FBD
01-30-2015, 03:46 PM
LEEANNE GRIFFIN
1:00 am, January 30, 2015
A top-rated beer has been selling so briskly at local bars that bartenders can practically time the emptying of a keg with a stopwatch.
The unlikely star brew, with an adorably memorable moniker, is produced right here in Connecticut. New England Brewing Company's Fuzzy Baby Ducks, a single-hop IPA, has created such a stir at local watering holes that drinkers plan their evenings and weekends around its availability — because they know it won't be around long.
"There's really only a handful of products that sort of draw like this," said Max Restaurant Group beverage director Brian Mitchell. "These beers have a cult following; people will do funny things to get them."
The Woodbridge brewers produce the beer about twice a year. It's not sold in liquor stores; it's only available at the brewery and at select restaurants and bars. And those venues that get the beer know to expect a surge of drinkers thirsty for the limited-time offering. The most recent release went to bars and restaurants in late November and early December.
"It was a phenomenon," said Westbrook Lobster owner Michael Lariviere, whose Wallingford restaurant is a newer carrier of the beer. Because of that, he says he promoted the December release widely in-house and on the restaurant's social media accounts, more so than other restaurants had done. On the night of the tapping, the bar was so crowded, patrons could barely move, he said. "We kicked the half barrel, 145 beers, in 25 minutes [with 16-ounce pours.] It was crazy."
"We basically opened the tap up and it was gone as fast as you can pour it," said Doug Kelly, managing partner of Max Burger in West Hartford, where Fuzzy Baby Ducks was sold in 12-ounce pours. The first time the restaurant sold the beer, a "log" (5.16 gallons) was gone in 9 minutes. In December, a half-barrel (15.5 gallons) was gone in just under an hour. "For a barrel to kick in 57 minutes, it's incredible."
What's driven the insatiable demand for this beer and others like it?
"I wish I knew," said New England Brewing's head brewer Matt Westfall. "We never really expected or intended for that type of response. We just wanted to make beer that we wanted to drink."
New England Brewing first brewed the IPA, described on its website as having a "juicy resinous orangey hop flavor," in 2012. Westfall said one of the brewery's hops vendors had a little extra supply of the citra hops used in the beer, enough to do one batch. It was well-received, he said, and "I would get a ton of emails asking when I would make it next."
And then the beer earned a perfect 100 points on BeerAdvocate.com, a popular beer ratings site. "I'm sure that helped," Westfall said.
Social media has played a significant role in demand for craft beer in general, bar managers agree. "[It's] huge. It's able to hit the right places and the right forums. Instagram is more of an avenue at some points than Facebook," said Rocco Lamonica, general manager of Eli Cannon's in Middletown. Beer drinkers also share their finds through Untappd, a social network where users "check in" at locations and tell friends what they're drinking.
It makes everything "instantaneous," says Kelly. "If I put out a tweet today about some obscure beer, I'll have someone in here 15-20 minutes later asking for it."
When J. Timothy's received its most recent Fuzzy Baby Ducks order, the Plainville restaurant's craft beer and social media coordinator Nikki Vinci sent one tweet on the day the beer was tapped, she said, and "then the place was packed." In one day's time, the bar sold 400 glasses of New England Brewing beer, "[Fuzzy] is a great beer," Vinci said, but noted that many more of the brewery's offerings are of the same quality. J. Timothy's has two tap lines dedicated to the Woodbridge beer.
'White Whale' Beers
Even after New England Brewing moved to a considerably larger brewing facility in late 2013, fans still lined up for hours to buy growlers and bottles of its limited-edition beers. This demand for production is tough on its small staff, Westfall said. "I think one of our goals is to get these popular beers to be brewed more regularly so people aren't waiting in line [at the brewery] three hours…We're brewing twice a day, 5 days a week, once on Saturdays. It's difficult to really do in it a matter in that we're providing great service for our customers."
The concept of "white whale" beers — highly-rated products in scarce supply and tremendous demand — is hardly new to fans. While it's still somewhat new to Connecticut, some veteran beer lovers have grown weary of the hype. Chris Krieger, 32, of Bristol, says he's "absolutely" sick of the push for rare beers but "[I] also think it's a necessary evil. The beer industry is exploding right now. This is at least partly because of hype and demand."
