Jonathan Blum, co-owner of Bad Martha Beer in Edgartown, tells us how he became a beer lover and what makes Martha’s Vineyard the ideal place for their brew.
Have you always been a beer lover? What’s been your all-time favorite beer?
I probably shouldn’t admit this in case my kids are reading this, but I’ve loved beer since before I was legally able to drink it! My favorite is Bad Martha’s Mocha Ale (a blend using Chilmark Chocolate and Not Your Sugar Mamas chocolate). I also enjoy our Honey Helles, Martha’s Vineyard Ale, and Oktoberfest Lager.
What are some local ingredients being used in the brewing of the beers?
We use Martha’s Vineyard Honey in our Honey Helles, Morning Glory pumpkins in our Pumpkin Pie Ale, local beach plums and wild cherries from Grey Barn, and of course Martha’s Vineyard grape leaves in every batch of our beer. We’re the only brewery in the world to use Martha’s Vineyard grape leaves in beer.
Bad Martha is a microbrewery — how much beer is brewed monthly at the brewery?
Our system is a seven-barrel system, and we brew about 25 different beers throughout the season. Most of our beer distributed throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and now Connecticut is contract-brewed in a 90-barrel system in Ipswich, using our international-awardwinning recipes. We use Martha’s Vineyard grape leaves in every batch brewed there, so there’s a little of Martha’s Vineyard in every glass and bottle of Bad Martha beer.
What are your ties to the Island and its community? How do you continuously support that community?
My family and I have owned a home on the Island for 28 years, and have raised our children here seasonally since they were newborns. We moved to the Island year-round two years ago, and consider it our home.
We have become very involved in the community. I serve on the Preservation Trust board, and Jennifer, my wife, serves on Sheriff’s Meadow board. Additionally, we have been supporters of the Vineyard Hospital, YMCA, Island Youth, and the Martha’s Vineyard Museum (we provide funding to the Martha’s Vineyard Museum for the Edgartown Lighthouse, to make it publicly accessible), have donated a fully furnished house to Habitat for Humanity, and co-chaired the recent Preservation Trust campaign to convert the Edgartown library into a Welcome and Heritage Center. And of course, Bad Martha donates a percentage of our profits to the Island Food Pantry. We give to a community charity before we make a profit, because we believe it is our privilege and responsibility to help others on the Island, since Island residents are so supportive of us. Our Bad Martha motto is “Get Bad. Do Good.” We hope we walk the talk of this every day — in addition to the donation we make from our profits, we give local farmers our spent grains, and we purchase as many local ingredients as possible from Island farms to make our delicious beers.
What are your hopes for the coming spring and summer season? Any fun projects in the works?
This season we introduced three delicious snack platters using local cheeses, breads, crackers, mustard, and veggies from local farms. They sold really well, so we plan to bring them back. We are working on an Island-resident loyalty club to provide merchandise and food discounts for locals who visit us. We are a member of the Island Club, but we want to do even more for our Island customers to thank them for their loyalty. We will be introducing that next spring when we reopen.
Where can beer lovers find your beer, on-Island and off?
If you log onto our website at badmarthabeer.com, you can easily find Bad Martha Beer at a location near you. We want to thank all the Island restaurants, bars, and package stores who carried us this year for their support of our local beer. We know there are a lot of choices, and we appreciate the fact that so many Island establishments carry our beer and are helping make it a success. We thank all of our customers on the Island, and hope they will order our beer in the off-season at Island restaurants, bars, and package stores until we reopen Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery for Christmas in Edgartown weekend, and then again next spring.
270 Upper Main Street, Edgartown, 508-939-4415; badmarthabeer.com