State brewers weather the storm of the federal shutdown

Aspetuck Brew Lab owner Peter Cowles chats with customers at the micro brewery on Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport, Conn., on Friday March 18, 2016. This is the first brewery to be open in the city in over 70 years. less Aspetuck Brew Lab owner Peter Cowles chats with customers at the micro brewery on Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport, Conn., on Friday March 18, 2016. This is the first brewery to be open in the city in over 70 ... more Photo: Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close State brewers weather the storm of the federal shutdown 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

As the federal shutdown continues for a third week, state brewers are feeling the sting.

“It’s really inconvenient,” said Peter Cowles, owner of Aspetuck Brew Labs in Bridgeport. “Everybody’s in the same boat, whether you’re big or small. It’s super inconvenient and it’s anti small business.”

For brewers like Cowles, who is also a board member for the Connecticut Brewers Guild, debuting a new beer will be on hold until the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is reopened so Aspetuck can submit label artwork for approval.

“Until we get an approved label, we can’t get and register our brand with the State of Connecticut,” Cowles said, adding that every brand that brewers want to sell must be approved by the TTB.

As the shutdown continues, processing time to get label approvals is expected to take 44 days, according to posts on the TTB website. Before the shutdown, Cowles said, the processing time was around 11 days.

Click through the slideshow to see how the federal shutdown is affecting Connecticut. Click through the slideshow to see how the federal shutdown is affecting Connecticut. Photo: Carolyn Kaster / AP Photo: Carolyn Kaster / AP Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close 7 ways the federal shutdown is affecting Connecticut 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

When the final label artwork gets approved and is registered with the state, brewers still have get it produced, which takes up to two weeks for Aspetuck, according to Cowles.

For many brewers, the shutdown has pushed back new beer launch timelines, dealing a blow to many businesses’ bottom line.

“Essentially, we’re not really able to produce anything new and go out and distribute it throughout our channels of distribution unless it has labels of approval,” said Matt Westfall of Counterweight Brewing in Hamden. “So, we are kind of at a place where we are a little bit stagnant with what we are capable of sending out unless it is something that we’ve already produced.”

In the current beer market, consumer demand for new beers is high, which Westfall said makes brewing new beers crucial to ongoing success and relevance in the market.

Brewers that rely on a core line of products that are already approved won’t suffer much, but for Aspetuck, developing new beers on a regular basis has been part of the attraction of Cowles’ brand since he launched it.

Products that Cowles had intended to sell next month won’t make the deadline, forcing the Bridgeport brewer to store his latest batch until the shutdown ends.

“So, I’m sitting on a lot of beer that I can’t sell,” he said. “It’s impeding my cash flow, and it’s impeding my product production process, because now I’m storing that beer and really affecting my projections.”

Aspiring breweries awaiting federal approvals will also have to deal with shutdown consequences.

Since Connecticut’s brewery market burst onto the scene in 2012, the industry has thrived, going from roughly a dozen to, now, 90 breweries statewide with more expected to follow.

“That’s the biggest thing with the shutdown is the startups and how long it will take,” said Bob Chicoine, co-founder of Dockside Brewery, which is expected to open in Milford sometime this year.

For new brewers, he said, it can take up to six months for federal approval to establish their new breweries — but that was before the shutdown.

“I’m sure there is probably a lot going on in terms of everyone starting a brewery,” he said. “I don’t know what a backlog will do, but that affects startups.”

Jordan.grice@hearstmediact.com