#60: Sam Adams’ Brewing Manager Grant Wood

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity – along with my wife and some good friends – to go to a Sam Adams Beer Dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Minneapolis.  We had such a great time!  The food, the conversation and the BEER was great.

The Sam Adams rep was so entertaining and knowledgeable that I couldn’t resist inviting her, or someone from Sam Adams, to join me for a conversation.  After a few emails, she connected with the staff in Boston and the rest is history!

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Sam Adams’ Brewing Manager, Grant Wood!

About Grant Wood

Originally from Irving, Texas, Grant Wood is a Brewing Manager for The Boston Beer Company in Boston, Massachusetts and has been with Samuel Adams since 1995. During Grant’s career with BBC, he has been involved in such diverse activities as malting barley and hops selection, new product development including on his favorite brew, Samuel Adams Black Lager. He was also team leader of the “High Alcohol Brewing Projects” which produced the World Record holding Millennium and Utopias beers.

He began his career after attending Texas A&M University and receiving his B.S. in Food Science and Technology in 1984. After graduation Grant worked for a short time making picante sauce. He quickly left the salsa business and landed a job as a Chemist/Microbiologist at Pearl Brewing Company in San Antonio, TX and began his brewing career. Pearl sent Grant to the Siebel Institute of Technology, in Chicago, IL in 1987, and he returned to Pearl as a Brewing Supervisor. In 1989, Grant left Pearl to go to Lone Star Brewing Company as an Assistant Brewmaster. For six years at Lone Star, Grant managed all aspects of the brewing process from raw materials to the bright beer cellar.

Grant has judged at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado and the Brewing Industry International Awards in Burton on Trent, England. Grant received his Diploma in Brewing from The Institute of Distilling and Brewing in 2005. He is currently a member of the Institute of Distilling and Brewing (UK), the MBAA, the ASBC, and IFT.

You can follow Samuel Adams on Facebook.