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By Jenni Glenn, Staff Writer
Gloucester Daily Times
2.23.2004
It took a year and a half for Michael Beaton and Jeremy Goldberg's dream to ferment into reality.
Today, the brothers-in-law and business partners plan to begin making their first batch of Fisherman's Brew - the lager they hope will become the flagship of their new micro-brewery - in the former Mortillaro's Bakery in the Fort.
Cape Ann Brewing Co. will be open for business when that beer is ready to serve, in four to six weeks.
The Beach Court microbrewery will produce high-quality beer to sell to area restaurants and package stores, Beaton said. Residents won't be able to buy the beer directly from the brewery, he said, but the business will offer public tours - and samples - beginning this summer.
Cape Ann Brewing Co. will be able to produce 40 kegs of beer at a time and about 10,000 kegs of beer in a year, Goldberg said. Stainless steel tanks to boil and ferment the beer fill the 1,700-square-foot space behind Beaton's real estate office where the brewery is located.
Beaton and Goldberg came to the idea of opening a microbrewery by separate routes. Goldberg decided to pursue a career in the industry after he appeared in a documentary called "American Beer" that was released last year. The film's crew traveled to 38 breweries in 40 days to shoot the movie.
Beaton said he first envisioned a local beer called Fisherman's Brew several years ago. He even had the space for a brewery - the rear section of the building he bought in the Fort three years ago as a Gloucester site for Beaton Real Estate, which also has a Rockport office. He rented the space as a storage facility, but Beaton said he knew it could be an ideal location for a microbrewery.
"I had the idea for a few years, but never took it further than a passing idea that Gloucester should have its own microbrewery," Beaton said.
When Goldberg visited Beaton a year and a half ago, their discussions of beer solidified into a business plan. With Goldberg focusing on the breweing side of the company and Beaton handling most of the business aspects, the two men became the sole employeees of Cape Ann Brewing Co.
Gloucester seemed like the ideal location for the new business venture, said Goldberg, who had been living in Miami before he and Beaton started the company. The city is a beer-drinking community with a mix of people that will like the high-end beer, he said.
Goldberg said the company's mainstay product, Fisherman's Brew, is made from four ingredients - a slightly crushed grain called barley malt, a bittering agent called hops, yeast and water. The grain is steeped in boiling water for more than an hour to remove the sugar, and yeast is added to the liquid to make it ferment over several weeks.
"Because we're making it in smaller amounts, we're able to focus on the quality," Goldberg said.
Goldberg and Beaton chose to make Fisherman's Brew an amber American lager a beer that ferments at 55 degrees, a relatively cool temperature, for about six weeks. Goldberg said aficionados will be able to savor three or four without feeling weighed down by the beverage.
Eventually, Goldberg said the company will offer a range of recipes. He experiments with testing equipment in the brewery, searching for potential products.
Beaton said the company could be rolling out its first bottles of Fisherman's Brew - with packaging featuring the Fisherman's Memorial statue - by mid-April.
"The highlight will be next week when we start brewing," he said last week.
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