Hartford Business Journal

14 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | AUGUST 10, 2026 Against The Grain CT craft brewery bucks industry headwinds with diversified business model By Harriet Jones hjones@hartfordbusiness.com A New London craft brewery that started as a passion project among friends is bucking Connecticut's struggling craft beer industry, which has been hit by declining production and a wave of brewery closures. Tox Brewing Co. says its revenue grew more than 200% from 2024 to 2025. The company now employs about 40 people and has diversified beyond brewing into a coffee shop, old-fashioned soda fountain, pizza kitchen and late-night speakeasy, while expanding distribution of its flagship beers to 23 states. The growth comes as the broader craft beer industry has faced mounting headwinds in recent years, including a more mature and compet- itive market, shifting consumer preferences and weaker packaged beer sales. The Brewers Association reported that U.S. craft beer production declined 4% in 2025, with 60% of breweries reporting lower production. The industry trade group said 481 breweries closed while only 300 opened, resulting in a 2.9% decline in the number of operating craft brew- eries nationwide. A midyear update released in July found craft beer production fell another 4% in the first half of 2026. Those challenges have contributed to the closure of several Connecticut breweries in recent years, including Thimble Island Brewing Co., Stony Creek Brewery in Branford, Five Churches Brewing in New Britain, Stubborn Beauty Brewing Co. in Middletown, Almost Famous Brewing in East Granby and Problem Solved Brewing in East Windsor. "Craft beer across America has started to dwindle," said Rachel Diamond, executive director of the Connecticut Brewers Guild, a trade group representing the state's craft breweries. "We've seen a lot of closures." 'Elbow grease' Tox Brewing's response has been to build a business that extends well beyond beer, but the strategy began with creating a brand that would stand out in an increasingly crowded craft beer market. The brewery and its beers are themed around poisonous plants and animals, thanks to the day job of one of the owners, Dayne Laskey, who is a professor of toxicology at the University of St. Joseph. On tap at any time might be "Angel Wings," an American IPA named after a poisonous mushroom, a stout dubbed "Deadly Nightshade," or "Ergot" wheat beer. Beer taps are topped with red-and-white toadstools. "We could have been New London Brewing Company and had a whale as our logo," Laskey said. "But I think that the edginess — there's some- thing about that, that stuck and that allowed us to grow beyond just the city, beyond just the locale that a lot of craft breweries pin themselves to." Laskey's co-owner, Mike Zaccaro, who runs the business full time, said in the crowded craft brewing field it's vital to stand out with a catchy brand. "It was kind of weird, but people seem to embrace it," he said. "And now you walk into our taproom and there's just all this amazing imagery and live plants. We have a live poison dart frog habitat." The brewery traces its roots to Laskey, Zaccaro and another friend, all graduates of Ledyard High School. The three met for band practice and to swap home-brew recipes, and eventually started entering competi- tions as they perfected their beers. The hobbyists formed Tox Brewing as an LLC in 2017, and then in 2019 opened a brick-and-mortar location, on Broad Street just off I-95. Zaccaro said they built out the 1,400-square- foot brewery themselves with "elbow grease, hustle and a small SBA loan," initially operating without any employees. Choosing New London was another deliberate decision. Beyond the founders' local roots, the city didn't yet have its own craft brewery and was benefiting from growing economic activity tied to Electric Boat, the Naval Submarine Base, offshore wind development and construction of the National Coast Guard Museum. As the business expanded, Tox relocated in 2024 to its current 14,000-square-foot home on Bank Street. It's also in the walkable heart of downtown New London, another intentional choice that the owners believe sets them apart from the trend of locating breweries in indus- trial parks or warehouses. "There was a time where it was tempting to buy cheap land on the outskirts of town and erect a big aluminum building with big comfort- able garage doors," said Zaccaro. "Renovating a 125-year-old building is not easy and had a lot of challenges, but we thought it was very important to be down here in the center of the activity of the city." Beyond beer Tox's biggest revenue stream is its taproom, where selling directly to consumers generates the highest profit margins. That makes creating an on-site experience that draws customers through the doors central to the company's business strategy. Partnering with other downtown businesses and organizations is part of that dynamic. The taproom has hosted live music, tattoo parties, tarot readings, sourdough bread workshops and Dungeons & Dragons nights. Tox even recently ran a fundraiser for a local sober organization, the Southeastern Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, at its taproom soda fountain. "You don't come to a craft brewery to drink the cheapest beer," Laskey said. " You come for the experience Tox Brewing co-owners Dayne Laskey (left) and Mike Zaccaro outside the brewery's downtown New London taproom. HBJ Photo | Steve Laschever 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 No. of breweries Number of craft breweries operating in CT 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

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