http://www.newschoolbeer.com/2015/04/founding-brewmaster-chad-kennedy-leaves-worthy-brewing.html As the creator of Laurelwood's Workhorse (many iterations ago), I was always keeping my eye on Chad at Worthy. Plenty of interesting things have come from his tenure in Bend, but I felt like an iconic Worthy beer was yet to come. Ironically, Worthy's new Prefunk Pale had me thinking he'd finally found his groove again (for my palate, at least) and was taking Worthy to a new level. It's miles better than their previous core Pale, and the thought of this beer in easily available cans is making me impatient for river floatin' weather. I wish it was closer to 5% than 6%, but I'll take it. Now I wonder how much of a hand Chad had in this beer, or if he was on the way out and I'm only imagining his fingerprints on the recipe. I'm sure he'll get plenty of Portland offers (where he wants to be for his daughters) and wish him well, but I wonder if he would have stayed with Worthy a bit longer they might have skyrocketed to regional powerhouse. Worthy still might do that without him, but I think he brought something special to that place.
FWIW, the couple times I've talked to him (mostly about hops), he seemed like a nice guy. I know that's nothing like doing business with/working for him, but at least he's a business guy with a passion for beer beyond the numbers. Worthy's hop garden and partnership with OSU demonstrate that to me as much as anything we've bs'ed about at a beer fest.
Seriously, I've never been the biggest Worthy supporter but their dedication to hop research and OSU is great to see. I wish him and Worthy the best.
