This is a very real problem with many "hyped" languages. Sure, they might seem more powerful and elegant, but if you got to spend tons of time re-implementing basic networking/web libraries, then what's the point in using them for web development.
I am a coauthor of the original emysql. I wouldn't recommend using Erlang for your average web application. I would recommend it when the problem you're solving thrives on an idiomatically distributed and fault tolerant platform.
Enter something like Clojure whose "host" platform is not just an implementation detail, but a feature.