Milford's CraftRoots Brewing named the fastest-growing craft brewer in U.S.
Courtesy | Robin Fabry
Robin and Maureen Fabry, co-founders of CraftRoots Brewing Co.
The fastest-growing independent craft brewery in the entire country last year is located in an industrial park just off of I-495 in Milford.
CraftRoots Brewing Co. was named as such in an announcement from the Brewers Association, a national nonprofit trade association for small and independent craft breweries.
CraftRoots opened in 2014 as an LLC and brewed its first batch of beer in 2015. In March 2017, the brewery opened in a warehouse in Milford.
From 2016 to 2017, the brewery grew by 1,440 percent, from 20 barrels produced in 2016 to 308 in 2017.
“This highlights how many other breweries there are out there starting so small on grassroots scale,” said Maureen Fabry, brewer and co-founder. “That’s really where this incredible growth is taking place.”
The brewery, she said, has been able to grow organically while using only locally-sourced ingredients to brew.
The Brewers Association ranked only breweries that submitted data and brewed at their own facilities.
“Although they aren’t large in absolute terms, much of craft’s growth is now coming from companies like CraftRoots,” said Brewers Association Chief Economist Bart Watson. “Gains in the local markets from small brewers are adding up to larger shifts in the overall beer market.”
In 2018, the brewery expects to double its 2017 production with only Fabry herself handling the beermaking. Despite that 100 percent projected growth, Fabry and her wife, Robin Fabry, don’t have plans to expand. The brewery was founded in their home with a commitment to becoming a local brewery.
Any uncontrolled growth could compromise that neighborhood-brewery model and, more importantly, the quality of the beer.
“It’s not about volume,” Robin explained. “It’s not about chasing the big guys. It’s about starting so tiny with a dream and idea.”
Just one other Massachusetts brewer, Hopsters in Newton, made the list at No. 20.
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