NORWICH - The empty warehouse room in which Jason Vincent is standing doesn't look like much now. Large pieces of metal equipment secured in bubble wrap line one side of the wall and old filing cabinets are on the other.

The barren room is in transition from the former offices of The Bulletin at 66 Franklin St. to a future brewery and taproom of craft beer company, Epicure Brewing, run by Vincent and five other co-owners.

He and his partners have been working since 2011 to develop their own retail and manufacturing space for beer in Downtown Norwich. Epicure Brewing signed a lease for 40 Franklin St. on April 12.

The Epicure Brewing team is entering the craft beer industry at an interesting time.

The craft beer market has exploded in the past few years, but in Eastern Connecticut the industry has been slower to take root.

“From 2011 to 2014, we were getting familiar with the industry, recognizing the trends in our area and seeing it wasn’t in our neighborhood,” Vincent said.

Nationally, the craft beer industry has caught fire in the past six years. In 2011, there were just 1,595 operating craft brewers. In 2015, that number has jumped to 4,269, according to the Brewers Association, the trade group representing the industry.

On the state level, craft beer is doing well. Connecticut ranks 32nd nationally for having 35 operating craft breweries as of 2015, with more planned for this year.

Along the shoreline, such breweries as The Beer’d Brewing in Stonington and Outer Light in Groton are gaining popularity. In Willimantic, the Willimantic Brewing Company has moved to larger buildings twice since the 1990s. The majority of breweries, however, are in the central and western parts of Connecticut

But new reports in June from CBS News say the incredible growth of the industry is about to go flat. As of 2016, craft beer sales are up just 6 percent, compared to the 18 percent sales growth in 2014.

Despite those numbers, industry experts say the market is continuing to grow.

“For the past decade, craft brewers have charged into the market, seeing double digit growth for eight of those years,” Bart Watson, chief economist of Brewers Association, said in a March report from the organization. “There are still a lot of opportunities and areas for additional growth. An important focus will remain on quality as small and independent brewers continue to lead the local, full-flavored beer movement.”

Local brewers say Eastern Connecticut is ready to become a future player in the craft beer industry.

Vincent said the market is strong enough that he and his partners are willing to take that gamble.

“We believe there is enough demand within the market here for multiple breweries in the Norwich market alone to provide people with fresh, locally sourced beer,” Vincent said.

Many beer drinkers no longer want the simple taste of Budweiser and are seeking more complex flavors in their beverage, Vincent said.

“Beer is becoming a connoisseur item. It's following a trend that wine followed decades ago. You’re now seeing beer in the store for $20 a bottle. As people's palates are getting introduced to these new tastes, their demand for these new flavors goes up. They're always looking for something on the interesting side of the spectrum,” Vincent said of the growth.

While there may be a decrease in market growth nationally and globally, Vincent said smaller businesses like his and other local breweries are less vulnerable to those market forces.

Rebecca Alberts, head brewer and co-owner of These Guys Brewing in downtown Norwich, said in the year they’ve been in business, the community has been welcoming and shows how residents in Eastern Connecticut are thirsty for more beer.

"Overall Norwich has been very welcoming, very receiving and there’s been a real demand for craft beer,” Alberts said. “There's not a whole lot of focus on it in the area in general. Once you have a dedicated craft bar that makes their own beer it's just a win-win for the city for all the people that like good beer.”

Why, then, if there is such an interest in the beer, are entrepreneurs slow to respond to the need?

Mike Teed, who co-owns Black Pond Brews in Danielson with Cory Smith, said part of the reason is a lack of industrialized zoning in this region.

“There are not as many industrialized zones in the area like there are in Hartford. It makes it harder for us. But there’s untapped potential with the closed down mills in the area and people are starting to pay attention. There’s a lot more growth possible,” he said.

Brandon Swan, director of marketing for These Guys, thinks the slow response follows the trend of business development in general.

"This side of the state, this area, isn’t exactly the most fertile for young businesses,” he said.

Alberts agreed and added it’s just the mindset people have toward the region.

“If you think about where you go out to eat and have a good dinner, you go to Hartford, Glastonbury, Mystic, Old Saybrook, New Haven, you don’t think possibly Norwich, Connecticut. But it's there. The hidden gems are all over the state. You just have to find them,” she said.

It’s a big demand, with just a few businesses responding to it. So it would be expected that local brewers like These Guys and Black Pond Brews would want to keep the number of craft brewers low. But, they say more brewers would be better for them.

“When there are more breweries clustered together it’s actually better for everyone,” Teed said. “It’s harder for us because we are in the middle of nowhere in Northeastern Connecticut.”

Organizations such as Connecticut Beer Trail organize events and tours that bring patrons to different breweries for tours and tastings.

The Beer Trail personalizes tours and stops at four to five different brewery tours and tastings in each trip. Without other neighboring breweries, it's much less likely that type of business will come out of their way to try one brewery, Teed said.

“We have people saying if there was another brewery nearby they would be coming to the area more often,” he said.

Brewers say the beer is reflective of Connecticut’s unique tastes and they hope consumers will make the trip to try what they have to offer.



"As a consumer if you want to support a Connecticut-made product, you can come to my place and support it. That's what we are. This is our tastes that we like here that may be different from other parts of the country. That's what people travel for. That's why we travel. We want to take the flavors that we like and share them in our environment," Vincent said.

Eastern Connecticut breweries such as Black Pond, These Guys and the future Epicure Brewing are paving the way for others.

Kayla Trant is working with her husband, Jason Trant, and brother-in-law Matt Trant to open Bear Hands Brewing in Plainfield, a future brewery and taproom. They plan to lease 26 Railroad Ave. in downtown Plainfield.

Kayla Trant said her husband has been working as a brewer for a decade.

"In a 20-mile radius around Plainfield there's nothing really around," she said. "As far as Plainfield most of the people we've found are spending their extra funds on entertainment. Hopefully we can provide that entertainment with beer," she said. "People don't realize that a craft beer drinker will travel for good beer. If we can start bringing more people to the Eastern Connecticut, we can get it considered a craft beer area."