Read on to learn more about the nominees in this year’s
Craft Maltsters Guild Board of Directors Election.
Member Malthouse Nominees:
Pam Bailey, Dacotah Malt Ltd.
- Role: President
- Location: Elie,
Manitoba Canada
- Guild Member Since 2023
What is your personal vision for the craft malt community?
I see collaboration, industry whole, from soil to stomach. It’s such a great story that needs to be celebrated and told to all.
Why are you interested in serving on the Guild’s Board of Directors and what do you hope to achieve?
As a developing malthouse for far too long, I’d like to see an easy path for starting, especially in Canada. I’d like to have more connections with the industry now that we are about to switch gears from start-up to sales. I also want to give back to the craft malt community because it’s so unique in that it’s so genuinely supportive.
What skills, resources, and/or connections do you feel you will be able to contribute to the Guild’s Board?
I’ve sat on many boards throughout my life – from small grassroots to large national lobby groups – so I have lots of general board governance and related training to bring to the organization and the industry. I bring a very broad and colorful background in Canadian agriculture being an East-coaster now living on the Prairies, that I’m very proud of. However, I think bringing a fresh perspective as someone who built a new malthouse from scratch during a pandemic in a province that has zero craft malting.
What other long-term volunteer opportunities have you been involved with (including service on other boards of directors)? Please list and describe your responsibilities with each below.
Canadian Canola Growers – BOD
Manitoba Canola Growers Association – BOD, vice chair, chair
Pink Boots Society Canada – Manitoba Ambassador
Women in Agriculture National Roundtable – advisory member
Ag Women MB – co-founder and chair
Manitoba Young Famers – committee member
Keystone Agricultural Producers, District 6 – Secretary, Representative
Canadian Young Farmers Forum – Provincial Delegate
Nova Scotia Young Farmers – BOD
What is one thing that your fellow Guild members should know about you?
Once upon a time, I was a certified arborist and semi-professional competition lumberjack, meaning I can genuinely say that I have had a lot of varied professional/educational/life experiences that serve me well in the most complex of situations.
Brian Estes, LINC Malt
- Role: Partnerships Director
- Location: Spokane Valley,WA
- Guild Member Since 2019
What is your personal vision for the craft malt community?
A vibrant community that enhances regional grain, malting, brewing and distilling industries towards greater economic, environmental and social impact, all while producing delicious beer and spirits.
Why are you interested in serving on the Guild’s Board of Directors and what do you hope to achieve?
I’m culminating a term with the Board and feel I have unfinished work and there has been so much change and challenge the last few years, I’m eager to steward the organization to a place of greater stability and vitality, and help see the craft malting industry into its next chapter.
What skills, resources, and/or connections do you feel you will be able to contribute to the Guild’s Board?
I have almost 15 years of food systems and agriculture experience in the pacific Northwest, and have served on several nation-wide ag/food boards. I am familiar with the challenges of governing small organizations. I have a passion for policy/advocacy work, while this hasn’t been a focus of the Guild, I’d like to help move us further in the direction on being influential on relevant policy matters.
What other long-term volunteer opportunities have you been involved with (including service on other boards of directors)? Please list and describe your responsibilities with each below.
I served several terms with Washington State’s farmers market trade association, including several years as President. I sat for two years on a policy steering committee for a national level organization focused on the needs of young and beginning farmers. I’ve always committed a portion of personal and professional time to non-profit/community-benefit activities.
What is one thing that your fellow Guild members should know about you?
I find malting continually fascinating, I can’t wait to see what myself and my peers are chewing on in 30 years.
Corey Freuen, Cascadia Malts
- Role: Owner, maltster
- Location: Nine Mile Falls, WA
- Guild Member Since 2020
What is your personal vision for the craft malt community?
Things are very challenging right now, but I’d love to see the industry continue to grow in a sustainable way. I want to see it successfully find a way to scale properly, finding a long term place in the market, allowing it to support local minded customers, and continue to elevate local agriculture.
Why are you interested in serving on the Guild’s Board of Directors and what do you hope to achieve?
I am interested in serving on the board of directors because I think my perspective as a relatively new member of the industry would be valuable because of all of the challenges I have had to face due to the timing of the launch of my company. I definitely will not pretend to be the most knowledgeable or experienced resource available, but I can certainly be helpful to people hoping to start out in this industry. I want to gain experience in as many ways as possible, build relationships within the industry, and hopefully have a role in ensuring its long-term viability. I come from a farming family, I see this industry as an extremely valuable way to support local agriculture. I am passionate about hyper local food economies, farm to table concepts, and the connection people have to the areas we live. I see this opportunity as a way for me to gain necessary knowledge and experience, as well as enhance my ability to help strengthen the connection between brewing and distilling industries and the farmers surrounding them.
