With the arrival of a new managing partner and a significant cash infusion, Worcester, Mass.-based Wormtown Brewing is expanding.
The four-year-old company — which has become known throughout Massachusetts for its bitter “Be Hoppy” American IPA — is investing more than $1 million in a new production facility and has hired former Cambridge Brewing Company brewer Megan Parisi, who most recently served as the head brewer at Bluejacket Brewing in Washington D.C.
Helping to make it all possible is David Fields, Wormtown’s new business partner and the previous owner of Auburn, Mass.-based beer wholesaler, Consolidated Beverages, which he sold to Taunton’s Quality Beverage last September. Using proceeds from the sale, Fields invested in Wormtown and now holds a majority interest in the company, taking over day-to-day business operations from brewery co-founder Tom Oliveri.
“We have grown a lot bigger than we thought we were going to,” said Ben Roesch, Wormtown’s co-founder and brewmaster. “Dave will help bring the business to the next level both project and volume wise.”
Fields told Brewbound that he plans to leverage his sales and marketing experience from the distribution tier, to help grow the Wormtown brand in Massachusetts.
“As someone who is passionate about beer, this is a natural fit for me personally,” he said. “I think it was also a natural fit for Ben and Tom’s vision going forward. I understand how to build beers at retail and with consumers and my skill set is supporting what they are already doing.”
Fields said he the addition of new capacity will allow Wormtown to expand its distribution footprint over the next year and is aiming to be available statewide in 2015.
“I believe in the liquid that we have and I like our chances,” he said. “I love our product, our relationships in the distribution and retail marketplace and as long as consumers like the beer, we will always have the ability to succeed.”