Six Pack Questionnaire Series: Harpoon Brewery

Meet Megan Baker Wilson, Director of Digital Strategy

Full Name: Megan Baker Wilson

Your title: Director of Digital Strategy

Brewery Name: Harpoon Brewery

Brewery Location: 306 Northern Avenue Boston, MA 02210

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

Beer was something that I became passionate about in my early 20s. I loved the artistry and innovation behind craft beer, and I loved the community that came along with it. People in the craft beer community are passionate, hardworking, and fun – and I think that was something I really identified with. 

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

 Nothing beats Harpoon IPA. It has been our best-selling beer for decades for a reason – it’s crisp, refreshing, and perfectly balanced. So many people have great memories attached to that beer. It’s certainly a go-to beer for a lot of people in New England. 

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

 The pretzels! (Just kidding). My favorite thing about Harpoon is our culture of employee ownership. As an employee-owned brewery there is a sense that we are all in it together and we are encouraged to always think about ways we can improve the business. There is constant ideation and innovation from all levels and departments – it’s what makes us special. 

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

As someone who lives in the south shore, I’m a big fan of Widowmaker Brewing. They have amazing packaging, and they do a lot of fun innovative beers of all different styles. I am also a big fan of the newly opened Break Rock Brewing in Quincy. The tap room is fun and laid back with gorgeous views of Marina Bay, and they make good, clean beer with a focus on classic styles which is totally my jam.

#5) What’s a little known fact about you or your brewery that you think customers would get a kick out of? Something unique, funny or unusual?  We take our employee owners on cultural trips as a reward for tenure. Starting at the five-year mark, you get to go on an all expense paid trip to Europe! After that, we do a mix of domestic and European trips every 3-5 years. 

#6) What’s a style that you think is under-appreciated that you’d encourage other craft beer drinkers to try? Cream Ale – hands down. As someone from Rochester, NY, Genny Cream Ale has had such an impact on my love for craft beer and whenever I go to a brewery and see they have one on tap I have to try it. 

Massachusetts craft brewers team up to diversify their industry

Harpoon parent and state trade group launch a website, training series

Originally featured on BostonGlobe.com

Dan Kenary used to look around at craft beer events and see the same thing: “a bunch of white dudes with beards and flannel,” as he puts it.

Kenary, chief executive of Harpoon beer parent Mass. Bay Brewing, is hoping to change that, once in-person events resume. His company has teamed up with the industry’s statewide trade group, the Massachusetts Brewers Guild, to launch an ambitious effort to diversify the ranks.

This month, they unveiled a website, dubbed Hop Forward Equality, to serve as a central clearinghouse for the industry in terms of diversity and inclusion initiatives, book suggestions, job postings, and best practices. They’re also launching a series of training sessions, virtual at first, to help executives diversify their teams.

About 6,000 people work for the craft beer industry in the state, primarily at one of the 210 breweries here. Women are playing an increasing role. But people of color remain poorly represented.

Kenary’s company and the brewers guild are also supporting a video travelogue series, hosted by Live Like A Local Tours founder Collin Knight, to highlight brewers across the state and their contributions to diversity.

For the first installment of this series, Knight headed out to Springfield, to visit with Ray Berry, founder of White Lion Brewing and one of a handful of Black brewery owners in the state. He opened his brewery last year after several years of contract brewing. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed things, but now Berry is eager to welcome visitors. He raises a glass to the Hop Forward Equality effort.

“I’m very proud and encouraged by Mass. Bay Brewing and the local Mass. guild for understanding that there is truly a deficit in our trade and looking to be creative in conversation and in action steps to bring awareness and move the needle,” said Berry, who is a member of the brewers guild’s diversity committee. “They are taking a very proactive step in the right direction.”

Mass. Bay hosted a diversity job fair in October 2019, also using the “Hop Forward” name, at the Harpoon brewery in Boston after Kenary found it tough to attract applicants from diverse communities. That fair was supposed to be a springboard to a series of job-focused events across the state in 2020, but the pandemic interfered. Brewers guild executive director Katie Stinchon and Mass. Bay HR chief Rich Ackerman didn’t want to let their momentum or the partnerships they formed fade away, so they channeled their energy into new directions: the website, the training sessions, the “Back Brew Dialogues” hosted by Knight.

