Mike Hoops has been at the helm of the Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery for roughly a decade now, and he’s moving faster than ever—he’s doing more with lagers, playing around with more than a dozen barrels, and experimenting with new ingredients and adjuncts.
When Dann Paquette moved back to New England from Yorkshire a year ago, he had no job and little money. A year later, Paquette’s beer is spreading along the Atlantic coast, and he’s enjoying the one perk he’d never attained: unfettered creative freedom.
A decade ago, Jeff O’Neil was drinking Racer 5, growing hops in his backyard and sending résumés to every brewery in the Bay Area. Now he’s brewing West Coast-leaning ales out east, at the ever-expanding Ithaca Beer Company.
Halfway through his 40s, Bob Sylvester and his wife launched a tiny shoestring brewery in a warehouse near the Gulf of Mexico. Saint Somewhere is a tiny, one-man, Belgian operation, but it has attracted a nation of ecstatic customers.
Alan Sprints has been the creative force behind Hair of the Dog for 16 years now. For most of that time, he’s also been the brewery’s only grunt laborer.
Less than two years ago, Southern Star was a new brewery outside Houston that few had heard of. Now, Dave Fougeron’s killer recipes have caught fire, and he “can’t make beer fast enough.”
In a single year, Jon Curtis of The Tap Brewing Company will churn through more recipes than some pub brewers would get to in a decade. He revels in the variety.
Christian Ettinger founded Hopworks Urban Brewery on the idea that radical sustainability should be commonplace. The organic, Portland, Ore., brewpub has taken environmentalism further than any brewpub in the country.
BrewDog Brewery commands a global audience from a tiny outpost on Scotland’s northeast coast. Its beers have inflamed critics and ignited a debate about what beer in the UK can and should be.
Since the day McIlhenney opened Alpine’s doors, demand has outstripped supply—by a long shot. The tiny brewery is now readying an expansion that will include a new BBQ pub and a tripling in brewing capacity. Only triple? That won’t be nearly enough.
Eighteen years ago, Al Marzi was hauling kegs for Harpoon. Now, he’s the guy filling those kegs. He’s in charge of two breweries, in Boston and Windsor, Vt. He’s nurturing regional flagship brands and springing one-offs on an expectant populace.
Why is Arcadia Brewing Company growing rapidly and gaining fans far outside its Michigan home base? For one, its head brewer, Josh Davies, goes to work at 3:30 in the morning to make sure his yeast is happy.
Tonya Cornett is about to celebrate her eighth anniversary as the Bend Brewing Company’s brewmaster. She’s also the sole creative force behind the Oregon brewpub’s ever-evolving portfolio of beers.
Kjetil Jikiun once found inspiration in American craft brewers’ powerfully flavored ales. Now, his brews are a global sensation. But there’s a better line on his résumé: When he founded Nøgne Ø, he brought flavor to Norway.
Great Adirondack Brewing Company is a tiny, 450-barrel-a-year brewpub cranking out great beer in the reaches of upstate New York. Hutch Kugeman is the man who makes it happen. And he may be one of the best brewers you’ve never heard of.
Richard Norgrove used to brew a brutally hoppy Red Ale for his mountain biking buddies. Then the cycling company he worked at was sold, and he figured he’d make a run at brewing for a living.
Steven Pauwels left Belgium for Missouri nine years ago, bringing craftsmanship, tradition, and a relentless drive to experiment. Here’s how Boulevard became the Midwest’s largest independent brewer—and its most eclectic.
The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery celebrates its fourth birthday this August. That’s four years of plying the Southeast with dark, full-bodied, flavorful beers—and proving the cynics wrong.
David Zuckerman has seen Boulder Beer Co. grow from a brewery on the brink of the abyss to a robust company enjoying double-digit growth and a distribution presence in 25 states.
Copenhagen’s Mikkel Borg Bjergsø is taking several continents’ worth of brewing scenes by storm. His Mikkeller brewery, while barely two years old, is producing some of the world’s most sought-after beers.
Geoff Larson, co-founder and brewmaster at the Alaskan Brewing Company, has overseen a gold rush of a different sort: He has won more Great American Beer Fest medals than any brewery in the festival’s history.
