Beverly's Gentile Brewing Gets Boost From Its 'Invested' Fans

BEVERLY, MA — Gentile Brewing Company was preparing to make big moves when everything just stopped.

What owner Paul Gentile refers to as the "community taproom" of Beverly turned four years old on March 4, 2020, with plans for expanded outdoor seating to make gathering at the taproom for a couple of pints and some good conversation an even better experience for that community.

"We had our eye on making improvements," Gentile told Patch. "That's what a business does. We had things we wanted to do in 2020. It was going to be our year.

"And then the world blew up."

In a little more than a week, the nano craft brewery went from celebrating a birthday to closed for all but to-go cans and growlers amid the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Charlie Baker issued an initial three-week shutdown of businesses that turned into a year of revolving restrictions challenging the industry as much as any business sector.

Gentile Brewing was able to open a makeshift area called "the dock" outside during the summer and warm fall weekends. But with a 48-person capacity, they weren't able to configure a space where it would be worth it to try to do much of anything inside, and rain, the hot summer sun and eventually the harsh winter cold made the outdoor space unreliable.

"We were just limping along," Gentile said. "I wasn't looking to cash in. I was just looking to have the business survive and give people who were comfortable an outlet where they could come out for maybe an hour or so.

"We were paying our bills, and meeting our obligations, but we had no extra cash to do anything."

Those big moves were still in the plans. It was finding the capital for them that was the issue with limited revenue and massive uncertainty clouding the industry.

Government loan programs were hard to guarantee or had to be used for certain expenses such as utilities and employee compensation, and banks were not exactly handing out money to bars and restaurants that could be shut down indefinitely at any moment because of the virus.

Yet, with the taproom closed for the winter beyond to-go orders, this was the time to get work done if there were somehow a way to do it.

"We were going to lose two years," Gentile said. "And we don't have two years to lose."

Gentile said one of the brewery's patrons told him about a revenue-sharing note investment platform called MainVest that would allow Gentile Brewing to raise capital through a number of small-dollar investments paid back with dividends over an extended period of time — in this case by 2030 — based on the brewery's profits.

"We felt like this model, which is community-based investment, really fits our business model," Gentile determined.

The initial offering went to the "mug club" members who were some of the brewery's most loyal customers. Investments soon started coming in at $100, $200, $500 at a time from some familiar faces.

Then some not-so-familiar faces jumped in who maybe thought it was kind of cool to have a small stake in a North Shore brewery. Then came some bigger investments.

This week, Gentile Brewing reached its goal of raising $75,000 to build a fully functional outdoor dock with tap lines, a bar, an accessible ramp, a covering for weather protection and comfortable seating for when the brewery is able to become truly a "community taproom" once again.

"I was floored," Gentile said. "I am still a little overwhelmed by it all. It shows people believe in what we're doing so much that they're willing to take this risk and this ride with us. That feels pretty good."

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While the investments are not secured, they do return a profit based on the brewery's profitability. A portion of that profit goes back to the investors each quarter beginning the second quarter of 2021.

Gentile said he has already arranged for some of the interior work that also needs to be done and hopes to start construction on the dock when the weather allows in March or April so it will be ready in May when the weather warrants sitting outside and coronavirus-related restrictions have hopefully further eased.

"A lot of these people are people who spend money at the brewery," Gentile said. "So, they will be spending money to pay themselves back and make money on their investment.

"This shows they have faith in us that we're going to be here for them."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)