There are very few things more reminiscent of summer in Montauk than drinking Montauk Brew Co.’s Summer Ale on the sands, lawns and boating vessels that inhabit the East End village. Well, there’re a few other things that remind us of summer in Montauk but we’re more-or-less not allowed to discuss them before midnight outside of May through August. But we do know one of the guys largely responsible for the Summer Ale’s existence (and thus many of the summer population’s memories [or lack thereof]), and he’s at liberty to say a bit more about what we can expect as we approach summer than we are at the moment.
We caught up with the Montauk Brew Co. Founder and CMO, Vaughan Cutillo, to discuss road trips to Nova Scotia for our Travel Issue, reinventing their packaging to be more sustainable (at the request of their customers), dream-partying with Donald Trump at the brewery and more. Eavesdrop on the full conversation below.
Yo! How goes it?
Whalebone Crew! Going well, thanks! Been busy trying to keep up with demand so it’s great to catch up.
Did we just send you to Nova Scotia for our Travel Issue? I feel like we just sent you to Nova Scotia. Did that actually happen?
If you’ve never been to Nova Scotia, please do the world a favor and go. If you’ve been, go back. If you live there, congratulations. The place is unreal. I cruised up with my dog for a couple days over Christmas. Kind of an unplanned adventure. Yes, it’ll be in the upcoming Travel Issue. Super pumped on this one, did some journal writing, took some pictures. It was a trip I won’t soon forget.
Back when we ran around the city hand-distributing our NYC issue, we dropped off a small boatload of your six packs to our subscribers as well. They seemed more-or-less thrilled to have your Summer Ale on the desks in their 49th floor offices. How’ve things been since you launched in the city?
The city has been exciting for us! We launched with kegs only, to get a feel for the environment, grow it the right way. It’s really been an honor to supply the city to the west of Montauk, our fans are super supportive but it is certainly a massive, challenging market. The Montauk Cans will be coming to Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Westchester, Bronx and Staten Island in the next few weeks, so be on the lookout!
Word on the street is that your camp will be releasing new packaging for Montauk Brew Co. soon. Is this all smoke? What can we expect?
The rumors are true! Our fans spoke, and we listened. The plastic rings that held our cans together are terrible for the environment for many reasons. We grew up at the beach, swimming, surfing – the ocean is our life and we needed to do the right thing. When the Summer Ale (blue cans) come out in the next few weeks, they will be in cardboard cartons, along with the rest of the Montauk Can lineup. NO MORE RINGS! The can branding will remain the same, and the cartons will hold true to the clean, nautical design of the cans. The bottom has some great information about the Montauk Brewing Company story, with directions to our brewery in downtown Montauk!
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This might be a bit offbeat, but what’s the deal with having to ask people who visit your + other alcohol brand’s websites if they’re 21+? Something tells me that screening process isn’t half as effective as whoever requires it thought it to be. Do people need to be 21+ to read this interview?
Rules is rules as far as alcohol goes. Reading won’t break the law though, please keep reading! The interview is almost done anyway so if you made it this far keep going.
Summer’s around the corner and we’ve been asking ourselves the #big #questions to try and prepare accordingly. What do you guys have in store for Summer ’16, and what beer will be the easiest/most difficult to shotgun?
We’ll be innovating with new beers and educating more Montauk fans about Montauk Brewing Company. Looking forward to partnering with Whalebone for some sanctioned and non-sanctioned fiestas as well! Easiest beer to shotgun – Montauk Summer Ale! Hardest is TBD, but Founder/Brewmaster, @EricMoss has some ideas for a high octane Double IPA. We love challenges here at Montauk Brew Co. though so stay tuned.
Thanks for taking the time to catch up. Last question — Donald Trump walks into the brewery this summer, drinks everyone under the table and turns the joint into an all-out party. The fire marshall or cops or whoever is on no-fun duty that day shows up to shut it down. What do you say to them?
The Donald doesn’t drink beer actually, which is why he’s forecasted to lose the election. Someone may or may not have researched this, but we are certain there was no research behind this claim. It’s always a good time at the brewery regardless, come by!
