Craft beer business coming to (delicious) head

KENT — It took four years for Kent Falls Brewing Founder Barry Labendz, but his dream of one day brewing his own beer finally came to fruition in February 2015. Less than one month later, Labendz and Brewmaster Derek Dellinger delivered their first keg to At The Corner in Litchfield and Kent Falls Brewing was officially open for business.

It all started several years ago, when Labendz was working in business development in New Jersey. He was unsatisfied with the direction his life was taking and was unsure of what he wanted to do next. 

He had an interest in craft beer and began talking with a friend about the idea of opening a brewery. The two began to put together meetings and came across a third person, who wanted to open a distillery.

In 2011, the group learned that there was a farm for sale in Kent on Camps Road. As soon as they stepped on the property, they knew this was the place for their business. Walking around, it was easy to envision the operation inside the former dairy barn, and immediately a plan was put together for an organic farm and brewery there.

Unfortunately, the old dairy barn required too much work to actually house the brewery, so instead a “brew-house frame” was shipped from a manufacturer and erected next to the barn. Sticking with the “local” theme of the brewery, Labendz used United Construction and Engineering, the contractor responsible for the Kent firehouse and Town Hall.

Despite several setbacks, things finally came together in the winter of 2015 and six months later, business is booming.

The brew house holds three tanks, brewing between three and four different beers at a time. Several different recipes are used, with ingredients that fit the “season” of each particular brew and also come from the brewery’s own farm or other farms in the area. This adds a local touch to each beer and creates a unique characteristic that allows it to stand out from other craft beers. 

The brewery also cultivates its own wild yeast and experiments by mixing it with other strains. In the hops yard, located just behind the brewhouse, there are six different varieties and roughly 2,800 separate plants grown for use in the beer. 

The process doesn’t strictly follow general brewing traditions. Instead, Labendz and Dellinger use ingredients they have available to them in whatever way possible to create a beer they feel fits their “style” of something unique yet refreshing that isn’t overbearing every time you take a sip.

So far, the brewery has produced 28 different beers including an IPA, a gose and a saison. 

While some of the beers may follow similar recipes, each type is infused with unique ingredients that allow it to stand on its own. Ingredients like peaches, coffee, pineapple, oak, mint and even mangoes are added to recipes, creating a variety of flavors.

So far this approach has generated a lot of interest. In just half a year, the beers are already sold in more than 100 liquor stores, bars and restaurants throughout Connecticut. The brewery has begun to make some inroads into Boston. The next goal is to start selling in New York City. The brewery was approached by bars and restaurants in both cities that were interested in carrying the product, as opposed to pushing the product into those markets themselves.

Now that things are working the objective is to continue to find ways to attract new consumers. One way is through “beer dinners,” which the brewery has held several times already. Members of the public are invited to come and try different foods, prepared from ingredients grown on the farm, that are then paired with different brews.

Because of a new law recently passed in Connecticut, craft breweries are now allowed to sell their products at farmers markets across the state. Pretty soon, Kent Falls Brewing plans to begin selling their beer at the weekly Kent farmers market. Customers will be able to sample taste different brews and get a bit of a “sneak peek” into what’s to come in the future.

A tasting room down the street is also in the works, to be opened sometime around spring 2016. Customers will be able to come in and taste the different beers and learn more about the recipes and processes that are used to make them.

Labendz and Dellinger said the most rewarding part of the work so far has been hearing the positive feedback and reactions from customers and knowing that they are creating something tangible that people truly enjoy.

For a list beers and where to find them go to www.beermenus.com/search?q=kent+falls or www.kentfallsbrewing.com.