (at the Pease International Tradeport, at the junction of the Spaulding Turnpike) that "is well located to attract visitors," reinforcing the Redhook marketing theme of consumer education. And finally, in what seems like a somewhat self-ennobling statement, the brewery cites its third reason for the New Hampshire brewery as "New England was the historic ale capital for the United States, and is steeped in brewing tradition."

True enough, but a skeptic might observe that the millions of dollars Redhook has invested here probably have a lot more to do with corporate profits than honoring our regional brewing tradition. With nearly one hundred breweries in the six New England states, our brewing tradition has been increasingly healthy over the past decade.

But this type of growth and competition is the name of the game in the American business world, of which craft brewing is now a part. What ten years ago was the proud, if tiny in volume, product of homebrewers turned professional, is now attracting the attention of Big Money Interests, complete with its attendant stock offerings and takeovers.

Redhook cannot simply be labeled as an evil intruder to New England's brewing scene. They make some decent beers (see review elsewhere in this issue). They follow the Reinheitsgebot. They brew and bend a variety of styles and offer consistent products at affordable prices. What they are is the first outside interest to sink roots in New England since the beer renaissance began, and therefore they have become a natural target on which fiercely loyal New Englanders can focus their ire.

There will probably be more West Coast brewers establishing a physical presence in New England--the industry has been rife with such rumors for many months. The West Coast has enough of a lead on New England that there are quite a few brewing powerhouses, with the reputation and the resources, to attempt an eastward expansion.

New England's success in becoming one of the U.S. centers of craft brewing has attracted attention, and the region is seen as a fertile market for regional brewers looking to establish a nationwide presence, as brewers like Boston Beer and Pete's have already done. A parallel can be drawn with the period beginning in the 1950s, right through the 1970s, when regional U.S. brewers from the mid-West, like Anheuser-Busch and Miller, made their push nationwide.

Like the numerous Wal-Marts that now compete with small store chains and the locally-owned shops of American towns, more brewers "from away," to borrow a Maine phrase, are probably an inevitability for New England craft brewing.