What’s your current position at your brewery, and how did you get started in the craft brewing industry?
I’m the head brewer at Bastion Brewing Company in the beautiful Skagit Valley in Anacortes, Wash. Upon moving from Canada to the U.S. at age 19, I realized I was no longer of legal age to drink, so I took matters into my own hands and began homebrewing. After working at a winery for a couple of years, I took a Siebel course, which eventually led to my hiring at one of Washington’s oldest craft breweries.
What’s new at Bastion Brewing?
Being one of the hundreds of breweries that opened in 2016, most everything is new at our brewery.
What’s the best part of being a part of the craft brewing community?
The craft beer community as a whole is full of some of the most interesting, passionate, and generous people I have ever met, and the craft beer community in the Skagit Valley is representative of all of this. Not only are most of the hops in the U.S. grown just hours away from our brewery, but we have an exceptional maltster (Skagit Valley Malting) that creates single variety malts all grown right here. To top it all off, Skagit River water is a perfect canvas for creating a wide array of beer styles.
Name a favorite food and beer pairing.
Imperial stout and SunButter cups.
What’s your biggest accomplishment unrelated to your job?
There is life outside brewing!?!
What’s your favorite beer that your brewery does not produce?
Context determines what my favorite beer is.
What’s the most memorable travel destination where you’ve had a chance to sample the local beer?
London with my mother or the Czech Republic with my friends. Phenomenal beer with people I love!
What do you like to do in your time away from the brewery?
Reading, bicycling, kayaking, climbing mountains, and video chatting with my niece and nephew.