Mike Scarlata ’96’s path to craft brewing success began on cold Vermont nights in a shed behind his business partner’s house using homemade equipment. Taking its name from the local geography, Ten Bends Beer was born.
The brewery Scarlata co-owns with Jason Powell now includes a tasting room in Hyde Park, Vermont, and distribution of their beer to outlets in six states.
“The brewery sits between the towns of Morrisville and Johnson. The Lamoille River runs right behind the brewery and bends 10 distinct times between the two towns,” Scarlata says, noting that the name reflects a commitment to being part of the local community it serves in addition to tourists.
New Goals
Owning a craft brewery was not his goal when Scarlata entered Lehigh as a first-generation college student from Princeton, New Jersey. “We were all excited when I got into Lehigh. It’s a beautiful campus and a top-notch education,” he recalls. After graduating with a finance degree, he began an investment career, first trading municipal bonds for a small San Francisco firm.
He returned to the East Coast and was working in New York when the September 11 attacks occurred. After the tech bubble burst and his firm closed its trading department, Scarlata switched hats, working on the accounting side of finance until his wife, Kristen, a Vermont native, suggested relocating there.
Scarlata landed a job as the assistant director of finance for a resort in the ski town of Stowe, Vermont. With an entrepreneurial spirit, he created a business plan for a craft beer bottle shop. By then, he had met Powell, craft brewing was exploding, and the two started experimenting with making beer.
“The development included a lot of reading, online research, trial and error, improving our process, and creating better-quality beer until we were making a beer we believed was exceptional,” Scarlata says.
A Solid Base
His Lehigh education was good preparation for starting a business. “I think Lehigh gave me that well-rounded base that I could grow from. When you look at being an entrepreneur or business owner, you truly have to wear multiple hats, so having a solid base that Lehigh provided me gave me an advantage over other entrepreneurs and business owners.”
The transition from home brewers to businessmen happened after a competition at the ArtsRiot event in Burlington, Vermont. Scarlata and Powell’s entry emerged the winner among some 20 home brewers.
“Right there and then they’re giving you the feedback, ‘This is excellent: When are you guys going to be doing this full time? I want to be able to buy your beer in stores.’ That was really inspiring to us,” Scarlata says.
Ten Bends opened its doors in summer 2016.
Subtle Notes
The seven-barrel brewery produces small-batch ales. Like other craft breweries, it features beers available year-round and a changing menu of seasonal brews. All have creative names like Northern Heights, Cream Puff War, and Side Porch.
Each features the subtle flavor notes that are the hallmark of craft beer. That can mean adding a fruit flavor such as peach to an ale or coconut to a stout. Scarlata says they are committed to staying close to their roots producing Vermont-style IPAs.
“We feel the Vermont style has more subtle hop characteristics than a traditional New England style,” he explains. “We make both the New England and Vermont style IPAs, but we like to pay homage to Vermont for creating the unfiltered, hazy, hop-forward IPAs we know and love today.”
Ten Bends beers are sold in the Hyde Park taproom and in stores and bars in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, and Rhode Island. Ten Bends contracts with production facilities in Clifton Park, New York, and St. Albans, Vermont, to meet the demand. The brewery also has developed exclusive beers for ski resorts, such as the Lodge at Spruce Peak in Stowe, Vermont, and Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, Vermont.
Scarlata says, “It allows them to have a unique product and a unique label that's theirs while partnering with a local business.”
For Locals and Tourists
After nine years in business, Scarlata and his partner focus on using the taproom to develop new beers while creating a special experience for customers who visit. Their clientele is split about equally between locals and tourists.
“It’s becoming harder and harder with so many craft breweries doing so many unique things,” Scarlata says. They have introduced a vinyl record shop at the taproom, added pinball machines, and partnered with a restaurant, Two Sons Bakehouse, that delivers food orders to the taproom. Local musicians perform regularly during summer, their busiest season.
Scarlata says his greatest pleasure comes from hearing that someone enjoys their beer.
“We got an email once from the owner of a very large craft brewery,” he recalls. “He said, ‘I tried this beer of yours at a bar, and I have to say, it was the best IPA I’ve had in six months.’ Getting that kind of feedback from another professional in the field, it made our day.”
