Craft breweries in Upper Valley see strength in numbers

BEER FROM 17 municipalities you have to deal with.”

Additionally, getting the equipment purchased and set up, buying supplies and marketing all require a lot of time.

“It is definitely a full-time job,”Haines said.

When Babson got a job at Magic Hat, he learned to do all aspects of the job from cleaning and filling kegs to brewing and fermentation.

“Brewing beer seems glamorous but you are wet a lot of the time,”Babson said. “You spend a lot of time cleaning; a lot of time with chemicals. It is also mechanical with pumps and hoses and troubleshooting problems. Then there is packaging and distribution.”

Both the New Hampshire Brewers Association and its counterpart in Vermont serve as advocates and promoters of craft brewers. They also weigh in on legislation that will help brewers. Each association also has “beer trails”for tourists that indicate where craft beers can be sampled.

Albright said he has found tastes differ depending on the area. In Burlington, for example, the younger crowd he saw favored sours, which has a more tart taste.

“I think it is really trying to figure out what people want,”Albright said.

With craft beer sales up 8% in 2021, despite the pandemic, it seems there will always be room for another craft brewer in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@ gmail.com.