Thrilled to See Family Brew

By: JOHN ANASTASI

The Intelligencer

The Fegleys are hosting a beer-tasting event today at Wegmans in Warrington.

Michael Fegley walked into Wegmans at Warrington’s Village Square Shopping Center Thursday and made a beeline for the beer.

“Do you know where we are?” he asked, scanning the shelves.

When he spotted the Fegley’s Brew Works selections, including the Insidious Imperial Stout Ale and the Space Monkey Raspberry Saison, he whipped out his camera phone and snapped some pictures of them sitting on the top shelf.

Thursday’s trip to Wegmans was a homecoming of sorts for the 41-year-old, who grew up in Warrington with his three brothers. Seeing the Fegley family’s beer at Wegmans gave him a thrill.

“These are our old haunts,” said Fegley. “This was all fields and woods where we used to go on our dirt bikes.”

The Fegley brothers and their parents – Peg and Dick Fegley – run Bethlehem Brew Works and Allentown Brew Works, two Lehigh Valley brewpubs. They also bottle and sell six of the more than two dozen beers they brew. The craft beers sell regionally.

Wegmans recently began stocking some of the beers at the Warrington supermarket, but the Fegley brand’s real coming-out party at Wegmans is scheduled for today when the Fegleys host a beer-tasting event there from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The sampling is one of a series of Friday afternoon craft beer tastings Wegmans holds to allow local brewers to introduce their products to potential customers.

“It gives people a chance to try something they might never purchase otherwise,” said Wegmans merchandising manager Mike Kahmer, who added that brewers have already booked tastings through October.

Grocery manager Dave Hemmer said it’s nice to be able to offer customers the opportunity to talk to brewers about the beers and get advice about pairing beers with foods and occasions. It also helps the sale of the beer.

Entrepreneurship is in the Fegley family blood.

Mike Fegley’s grandfather started a paper tubing company in Philadelphia. In the early 1980s, his parents capitalized on the home computer boom by opening Software ‘N Stuff in the Warrington Mews Pavilion Shopping Center. In the late 1990s, Mike Fegley’s oldest brother Rich, who was an avid home brewer, drew up a business plan and convinced his parents the family should open a brewpub.

As an actor in New York City, Mike Fegley had worked in restaurants before and now serves as director of marketing and public relations for Fegley’s Brew Works. Youngest brother Jeffrey Fegley, now the company president, knew Bethlehem because he had attended Lehigh University. The third oldest brother, beer connoisseur David Fegley, was co-owner and treasurer until he died in 2006 at the age of 33.

The family opened the Bethlehem Brew Works in 1998, where, in addition to selling drafts of its beers to patrons, it sold kegs to other restaurants in the small city and bottled beers on a small scale. In 2007, when the family opened the Allentown Brew Works in a much larger building, it was able to ramp up its bottling operation.

The beer, in its 25-ounce corked bottles, now is sold at Wegmans, Spinnerstown Hotel in Milford and Isaac Newtown’s in Newtown. It’s also selling in Burlington County at the Wine Works in Marlton and Red, White and Brew in Mount Holly.

In a statement, Jeff Fegley said his brother David would get a real kick out of seeing the family’s beer at Wegmans.

“I’m sure he’s smiling about the thought of all of this,” he said. “We’ve been working so hard for years to succeed and grow, and moments like this really mean a lot to all of us.”

John Anastasi can be reached at 215-949-4170 or janastasi@phillyBurbs.com.

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