Our Team

Jake Rogers - Founder and Chief of Brewery Operations

Jake has broad-based professional experience in brewery operations and oversees all aspects of our production and packaging. He spent his early career at Mercury Brewing Company in Ipswich, Massachusetts. There he worked in all areas of the brewery, running bottling lines and the keg filler, maintaining brewing and packaging equipment, and assisting the brewers. Jake has been a home brewer since 2008 and is a member of the North Shore Brewers homebrew club. He has taken great interest in Belgian and German sour beer styles, and rare historic beer styles. His Flanders Red Ale and Mexican Lager recipes have received numerous awards in homebrew competitions.

Raised in coastal Massachusetts, Jake attended Governor Dummer Academy, Whitman College in Washington state, and University of Southern Maine, receiving a degree in geography-anthropology focused on archaeology. In his free time living in Ipswich, Jake pursues many varied interests, among them back-yard farming with a recent foray into keeping bees.

Gary Rogers - Founder and Chief of Business Operations

Gary focuses on sales and marketing for True North Ales and helps out as needed on the production floor. He has been an avid homebrewer since 1984, is a member of the North Shore Brewers homebrew club, and has created scores of batches of high quality beer with a focus on stouts and porters, IPAs, and Belgian tripels. Gary gained a taste of brewing in a commercial environment after winning a 2013 Ales for ALS Home Brewers Competition. As a reward, he collaborated with the brewmaster at Cape Ann Brewery to produce a 10-barrel batch of his own “Iron Horse Double-E IPA” recipe. The resulting product was sold to benefit the ALS charity at several local restaurants on Boston’s North Shore.

A native of Boston’s North Shore, Gary is a graduate of Beverly High School, Dartmouth College, and holds an MBA in finance and marketing from the University of Chicago. He built his career in high tech sales and marketing at IBM in Chicago and Boston, then with a succession of successful start-ups in the Boston area and France. Gary ran international sales for Wellfleet Communications (aka Bay Networks). His last position before retiring was Executive Vice President of worldwide sales at Sonus Networks, Westford, Massachusetts. Before coming out of retirement from the high tech industry to found the True North Ale Company with his son Jake, Gary spent much of his time in the outdoors biking, hiking, skiing, motorcycling, fishing, and bird hunting. Gary also served on the board of MetroLacrosse, a Boston-based non-profit that serves urban youth.

Seth Barnum - Head Brewer

Seth is responsible for a broad base of True North Ale Company beer production, from recipe creation, to managing the brewhouse and quality control. He has been brewing professionally both here in Massachusetts and in one of the hot beds of brewing creativity, Portland, Oregon. Seth landed an entry level brewing position at Mercury Brewing Company in Ipswich, Massachusetts, where he first met and worked alongside Jake. After moving west to work at Breakside Brewing, he produced some outstanding West Coast IPAs, a traditional German Pils, and fruited sour beers, among other styles. While working there as their Lead Brewer, Breakside won Gold in American-Style IPA at the 2014 Great American Beer Festival, and in 2016, earned four medals at the World Beer Cup, more than any other brewery in the world. Seth boasts impressive formal brewing credentials. While at Breakside, he was named the recipient of the Glen Hay Falconer Scholarship to attend the World Brewing Academy's International Diploma in Brewing Technology Program at Siebel Institute in Chicago and Doemens Academy in Munich, Germany.

Seth grew up in New Hampshire and graduated from the Holderness School and Kenyon College in Ohio, where he majored in psychology and the natural sciences. When not busy brewing, Seth enjoys experiencing the outdoors and cooking.

Rick Marggraf - Director of Finance & Administrative Officer

A long-time corporate accountant in companies both large and small, Rick’s experience spans many industries such as insurance, manufacturing, green energy and engineering, among others. Rick grew up working in the family pub and restaurant, which motivated him to attend Merrimack College and earn a B.S. in Accounting.

A native of Methuen, MA, Rick attended Methuen High School where he played both football and ice hockey. Rick is married and lives in Amesbury, MA. with his wife and daughter. He enjoys spending his time with friends in the local brew pub scene on the North Shore, trying out all of the new craft beer offerings.

Rick served two terms on the Amesbury City Council, and is most proud of being part of a movement to build a new elementary school in town that is scheduled to open in the fall of 2023.

Tim Griggs - Director of Taproom & Events

Mike Goudie - Taproom Manager

Amanda Thurston - Marketing & Social Media Lead

Jill Rogers - Project Specialist

Jill works behind the scenes to help manage many aspects of our brewery business. She is also likely to be found behind the bar, pouring beers and talking with customers. Jill took the lead in designing and outfitting our taproom. Her experience with great beer began during a semester studying in Germany while in college. She has a keen palate for quality craft beer, and over the years has participated in many homebrew and True North Ales taste tests.

A native of Spokane in eastern Washington, Jill moved east to attend Dartmouth College. After earning a specialized Master’s degree in geography and cartography from Michigan State University, she worked in the educational publishing industry. While she takes no responsibility for Gary, she did have a hand in raising Jake. Before her family became involved in the brewing industry, Jill spent much of her time biking, hiking, skiing, and quilting.

Liz Higgins Rogers

Liz was introduced to craft beer in college, and then introduced to "really good" craft beer in 2012 when she met Jake. Since then she has grown to love many different styles of beer, especially sour beers and saison beers.

Liz grew up in Ipswich, and has a love for the community and all things that bring people together. She attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she received a BA in Legal Studies. As a co-owner of Precision Pilates in Ipswich and Danvers, Liz has a passion for Pilates and healing through movement. Beer and Pilates makes perfect sense, right? You will likely see Liz bouncing in and out of the True North Ales taproom whenever she can. In an official capacity, she will be bartending on occasions and plans to help out in any way needed to contribute to a community-like atmosphere at True North Ale Company.

Spanning Generations

True North Ales has a unique perspective on brewing beer. Seth, Jake, and Liz were raised on craft beer. They see the endless possibilities the styles offer and are eager to pursue their inspiration and creativity. Gary, Rory, and Jill knew little more than American lagers before the craft beer boom began in the 1980s. Since then they have embraced the diversity of craft beer and will never look back. Together, we often debate styles, with one or the other pushing to be more traditional or more cutting-edge, but always work together to brew a diverse variety of great beers.

Rory Laughna - Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, Emeritus

Rory was the guy who kept the lights on, the books balanced, and the rest of us in line in the early years of the brewery. His background in commercial banking helped us to manage the business properly and set us up for growth. An occasional homebrewer, his ESB was brewed in the traditional English style.

Hailing from the state of Michigan, Rory attended Dartmouth College where he met Gary and Jill. After earning an MBA from the University of Michigan, Rory spent a long career in commercial banking, first in Pittsburgh with Mellon Bank and later in the Boston area with BTMU Capital Corporation. Rory was a cyclist and avid rugby fan. A resident of Westwood, MA, he was active in his community as a member of the town Personnel Board and the Pedestrian and Bike Safety Committee, and the Finance Council at Saint Margaret Mary Parish. He was a volunteer consultant for ESC of New England.