The brewers can make a business case for these efforts, including broadening the market for their beers, and bringing more diversity of thought to their workforces. Stinchon estimated that craft beer trade groups in at least 10 other states have diversity and inclusion initiatives — but none have their own online resource center, at least not yet.

“This has to be a broader-based effort, and it’s got to be made more permanent,” Kenary said. “Not enough attention has been paid to diverse communities. ... I’m not 100 percent sure of the reason. Maybe we’re too insular of an industry at times, more focused on what each other were doing, instead of how we could reach out to underserved and underrepresented communities.”

Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jonchesto.

Winner Winner Beer Dinner

Five Local Craft Beer Fans Dined with Celebrity Brewers during the Mass Brewer Guild’s Mass Craft Beer Dinner to honor its Beer Trail Conquerors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. | The conversation and beer flowed as Massachusetts craft beer legends Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer co., Dan Kenary, founder of Harpoon, Will Meyers, brewmaster at CBC, and Rob Burns, co-founder of Night Shift and president of the Mass Brewers Guild, came together with five Beer Trail Conquerors for a special dinner at Cambridge Brewing Co. 

The dinner was hosted by the Mass Brewers Guild, the craft beer industry’s trade association, to celebrate fans who achieved Beer Trail Conqueror status by visiting 100 breweries in one year using the nonprofit’s passport program. The mobile app, “Mass Craft Beer,” celebrated its one year anniversary this past September and currently has 9,800 downloads. 

Seventeen craft beer super fans took on the challenge and conquered the trail. Five names were drawn at random to attend the Mass Craft Beer Dinner.  

Brian Healy of South Easton, Benjamin Krefetz of Cambridge, Lisa Hodge of Sutton, Michelle Mulligan of Whitman, and Dmitriy Arkannikov of Waltham, all won seats at the table, and in some cases left their spouses, who were also Beer Trail Conquerors, behind. “I was getting the silent treatment as I left tonight,” joked Lisa Hodge, whose husband Geoff was her craft beer traveling partner across the state. “Thankfully he’s out with friends enjoying some craft beer tonight too.” 

Many of the Beer Trail Conquerors had coincidently met before, either striking up a conversation at one of the Mass Brewers Guild’s festivals, or bumping into one another at breweries while chasing each other on the leaderboard.  

Brian Healy was the first to complete the trail, with Bob Kelley, co-founder of the Mass. Brew Bros., hot on his heels. Both Bob and Brian carry their original Mass Brewers Guild paper passports in their wallets and as new breweries open they see if taprooms can stamp them for old times’ sake. 

The Mass Brewers Guild saw the need to digitize the program so they could keep it updated in real time. The app also reduces paper waste and ensures that craft beer fans will never miss another stamp with the app on their phone.  

“I never would have visited towns like Sheffield or Nahant if it weren’t for the mobile app,” said Dmitriy Arkannikov. “I found so many hidden gems along my travels – amazing restaurants, pie shops, doughnut shops -- it was a great way to explore the state. I am excited to do it again.”  

The original paper passport program only featured 43 breweries when it launched in 2013. Today, Massachusetts has more than 160 breweries, with 30 in-planning slated to open in 2019. 

“It was amazing to meet such dedicated craft beer fans and hear about their passion for the MA beer scene, says Rob Burns, cofounder of Nightshift and president of the Mass Brewers Guild. “We really are spoiled in MA from both a brewery perspective and a consumer one.”

The free app is available in iTunes and Google Play stores and is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Mass. Brew Bros. who assist with data collection, Fat Basset Design who provides badge artwork, and to New England Label for their marketing support. Funds raised through the Mass Brewers Guild’s festivals, Power Beer Fest and the Mass Fermentational, help to cover development updates and maintenance costs. 

The four course beer pairing dinner ended with a blondie drizzled in beeramel, topped with CBC wort ice cream, and paired with a sipper of Samuel Adams Utopias 2017. “If you didn’t drink it, we couldn’t make it – so thank you -- cheers,” said Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer Company. 

###

About the Mass Brewers Guild

Founded in 2007 by a group of committed and passionate brewers, the Mass Brewers Guild, is organized for the purposes of promoting craft brewing and protecting the interests of craft brewers across the Commonwealth. The association is membership based and open to all Massachusetts breweries licensed by the federal Tax and Trade Bureau and the Commonwealth’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. The nonprofit creates a community of brewers while shining light on the broad range of breweries and styles offered throughout state.Through industry and educational events, its mobile application beer trail map, and by providing resources and marketing support to brewers, the nonprofit works to highlight Massachusetts as a top travel destination for craft beer in the U.S. The board also continues its work at the legislative level, fighting for license and franchise law reform, and serving as the voice of craft brewers on Beacon Hill. The Massachusetts Brewers Guild is a 501(c)6 not-for-profit corporation.

