By John Allaire D elaware has followed suit with the rest of North America in that craft breweries and distilleries are opening at an alarming rate. “There are maybe 19 or 20 breweries in Delaware now,” Bigelow points out. “And Delaware is a small state. Specifically, down in the beach area, you have a bunch of them within a two-minute drive of each other.” The term “competition” tends to take on a friendlier coop- erative vibe between craft brewers than it does in other, more traditionally combative industries. Bigelow explains, “There is definitely more competition here now. And it does keep getting more competitive, because there is a limited amount of shelf space and a limited amount of draft lines.” She goes on to describe the tight-knit brewing communi- ty as being more like family than cut-throat competitors. “When something doesn’t work well for us in any area of our production, Dogfish Head (another brewery in the area) is just a call away. They’re always willing to help us, because they went through what we’re going through, maybe 20 years ago.” Mispillion River offers many varieties, styles and flavors of beer, and thus find it necessary to source their ingredients from the best suppliers all around the world. “The thing about hops is, if you put them in a different area to grow them, they’ll change based on that soil. So we source from the traditional places where the various hops come from, to maintain that authentic quality. With the grain, we’re a little more lenient with the location. We do have a maltster located in Delaware. They just opened and we’ve used their malt for some of our beers.” The brewery’s tasting room has up to 10 beers flowing at any given time, and they bottle a few more for retail outlets. Bigelow explains that Mispillion’s best seller changes depending on the point of purchase. “Our best seller? There are two answers to that question. Out in the market, I believe our ‘Not Today Satan’ 7.3% IPA is the top seller. That one has been in cans for about two years now. And we find that for our packaged products, IPAs sell the best.” This is hardly a surprise, as IPAs are by far the current top selling style of craft beer across the continent. The on-site sales at the brewery paint a different picture. Bigelow says, “In our tasting room, on the other hand, our sours tend to be our best sellers. We make them very well. And it seems that our general tasting room customer is more adventurous than the typical market customer.” But here comes the “friendlier” part. Bigelow laughs, “I’m marrying a brewer from another brewery, so there’s definitely collaboration!”
Eric Williams woke up on his 40th birthday and decided he’d had enough. Managing a paint sales store was no longer cutting it for him. He wanted change. Big change. He wanted to operate a business that brought smiles to the faces of employees and customers alike. Eric walked into the kitchen, sat down, and exclaimed to his wife, “Megan, we are going to open a craft brewery in Milford, Delaware!” Williams was an avid home brewer at the time. But favorable reviews from his friends and family weren’t enough to give him the confidence to take an immediate leap into an unfamiliar industry. So he wisely spent two years practicing his recipes, business planning, traveling the country seeking out best practices, and assembling a team of partners. One of these partners was the company’s now Chief Operating Officer Ryan Maloney. The two would meet in the evenings, after their jobs were done for the day, and renovate the space they were soon to call their brewery. On November 15, 2013, Mispillion River Brewing opened its doors to the people of Milford. Their website offers their mission statement: “Mispillion River Brewing aims to be recognized by its customers and the brewing industry for producing the highest quality craft beer. We honor craft brewing by using the highest quality ingredients, and strive for the best customer service in the industry.” Spotlight on Business Magazine spoke with co-owner Lauren Bigelow about Mispillion River’s passion for brewing, their community, and the craft brewery scene in their home state.
The creative adventures continue back in the produc-
79
JANUARY 2018 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker