Beer Person of the Year, Hollie Stephenson has made big waves in the beer industry and continues to do so working as head brewer at Guinness’ new Baltimore operation. 

Hollie went to college at Ohio’s University of Akron and finished college in Washington D.C.  In D.C. where she worked as a lobbyist, she found that she enjoyed spending her free time at a bar called Black Squirrel, where she grew a passion for craft beer.  Her passion grew so large that she changed careers. 

Hollie attended brewing school in England and upon completion signed with Stone Brewery in San Diego as an assistant brewer.  She progressed in Stone to supervisor and then switched over to Highland Brewing, Asheville, North Carolina where she became head brewer.  She developed a knack for developing recipes here and brought new beer to the table.

With the beer industry changing heavily around the time when Hollie became head brewer, she had the chance to really experiment with her new skills.  For Highland Brewing being known for malty ales, she knew she had to develop new ideas when the trend started changing to hoppy beers.  She brought West Coast IPA flavors to the mix in hopes that it would please the crowd. It did.

Now, as head brewer of Guinness in Baltimore, Hollie is really enjoying the experimental freedom.  She says, “If you don’t put it out in front of people, they’re never going to change their minds.”  And, she is right.  Following trends, and using her recipe craft she is putting out all kinds of delicious beers in the tap room, which will hopefully become staples of the Guinness Company. 

Congratulations to Hollie Stephenson!  I hope to visit her one day in Baltimore.

Cheers,

Danyelle