Jeffrey Taback first remembers Ted Twinney driving up to his house in his orange Ford pickup with the back end covered in tar. Ted was there to pick up Jeffrey’s younger sister for a date, more than 40 years ago.

Now brothers-in-law, Jeffrey and Ted share their 700-mile journey from Birmingham, Michigan to Hopkinton, Massachusetts, where they are the co-founders, co-owners and resident craft beer experts of Start Line Brewing Company.

Corporate Beginnings

Start Line Brewing opened in November 2016 and is now a landmark in Hopkinton. It offers a welcoming, recently-expanded space where visitors can enjoy a variety of pours alongside a menu full of shareables, barbecue, and more. The brewery is situated at 151 Hayden Rowe Street and provides a great atmosphere for enjoying craft beers.

Start Line Brewing is unique in that it utilizes hops grown on the premises for brewing its handcrafted beers. The brewery’s offerings include both year-round and seasonal beers, catering to a wide range of tastes. Additionally, they produce their own raw honey, which is used in some of their beers and sold on site.

But Ted’s journey to craft brewing was anything but typical. 

After high school he attended Indiana University and studied economics. He later joined GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the multinational pharmaceutical company, holding sales and marketing positions.

“I was fortunate to have a number of different jobs and manage a number of sales teams and work with customers – some of our largest customers all around the country,” said Twinney.

He said his position required traveling around the country and the world – including managing a branch office in Puerto Rico, visiting London around six times, a trip to India, and visiting 46 of the 50 states.

Ted enjoyed traveling throughout his career, and his work allowed him to visit towns he would have never visited otherwise. During his nearly 30 years at GSK, he said his favorite experience was his trip to India, where he spent a week in New Delhi.

“I was apprehensive at first, but really happy that I did go,” Twinney said. “It was an eye-opener – great people and wonderful food.”

But eventually traveling took a difficult toll, and while away he missed spending time with his family – wife Laurel and daughters Rebecca and Sarah, who are both in their late twenties now.

Along the way, Ted fell in love with craft beer. Whenever he traveled he would try to find a local craft brewery and “seek them out for a pint and to learn how they did it.”

“I was studying their company culture and how they presented their taprooms as much as I was learning about different styles of beer,” added Ted.

From the Upper West Side to Hopkinton

Jeffrey Taback’s life after high school was “not as straight of a line as Ted’s has been.”

He went to Michigan State University for his undergraduate degree and then spent 12 years in finance and commercial real estate. But corporate life wasn’t for him. Jeffrey decided to move to Illinois and follow his mother’s path, who was a teacher. He earned his Master’s degree in Education from the University of Chicago and taught in the public school system there for six years.

He later moved to New York City and began teaching mathematics at independent schools in the city. He’d spend the next 20 years teaching students of all ages. Ultimately, he retired from education as the math department chair for a school in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Jeffrey said he used box scores from the sports section of a newspaper to help teach his students math, and would even use blackjack to teach multiplication. “It was incredibly challenging to convey what I understood to them. But what I found is that they understood it inherently, I just had to explain it better,” he said.

Although teaching was challenging, the academic schedule allowed him to spend time with his sons, Jasper and Macintyre, who are now 23 years old and 25 years old, respectively.

A Second Act

Twinney said over a span of 10 years he and Jeffrey talked about “what they were going to do next” in life, often on trips together with their families.

“As Ted was transitioning out of GSK, it just seemed like the right time to do something bold and different,” said Jeffrey. 

Ted began his search for a location in the South Shore, but a conversation with a friend brought him to Hopkinton. “My buddy owned Water Fresh Farms, and he invited me to build a small tap room here.”

Just a few months later the pair knew they were onto something. “We need more space, and we need to make more beer,” they concluded. They expanded into Water Fresh’s remaining space, added food to the menu, and began hosting events and live music.

Ted ran Start Line on his own for the first few years, but Jeffrey would come up whenever he could to work. Eventually he joined full time and now concentrates on the kitchen and business operations. 

“Creating and developing” Start Line has been “really gratifying,” says Ted.

Added Jeffrey, “I smile every time I see a big group of people training for something and wearing our Start Line stuff and think ‘wow, we made something really cool here’.”

Twinney and Taback both speak highly of the experience they had becoming Hopkinton residents. While living in Manhattan there were bars on his windows and he always locked his doors. “Hopkinton is very different,” said Jeffrey. “It’s spectacular to be part of a community – to know everybody here and to have everybody know you. I take that responsibility very seriously.

But it’s not just about beer for Ted and Jeffrey. Start Line Brewing has taken a serious philanthropic role in Hopkinton, sponsoring several local charities. They are a sponsor of the 26.2 Foundation, the Team Hoyt Memorial – Yes You Can Run, and they open their taproom to other organizations throughout the year. One of these is The Giving Group, who are dedicated to raising money for non-profit organizations, and have increased their membership from 20 to more than 100 since beginning to hold their meetings at Start Line.

Ted said, “One of our primary pillars of our business plan was, ‘To do good while we are doing well.’”

And while Start Line does not “write big checks, we can help people connect. We can use our platform to promote others,” Ted added.

Ted said Hopkinton is now home for him and Jeffrey. “I never thought I’d retire in this area, but I probably will. This is now home for us. It’s turned into home – the people, the customers, and the community,” said Ted.

“We love live music, great food, and great beer,” he added. “And we’re enthusiastic about sharing it with Hopkinton.”