Brew Talks: Industry Networking and Business Discussions

Firestone Walker co-founder David Walker is originally from Devon, a county in southwest England. He relocated to the West Coast in 1991, and established the brewery in Los Olivos, California with his brother-in-law Adam Firestone a few years after that. The company relocated Paso Robles in 2001. Walker makes regular trips home to see his family and check on his beer, which, along with 20 U.S. states, is distributed in the UK.

Sam Calagione is the founder and president of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware, Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and the Dogfish Inn in Lewes, Delaware. He has been named Businessman of the Year by the Small Business Administration, named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business, and The Wall Street Journal calls Sam "a Pioneer of bizarre brews."

Bryant Goulding was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Connecticut. He graduated from UConn with an MA in Economics and wrote his thesis on ‘The Economics & Evolution of the Craft Beer Market.’ Goulding worked as supply chain & marketing analytics consultant while living in SF and would eventually quit the consulting world to work in beer sales at Anderson Valley. He also worked for three years with Dogfish Head, managing 18 wholesalers across five states. He then spent six months at Golden Road in LA as the company’s sales director before co-founding Rhinegeist with Bob Bonder in 2013. Goulding currently serves as the VP of sales & marketing for Rhinegeist, overseeing the creative marketing and sales execution aspects of the business.

Chris Lennert is the Chief Operating Officer for Left Hand Brewing Company. Starting in 2005, he has guided the brewery into one of the Top 50 breweries in the U.S. Building & leading strong teams within the brewery is a passion of Chris’ – with over 125 employees at the brewery, effective communication and ‘One Team’ is critical to the brewery’s success. He also is the Captain of Team Left Hand, a network of teams across 6 states with over 500 employees & friend that has raised over $2.2 million for Multiple Sclerosis since 2008. On a person side, Chris has been married to his wife, Heather, for 19 years and has two rough-n-tumble boys, Noah & Evan. He’s worked tirelessly with non-profits for the last decade and a half, from Bike MS to the VP of the Colorado Brewers Guild.

Brian has 15 years of beer and beverage experience. He began working for Coca-Cola Enterprises after graduating college in 1997, and joined Burke Distributing in 1999 as an on-premise merchandising sales representative. During 12-plus years at Burke Distributing, Brian served in many roles including: General Division Sales Supervisor; On Premise Sales Manager; Spirits Category Manager; and Craft and Specialty Import Beer Category Manager. Brian serves as a liaison between existing and prospective Craft and Specialty Import Breweries and Suppliers and the wholesalers’ network that make up the alliance in order to achieve statewide sales and distribution objectives and secure new brand acquisitions. He became a Certified Cicerone® in August, 2012 and is a proud member of the NBWA, Brewer’s Association and American Homebrewers Association. Brian graduated from Bentley College (now Bentley University) in Waltham in 1997 with a BS in Business Marketing.

Todd’s entire adult life has been spent in multiple segments of the three tier industry. His first 11 years in the industry was on the Distributor Side in New Mexico where his roles ranged from a Driver/Salesman with a large AB wholesaler to being the General Manager for New Mexico Beverage in Albuquerque. After that he spent 16 years with Constellation Beer in various leadership roles across the country. In the summer of 2015 Todd moved to Dogfish Head to take on the V.P. of Sales role.