Our Story

 

The True North Ale Company is a business that has been “in the making” for decades. It was more than thirty years ago that Gary Rogers, fed up with the poor selection of beers available from US brewers, tried his hand at his first batch of homebrew. It was a pale ale, the first of many styles. Gary enjoyed conducting blind taste tests where friends sampled his beer versus commercial brands. He took pride that his was often the preferred choice.

Jake Rogers was born during Gary’s early years of homebrewing. He grew up in a home filled with the aroma of boiling malt and pungent hops. When Jake was in grade school the family moved to France. There, Gary was exposed to wonderful Belgian, German, and English brews that further opened his palate to the vast world of beer varieties.  

Following three years in Europe, the family returned to the Boston area in 1997 to find that the craft brewing industry had taken root and was flourishing.  For several years Gary set aside his homebrewing kit and explored the new offerings in the domestic market. Fast forward to Jake’s college years in Washington state where he frequented a pizza restaurant that was also a nanobrewery. Discussions with the brewers piqued his interest and, during a winter break from school, he and his dad dug out the kettle and brewed an IPA. Gary’s passion for brewing was reawakened. Since, the two have brewed scores of batches of beer of many styles to the delight of their family and friends.

Following college graduation, Jake took a job at a smaller regional brewery to learn the business. There he worked in all its operational areas, gaining valuable, broad-based experience. Gary retired from his long career in high tech sales and marketing and dedicated more of his leisure time to brewing. Ultimately, the two decided to put their experience and passion for brewing to good use, opening a brewery near their hometowns. The True North Ale Company in Ipswich, Massachusetts is the result.

 

And now, more of the story…

We did not easily come by the name True North Ale Company. In fact, we ran into conflict with our first Google search and, upon consultation with a patent attorney, were strongly discouraged from moving ahead with that name. A distillery in northern Michigan had a line of flavored vodkas on the market named True North Vodka. Per US patent and trademark laws, this created a conflict and we would be denied use of the name. But Jake stubbornly held out hope that we could use the name and pushed to find a way.

Gary shared our story with a good friend, Phil Moy, who happens to be a patent and trademark attorney in Cleveland. “Not so fast,” he counseled. “There may be a way to get this done,” but indicated it would be challenging for an unknown entity to gain the attention of the principals of an established distillery and their attorneys. So Gary turned to Rory, our CFO and a born and raised Michigander, saying, “Buffalo, why don’t you use your Midwest charm and reach out to the owner of Grand Traverse Distillery. See if he is willing to work with us to allow us use of the name for our brewery.”

Rory contacted Kent Rabish, initiated a dialogue, and successfully convinced him that there was no tangible conflict and, potentially, some benefit if we both used the name. Kent was a pleasure to work with and, with the lawyers working the details, we came up with an agreement. Filings were made with the US Patent and Trademark Office and the True North Ale Company was born.

Our thanks go to Kent Rabish (www.grandtraversedistillery.com) for his generosity and understanding. In the future, you just may see beers produced by our Head Brewer Seth aging in whiskey barrels sourced from our new friend in Traverse City, Michigan. And when you travel west, please be sure to try Kent’s spirits, and say thanks for us.