Krieger, who works in lending operations for a credit union, moved to Connecticut eight years ago and has seen the beer scene grow in leaps and bounds in that time, he said. The state has welcomed a rush of new breweries over the past several years, from Enfield to Stamford. And while Fuzzy Baby Ducks has created unprecedented demand at bars, beer fans are also lining up for special releases from other Connecticut operations producing unique offerings – small-batch double IPAs, sours, stouts. Krieger says he's excited about upcoming rare releases from Beer'd in Stonington, OEC in Oxford, Relic in Plainville and Thomas Hooker in Bloomfield.
Lamonica has worked at Eli Cannon's for seven years, and agrees that the explosion of craft beer's popularity in Connecticut is a newer trend.
"These last one-and-a-half, two, years, it has been on a different level in the state. Everybody from a 21-year-old to a 50-year-old is drinking craft beer instead of Bud Light."
The beer bar, about to mark 21 years in business, used to have a solid 35-50 age demographic. But craft beer has even changed that.
"Now it's 25-50. We didn't lose the older crowd; we just gained 10 years of a younger crowd," Lamonica said. The staff plans to update its line of apparel to reflect its newer audience.
Eli Cannon's 36 taps rotate frequently, and customers know that, Lamonica said, so they're always looking for the latest offerings. The staff tries hard to keep up with the most current version of the list, posting updates to the restaurant's app, its Facebook page and its account on beermenus.com. "We do our best," he said, but there still is that crazed 'What's on [now], I didn't see your tap list today.' People want to know at 10 a.m. what our tap list is, so they can plan their night. The beer is the focus from what we've seen. [Customers are thinking,] 'I'll go where this beer is, and then I'll eat.'"
That desire has even influenced Eli's philosophy with food, with a new menu rolling out early this year.
"It's going to be very centered on craft beer," he said. "The craft beer lover now also wants good food. They're no longer OK with frozen French fries. [They're] into local farmers' markets, all that kind of stuff. Awesome food, everything fresh."
1:00 am, January 30, 2015
A top-rated beer has been selling so briskly at local bars that bartenders can practically time the emptying of a keg with a stopwatch.
The unlikely star brew, with an adorably memorable moniker, is produced right here in Connecticut. New England Brewing Company's Fuzzy Baby Ducks, a single-hop IPA, has created such a stir at local watering holes that drinkers plan their evenings and weekends around its availability — because they know it won't be around long.
"There's really only a handful of products that sort of draw like this," said Max Restaurant Group beverage director Brian Mitchell. "These beers have a cult following; people will do funny things to get them."
The Woodbridge brewers produce the beer about twice a year. It's not sold in liquor stores; it's only available at the brewery and at select restaurants and bars. And those venues that get the beer know to expect a surge of drinkers thirsty for the limited-time offering. The most recent release went to bars and restaurants in late November and early December.
"It was a phenomenon," said Westbrook Lobster owner Michael Lariviere, whose Wallingford restaurant is a newer carrier of the beer. Because of that, he says he promoted the December release widely in-house and on the restaurant's social media accounts, more so than other restaurants had done. On the night of the tapping, the bar was so crowded, patrons could barely move, he said. "We kicked the half barrel, 145 beers, in 25 minutes [with 16-ounce pours.] It was crazy."
"We basically opened the tap up and it was gone as fast as you can pour it," said Doug Kelly, managing partner of Max Burger in West Hartford, where Fuzzy Baby Ducks was sold in 12-ounce pours. The first time the restaurant sold the beer, a "log" (5.16 gallons) was gone in 9 minutes. In December, a half-barrel (15.5 gallons) was gone in just under an hour. "For a barrel to kick in 57 minutes, it's incredible."
What's driven the insatiable demand for this beer and others like it?
"I wish I knew," said New England Brewing's head brewer Matt Westfall. "We never really expected or intended for that type of response. We just wanted to make beer that we wanted to drink."
