PRESS RELEASE / October 17, 2023 (Beverly, MA) – Wandering Soul Beer, based in Beverly Massachusetts, has recently signed a distribution agreement with Homegrown Distribution for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Matt Smith, the owner and founder of the brand, had this to say about the new partnership:
“Since Wandering Soul took shape in 2019, I’ve been primarily self-distributing. My delivery vehicles have ranged from a Honda Accord to a 2002 Honda Odyssey with 300,000 miles on it, and I am very excited to not only have help with the deliveries, but also to have the support of a distributor that has a lot of resources that I simply don’t have as a single-person operation. Homegrown is a great fit for the brand and I’m really excited about the future.”
Wandering Soul’s flagship beer Melody Maker (a New England Pale Ale) will be the first in its product line to have distribution with Homegrown. Melody Maker is dedicated to Matt’s first daughter Melody, who was stillborn in 2017. Wandering Soul has been a grief project for Matt, who wanted to have a legacy for his daughter. “This was never supposed to be a business, but here we are. I’m so grateful for the support I’ve gotten from the craft beer community, and Wandering Soul has allowed me to have an outlet to process a lot of emotions” said Matt, when asked about how the business started.
Brian Murphy, President of Homegrown Distribution, had this to say about the new partnership:
“We are absolutely thrilled to announce our exciting distribution partnership with Wandering Soul Beer. It’s a true honor to team up with Matt Smith who shares our passion for quality and innovation. We can’t wait to share his exceptional portfolio of beers with the Massachusetts and Rhode Island beer communities!”
About Wandering Soul Beer Co.
The roots of Wandering Soul began in 2009, when Matt Smith took a homebrewing class with his best friend. Originally from New Jersey, Matt moved to Massachusetts in 2006 to pursue a lifelong dream of playing in a band (and coincidentally, met his future-wife Abby through this band). He initially took a marketing job in corporate America to pay the bills, and eventually transitioned into working for Clown Shoes Beer, where he managed multiple aspects of the business for several years. His casual homebrewing hobby transformed into a passion, which led to countless batches on his modest 5-gallon setup. He prided himself on never brewing the same recipe twice, until he started perfecting a recipe for a New England style IPA that was lower in alcohol content (below 5%) in 2015, when he and Abby first moved to Beverly.
In May 2017, Abby was 8 ½ months pregnant with their first child, Melody, whose name symbolized the musical connection between her parents. On a seemingly normal Tuesday, they found out Melody’s heart had stopped beating. The sudden and tragic news turned their worlds upside down; they were blindsided by their daughter’s death, and ill-prepared for the days that led up to, and preceded, Melody’s silent birth. Shortly after she was born, Matt and Abby entered the darkest period of their lives. Flipping back and forth through the “stages” of grief, Matt reached a point where he knew that he needed to do something to honor Melody’s memory.
