Yankee Brew News Archive

Microbrewery Profile: Peabody Brewing Company

Originally Published: 06/97

By: Bob DiCesare

The winter season is long over, but a nor'easter is still making its presence felt across Boston's North Shore region.

The Peabody Brewing Company is striking the area with its flagship product, Nor'Easter Ale, despite the recent shutdown of a nearby microbrewery, the Ould Newbury Brewing Company in Newburyport.

Situated between an ice company and a leather factory on Walnut Street in Peabody's main square, the Bay State's newest microbrewery made its first local deliveries in early March and is happy to report an abundance of re-orders of its pale ale, which is available in 22 ounce bottles and kegs.

Brothers Mark and Mike Manning head the three-man operation as co-owners and brewers, and they are ably assisted by their 70-year-old father, Henry, who is retired but still has plenty of energy.

"I put in more hours than both of them,'' said Henry Manning.

"Yeah, we leave the heavy lifting to Dad,'' kidded Mike Manning.

The Mannings' rise to prominence as brewery owners started from -- where else? -- homebrewing. Mark and Mike received a homebrewing kit for Christmas eight years ago and then experimented with different grains and recipes using a 10-gallon, all-grain system.

Although Mark Manning, 40, is a Peabody firefighter and Mike Manning, 27, works as a geologist for a local environmental lab, both of them realized they were "getting pretty good" at their craft and decided to pursue opening a brewery.

A local dairy owner, Ted Dunajski, helped the Mannings by renting them his storage facility at 26 Walnut Street, which was once a kosher slaughterhouse. For the Mannings, the main features included installed floor drains, a loading dock, and some dairy equipment that Dunajski no longer needed which the Mannings tailored to their brewery needs in November, 1995.

"Ted's been a great help to us,'' said Mike Manning, who majored in geology at Salem State College and works a flexible schedule. "He really helped us get started.''

After taking a crash course in carpentry work for a year and getting the necessary licenses and paperwork done, the Mannings began brewing on a seven-barrel system in January. They purchased a used, refrigerated delivery truck from their next-door neighbor, the Patten Ice Company, and made their first delivery run to 20 local liquor stores in early March.

"The pale ale is real smooth and even all the way through,'' said Mike Manning. "It's middle of the road for bitterness and aroma with a 4.5 percent alcohol content. I'd say it's similar to Bass Ale. We want to appeal to a lot of different beer drinkers.''

The Mannings had the "Nor'easter'' slogan in mind from the beginning, but a graphic artist friend pulled everything together by drawing a picture of a bold fisherman fighting a storm for the bottle's label.

"We settled on the Gloucester fisherman because it essentially captures our region,'' said Mike Manning.

From the beginning of March to the end of April, the Mannings have increased production from 50 cases to 80 cases per week.

"We actually got a little behind and ran out of beer one week,'' said Mark Manning. "Word has gotten out around town. More people are trying it and liking it. Even more restaurants are taking it in kegs.''

"We have the brew part under control despite our work schedules,'' said Mike Manning. "The business aspect of it is our greatest challenge, particularly expansion in the area. But we're starting to blossom a bit with reorders and restaurant accounts on tap.''

The Mannings would eventually like to go to smaller bottles for restaurants and bars. Their initial plan was to stay with the flagship pale ale for a while, but plans are now in the works to produce a darker beer for the festive, autumn beer season.

"Mike likes brown ale and I like stout,'' said Mark Manning. "Whatever we decide, at least we know it will be a darker brew.''

The only other difference of opinion between the Manning brothers is where their lives are headed.

"Even if he became a millionaire, Mark is always going to be a fireman,'' said Mike Manning. "If all goes well, I would do something like this full-time. I think it would be great because I like the fact that it's a family-run business.''