Connecticut brews becoming big business







>>Click through for an overview of craft breweries in Connecticut. Pictured: Scott Backun of Stamford enjoys a fresh IPA from Lock City Brewing in July 2017. less Brewing is becoming a big business in Connecticut, creating a $1 billion impact on the state’s economy and drawing attention from the state’s legislative delegation to Washington.

Pictured: Scott Backun of ... more Brewing is becoming a big business in Connecticut, creating a $1 billion impact on the state’s economy and drawing attention from the state’s legislative delegation to Washington. Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 84 Caption Close Connecticut brews becoming big business 1 / 84 Back to Gallery

Brewing is becoming a big business in Connecticut, creating a $1 billion impact on the state’s economy and drawing attention from the state’s legislative delegation to Washington.

The state currently has between 50 and 60 craft brewers, according to Dana Bourque, co-owner of Firefly Hollow Brewing in Bristol and president of the Connecticut Brewers Guild.

“It’s growing so fast that it’s hard to keep track of the exact number,” Borque said Tuesday night during a meeting with U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5, at Alvarium Beer Co. in New Britain.

That kind of growth has been helped out in part by loans that have the backing of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Anne Rice Hunt, the director of SBA’s Connecticut District office, said 30 Connecticut breweries have availed themselves of loans backed by the agency since 2013.

“A lender can make a loan to a brewer that they might not otherwise make because we are taking on the risk,” Hunt said.

Esty’s visit to Alvarium is also illustrative of the industry’s growing clout. Twice during the summer, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., focused his attention on Connecticut’s brewery industry, once visiting a farm that grows hops in Morris and then later with a visit to the Thomas Hooker brewery in Hartford.

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Esty said part of the reason for the growth in Connecticut’s local brewers is that many consumers want what they eat and drink to be as locally sourced as possible.

“There’s a lot that’s going on in the Fifth District alone, whether its in Kent or here,” she said. “People don’t want everything to be cookie cutter anymore.”

Alvarium opened in a former printing facility in June. Two of its founders, Brian Bugnacki and head brewer Chris DeGasero, still work day jobs and work at the brewery in their spare time.

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Bugnacki said that city officials have been very cooperative in helping the brewery get off the ground. But he said Connecticut’s liquor laws have put a crimp in how much Alvarium can sell.

Esty said state and federal laws regarding the brewing and sale of beer should be structured so that they compliment each other rather than conflict.

DeGasero said that even though craft brewers are theoretically competing against each other for customers, there is also a sense of camaraderie.

“It’s a feel good industry,” he said. “Everyone helps everyone else out.”

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com