STORY BY MEGAN DEMAREST
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY THE ALCHEMIST BREWERY
The Alchemist ’ s Apprentice
Avid home-brewer John Kimmich headed to Burlington , VT from Pittsburgh , PA in early 1995 after graduating from Penn State in pursuit of a brewery job with his soon-to-be mentor , Greg Noonan , who founded and ran the Vermont Pub and Brewery ( VPB ). He ended up landing a gig as a server at Greg ’ s other business , the 7 Barrel Brewery in West Lebanon , NH . On weekends , he spent his free time working with the brewer at 7 Barrel to soak in all he could . After a year , Greg offered him a job as Head Brewer at VPB , and he was back in Burlington . But that wasn ’ t the only life-changing thing that happened to John in the spring of 1996 .
Brattleboro native , Jen Mailly , grew up mostly in Barre and graduated from the University of Vermont ( UVM ) with a business degree , but the next step after graduation wasn ’ t immediately clear . She backpacked all over the place and ultimately knew she had to embark on the next step in her life ’ s journey , so she trucked on back to Burlington and started working at the VPB , where she had worked during college . That was 2 months after Greg had hired young John to be Head Brewer . “ The door to the kitchen swung open ,” recalls John . “ We locked eyes at the coffee station ,” adds Jen , “ and the rest is history .”
“ We had a date in April , we were engaged in May , and we were married the following September ,” says John with a smile .
“ I fell in love with his beer … his beer was so good ,” says Jen , laughing . “ And he really liked my work ethic .”
This makes John laugh , too , but all kidding aside , their collectively strong work ethic , combined with a shared love of beer and a love-at-first-sight passion for one another is what sets this tale in motion .
Let ’ s Open a Brew Pub
Jen and John also shared a dream of opening their own pub and restaurant someday . They worked hard over the next several years to save money , and while Jen drummed up a business plan and John concocted recipes , they both experimented with possible names for their would-be venture . “ Greg and I were sitting at the bar one afternoon having a beer ,” says John , recalling a night at the VPB . “ It was one I was brewing for them , and on the logo , it has a pint glass in the middle . Really small next to that is this symbol . I remember distinctly asking him , ‘ What is that ?’ And he said , ‘ That ’ s the alchemic symbol for fermentation .’ I thought that was the coolest thing . It really stuck in my brain .”
“ We brainstormed names for years while making our plans , driving around in the car . We would always circle back to the Alchemist ,” remembers Jen . “ We asked for permission to use that logo ,” says John , “ and Greg said ‘ yes .’ So , there it is : the Alchemist .”
Finally , in 2003 , they opened the Alchemist Pub and Brewery in Waterbury , VT . “ We love beer ,” declares Jen , “ and we love community . People coming together , talking , and having fun , in a place where they can belong . The day we opened the pub , we literally had $ 200 left . We were broke ; we had 15 employees and no health insurance . The next day , we found out we were pregnant !”
Thankfully , the pub was chock full of patrons for the next 8 years . “ We were happy ,” recalls Jen . “ We were working our tails off , but we were full , we were busy . We were able to make our son the main priority .” When their son was about 8 years old , the idea to open a second , small production brewery just up the road started to take shape . “ We were packed every day , from the moment we opened
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