Arrive Magazine - January/February, 2007

says. “Back then, the whole beer world was mass-produced domestic beers—Bud, Miller, Coors, etcetera and imports.”

BRINGING BEER BACK TO BOSTON

A combination of a standout recipe (the lager was his great-grandfather’s), quality control, timing (the microbrewing wave was simmering nationwide) and hard work (he pounded the pavement and learned to drive a forklift) earned Koch a foothold—and he hasn’t looked back.

Today, some 800 local bars, and thousands nationally, serve his beers. He’s expanded the lineup to dozens of styles, including one release that currently ranks as the world’s strongest, Utopias, a costly elixir aged for years in oak barrels. Koch shows off his display cases brimming with medals, accounting sheets from the early days, and prototype bottles. A Cincinnati native, Koch has warmed to Boston as it has warmed to him.

Does that rebel spirit still hold sway in the taverns around town? “You’ve got neighborhood bars here with some of that tradition,” Koch says. “Take Doyle’s, for example,” he says of a storied, apparently scruffy neighborhood pub that became one of his first accounts and still serves his beer. “It’s a melting