Smuttynose has been evolving over the last four months. The number of new breweries and new beers populating tap lists continues to climb to new heights; mergers and acquisitions are on the rise and new microtrends explode and then find their level. This industry hasn't been this dynamic since it was closed and then reopened around Prohibition. Like many of our craft beer peers, we've been making decisions on how best to approach all the changes in the beer industry. Don't worry; we're still independently owned by the same people who opened Smuttynose in 1994.
Some of the changes in this intro are more behind the scenes, while others directly affect what you'll be able to drink when. Every change we have and will make is done with you, beer drinker, in the front of our minds. Of course this isn't everything in we've got in the works, but here are a few things that are moving forward now.
We are proud to announce that Michael Saklad is Smuttynose's new Sales Director. Michael come to us from Country Malt Group where he supplied malt and hops to craft brewers all over the Northeast. Prior to his raw material days, Michael spent 12 years working for Stone Brewing Company.
The Beer Vault is an innovative new allocation portal that is the only way to get kegs of our limited releases, It also makes life easier for our wholesalers and sales staff. You can read more about it further down in this newsletter.
Hayseed has just celebrated its first anniversary. We have a new Executive Chef, Dez Smith, who has come from The Portsmouth Brewery. He's beginning to make a few changes and adjustments to our current menu, though you should stay tuned for a brand new Spring menu that utilizes the bounty of our local Seacoast farms and fisheries. We'll keep you posted via Hayseed'sFacebook and Instagram as things develop.
Smuttlabs has also been refreshed. From now on, bottles will only be available at the brewery, in limited quantities. All kegs will be available exclusively in The Beer Vault. One of the many awesome results of The Beer Vault will be a reduction in the complications of selling these beers, which means our brewers now have a maximum amount of flexibility to create any kind of beer they want without being hamstrung by long-range scheduling needs. We're very excited about this new concept and the early response has been very positive.
Last but not least, we're redesigning our packaging. Our look has been largely unchanged since we opened in 1994. We did freshen things up we moved to our new brewery in 2014, but this redesign is significant. Don't worry, you'll still see Cy and Paul, Olive, the sideshow performers, and nearly all the other images you love, but the new designs really stand out on increasingly busy and visually-fragmented store shelves. To reduce waste, we'll be rolling out the new labels and six packs as our stashes of the current looks run out. You may have already seen some new Finestkind or Old Brown Dog labels out and about; but if not, you will soon.
Stay tuned! We've got more things up our sleeve.
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