Since opening in May 2017 in Salem, Connecticut, Fox Farm Brewery has known where it wants to place its bets: not on trends, but on what the team loves to make and drink.
They started out mainly brewing lagers, mixed-fermentation farmhouse ales, and hop-forward ales, and cofounder Zack Adams says little has changed since then. In a region often associated with hazy IPAs, Fox Farm has carved out a niche as a destination for traditional European styles.
“Just about all brewers making traditional European styles … would probably say the same thing,” Adams says. “They make them because they love them and want to drink them. We put a lot of faith—perhaps too much—in the fact that if we enjoy those classic styles, and peers we really trust also enjoy them, the average consumer will come around.” And come around they did. While Adams says that many IPA-loving craft drinkers “might not be there yet,” he says that more people seem to care than just five years ago—a sign that they were right to trust their instincts.