MALDEN, MA – It’s 11 a.m. on a Friday when Josh Deering, the social media and marketing manager at Idle Hands Craft Ales in Malden, calls to let me know brewer Jake Douglass is running a bit late.
“Jake’s pouring himself a little snack,” Deering said, chuckling. “He’s pouring his beer to talk about his beer.”
Jake Douglass was a regular at Idle Hands Craft Ales in Malden for around two years before becoming a part time bartender at the brewery. He had no prior experience brewing or working in beer production, but after learning about the process he made his way to the brewhouse and was given the opportunity to make his own beer recipe.
“With the help of the production team, Greg, and our head brewer, Jeff, they showed me the way and then I just wanted to brew a beer that was a nice, easy drinking beer you can have on your stoop, just light and clean,” Douglass said. “That’s how it came to be.”
The regular-turned-bartender is now a brewer with his own eponymous beer, “Just Jake,” which was launched to the Malden community on April 28 – with much fanfare.
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At the launch party, Deering made personalized beer labels and posters prominently featuring Douglass to display around the brewery.
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Personalized posters made by Josh Deering at the "Just Jake" launch party on April 28. (Courtesy of Josh Deering)
He reached out to Douglass’ girlfriend and brother asking for photos, then used an app and filter to create the visual effect for the posters.
“It was a lot of fun, especially getting all these pictures from Jake's friends and family,” Deering said. “Some of them were kind of embarrassing.”
Despite being humble about his achievement – “I still don't understand why they let me do it or how I'm even here at this point,’ Douglass said – he admitted to indulging in a bit of ego at the launch party.
“Last Friday at that party, that's where my ego went out of control,” Douglass said, explaining that in addition to the personalized decor, he sold 25 limited edition posters personally signed by himself to raise money for the Kitty Connection, a Medford-based animal shelter where he adopted his cat.
“That's the last time I hope I'll ever have to autograph posters,” Douglass said.
Jake Douglass holds one of Josh Deering's personalized posters at the launch for "Just Jake." (Courtesy of Josh Deering)
“Just Jake”
The beer, which began as “a PBR clone,” Douglass said, is very light, almost crystal clear in color, and has a slight lemon snap finish.
Douglass said he wanted the beer to be simple, so he opted for a recipe produced with a pilsner malt and some flaked rice added to it.
The process of making the beer, like it's simple recipe, “went way too smooth,” Douglass said, with humble skepticism for the success of his product.
“We don't really do any test batches here,” Deering said. “This beer was brewed for the first time. That's the beer we're serving now.”
Jake Douglass had no prior experience brewing beer before coming to Idle Hands Craft Ales in Malden, but learned the process from the production team. (Courtesy of Josh Deering)
The name of the beer was created by a fellow Idle Hands bartender, who when he heard Douglass was creating his own beer, suggested “Just Jake,” referring to the slang use of the word “Jake” which means “everything’s okay.”
While it’s safe to say the employees at Idle Hands Craft Ales are leaning harder into employee appreciation than most, the camaraderie between coworkers and love for the craft of brewing is evident in the new “Just Jake” beer.
“I think this beer works so well too because Jake has an awesome personality, he's very likable and people like him pretty much instantly once they meet them,” Deering said. “Doing this beer and doing the artwork and everything behind it, I think energized a lot of our regulars and people that are friends of Jake and want to see him succeed.”
“People that don’t normally drink beers in this style were coming out and drinking it and crushing it and loving it. And it was awesome to see these people supporting Jake and his first beer,” Deering added.
The "Just Jake" American lager is now available at Idle Hands Craft Ales in Malden located at 89 Commercial St.
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