Wormtown, Dunkin' relationship 'over' after Harpoon coffee beer release
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The Dunkin-Harpoon Coffee Porter will be available this fall.
PHOTO/MATT VOLPINI
Wormtown Brewery founding partner Ben Roesch, developer Robert Branca, former founding partner Tom Oliveri and managing partner David Fields inside their facility on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester.
Dunkin’ is making a coffee-flavored beer again with a Massachusetts brewery, but it’s not with Wormtown Brewery.
The national coffee and doughnut chain announced Monday its Coffee Porter with Boston-based craft beer giants Harpoon Brewery. The beer will be available in 12-ounce bottles, on draft and in select retail and restaurant locations throughout the Eastern U.S.
That’s a stark difference from the DDark Roasted Brew that Dunkin’ brewed with Worcester’s Wormtown Brewery last December. That beer was only available for a handful of days exclusively at the Shrewsbury Street brewery.
On Friday, Wormtown Managing Partner David Fields said the brewery won’t be working with Dunkin’ in the future.
There were plans to recreate the stout-style beer that was quickly consumed at the brewery last year, but Wormtown thought it was best to discontinue that relationship after Dunkin’ partnered with a more national craft beer player.
According to Fields, Dunkin’ told the brewery that they were still excited about the possibility of another beer, but also said the company had plans to partner with a more national-type brand.
After the Harpoon announcement, Canton-based Dunkin’ reached out to Wormtown again to begin reviving plans for another collaboration, but Wormtown didn’t reciprocate that interest, according to Fields.
“I’m pretty sure our relationship is over,” he said while downplaying any kind of controversy related to the move.
A Dunkin' spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.
Wormtown still plans to partner with Worcester coffeemaker Acoustic Java, with whom the brewery already collaborates with on several coffee-flavored beers.
“It makes a lot more sense to be working with a much more local hand-crafted coffee roasting house,” he said.
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