Bent Water Brewing

SIX PACK QUESTIONNAIRE SERIES: BENT WATER BREWING CO.

Meet Robin Leopoldo
Team Development Partner at Bent Water Brewing Co.

Full Name?
Robin Leopoldo

Your title? 
Team Development Partner

Brewery Name? 
Bent Water Brewing Co.

 

Brewery Location? 
Lynn, MA

 

#1) What made you decide to get into the craft brewing industry?

To be 100% honest, I was a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, looking for part-time work and my friends happened to be starting a brewery. I loved the idea of being part of an all-hands-on-deck start-up and was grateful for the opportunity!

 

#2) Which of your beers do your customers enjoy the most and why?

While our brewers love lagers and brew a wide variety of beers, our hazy IPAs (especially Sluice Juice) are the most popular. Being in New England, it was important to us to have consistently delicious New England IPAs in our portfolio.

 

#3) What's your favorite thing about your brewery?

The team! It’s the people that make the job; and I work with a group of people who are kind, funny, dedicated, creative, and always ready to lend a helping hand.

 

#4) Besides your own, what Massachusetts craft beers or breweries impress you the most and why?

I have really enjoyed watching Channel Marker Brewing in Beverly, MA over the past several years. They have taken a small space in a creative building on a downtown corner and have grown with the area. They have been consistent with their brand and have become a well-recognized part of their community and beyond.

#5) What’s a little known fact about you or your brewery that you think customers would get a kick out of?

The inspiration for our beer labels came from the idea of having our beer “jump off the shelves”. Co-Founder and art director, Mike Shaughnessy, wanted to make the labels seem like they were moving. (Check out our Thunder Funk label.) In the process of intently staring at the designs he was creating, Mike literally got vertigo.

#6) Do you remember your first gateway craft beer? What did you love about it and why? 

As a Texan, and not a well-versed beer drinker, a Corona with lime was the way to go. So, I definitely remember my first gateway craft beer and it is one of Bent Water’s originals - Jolene. I distinctly remember trying this American Porter and saying, “Now this is a craft beer I can drink!” To this day, it is my favorite beer because it is dark in color, rich in taste, but light to drink.

Bent Water Brewing Company and Team Fox Collaborate with Breweries Around the Country to Launch Common Hope

Initiative Will Raise Awareness and Funds for The Michael J. Fox Foundation

LYNN, Mass. - April 14, 2022 - Bent Water Brewing Company has launched Common Hope, a nationwide collaborative initiative designed to raise funds and awareness for Parkinson’s disease. Bent Water Brewing and breweries across the country are partnering together to benefit Team Fox, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) grassroots fundraising community.

Bent Water decided to tap into the cause-focused, collaborative nature of the craft beer community in launching Common Hope, inviting breweries around the country to join them in making a beer and donating a portion of proceeds to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. 

Bent Water created a recipe for the beer, a dry-hopped lager, inviting all participating breweries to customize their version and select the unique hops they would use for dry-hopping. Each variation of the beer will be called Common Hope and utilize the same label and supporting marketing assets to help spread awareness of the efforts.

“We are continuously inspired by our community and the many creative ways they are driving The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s mission forward. What better way to come together than to cheers with our friends at Bent Water Brewing Company and all participating breweries for our common goal to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease than with this Common Hope initiative,” said Liz Diemer, MJFF Vice President of Community Fundraising. 

Since Bent Water Brewing’s inception in 2015, support for Parkinson’s research and those living with Parkinson’s has been a primary focus of its community involvement and cause projects.

“Parkinson’s disease has had a profound impact on many of us at Bent Water,” explained Aaron Reames, Co-founder and President, Bent Water Brewing. “My grandmother and my wife’s uncle both passed from it. A close friend of the brewery is living with it. Over the years, we’ve realized just how many of us at the brewery have had people close to us affected, from family to friends to former teachers, coaches, and mentors. This year we wanted to try and do even more for the cause than we have in past years and came up with the idea for Common Hope.”

“When we were considering the style of beer, a lager immediately came to mind,” stated Drew Yeager, COO and Head Brewer, Bent Water Brewing. “One of our goals with the Common Hope initiative is to increase conversations about Parkinson’s and help others understand that people who have it can still lead long, active, fulfilling lives - but they need our support. A lager seemed perfect for that type of conversation, and the dry-hopping opens the opportunity for each brewery to make their version unique to them.”


Bent Water will release its version of Common Hope on Saturday, April 16, in honor of Parkinson’s Awareness Month, with a celebration at its brewery. Additional versions from other breweries will be released in the following weeks and months.


“We’re extremely grateful for the positive response the initiative has received from so many breweries across the country,” continued Reames. “It’s moving to see how many people have been impacted by Parkinson’s and want to contribute to these efforts.”


Breweries across the country, stretching from northern Maine to southern Florida to the west coast have joined the Common Hope initiative, including 2nd Shift Brewing in St. Louis, Missouri; the Bronx Brewery in Bronx, New York; and Harpoon Brewery in Boston, Massachusetts and Windsor, Vermont.


Bent Water also recruited website, design, and marketing partners to give their time and talents to help launch the Common Hope initiative and make it a success: BLKDG and Kevin York Communications. Resource Label Group is supporting Common Hope by offering a discount on label printing for any participating breweries as well.


For more information about Common Hope, visit www.commonhopebeer.com. 

 

About Bent Water Brewing Co.

Bent Water Brewing is a Lynn-based brewery that focuses on consistent, quality craft beers. Founded in 2015 by Massachusetts North Shore residents, Bent Water operates on a 30BBL system and proudly utilizes Lynn’s superior water source. Bent Water Brewing distributes to Massachusetts, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. For more information, please visit http://www.bentwaterbrewing.com/