On Thursday night, I left a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting and headed up Main Street on foot toward The Stafford Cidery. Paving was actively underway, and a parking ban was in place from Spring Street to Orcuttville Road, but the sidewalk in front of Ice Cream Depot was filled with people enjoying a cold treat on a hot summer night. I did not stop for a cone because I was on my way to talk with Jodi Harmon and Dan Tomlin, co-owners of Stafford Cidery, home of Crazy Cock Cider. Between the paving and the parking ban, they expected the taproom to be dead – a good time for an interview.
However, anyone who has been to the Cidery on a Thursday night knows there is a dedicated group of locals who usually show up for a pint or two to see their friends. This night was maybe a little slower, but not quite as dead as we anticipated for our interview. After saying hello to the familiar faces, I sidled up to the bar to chat about the challenges facing breweries, cideries, and wineries across the state (and the country).
The Stafford Cidery has been a fixture in town for seven years, but the craft brewery boom is coming to an end – even as Off the Rails Brewing celebrates just over a year in business. Do a quick Google search, and you will get a seemingly endless list of breweries closing. The stats are grim. One report found that 319 craft breweries closed in 2022. “The craft beer industry saw negative production for the second straight year in 2023, continuing a downward trend for independent, small brewers,” reported Axios. Even huge players like Lagunitas are closing up shop in some cities.
So, just imagine the impact this slump is having on small businesses like the Stafford Cidery!
Harmon, who is also part of the town’s Events and Celebrations Committee and the driving force behind Arts on Main, says breweries flooded the market. Now, she theorizes, with the introduction of legalized cannabis and tough economic times when people may be deciding between groceries and going out, taprooms are taking a hit. Meanwhile, the cost of supplies has gone up, says Tomlin, making it impossible to lower prices.
Combine the larger overall economic picture with the typical summer slowdown as people head off on vacation and the impact of paving on Main Street, and this July was the worst The Cidery has experienced since the COVID-19 shutdown.
Tomlin told me that in the past two weeks, Crazy Cock Cider has lost two of its wholesale customers. Both Labyrinth Brewing and Tri-It Taproom have announced they are closing, and they both carried Stafford’s homegrown cider.
It’s not just visits to taprooms that are slowing down, either. Tomlin says sales in package stores have also declined. In 2019, Tomlin bought his canning machine just in time to help the business get through COVID-19 shutdowns. He says that 2020 was a good year, but by 2022, they had no orders from distributors in Massachusetts. He says package store sales have been declining by about 30% yearly.
Ironically, Harmon and Tomlin’s mom-and-pop shop and tiny staff have helped it in trying times. Tomlin says that before the pandemic, they were looking at buying a bigger space to expand into. However, nothing made financial sense. Now, not having a ton of overhead means they can continue to squeak by on what Tomlin estimates to be 50% of their pre-COVID revenue stream. Other businesses that took out loans and over-invested may now be buckling under the pressure.
Other stats suggest that being a local hangout might put small businesses like The Stafford Cidery and Off the Rails in a better position than bigger competitors. As CT Insider reports, "One segment of craft beer that saw growth in the first half of 2023, according to the Brewers Association, was brewers that produced fewer than 1,000 barrels of beer a year and sold the majority of their beer from their taproom."
Harmon—who loves planning a theme party—says that special events (like visits from psychic mediums, cheesecake tastings, or craft nights) that were once just a fun way to augment their offerings and bring in new customers are now a must. They also serve an assortment of local beers, wines, and Hosmer Mountain soda for those who do not like cider.
A regular trivia night is popular, and lately, Set Back Night has been a hit. In fact, the last time I was in the Cidery, I was popping in to pick something up and stumbled upon a table full of friends who had decided to eschew Set Back and were instead playing Uno. I felt like my name was Norm, and as I walked in, the table erupted in a friendly greeting. What was supposed to be a quick pop-in turned into a night of laughing with friends and me distracting people from their Uno game. (FYI, Uno is just one of the games you can find on the shelves at the Cidery to give you something to do while you pass the time.)
A packed taproom is not as common as it once was, and Harmon and Tomlin want readers to know how important it is for people to support their favorite local businesses before it's too late. People often pour through the doors of places like Labyrinth once they announce they are closing. By then, it is too late.
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