Are Older Hops Still Any Good?

Speakers: Tom Britz, Stephanie Conn, Corey Marshall, Rob McCurdy

Facilitated by Glacier Hops Ranch, this sponsored BA Collab Hour webinar, is a blunt, open discussion with hop dealers, brewers, and…science! This important panel features Hollingbery & Son, Mill 95, and VGF/HopTechnic.

Tom Britz, Founder & CEO

Glacier Hops Ranch

Tom Britz's career background has spanned decades in both marketing and new business development, the latter of which led to him being the visionary behind what is now Glacier Hops Ranch.

In 2015, Tom was elected the first-ever National At-Large Director of the Hop Growers of America (HGA). He was subsequently appointed as National Chairman of the HGA's Small Grower Council, which oversaw the development of enterprise cost studies and best practices for small hop growers during his tenure.

An accomplished horseman, Tom and his wife Annie competed from Canada to Texas and were nationally ranked in the cow horse sports of Team Penning and Ranch Sorting. They qualified and competed for the National Championships in Texas three times, and once for the World Championships, but today most of Tom's equine activity is an occasional trail ride in the forest surrounding his Whitefish, Montana property…the original Glacier Hops Ranch.

Stephanie Conn, Lead Chemist

Virgil Gamache Farms, Inc.

Stephanie Conn is the Lead Chemist with Hoptechnic®, a subsidiary of Virgil Gamache Farms, Inc. (VGF) located in Toppenish, Washington. She graduated from Central Washington University with degrees in Chemistry and Biology, specializing in Biochemistry and Cell/Molecular Biology. She earned her Master's in Chemistry from Washington State University in 2015 and joined VGF in 2016 after working in an agricultural food testing lab. Since joining the VGF team, she has overseen the implementation of the ISO-1725 laboratory specific standards, optimization of thiol detection methodology as part of the VGF quality control program for Amarillo® hops, and monitored maturity windows for the Amarillo brand, both in the United States and in Germany. To date, Stephanie still holds the unofficial lab record for "Most Animals Encountered While Sampling Hops" and the coveted least number of "Help, I'm stuck" calls to the office during harvest.

Corey Marshall, Strategy & Development Officer

Mill 95

Corey Marshall is the Strategy & Development Officer for Mill 95, where he leads business strategy, planning, and new business opportunities. Corey has over 20 years of experience in the beer industry. He has served as the CEO and founder of his brewery and distributing company. Previously, he held leadership, strategy, and sales and marketing roles at Molson Coors Brewing Company and Ford Motor Company.