If the crowds are lucky at this month’s Rhode Island Brew Fest, they’ll get the chance to sample Crooked Current Brewery LLC’s chocolate milk stout. The beer is typically being poured in the Pawtucket brewery’s tap room at the same time of year as the Jan. 25 craft-beer event.
As the Ocean State’s smallest brewery, Crooked Current usually settles on its beer list days before the festival, said co-owner and brewer Nichole Pelletier.
“I do try to bring something special every year but because of our small capacity, I have to make the call at the last minute,” she said.
Most participants offer at least one beer that’s meant to stand out, said event organizer Matthew Gray, president of Gray Matter Marketing LLC, which owns and operates the one-day brew fest.
“We always encourage our breweries to bring something new that you can only get at this one event,” he said.
Gray Matter gives a portion of the proceeds from the event to the Rhode Island Brewers Guild.
‘We always encourage our breweries to bring something new.’
MATTHEW GRAY, Gray Matter Marketing president
This year, the event has sold out. Organizers are expecting crowds of up to 1,500, which will be divided into two sessions at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence.
The regional event, in its eighth year, will feature nearly 60 brewers from Rhode Island and beyond, with companies coming from as far as Maine and New York
Each brewery usually offers three or four beers, all of which Gray Matter buys before the event, according to Gray.
“The brewers just give their time,” he said.
Most of Rhode Island’s nearly 30 breweries and brewpubs participate in the festival, which can present networking opportunities and the chance to reel in more customers.
Both Crooked Current and LineSider Brewing Co. in East Greenwich noticed increased foot traffic after participating in the festival last year.
“There’s a large craft-brewing contingency out there,” said Jeremy Ruff, co-owner and head brewer at LineSider.
LineSider, created in November 2018 with former New England Patriots lineman Dan Koppen as one of the owners, is returning to the brew fest this month. Ruff expects to offer an IPA, an imperial blonde called Blonde Jovi and a new beer that hasn’t yet been created.
“It does give us exposure to new people. Maybe someone wasn’t a beer drinker before but they found something they really liked, and it draws them into our space,” Ruff said. “The more events like this really help the market.”
Held in Pawtucket until a switch to the WaterFire Arts Center in 2019, the event used to funnel beer fans straight into Crooked Current, Pelletier said.
“People went to the brewery after the brew fest to pick up beer before they left Pawtucket,” she said. “We’ve definitely gained customers.”
Bar owners tend to circulate in the crowd, but until Crooked Current expands, opportunities are limited to introductions, Pelletier added. Right now, the compact brewery operates strictly out of its tap room and doesn’t distribute.
“I’ve had bar owners come through and hand out business cards and say whenever you’ve got the capacity,” they’d be interested in serving Crooked Current beers, Pelletier said.
Gray, who is also president of Ragged Island Brewing Co., created in 2017 in Portsmouth, said craft-beer fans are constantly expecting innovations from brewers, especially smaller ones invested heavily into certain types of beers.
From students who earn professional craft-brewing certificates at Johnson & Wales University to members of the Rhode Island Brewing Society to owners of home brew shops such as Conanicut Brewing LLC in Jamestown, Rhode Island’s craft-beer community is well-versed in what makes a good brew, Gray said.
“New beers are changing and evolving,” Gray said. “Everybody’s trying new things; hoppy beers, core beers. You’ve got to have new and evolving beers to keep the customers intrigued.”
In addition to light craft lagers, stouts and other staples, LineSider Brewing tries to net new customers through invention, Ruff said.
“We play around with sours; we’ve made a barley Prosecco that almost tastes like a wine,” he said. “We’re trying to be all-inclusive.”
Each year, the Rhode Island Brew Fest grows as a result of its goal to include as many Ocean State breweries as possible. The event sets new records annually for bringing the highest number of Rhode Island beer makers together in one venue.
“All the Rhode Island breweries are invited and encouraged to participate,” Gray said. “I think it is a very communal and collegial industry in general, and in Rhode Island there’s the ability to be even more closely connected because of the size of our state.”
Many breweries say that the event’s well-organized structure helps draw large crowds every year.
“This is one of our favorite festivals,” Pelletier said. “It’s awesome and it’s really refreshing that someone throws a brew fest in the middle of winter.”
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Graham@PBN.com.