Local Breweries Raise a Pint and Funds for the Mass Brewers Guild During #MassBeerWeek

Local breweries are coming together to host “MBG Pint Nites,” with the goal to raise awareness and funds for the Mass Brewers Guild during Mass Beer Week.

Mass Beer Week, held from April 20 through April 28, is the state’s celebration of locally made craft beer.

All breweries, tap rooms, restaurants and bottle shops are encouraged to get involved in the festivities by hosting their own unique events. The only requirement to be involved in Mass Beer Week is that the event must focus exclusively on beer brewed in the state of Massachusetts.

Battle Road Brewing Co., CraftRoots Brewing, Harpoon, Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, Mayflower Brewing Co., Medusa Brewing Co., Moon Hill Brewing Co., Night Shift Brewing Co., and Sam Adams, will all hold a designated MBG Pint Nite during the weeklong celebration, where a $1 of all beer sales that day will come back to the nonprofit organization.

The Mass Brewers Guild is the state’s trade association that works to protect and promote the interests of craft brewers across the Commonwealth.

Want to support the cause? It’s easy. Flex your pint lifting biceps and belly up to a tap room on the following days to help raise funds for the MBG:

Battle Road Brewing Co.
20 Sudbury St., Maynard, MA
Tuesday, April 24

CraftRoots Brewing
4 Industrial Rd, Milford, MA
Wednesday, April 25

Harpoon
306 Northern Ave., Boston
Wednesday, April 25

Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers
100 Clinton St., Framingham, MA
Thursday, April 26

Mayflower Brewing Co.
12 Resnik Rd # 3, Plymouth, MA
Thursday, April 26

Medusa Brewing Co.
111 Main St., Hudson, MA
Monday, April 23

Moon Hill
74 Parker St, Gardner
Thursday, April 26

Night Shift Brewing
87 Santilli Hwy, Everett
Thursday, April 26

Sam Adams
30 Germania St., Boston
Thursday, April 26

Be sure to share, and tag, your delicious beer on social media #MassBeerWeek -- For questions, or more information about the Mass Brewers Guild, visit MassBrewersGuild.org.

Brew Like a Lady

Boston Pink Boots Society & Collaboration Brew Day Takes Place March 8.

Each year across the U.S., chapters and members of the Pink Boots Society -- a national nonprofit organization that supports women in the craft beer industry -- partner with breweries and individuals, adorn pink boots, and brew a unique selected beer style during, “Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day.” This country-wide event takes place annually on March 8, in celebration of International Women's Day. 

Pink Boots Collaboration Day works like this: A hop blend is chosen during harvest season by Pink Boots members, and made available nationwide to commercial brewers to feature in its recipe. Generously provided by YCH Hops, this year’s blend includes Palisade®, Simcoe®, Mosaic®, Citra® and Loral® hops. This exclusive hop blend is the only suggestion to this year’s recipe. Each team must be led by a woman and/or a majority of the participants on the team must be women.

The beer is then sold at participating breweries with proceeds benefiting the Pink Boots Society’s local chapter. Funds provide educational scholarships, and help to sponsor events and meetings for members to meet mentors and have the opportunity to network with other women in the profession.

More than 25 local breweries are set to participate in the brew day and including Aeronaut Brewing, Big Elm, Bone Up Brewing, Craft Roots Brewing, Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing, Greater Good, Harpoon Brewery, Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, Lamplighter, Mayflower Brewing, Notch Brewing, River Styx Brewing, Riverwalk Brewing, Trillium Brewing and Wormtown Brewery. BSG CraftBrewing will donate yeast and specialty malts to any New England brewery that registers to join the effort.

Those interested in learning more about the Boston Pink Boots Society, or to learn how they can be involved are welcome to attend a chapter meeting on Feb. 19 at Notch Brewing in Salem, Mass. Open to all women in the brewing industry, members or allies.

Please register via this Facebook Event Page.

For questions or more information about the Boston Pink Boots Society, contact pbsboston@pinkbootssociety.org