New England Brewing first brewed the IPA, described on its website as having a "juicy resinous orangey hop flavor," in 2012. Westfall said one of the brewery's hops vendors had a little extra supply of the citra hops used in the beer, enough to do one batch. It was well-received, he said, and "I would get a ton of emails asking when I would make it next."
And then the beer earned a perfect 100 points on BeerAdvocate.com, a popular beer ratings site. "I'm sure that helped," Westfall said.
Social media has played a significant role in demand for craft beer in general, bar managers agree. "[It's] huge. It's able to hit the right places and the right forums. Instagram is more of an avenue at some points than Facebook," said Rocco Lamonica, general manager of Eli Cannon's in Middletown. Beer drinkers also share their finds through Untappd, a social network where users "check in" at locations and tell friends what they're drinking.
It makes everything "instantaneous," says Kelly. "If I put out a tweet today about some obscure beer, I'll have someone in here 15-20 minutes later asking for it."
When J. Timothy's received its most recent Fuzzy Baby Ducks order, the Plainville restaurant's craft beer and social media coordinator Nikki Vinci sent one tweet on the day the beer was tapped, she said, and "then the place was packed." In one day's time, the bar sold 400 glasses of New England Brewing beer, "[Fuzzy] is a great beer," Vinci said, but noted that many more of the brewery's offerings are of the same quality. J. Timothy's has two tap lines dedicated to the Woodbridge beer.
'White Whale' Beers
Even after New England Brewing moved to a considerably larger brewing facility in late 2013, fans still lined up for hours to buy growlers and bottles of its limited-edition beers. This demand for production is tough on its small staff, Westfall said. "I think one of our goals is to get these popular beers to be brewed more regularly so people aren't waiting in line [at the brewery] three hours…We're brewing twice a day, 5 days a week, once on Saturdays. It's difficult to really do in it a matter in that we're providing great service for our customers."
The concept of "white whale" beers — highly-rated products in scarce supply and tremendous demand — is hardly new to fans. While it's still somewhat new to Connecticut, some veteran beer lovers have grown weary of the hype. Chris Krieger, 32, of Bristol, says he's "absolutely" sick of the push for rare beers but "[I] also think it's a necessary evil. The beer industry is exploding right now. This is at least partly because of hype and demand."
Krieger, who works in lending operations for a credit union, moved to Connecticut eight years ago and has seen the beer scene grow in leaps and bounds in that time, he said. The state has welcomed a rush of new breweries over the past several years, from Enfield to Stamford. And while Fuzzy Baby Ducks has created unprecedented demand at bars, beer fans are also lining up for special releases from other Connecticut operations producing unique offerings – small-batch double IPAs, sours, stouts. Krieger says he's excited about upcoming rare releases from Beer'd in Stonington, OEC in Oxford, Relic in Plainville and Thomas Hooker in Bloomfield.
Lamonica has worked at Eli Cannon's for seven years, and agrees that the explosion of craft beer's popularity in Connecticut is a newer trend.
"These last one-and-a-half, two, years, it has been on a different level in the state. Everybody from a 21-year-old to a 50-year-old is drinking craft beer instead of Bud Light."
The beer bar, about to mark 21 years in business, used to have a solid 35-50 age demographic. But craft beer has even changed that.
"Now it's 25-50. We didn't lose the older crowd; we just gained 10 years of a younger crowd," Lamonica said. The staff plans to update its line of apparel to reflect its newer audience.
Eli Cannon's 36 taps rotate frequently, and customers know that, Lamonica said, so they're always looking for the latest offerings. The staff tries hard to keep up with the most current version of the list, posting updates to the restaurant's app, its Facebook page and its account on beermenus.com. "We do our best," he said, but there still is that crazed 'What's on [now], I didn't see your tap list today.' People want to know at 10 a.m. what our tap list is, so they can plan their night. The beer is the focus from what we've seen. [Customers are thinking,] 'I'll go where this beer is, and then I'll eat.'"
That desire has even influenced Eli's philosophy with food, with a new menu rolling out early this year.
"It's going to be very centered on craft beer," he said. "The craft beer lover now also wants good food. They're no longer OK with frozen French fries. [They're] into local farmers' markets, all that kind of stuff. Awesome food, everything fresh."