N.Y.’s Sloop Brewing continues to expand, enters alternating proprietorship to brew at Smuttynose

In January of 2018, Hudson Valley, N.Y.’s Sloop Brewing Co. announced it would be expanding and relocating its brewery to a former IBM campus in East Fishkill with a new 26,000-sq-ft facility, replete with a full service restaurant, bar and large private event space that could house some 300 people. By the end of that year, Sloop Brewing was producing just over 7,000 bbls.

Throughout 2019, the brewery — named for the boats that once moved people and cargo up and down the Hudson — continued to add new equipment, including twelve 120-bbl fermenters. That new capacity, its aggressive territory expansion plan and great brands like Juice Bomb, Super Soft and the World Beer Cup gold medal winning sour Confliction allowed Sloop to produce 25,300 bbls in 2019, a percent growth of 250 percent, which earned it the title of the Fastest Growing Regional Brewery in 2019 by the Brewers Association.

Now, Sloop Brewing is increasing its capacity even further, but not by adding overhead. Two years after starting production at its East Fishkill facility, Sloop Brewing has just announced that it’s entered into an alternating proprietorship with Smuttynose Brewing Co. in Hampton, N.H. As you might remember, Smuttynose is a famous heritage craft beer brand that was foreclosed on by its bank in 2018 and has reemerged under new owners as Finestkind Brewing Co. brewing Smuttynose products.

Now the two brands are working together. From the press release:

“By entering into this alternating proprietorship with Smuttynose and using their facilities to brew, we are able to maintain direct, boots-on-the-ground control over our beer, from ingredients to process to packaging, without sacrificing any of the quality or flavors people have come to expect from our brand” said Sloop’s Head Brewer Justin Taylor. “The facility in Hampton is a state-of-the-art brewery with amazing staff, and we look forward to working closely with the whole team on this new adventure.”

According to the release, the alternating proprietorship will allow Sloop to continue growing its production despite reaching capacity, while still continuing to operate its East Fishkill facility.

“In order to keep up with demand in the 17 states we currently distribute to, we’ve decided to enter this partnership with Smuttynose,” said Joe Turco, Sloop’s director of sales and marketing. “As the fastest growing regional brewery in the country, we’ve reached our maximum capacity at our current location, and we’re very excited for this opportunity to expand. We recently signed a distribution agreement with Craft Beer Guild Distributing of New Hampshire, and we feel privileged to not only start producing beer in New Hampshire, but to distribute it as well. With the impressive beer scene in New Hampshire, we feel we can offer a quality product at a very consumer friendly price point throughout the region. We have tremendous respect for everyone at Smuttynose and can’t wait to get started on the next chapter in the Sloop story.”

Sloop’s history

Founded by President Adam Watson and Head Brewer Justin Taylor in 2011 in a Poughkeepsie garage, Sloop Brewing has gone from selling beer at farmers’ markets and hand delivering kegs to becoming one of the fastest growing breweries in the country. In 2018, Sloop opened a new, 25,000 square foot brewery in East Fishkill, N.Y., that allowed them to ramp up its production of Juice Bomb, Super Soft, the World Beer Cup gold medal winning sour Confliction and its constantly rotating portfolio of limited releases. This location also boasts a full service restaurant, bar and large private event space. Their beer is currently available in NY, CT, MA, PA, NJ, SC, RI, DC, and Northern VA, along with the new additions of NH, VT, NC, TN, MD, and ME.