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Next Draft
THE NEXT DRAFT
Mass Beer Week helps prevent another boring week in March
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Matthew Tota
Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
I know readers of this column would never require some contrived holiday to support the state’s 214 craft breweries, but they can still appreciate seven days of them.
The Massachusetts Brewers Guild opens another Mass Beer Week Saturday, March 5. In its eighth year, this series of small celebrations across the state’s brewing industry — collabs, contests, tap takeovers — makes another bland week in March more palatable.
The message — plea, really — from last year’s Mass Beer Week remains: There has never been a better time to get out and support your local breweries. Judging by the reactions online, with people using the hashtags #massbeerweek and #drinkmassmadebeer, and how fast the collectable glasses went, they did, vigorously.
“Last year I was struck by the number of consumers who were tagging #massbeerweek,” said MBG executive director Katie Stinchon, “whether at a brewery or showing off their haul from a package store. I also hear how quickly the glassware sells out every year.”
I’ve yet to take home an official Mass Beer Week glass. Don’t cry for me, though. With more than a dozen ways to celebrate on tap for the week, I’ll have more than enough opportunities to snag one. And it’s not only breweries hosting this year, as restaurants, liquor stores and even cigar bars will participate.
Saturday’s kick-off has a packed draft list of events. Timberyard Brewing Co. in East Brookfield will pair a selection of its brews with Girl Scout Cookies; Fitchburg’s River Styx Brewing arranged for guided tours of its newly-expanded brewhouse; and Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co. will have music from guitarist Frank Foot. You can find more information about all the Mass Beer Week happenings at massbrewersguild.org/massbeerweek.
“I encourage people to get out there and go to a brewery they’ve never been to before or go to a brewery that’s just opened," Stinchon said. “Just go out there and explore the great small business owners in our state who create all that good liquid we all love and rally around.”
Redemption Rock signs on with new distributor
Worcester’s Redemption Rock Brewing Co. will partner with the wholesaler Craft Collective to distribute its beers across the state.
Redemption Rock has been searching for a new distributor since last fall, after its first wholesaler, Night Shift Distributing, was sold to the Sheehan Family Companies, one of the largest beverage distributors in the country.
Shortly after the sale, Redemption Rock CEO Dani Babineau told me part of the brewery’s search included talking with its retail partners.
“First and foremost, we want to start talking with some of the retail customers in the Boston area about what distributors they like. We want to see who gives these smaller accounts the proper attention,” Babineau said. “We want to make sure our priorities align. We’re a small brewery, so if someone has a 10 pallet a month minimum, we can’t hit that.”
In Craft Collective, founded in 2015, Redemption Rock is getting a wholesaler that like Night Shift, focuses on selling and marketing for smaller breweries.
“We’ve always sought to bring joy to our customers — be it through our mission, our array of beers, or our creative artwork — and we want to bring that joy to more people across Massachusetts,” Babineau said in a press release last week. “Craft Collective has unmatched
2022 Mass Beer Week begins Saturday. SUBMITTED
