Milly's Tavern to Sell Beer in Stores and Restaurants

Stark Brewing Company will bring your favorite Milly's beers to stores and restaurants in NH

For those who are already fans of Milly's Tavern's handmade craft beers, Stark Brewing Company is a dream come true, distributing the best selling flavors of their craft beer to bars and restaurants across NH. Starting with Milly's Oatmeal Stout and Mt. U Golden Cream Ale, the company plans to make Milly's award-winning beers available outside the Manchester Millyard tavern.

Stark Brewing Company and Milly's Tavern are two companies working under one roof. Specifically, they are going to be the face and name of Milly's brews on store shelves and beer taps. Amoskeag Beverages LLC will handle the distribution throughout the state.

Peter Telge, master brewer and founder of Milly's Tavern, has been brewing for over 20 years. He started the company as Stark Mill Brewery, which unfortunately closed, but was later re-opened in 2002 as Milly's Tavern.

Telge had tried distribution in the 1990s as Stark Mill Brewery, but it didn't initially take off. Todd Griffin, CEO of Start Brewing Company, believes it was too early to catch the craft beer craze. "Craft beer was definitely not as popular as it is now," says Griffin. "There were only three breweries then. Now there are thirty, with six opening this year alone," Griffin explains. "Craft beer sales have grown 15-18 percent for the past five years running." Domestic beers sales are actually declining as people choose craft beer more.

Griffin has over twenty years' experience in the restaurant business and has worked side by side with Telge for the better part of that time. Before taking a seven year hiatus to play with local favorites Recycled Percussion, he was the general manager for Milly's. Now he's back and he and Telege have been hard at work ever since. Griffin will take care of the marketing side and Telge will handle the brewing side of things.

Griffin is confident that Stark Brewing Company will be a success and is excited to take the local flavor and spread it around the state. He has visions of expanding to New England, the Northeast and then, finally, making the move West.

The plan for Stark Brewing Company is to start with their two best-selling flavors (the Oatmeal Stout and Mt. U Golden Cream Ale) and then to release a summer/spring seasonal beer.

The plan is to distribute kegs of their product in March in time for St. Patrick's Day. The website for Stark Brewing Company went live on February 27. Check them out and be on the lookout for their brews at your favorite local haunt.