A young Monhegan couple opened the first brewery in island history in July and the beer is selling as fast as they can make it.
“We just can’t make it fast enough, which is a great problem to have,” Matt Weber said.
Year-round islanders Matt and Mary Weber own Monhegan Brewing Company and brew beer under the tutelage of Mary’s father, master brewer Danny McGovern, who is also the couple’s business partner.
The company’s products bear the names of features of the island. Lobster Cove APA was the company’s first beer.
APA stands for American Pale Ale, and a sign on the wall describes the brew as an “easy-drinking pale ale.”
“An American Pale Ale is a pale ale that’s made with American hops, and it tends to be lighter than, say, an IPA, and less hoppy and usually lower in alcohol content,” Mary Weber said during a July 26 interview at the brewery.
The brewery also makes ginger beer and root beer. Its Trapyard Root Beer was almost an afterthought to cater to customers with families, Mary Weber said, but has become “a huge hit” as popular with adults as with children.
“Because we didn’t expect it to sell so well, we ran out of ingredients to make it last week,” Mary Weber said. As soon as the ingredients were in hand, she began to tell visitors the next batch would be ready by 4 p.m. on Thursday.
“There was a line at our door at 4 o’clock, and we sold all of what we had made in 20 minutes,” she said.
The brewery plans to introduce Shipwreck IPA, an India Pale Ale, next. The IPA will be a darker, stronger beer with a decidedly more hoppy flavor. “An IPA is something everybody wants right now, so I think it will have a good reception,” Mary Weber said.
The company has small signs up around the island and in the ports, but Mary Weber credits strong word-of-mouth advertising for the company’s early success.
The Webers plan to distribute a small number of kegs to mainland restaurants in the fall, once the season on the island begins to wind down, but “as long as we can sell it all right here, we will,” Mary Weber said.
Fans of craft beer should look for it in the ferry ports – Boothbay Harbor, New Harbor and Port Clyde – and elsewhere in Lincoln and Knox counties.
The brewery will close during the off-season.
Matt Weber, a lobsterman, will return to his boat, the Seldom Seen, when the island lobster season starts in October. Mary Weber, a school teacher, will return to the single classroom at Monhegan School.
Matt Weber began spending summers on Monhegan with his family when he was in high school. He became a year-round resident 19 years ago. Since his move to the island, he has worked as a lobsterman during the winter and harpooned tuna during the summer.
Mary Weber was a teacher in the Bath area when she met Matt Weber 4-1/2 years ago. She moved to the island full time after their wedding two years ago. She was a babysitter for her first winter on the island.
The opening at the school the following year “worked out perfectly,” Mary Weber said. “Jobs are hard to come by out here.”
The idea of a brewery on the island was a frequent topic of conversation among the family beginning around early 2012.
“My father is a brewer and he’s been one for more than 20 years, so it’s always been a part of our family and life,” Mary Weber said. McGovern brews full time for Marshall Wharf Brewing Company in Belfast.
“He comes out every 10 days and basically leads the show. We are his students for now,” Mary Weber said.
A year ago, the brewery morphed from a rough concept into a plan of action. A change in state regulations allowing breweries to serve beer in sampling rooms facilitated the decision to move forward.
“Without the sampling room, I’m not sure that we would try this and I certainly don’t think we’d be as successful as we’ve been so far,” Matt Weber said.
Matt Weber and an island contractor started work on the 20-by-24-foot building in September, had it weather tight by the end of October, worked inside all winter and finished the exterior this spring.
They also designed and installed a new septic system and set up the brewing equipment, including the fermenters, which hold seven barrels or 210 gallons of beer.
Mary Weber, meanwhile, navigated the complex world of federal and state licensing and permitting.
The process presented challenges. The project costs came in at significantly more than the estimates in their business plan, and the brewery missed its target opening day of Memorial Day.
“We were probably five weeks behind schedule, but we picked a good June not to be open,” Matt Weber said, as the cold, wet weather slowed the flow of visitors to the island.
Despite these challenges, “everything came together, every day one more piece of the puzzle was done, and our first brew was definitely a long day, but the beer was great,” Matt Weber said. “We ran out of it sooner than we hoped and I think that’s a good sign.”
“A lot of it comes down to the quality of the beer,” he said. “If you don’t have a good product, you’re sunk.”
Islanders and local businesses are enthusiastic about the venture.
“We hear a lot of support and praise,” Mary Weber said. “A lot of people come up to us, whether it’s hotel owners or other store owners, and they all let us know there’s a general buzz about the brewery and that it’s exciting.”
The Webers are grateful to the island community for their support through every step of the process.
“Various people on island have various talents, and we’ve used almost everyone’s specific area of talent,” Matt Weber said. “It’s been great to have that sort of support and know you’re not alone.”
For example, the brewing process produces hundreds of pounds of waste barley. The Monhegan Island Farm Project, which manages several gardens around the island, is composting the grain. The project will also grow hops for the brewery.
“It would have been a really expensive thing for us to have to manage if not for that partnership,” Mary Weber said.
“We’ve also had some pretty important help and support and advice from two other breweries,” Matt Weber said, especially from David Carlson of Marshall Wharf Brewing Company in Belfast and Geoff Masland of Oxbow Brewing Company in Newcastle.
“Both of those breweries have been an inspiration and a big help,” Matt Weber said. “There’s a real close-knit brewing community in Maine.”
Monhegan Brewing Company, at 1 Boody Lane, is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week. For more information, like Monhegan Brewing Company on Facebook.
For a photo gallery of the Webers at work in the brewery by photojournalist Kris Giacobbe, visit Dropbox.
