NewHavenBIZ

28 n e w h a v e n B I Z | J a n u a r y 2 0 2 0 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m S T R A N G E B R E W S By Jean Falbo-Sosnovich When it comes to marketing, Connecticut's creative cra brewers think outside the bock Strange Brews B ehind every Connecticut cra beer, there's a story on tap. anks to the explosion of cra brewers and breweries popping up across Connecti- cut, quaff connoisseurs no longer have to settle for a basic Bud Light. Instead they can wet their whistles with a Fuzzy Baby Ducks, a Disco Pig, a Roadsmary's Baby or some other colorfully named named bottle of brew. Consumers nowadays will be hard-pressed to find a libation on any brewery menu that's anything but basic. And the inspiration behind many of those catchy mon- ikers can be as wacky as the names themselves. Just ask Marty Juliano, marketing director at New England Brewing Co. (newenglandbrewing.com) where the Chubby Merman, the Comb-Over and Fudge Nutter are popular picks. "Comb-Over was inspired by a history teacher that our art [director], Craig Gilbert, had back in middle school who employed a rather impressive comb-over hair- style," Juliano explains. "Fudge Nut- ter — well, it has peanut butter and cacao nibs in it, that's it. Sometimes you've just got to be simple." Juliano says his staff oen gets together for aer-hours brainstorm- ing sessions to get the creative juices flowing, and you never know what their imaginations will brew up. "A new, all Citra-hopped IPA was brewed and there was a pulse running through everyone that it could be popular," recounts Juliano. "e decision was made that the name had to be mildly uncomfort- able for some people to order at bars in front of others. A few truly awful names were tossed around — that may still end up on labels — and in a few minutes, 'Fuzzy Baby Ducks' just fell out. And everyone laughed." Two Roads' Senior Marketing Manager Collin Kennedy: Pushing brewing's boundaries.

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