East Lyme — When Niantic liquor store owner Sue Kumro heard the idea to create a Niantic-themed beer, she immediately knew it could be more than something that just tasted great.

“I said, ‘Yeah, that’s a really cool idea,’ but then I also said, ‘I’m going to donate the proceeds to the Miracle League,’” said Kumro, who owns Mermaid Liquors on Main Street and is vice president of Niantic Main Street, a nonprofit that promotes East Lyme's downtown district through a handful of community events. “I know people in Niantic love beer, and they believe in this cause, so I knew it would work.”

Born out of that conversation, then, is the Niantic Bay IPA — downtown Niantic’s first official beer and “something perfect for summer,” Kumro said.

Light and citrusy, it is “supposed to be an easy-to-drink IPA,” Kumro said.

“We asked ourselves, 'What would appeal to the most people?' And we could have made anything — a hibiscus beer, an oyster stout — but a light IPA, we thought, was our answer,” she said.

Available since March 20, the beer is the latest in a long line of efforts — from hosting galas and concerts to organizing oyster festivals and downtown 5K road races, one of which will be held Sunday — that local residents have made to raise money for the proposed Miracle League baseball field behind Flanders Elementary School. For every six-pack sold, $2.50 goes toward the field. And for every draft sold at Lillian’s Café on Main Street, a dollar also goes toward the field.

The field was proposed in November 2017 by Parks and Recreation Director David Putnam. Since then, locals have raised $400,000 of the half million dollars needed to begin building the field this fall, Putnam said Thursday.

“What the people of East Lyme have come together to do for this field has been really neat,” he said. “And this beer is another example of that.”

Now a year ahead of schedule, Putnam said he believes the field, which will feature a poured-in-place surface and be accessible to children in wheelchairs and walkers, soon will come to fruition.

It will be the second field of its kind in the state and the first in the area, he said, and will serve as a regional facility for children from southeastern Connecticut and western Rhode Island.

“With all the events we have coming up to support the cause, plus the proceeds made from the beer, I think we will soon have enough to go forward with the plans,” Putnam said, explaining that the field has received all necessary town permits and just awaits completing funding for its first phase. A second and third phase, he said, will cost another $250,000 to $300,000 and will later cover a playscape and a restaurant/concession stand.

Kumro said that since the beer’s release in March, it has been selling quickly. With Lillian’s Café owner Steve Turner selling the beer on tap in his restaurant, and Stanley Martone of Castello of Niantic selling cans adding to that success, Kumro said her store alone has sold over 50 cases of the beer.

Aside from that, Kumro also has been selling pint glasses and T-shirts featuring the beer’s downtown-inspired mermaid logo — designed by Rita Rivera — to help the cause. Having sold 72 of those pint glasses in the first two days after getting her first order, another order for 288 more is on its way, Kumro said.

“A lot of people are buying these and shipping them to family members that used to live here,” Kumro said. “I have somebody who used to live here and now lives in Bermuda, and she sent me a message on Facebook saying, ‘Please, please save me one of these glasses.’”

“People just love Niantic,” Kumro continued. “They want to help out any way they can.”

Spurred while attending a Niantic Main Street-sponsored Winter’s Farmers Market in January, Kumro said she came up with the idea of using a Niantic-themed beer for a good cause while talking with Lenny Corto of Sound View Brewing Co. of Old Lyme — a “gypsy brewing” company that brews out of various breweries around the state.

When Corto pitched the idea of the beer, Kumro, who has taken part in organizing several fundraisers for the field, such as the Winter Farmers' Market chili and mac-and-cheese cook-offs, hopped right on.

“I believe in the Miracle League and we are all trying to get to that goal so they can build it,” she said. “The more we can sell and make for it, the faster we will get to that goal.”

Because the beer has been selling so well, Corto said he already is planning to make another batch of the same IPA recipe in May. Then, depending on how quick that batch sells, he may make another. He also said that he is planning to make a fall-themed batch later in the summer.

m.biekert@theday.com 

Where to buy

For those interested in buying the Niantic Bay IPA, cases and six-packs can be purchased at Mermaid Liquors, 250 Main St., and at Castello of Niantic, 11 E Pattagansett Road, while draft beer is available at Lillian’s Café, 374 Main St.

Anyone who participates in Sunday’s Niantic Boardwalk 5K race also will receive a free glass of the beer from Lillian’s after the race. Registration for the race begins at 8:30 a.m. at McCook Point Park and is $30 for adults, $20 for youth 18 and under, and $15 for a separate kids fun run. The race begins at 10 a.m. at the park.