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Just a growler’s throw away from the region’s historic beaches is one of New Hampshire’s newest and most popular breweries – Blue Lobster Brewing Company. Although they just opened last November in Hampton, they’ve been packing people into their taproom every week and have been trying to keep up with demand ever since. Clearly, they’re doing something great, so I decided to visit the brewery and chat with owner Michael Benoit about the quick success of Blue Lobster Brewing.
After touring Blue Lobster’s facility, I had the opportunity to sit down with Michael, sample his fine beers (of course), and ask him some questions.
What got you into the beer business?
I started homebrewing in 1983. Homebrewing was always something that I enjoyed doing. In 2000, I started my own engineering company. I am semiretired now so I started the brewery to be my retirement job. I hired a head brewer and opened the brewery in November of 2012. Working at the brewery is more fun than working as an engineer.
I like the name Blue Lobster Brewing Company. Who came up with the name?
I did – I wanted something unique for the name. We are in a seacoast town so I wanted the name to be part of that.
How much beer do you brew in a year?
Since we opened in November, we have been brewing 25 barrels a month. Our maximum capacity is 400 barrels but we haven’t reached it yet.
What is your most popular beer?
Gold Claw is our most popular beer. Gold Claw is our Pale Ale, which is 4.5% ABV. Alcohol content is low to keep it more sessionable. We can’t keep it in stock at the restaurants. We brew seven-barrel batches just for the two restaurants.
Is your beer available for purchase at other places besides your brewery?
Our beer is available on draft at two restaurants in Hampton: The Community Oven & The 401 Tavern. At those two restaurants, we sell 60 pints a day on average. We have trouble keeping up with the demand on just those two accounts. We don’t bottle our beers. We refuse to package any of our beer that we feel does not have a sustainable shelf life.
With the craft beer industry growing as fast as it is, do you think the industry can sustain all this growth?
No I don’t. I watched Portland, Oregon, where I lived for some time, and I think they have reached saturation. It felt like more breweries were closing then opening. I don’t have hard facts to back this statement up but it is just how I feel. A lot of people will try this business and a lot will fail. Everything comes down to a good quality product. If you make a quality product, you have good chance of succeeding.
What would your advice be to someone who wants to get into the beer business?
The first thing people need to realize is that it’s not a fast process. It’s going to take time. You need to understand business. If you don’t like paperwork, don’t open a brewery because there is a lot of paperwork involved. You also need to know what the laws are in the town where you want to open a brewery. Each town has different laws so you need to understand them and follow them. One piece of advice would be to order your equipment well ahead of time and if you have a place to store it, then do it. It could take awhile to open and if you have all your equipment ahead of time, it will be one less thing you have to worry about once you get your license.
Do you plan to release any new beers this year?
Yes we do. What we plan to do once we are up to full capacity is to release a new beer every two weeks. Our next beer release coming out is a Rye Smoked Porter, which we brewed for the first time.
