Meet Kevin McComiskey, founder brewer
at Hopothecary Ales Brewery & Kitchen
Name:
Kevin McComiskey
Your title?
Founding Brewer
Brewery Name?
Hopothecary Ales Brewery and Kitchen
Where can we find your taproom and eats?
303 Main St. North Reading MA
#1) What made you decide to get into the craft brewing industry?
An absolute passion for craft beer starting in the mid 90’s and homebrewing for ~ 10 years. Also, after 27 years working in health care, I was ready to move on…
#2) Which of your beers do your customers enjoy the most and why?
Hard to narrow it down, but I would say there are a few. The 1st is Simple Solution – a honey blonde ale that we call beer flavored beer around here. This recipe was formulated as a “gateway” beer for folks who usually go to a macro lager. This beer has significantly more flavor than a macro, but is recognizable and refreshing. It’s my favorite “lawn mower” beer, and our patrons have made it consistently one of our best sellers, whenever it is on tap.
Next would have to be our NEIPA’s. We always have a variety, of singles and doubles, and are constantly doing some fun things with the recipes. For example, we currently have a beer called “Hop Transplant” where we took the recipe for our most popular single NEIPA (Tonic) and used different hops (it is also our charity beer of the month). The result is a beer reminiscent of freshly squeezed OJ, and it has been selling extremely well.
The other thing I think our customers enjoy is we strive to have a wide variety of beer styles on tap all the time, to be sure we can have something for everyone. Our current beer list is available on the Untapp’d app.
#3) What's your favorite thing about your brewery?
That it exists… There were a few years we thought we would never get here. With the years of planning, then the pandemic hitting, it seemed like the project would never be completed. It’s been a dream for a long time, and I absolutely love coming to work every day.
#4) Besides your own, what Massachusetts craft beers or breweries impress you the most and why? Another tough question, but I’s have to say I love Channel Marker for their ridiculously good NEIPA’s, and a staff / team that has always been very inviting. Next would be Back Beat for tremendous cask options, which are hard to find around here these days on a consistent basis. Then would be Gentile for their dedication to well executed classic styles, and just an all-around fun little spot. Paul is also a great guy to just sit and have a beer with. I always have a blast when I’m there. (it helps that they are all right next to each other too)
Honorable mentions would have to be River Styx for pushing the boundaries of beer (stouts in particular), and Four Star Hop Farm for having the best outdoor venue to just kick back, relax and have a fresh, quality beer right next to where the hops were grown.
#5) What’s a little known fact about you or your brewery that you think customers would get a kick out of?
I think people often get a kick out of our origin story. Steve Gabardi, who is one of the founders, and the other early driver of this project. Steve and I met about 20 years ago at Brigham and Women’s hospital, where he was (and still is) working as the transplant pharmacologist for the renal and pancreas transplant division. When we first met, I was a staff nurse on the transplant floor where patients would go to recover from surgery, and return for any necessary inpatient care, but in late 2008 I transitioned to working as a transplant coordinator, working directly with Steve and the rest of the transplant team. We like to say this project was born at the Mission Bar and Grill where Steve and I would often go for beers after work, and they always had a great craft selection. Hence, our work in the medical field lead to the medical theme our brewery has and name “Hopothecary”.
#6) Do you remember your first gateway craft beer? What did you love about it and why?
I love to tell this story… Back in the mid 90’s my wife and I were staying at a small bed and breakfast in Freeport Maine. It was about 150 yards from Gritty McDuff’s. We went in there for dinner, and I had no idea it was a brewpub at the time and we thought it was just like any other bar and grill. I remember being very surprised I couldn’t get a “regular” beer (I was mostly drinking rolling rock at the time) and had to get something they brewed on site. Convinced it would be terrible, I ordered their base beer, Gritty’s Best Bitter. It was absolutely fantastic, and I’ve been a craft beer fan ever since.