The Beer Bug Bites

Home Brewing Roots

While John was away in graduate school his father started home brewing. Tasting his father’s brews when he returned for a visit he began to realise there was more to beer than keg stands and beer funnels. In early 2000 John began home brewing his own creations. It quickly became clear that brewing was a perfect fit. Brewing beer satisfied John’s love of the scientific process as well as his creativity.

Commercial Brewing is Calling

Fast forward a few years and while on a brewery tour John met Wil Santiago the then head brewer at Cottrell Brewing. John asked lots of questions and showed great interest in the commercial process. Wil asked John if he would like to come and help him brew a 40 barrel batch of their Mystic Bridge IPA, to which he said YES PLEASE!

After that momentous brew day, John returned to Cottrell as their newest employee and quickly worked his way up to head brewer, replacing Wil when he moved on to Sons of Liberty Beer and Spirits Co.. Cottrell, a busy distribution and contract brewery presented plenty of challenges and learning opportunities. John’s brewing experiences under the experienced tutelage of Charlie Buffum the owner of Cottrell Brewing gave him the confidence that set him on his next journey in the brewing world.

Home Brewing Comes Through Again

Shortly after relocating to Danville, John and his wife attended the Bright Leaf Brew Festival. There they met Eric Smith at the Train Wreck Homebrew Club’s info booth. John learned that another member Josh Dodson was talking with developers about opening a brewery in the River District. Ultimately John accepted the job of operations manager and head brewer at Ballad Brewing where he was instrumental in designing and overseeing the construction of its 20bbl brewery. That first year, Ballad took a gold medal for John’s ‘Fast Mail’ mild ale and a bronze for his double IPA called ‘Home’ at the 2018 Virginia Craft Beer Cup. The following year Ballad took home a gold medal for John’s Bohemian Pilsner at the 2019 U.S. Beer Open Championship.

A Lucky Strike

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic Ballad began to downsize and John was let go. He didn’t stay away from brewing for long, as a local brewery (Lucky City Brewing, Reidsville, NC) was restructuring and needed a new head brewer. Additionally, John helped out at Mountain Valley Brewing, occasionally brewing and doing cellar work for Karl and Herb. He also lent a hand during the construction of Renewal Brewing in Martinsville,VA. During this time the friendship cultivated in the brew club was cemented, leading ultimately to Herb, John, and Karl’s partnership and creation of Mountain Valley Public House and Brewery.

Down on the Farm

John stays active outside of the brewery, maintaining a hobby farm with his wife Kathie. Their farm includes a greenhouse, row crops, apple orchard, and native plant meadows. The farm hosts a small herd of fainting goats as well as laying hens. John and Kathie have adopted shelter cats “Matilda” and “Thomas” as well as “Stuart” rescued from the middle of the road as a kitten. John’s other interests include programming, electronics, and woodworking to name a few.