What’s your current position at your brewery, and how did you get started in the craft brewing industry?
I currently do a little bit of everything at Kiitos Brewing since we’re pretty new: operations, marketing, community partnerships, and safety. I got started at Monday Night Brewing in Atlanta (my home) as a sales intern/beertender and event manager, because I thought commercial brewing wouldn’t be as fun as homebrewing…I was wrong. I started at the bottom in packaging, worked up to packaging manager, and then took a bit of a left turn and got into safety. I absolutely love it! Being on the BA’s Safety Subcommittee is a safety nerd dream come true.

What’s new at Kiitos?
Kiitos is growing really fast! We just got our first grain silo, are planning to expand our taproom and get more taps, and did a collaboration beer with local soccer legend Nick Rimando.

What’s the best part of being a part of the craft brewing community?
In Utah particularly there’s a strong sense of unity since we have to fight strict alcohol regulations. We all have the same goal: making great beer and bringing the community together. Everyone still celebrates each other’s triumphs. We can all get together and nerd out and drink and be friends.

Name a favorite food and beer pairing.
New Glarus Spotted Cow and fried cheese curds.

What’s your biggest accomplishment unrelated to your job?
I got my master’s degree in anthropology. It was about ancient brewing, but that wasn’t directly related to my job.

What’s your favorite beer from another brewery?
Monday Night Brewing’s Han Brolo Pale Ale.

What do you like to do in your time away from the brewery?
Snowboard, hike, read books, and travel.

What’s the most memorable travel destination at which you’ve had a chance to sample the local beer?
Vietnam! It would be one of my favorite places in the world even without the beer, but there are some incredible craft breweries popping up all over the country doing some really cool things. Wild sours taste completely different, and the experimental ingredients are on a whole new level—I had a beer with squid ink and dried seahorses.