Meet the Staff
The Wine and Hop Shop is proud of the stellar service we provide our homebrewing and winemaking community. Talking to people about how to make better beer and wine and sharing in the excitement and enthusiasm of homebrewing really are the best parts of working here at the Shop.
Get to know our friendly staff!
Our resident wine expert. While we all know how to make wine, Aaron, who teaches most of our winemaking classes, is our go-to-guy for questions on the subtleties of making wine. He's worked out at Mitchell Vineyard, helping to do everything from plant vines to pruning to harvesting. This fine fellow has been with the Shop since 2005. A founding member of FC Wine and Hop Shop, the Shop's soccer team, Aaron makes a mean Alt Bier. Tell Aaron congratulations on the birth of his first child next time you see him!
Annie joined us in 2013. She is knowledgeable and passionate about all things fermented. A connoisseur of wine, she is a great resource for any winemaker. Annie has also brewed professionally at House of Brews as well as Vintage Brewing Co., so not only does she have a ton of homebrew knowledge, she brings a very interesting perspective from the commercial brewing world as well. A lover of animals, don't forget to ask Annie how her pooches, Thor and Sasha, are doing.
Ben started at the Shop in early 2005. He's done a ton of homebrewing in his time, having run his own Beer of the Month Club (Beef the Monc for short) consisting of over 15 members for over two years. Ben took over the Shop from founder Dave Mitchell in 2012. Ben's best homebrew ever probably was a bourbon-barrel Imperial Stout he made for a cousin's wedding. However, IPAs are his favorite beer to brew, mos def. Another member of FC Wine and Hop Shop, Ben was sidelined after only one game by a concussion. At least he scored :)
If there is a person with more beer knowledge in his or her head than Charley, we'd like to meet him or her. Charley came to the Shop after brewing at JT Whitney's for a couple years way back in 2009. Charley teaches our all-grain brewing classes with his dad Steve. Probably one of the highlights of Charley's brewing career was when he offered Charlie Papazian a taste of his Rauch beer at the National Homebrewers Conference. Charley P liked it so much he asked for seconds...
Mariah is our crown cap and sugar bagging, siphon tube cutting, and Shop tidying machine. Working every Tuesday and Thursday morning, Mariah really helps keep the Shop running smoothly. And she's the wonderful artist who makes our hop plant markers by hand!
Mat's our resident artist. If it was drawn by hand and it looks awesome, Mat did it. Mat's currently splitting his time between working on his degree from UW in Biology, working at the Shop, and being head-brewer for the brewery at the UW science lab.
Ryan is enthusiasm personified. Our education coordinator, Ryan also teaches our beginner beer classes. Besides being a homebrewing and winemaking expert and all-around great guy, Ryan is also a poet. If you haven't made it to one of his "Poetry and Pints" events, which is exactly what it sounds like, you really are missing out.
Tim is another one of our UW students. Tim knows a ton about both beer and wine. And he's one of the most handy people to have around. He used to manage a hardware store, so whenever something breaks or if you have a homebrew setup plumbing issue, Tim is most definitely the guy to call.
Tom, or TomBomb as we affectionately call him, is a great resource for any homebrewer. A hard worker, Tom works full time at Great Dane as well as helping out homebrewers in need. Tom eventually hopes to be a farmer. Maybe someday he'll be growing the rest of us hops and barley!