Home brewing turned successful family-owned business honors Warren’s history, community
It’s been seven years since Adam Keck started Modern Methods as an homage to the history of Warren and gathering place for building the community.
As the brewery approaches its anniversary in the spring, Keck is balancing the local craft brewery business, managing the production and spending time with his growing family.
“It’s a highly simulating environment where I can be doing a bunch of different things in a day, and that’s what keeps things fresh for me,” he said. “I’ve got some fun ideas I’m working on for our seven-year anniversary.”
From Keck and Son’s Brewing Company to Modern Methods
In 2011, Keck and his dad started experimenting with brewing beer at their house in North Jackson.
“I was like a kid on Christmas morning, just couldn’t wait to taste what this small change would do to the beer. I was absolutely obsessed with home brewing,” he said. “By the third batch, it was clear to me that this was going to be much more than a hobby.”
Keck worked in IT at Compco Industries in Columbiana but continued with the after-hours hobby of brewing beer when he got home.
“Manufacturing is in my DNA,” Keck said. “I grew up in the steel shop my grandpa ran in Youngstown.”
Keck also used to work in community engagement and valued the skills it taught him.
“I never really had an entrepreneurial spirit, I just started making beer,” he said. “Once I started in brewing, I thought about still using community organizing while also building a cool place in Warren with the brewery business.”
He wanted to combine the manufacturing with his favorite thing to do: make beer. Keck became a part of the local home brewing community in the Mahoning Valley.
He started building working relationships with local businesses like Pumphouse in Struthers and similar breweries like Noble Creature in Youngstown.
“I was taking beer out to events and networking with people that would actually become our investors,” he said. “Every year, we try to host The Monster Mash, where we make a batch beer that home brewers can take home and ferment.”
Keck said he likes working at the brewery because of the people he meets every day, from musicians to customers coming in for large events.
“Early on, 95% of my time was spent here. Now we have a six-year-old and a one-year-old, so the challenge now is balancing a young family,” he said. “This place could take all of my time; sometimes it does need that. Other times, I need to be a dad and a big part of that is growing our team and getting people that we trust.”
“The city of Modern Methods”
Keck is especially passionate about local history and said Modern Methods’ name comes from a sign that was put up on the original Warren City Hall in 1909.
“The saying read ‘Opportunity? It’s here. Warren, the city of modern methods,” Keck said. “That’s the message you’d read driving through downtown Warren, which was on the cutting edge of manufacturing, industrial and electric light technology.”
The first Packard automobile was produced in 1899 in Warren.
Downtown Warren made history in 1905 as the first U.S. city illuminated at night with electrified lights.
“There was a sense of optimism and excitement about Warren’s industrial technological. I really wanted to open the brewery for the city and to honor the city’s past,” he said.
Modern Methods is the first craft brewery open since 1880.
Find the brewery at 125 Dave Grohl Alley in Warren and follow them on social media for upcoming events.
This story was originally published February 20, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
