Jon Patrei and Bo Kolcio this spring did what many entrepreneurs try to avoid during a major economic downturn: open a new business.
The partners in late April debuted Phantom Brewing, Hartford’s newest craft brewery, more than two years after they hatched the idea at the site of their established homebrew and restaurant supply business on Murphy Road.
The 16-year-old homebrew business, which sells materials and holds classes for beer, wine and cheese making, has taken a beating in recent months due to COVID-19 restrictions, but Patrei says the temporary shutdowns created an opportunity for the partners to develop their planned brewery operation within the existing 3,000-square-foot industrial space.
“Right when the store shut down in March we spent the next few weeks planning our brewery opening,” said Patrei. “The business was hurt on the homebrew side, but the brewery has been able to sustain us.”
The two partners first teamed up when Kolcio acquired in 2012 the former Beer & Wine Makers Warehouse, which is now Homebrew Supply at Phantom Brewing Co.
The global health crisis has actually helped Phantom in certain ways as it created a somewhat level playing field for the new company in Connecticut’s crowded brewery industry, Patrei said.
In particular, Phantom was able to gradually ramp up beer production and packaging while the industry, worth an estimated $3.1 billion annually to the state’s economy, was also limited to curbside-only sales.
Phantom’s new taproom remains closed for now, due to restrictions placed on bars and indoor dining.
“It kind of simplified things for us because we didn’t have to worry about the taproom operations, the bar,” Patrei said. “We are just getting the beer packaged and out to customers like all the other breweries are doing.”
Phantom’s marketing strategy so far relies entirely on social media as it looks to grow a grassroots fanbase among the more than 100 breweries in Connecticut. It’s also offering certain discounts for healthcare workers, veterans and other first responders during the pandemic, and is leveraging long-established business partnerships in the restaurant industry to spur sales of its eight original beers and hard ciders made by the New England Cider Co., he said.
There was also a void left in the local market as Phantom’s grand opening followed the recent closure of Hanging Hills Brewery on Ledyard Street in Hartford because of COVID-19-related disruptions.
“It’s great to be on a short list of breweries in Hartford,” Patrei said of the city’s industry that also includes Hog River, Hooker and City Steam breweries.
Patrei, a physical education teacher who started homebrewing in 2011, says Phantom is taking a roughly 25% sales hit with its 650-square-foot taproom being closed, although the temporary closure has likely boosted curbside sales.
In its first two weeks of operation, Phantom sold out its entire stock of 2,000 growlers and has been selling hundreds of growlers per week since then.
Patrei said the “incredible” response to Phantom’s launch has restored his faith in early projections that showed the brewery could generate estimated annual revenue of $200,000 to $400,000 in the years following the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We really just need more time to project that relationship between the two sides of our business and we are very excited about what this can be,” he said. “For now, we are going to just focus on making beer at the proper pace and selling that beer in a to-go format.”
