Allagash Brewing Company Founder Rob Tod will deliver the keynote address at the fifth anniversary New England Craft Brew Summit on February 28, 2020 at Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Tod will draw upon 25 years’ worth of experience and share advice about building a lasting brewery, covering everything from the importance of quality to incremental growth and the cycles of an expanding industry.
“The beer industry has been moving in cycles—good and bad—for my entire career,” said Tod. “But craft beer is special; it’s becoming less commoditized rather than more. So, no matter what phase of the cycle we’re in right now or the one we’ll be in five years from now, I’ll always be proud to be part of the craft brewing community.”
Since its founding in 1995 as a one-man operation in the corner of a warehouse in Portland, Allagash has grown into one of the Top 50 Craft Breweries in the United States by sales volume, was recently certified as a B Corp and has earned a spot on Maine’s Best Places to Work list for the last five years. Tod also received the James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Producer in 2019.
“Rob and his team at Allagash have received well deserved recognition for their beers, brewing innovation, and corporate culture,” said Sean Sullivan, executive director of the Maine Brewers’ Guild. “The question is, how do you go from a homebrewer with a dream to a world-class brewery business? As a huge number of brewery owners look ahead to their next phases of growth, hearing about Rob’s experience cultivating Allagash into the business it is today will be invaluable.”
Presented by GHM Insurance, the New England Craft Brew Summit will feature a variety of presentations, panel discussions and interactive workshops exploring business and technical brewing topics in addition to Tod’s keynote. Neil Witte, quality ambassador at the Brewers Association, will also be presenting. The full schedule can be found here.
The day following the conference, craft brewers and their fans will convene at the Maine Brewers’ Guild’s annual Winter Session Beer Festival inside Brick South at Thompson’s Point in Portland on Saturday, February 29 – the first time the two events will be held back-to-back. The festival will showcase more than 100 Maine beers, along with guest brewers from out-of-state whose beers are not normally offered in Maine.
Registration for the 2020 New England Craft Brew Summit is open now and tickets may be purchased here.
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