The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Brewery moves to make success a ‘Steady Habit’
HADDAM — The popular microbrewery in the center of Tylerville has moved its operations to a new facility off busy Saybrook Road in the large building in Higganum center, next to Dunkin’ Donuts.
Steady Habit Brewing Co. has doubled in size, and, now at 201 Saybrook Road, is closer to the city of Middletown, about a mileandahalf from the town line.
The primary reason for the relocation is more exposure, as it’s on a main road, with a larger parking area and bigger taproom, according to coowner Jim Venditti, who purchased the business in April 2017.
Steady Habit has upgraded its brewery from a small, 2.5barrel system to a 15barrel one. The 6,000squarefoot building will enable it to run 14 tap lines serving New England beers, including at least one local cider, which eventually will rotate each month.
Plans are to open during the first or second week of December, with a grand opening sometime in late January or early February, he said.
“We won’t do the grand opening until we have our own beer. It takes time. We
could technically have seven beers brewing at a time,” Venditti said.
Steady Habit also will serve wine. Venditti plans to bring in selections from Jonathan Edwards Winery in North Stonington.
In the past, Steady Habit has offered varieties from Stafford Cidery, New England Cider and Yankee Cider, a new East Haddam business. They’re also interested in carrying offerings from Middletown’s Spoke + Spy Ciderworks.
Venditti’s partners are his wife, Amy, and Scott Cross, former head brewer at Fat Orange Cat in East Hampton.
“We’re just going to brew good beer and make it a fun place to come,” like they did in Tylerville, Venditti said Thursday at the business’ groundbreaking, attended by officials from the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, along with both past and present Haddam selectmen.
Steady Habit brews a wide variety of styles, Cross said. “New England IPAs are really big — it’s all the rage — but we’re very excited to do other styles.”
Their kolsch is very popular among fans, he said.
“That’s a very clean beer. It’s closest to a pilsner, but it’s got a little bit of hop character to it,” Cross said.
Steady Habit’s frequent customers will find the same friendly and welcoming atmosphere they enjoyed at the former brewery near the East Haddam Swing Bridge.
“We created an environment that was very social. We didn’t have TVs. We’ll never have TVs — we don’t want that. We don’t have seats at the bar. We want people to stand and interact,” Venditti said.
“People used to say they loved our vibe. It was very laid back, it was very warm. People liked coming there, liked hanging out there. Sometimes you walk into some breweries, and it’s a little pretentious.
“If you’re not a beer geek, you feel out of place,” he added.
“We want to carry over the same vibe we had there here,” Amy Venditti said.
“People make friends, they sit together, and they walk out friends. Then they meet each other — a week, couple weeks, or a month later at the brewery — they’re exchanging numbers,” she explained.
“Now we have to talk. People have to interact. Everyone is standing at the bar, they’re drinking beer, and they’re talking about beer, which is great,” Jim Venditti added.
Steady Habit prides itself on hiring “very knowledgeable beer tenders that can explain the beer, no pressure,” Jim Venditti said. “If someone walks in and says, ‘What are do you recommend?’ our recommendation would be ‘What do you like?’”
Just as before, there will be live music on weekends.
Amy Venditti will handle the business aspect of things and supervise employees. She enjoys very light beers, such as pilsners and lagers. Every once in a while, she’ll pour herself a stout.
“His kolsch is unbelievable,” Amy Venditti said, gesturing toward Cross.
The number of breweries and brewpubs in Connecticut has exploded over the past five years or so.
Already, there are more than 100 breweries open in the state, with many more in the works, according to the CT Beer Trail. In Middlesex County alone, there are a handful, including 30 Mile Brewing Co. in Old Saybrook, Fat Orange Cat Brew Co. in East Hampton,
Little House Brewing in Chester, and Steady Habit.
Two others will be coming soon: Coles Road Brewing in Cromwell and Powder Hollow at 62 Washington St., Middletown, according to the CT Beer Trail website.
Just this week in Middletown, the Planning and Zoning Commission updated its land use zones to allow breweries/distilleries and brewpubs to operate in certain areas of Middletown.
“Connecticut’s beer scene has blown up, and the problem is they’re all focusing on the same styles of beer. They’re focusing on the real juicebomb IPAs and — for whatever reason now — ridiculous sours,” Jim Venditti explained.
Other breweries will offer 20 different brews and 18 will be IPAs, he said. “That will never happen in our place. If we had four different IPAs, that would be odd.”
They also plan to establish relationships with food trucks as well as area restaurants which will deliver orders to the brewery, such as Coyote Blue on the Middletown line.
Newly installed First Selectman Bob McGarry attended the groundbreaking.
“It’s exciting they’re staying in Haddam. It’s a great location for the town. They’re a great success story,” he said.
For information, visit steadyhabitbrewingcompany.com and Steady Habit Brewing Company on Facebook.