Beach Town Brewery Longs for an Endless Summer
For Vaughan Cutillo, the warm season wrapped up three weeks early. A founder of Montauk Brewing Co., Cutillo saw his summer ale sell out just before Labor Day in the New York City market, where the Long Island brewery launched its signature cans in March of this year.
Not being able to keep up with demand is exciting, Cutillo says, “but it’s still a big issue.”
Montauk Brewing Co.’s initial introduction to NYC in the fall of 2015 was slow to start, selling on premise in draft form only for six months. Then the cans launched in the spring, and they moved. The “blue ones” — the summer ale — were flying off the shelves.
But with the hot weather behind him, Cutillo must now find a way to retain the momentum that carried his young company through a breakout summer.
The Secret Sauce
From the start, Montauk’s recognizable two-tone packaging helped earn the cans prominent real estate in stores and on bar shelves. Whole Foods Market Inc. stacked the packages in locations throughout the city, effectively granting the fledgling brand a series of billboards at no cost.
“The six packs are typically $10.99. That’s the magic price point in the city,” says Mike Bermil of distributor S.K.I. Beer, who helped oversee Montauk’s rollout in the five boroughs. “That’s where you can really get some volume.”
Approachable. Drinkable. Crushable. These are a few of the terms that Montauk sales representative Luis Jimenez uses to describe the taste. Which is to say, Montauk Brewing Co. makes beer for people who intend to drink a lot of beer. “But it’s not swill,” Jimenez jokes.
“Chefs like to pair food with our beers,” says Cutillo. “They don’t burn your palate.”
Extending the Season
For Montauk Brewing — like its namesake hamlet on the tip of Long Island — summer is a blessing and a curse. As the weather cools, so does interest from tourists. Stores shutter. Restaurants scale back. Most businesses wait for a payday nine months off.
Seasonality had defined the brewery since it was founded in 2012. That natural ebb and flow worked for the first few years, when the company was contracting its operations out to another brewery. Now that Montauk owns and operates a tasting room and brewing facility, embracing the off-season is no longer an option. “Cash flow is critical,” Cutillo says. “Our bills are the same throughout the year.”
Cash flow this summer was good — very good, according to Bermil. “It’s the most incredible brand S.K.I. has ever launched,” he says.
From a product standpoint, Montauk has positioned itself between other craft outfits and the big summertime breweries like Corona, Pacífico and Modelo. This may seem like an odd limbo for a small, independent brewery to occupy, but such a position could pay off. In the face of abysmal taste reviews, Corona manages to move the equivalent of over 100 million cases annually.
Cutillo, 31, is a native of Montauk and knows that the warm season will always define the brewery to some extent. The company’s primary cold weather offering—the Arrowhead red ale—won’t hit the city until November. A few days after the summer ale ran out, Montauk launched its fall seasonal can, a hop blonde ale that is arguably even lighter and more drinkable than the summer ale.
Fittingly, posters at the hop blonde launch event invited drinkers to “extend the season.” If only it were that easy.
