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2016 | Doing Business in Connecticut 77 By Joan Hunt R on Page, the recently retired brewmas- ter at Hartford's City Steam Brewery Cafe since its opening in 1997, en- tered the microbrewery scene in its infancy. He and partner Phil Markowski — now the head brewer at Two Roads Brewery Co. in Stratford — started a microbrewery 26 years ago, in Norwalk. Aerward, Page was brewmaster for two years at the first Connecticut microbrewery, New Haven Brewing Co. "It was a small industry, with no formal schooling," Page said of his early brewing days, recalling that he got his start brewing beer at home. He learned by doing, and trained others as he went along. When Wallace Ronald and James Dumond transformed the original Brown ompson Restaurant into City Steam, Page was the man they wanted to brew their beer. Growth industry Today, the brewing industry has exploded. ere are now more than 4,000 micro- breweries nationally, compared with just 100 when Page started. "ere is a huge amount of competition now and you don't have to explain what microbrew is, only why yours is the best," he said. City Steam is an institution in the restaurant scene in downtown Hartford and a senior member of the state's burgeoning brewery industry. e Connecticut Beer Trail, a trade group formed to promote microbrews, now boasts 56 members, including City Steam. e most frequently requested beer at City Steam is "Naughty Nurse," an easy-to swal- low amber ale with a slightly bittersweet finish. e actual nurse behind the label, says Page, was not the lusty lady conjured in most people's minds, but rather his friend Jerry Nichols, who was a nurse. In addition to the brewery and full-service restaurant, City Steam — which is located in a 35,000-square-foot historic building — also hosts a comedy club called Brew-Ha-Ha. Page, who retired this spring, was very hands on at City Steam, doing almost all the day-to-day brewing himself. He hauled the grain up a spiral staircase, dumped ingredients into the kettles by hand and collected grain residue for local farmers to feed their livestock. A cabinet maker, he built the bars at City Steam and built or collected the framing for all the beer posters hanging on the walls. He tended a garden in back of the building in the early days, and started a "micro-bakery" in the basement, making rolls and artisanal breads for the restaurant from the malted barley. ey eventually replaced the bakery with more brew- ing tanks, he said, when they discovered there is very little profit in making bread. Much of the brewery's equipment was also designed by Page. Page said of his retirement that was "going out on top." Four thousand barrels per year of Naughty Nurse are now being made by Markowski, his friend and former partner at Two Roads, and it is distributed in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and up- state New York. In an interesting aside, Page says the value of hops, which is heavily featured in IPA-style beers, is similar to that of oregano in a good Italian sauce — it's not a necessary ingredient, but is added for flavor. He believes that the craze for hoppy IPA's will end in "palate fatigue." Although he brews IPA's, his personal preference is an old-fashioned German lager. "If beer were music, I would be an old-fashioned ballad," he said, adding that fans of IPA's "are all punk rock." ❑ Ron Page was an early leader in the state's now flourishing brewing industry. and to New Haven," said Anthony Lupinacci, head of marketing for the theater. Other shows this past season included the New Haven Ballet's "Nutcracker," "Bea- tlemania," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and a performance by Joan Baez. Lupinacci said that the Shubert inten- tionally varies programming and pricing to appeal to people from all tastes and income levels, and to draw patrons to the area from all over the region. Just as Broadway energizes New York City, Lupinacci says the Shubert's mission is to not only think about its own financial sta- bility, but also to continue turning that into a huge benefit for the community. "When we have a show like 'Book of Mormon,' which attracts around 12,000 people to New Ha- ven, a lot of them flood into downtown. Res- taurants benefit before and aer the show, and parking garages are filled to capacity," he said. "People are not just coming to the theater and leaving, but having a full experi- ence of New Haven — dining, shopping and doing museums." e Shubert has also debuted great productions that end up on Broadway. A little-known fact, says Lupinacci, is that "e Sound of Music" was introduced at the Shubert eater before becoming a smash Broadway musical. ❑ CHUGGING ALONG Ron Page Led City Steam Ahead of the Microbrew Curve PHOTO/HBJ $14 billion Total traveler spending in Connec cut in 2015. $906 Traveler spending per trip in Connec cut in 2015. $1.6 billion Total state and local tax revenues related to culture and tourism in 2015. 118,500 Number of jobs in Connec cut supported by the tourism industry. Source: CT Office of Tourism Connecticut Tourism By the Numbers PROFILE