Photo courtesy All About Beer.com of Mother Earth Brewing.com
PHILADELPHIA, December 23, 2011–Other than an imprecise review of Google search results, it's nearly impossible to determine who was the most talked about craft beer brewer (and/or owner) of 2011. Ranking them is certainly an even more difficult endeavor.
For sake of conversation, these are ten of the brewers/owners that created a buzz in 2011. Grab a beer, give the list a read, and feel free to suggest others that are not on the list.
10. Brian Hunt, Moonlight Brewery, California ~ A standout brewer in the industry well-known in the Bay Area, even if his name (and beer) is not so recognizable across the country, Hunt reflects the farm fresh and local movement that has permeated the food and beverage world in the past few years. His hop farm attracts volunteers every year to assist with the harvest, his beers reflect hand craftsmanship at its best, and his beers are self-distributed around the San Francisco Bay Area region. Looking to buy a "local" beer in northern California? You can not go wrong with one of his Moonlight beers available at all better beer bars in the region. In fact, beer visitors, when asking for a beer in the Bay Area that they can not get back home, are often pointed in the direction of Moonlight's superb Reality Czeck (Bohemian Pilsner), Death By Taxes (Schwarzbier), and Bombay By Boat (IPA).
9. Teri Fahrendorf, Brewer-at-large and founder of Pink Boots Society ~ Over 150 brewing establishments in the U.S. list at least one female brewer on the Pink Boots Society website. Fahrendorf did not create the role of female brewer, but in her various brewing positions across nearly 25 years, she has helped to bring attention and respect to, elevate, and celebrate the role of women in what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry. She took a sabbatical from her pioneering brew master roles in California and Oregon and took her mash paddle on the road in 2007 to visit dozens of breweries across the country. Along the way she participated in special brews and her experiences from the trip provided the impetus to found the Pink Boots Society.
8. Bob Barrar, Iron Hill Brewery, Pennsylvania ~ While his name may not roll off of beer geek tongues across the country, those in the know throughout the Philadelphia region and at the annual Great American Beer Festival (GABF) know him as Iron Hill's Medal Machine. Barrar helped Iron Hill to its 36th GABF medal, 14 of which (ten of them gold) are credited to his Media, Pa. location of the brewing family's soon-to-be nine locations.
7. Shaun O'Sullivan, 21st Amendment Brewery, California ~ Prior to 2000, O'Sullivan made brief brewing stops at Twenty Tank and Triple Rock after trading in his paralegal day job. Fast forward ten years and he and his business partner, Nico Freccia, are experiencing some of the wildest growth in the craft beer segment over the last two years. Instrumental to this success is the enviable location of the original brewpub in the once nearly-desolate, now-booming South Park neighborhood near the ballpark home of the San Francisco Giants. Selling their beer at 40,000 feet on Virgin America flights has been a boon as well. But the real X-factor in 21st Amendment's growth was the decision to begin canning their beers nearly five years ago and contracting it out of the growing Cold Spring Brewery in Minnesota. Turning out a top-notch and tasty product does not hurt either.
6. Jeff Bagby, Pizza Port, California ~ As one of the most recognizable faces and award-winning brewers of the highly-decorated southern California Pizza Port family, Jeff Bagby (Director of Brewing Operations working out of the Carlsbad location) still may not have made the cut for this list. Up until just a couple of weeks ago, that is. Bagby recently announced his intention to leave Pizza Port after six years with the company and set up shop on his own. This is a project that will have beer enthusiasts tracking down every last detail until the first drop from Bagby's new brewing venture hits the bar. Bagby, with a rÈsumÈ that includes Oggi's, Stone, and White Labs, certainly leaves a wealth of brewing expertise at Pizza Port in his wake, but to say that Bagby's departure will leave a gap is an understatement. No official word yet on whether the "party pants" will be bequeathed to anyone at Pizza Port.
5. Shaun Hill, Hill Farmstead, Vermont ~ After his brewing adventures took him from his native Vermont (The Shed and Trout River breweries) to Europe (N¯rrebro Bryghus in Denmark), Hill is setting down his brewing roots. His brewery in Greensboro takes its naming inspiration from the family farm on which it sits and the beers he makes are named after family members. Hill, at 32, is often cited as one of the most promising young brewers, regarded highly by both consumers and industry peers. Hill not only crafts unique beer after unique beer at his own brewery but also participates in high profile collaborations with other noteworthy brewers around the country and world. The buzz around Shaun stands to only grow.
4. Jean Van Roy, Cantillon, Belgium ~ As Belgian Lambic beer continues to please the palates of a wider audience, to say that Cantillon has never been more popular would be an understatement. It has been said that the American "discovery" of various European styles of beer, including Lambics, has helped to save and grow the style of beer that is often described in varying combinations and degrees of tartness, sourness, funkiness, dryness, fruitiness, and carbonation. It can certainly be thought of as an acquired taste, but once acquired, Van Roy's beer and brewery wind up on many world beer traveler's bucket lists when visiting Belgium.
3. Vinnie Cilurzo, Russian River Brewing Company, California ~ As long as his brewery continues to fill wood barrels with beer, as long as the beer geeks line up around the block for the annual release of Pliny the Younger (the uber-IPA that much of the general public never sees, much less hears about because of how quickly it enters and exits the market each February), and as long as his Russian River brewery continues to turn out high quality, highly-acclaimed beer, Vinnie will continue to justly occupy lists of brewers to watch in the U.S. Coming from his family's California wine background, Cilurzo opened Russian River Brewing Company in 1997, never looked back, and continues to be one of the most identifiable faces of the U.S. craft brewing industry.
2. Greg Koch, Stone Brewing Company, California ~ Finding the outspoken and gregarious face of southern California's Stone Brewing Company is not very difficult. From participating in beer events, brewing collaboration beers with other breweries, to being a social media maven, Koch is as recognizable for his personality as he is for his beers. The beers for which many of "are not worthy" are about to become easier to find around the world as Koch has been traveling Europe in search of a country to call home to Stone's planned European brewhouse.
1. Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head, Delaware ~ His face is on homebrewing books and wine versus beer books, his name is included in Manhattan's new Eataly, and now his face is on TV. Dogfish Head's (and the industry's) iconic name and face making this list should probably be accompanied by a "duh!", mostly because Calagione and his brew crew in lower Delaware continue after 15 years to garner attention and awards with their self-described off-centered ales. The attention grew by leaps and bounds in 2011 after The Discovery Channel gave airtime to five episodes of Brew Masters. The show documented the travels, success, and sometimes failures of the Calagione and his brewery. The future of beer being prominently featured in mainstream media not to mention whatever happened to the sixth and final episode, remains to be seen. In the meantime, Brew Masters was a significant and credible boost.
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