What skills, resources, and/or connections do you feel you will be able to contribute to the Guild’s Board?
I started a malting company at perhaps the worst time possible, made many mistakes, also had many triumphs, and learned a lot along the way. I can share these experiences to possibly help people avoid making some of the same mistakes. I could be a good resource for streamlining someone’s entry into the industry.
What other long-term volunteer opportunities have you been involved with (including service on other boards of directors)? Please list and describe your responsibilities with each below.
I was a teacher and have been a volunteer coach many times.
What is one thing that your fellow Guild members should know about you?
I am passionate about the industry and want to become a valuable member of this community.
Allied Trade Partner Nominee:
Aaron Onio, Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre
- Role: Malt Technical Specialist
- Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Guild Member Since 2017
What is your personal vision for the craft malt community?
For all of the community (both members/nonmembers) to benefit from the value proposition the guild offers both directly and indirectly, from the programming, the technical information shared, and even perhaps putting dollars or in-kind services from the guild towards applied research for the benefit for all.
Why are you interested in serving on the Guild’s Board of Directors and what do you hope to achieve?
I am interested because I believe in what the Guild stands for. To promote and sustain Craft malt. It is needed and it is necessary. I hope by serving on the Board I can help exact positive change and further solidify Craft Malt as dependable, consistent and bespoke quality by providing technical expertise, barley varietal considerations and guidance towards new avenues to explore in marketing and applied research.
What skills, resources, and/or connections do you feel you will be able to contribute to the Guild’s Board?
10 years in the malt barley sector, focused on barley and malt quality.
10 years of technical malting experience, focused on micro & pilot malt trials.
9 years as a presenter in the CMBTC Malt Academy
2-3 years of technical brewing experience in a 3 hL pilot brewery.
4 years of intensive malt barley variety evaluation.
Over the years I have developed a vast network both personal and professional relationships that range from breeders, producers, researchers, maltsters, brewers and distillers across the globe.
What other long-term volunteer opportunities have you been involved with (including service on other boards of directors)? Please list and describe your responsibilities with each below.
Barley Quality Evaluation Team member for the Prairie Recommendation Committee for Oat and Barley (PRCOB) – participate and help evaluate new trial barley lines to be submitted for Canadian registration as an official malt barley variety.
What is one thing that your fellow Guild members should know about you?
My aim is to humbly serve others, make sure others are heard and to stand up for what’s right even if it means doing the difficult thing. That. And my love for Karaoke.
Individual Member Nominees:
Jan Chodkowski, Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company
- Role: Co Owner and Head Brewer
- Location: Denver, CO
- Guild Member Since 2021
What is your personal vision for the craft malt community?
To grow the recognition to our customers and other producers that craft malt is better for sustainability, community and makes better beer.
Why are you interested in serving on the Guild’s Board of Directors and what do you hope to achieve?
To learn and to help educate others about craft malt as well as get more breweries involved.
What skills, resources, and/or connections do you feel you will be able to contribute to the Guild’s Board?
12 years of knowledge of brewing and running a brewery that uses 90% craft malt. I have connections with breweries all over North America and I am extremely passionate about brewing beer with craft malt and always encourage people to make beer with it whenever possible but especially when we do collaboration beers. I have resources and connections in marketing and design. I have traveled internationally to judge beer competitions and brew beers made with craft/specialty malts. Overall I am also a positive and friendly person who is easy to get along with.
What other long-term volunteer opportunities have you been involved with (including service on other boards of directors)? Please list and describe your responsibilities with each below.
This would be my first time doing long term volunteering but I am excited to jump in and learn and help as much as possible.
What is one thing that your fellow Guild members should know about you?
That I have been a champion and user of craft malt for 12 years.
Brian Mandeville, Fine Creek Brewing Company
- Role: Head Brewer
- Location: Powhatan, VA
- Guild Member Since 2020
What is your personal vision for the craft malt community?
As a brewer I am just a really small part of a much larger ecosystem that is required for the production of beer. Beer is a reflection of the work being done by many hands that go well beyond the brewery. There are all of these other people whose hands touch that product, and whose labor is required. I think beer can be this amazing thing that shows that, or it can be this commodity-like product, where all of that is obscured.
As brewers we rely on that ecosystem for our own existence. The truth is that for there to be local beer, there must first be local malt. The future of small, independent, and locally focused breweries, and distilleries, requires a healthy Craft Malt Community, one where those breweries and distilleries are fully engaged with and supporting the work of the farmers and maltsters on which they rely.
Why are you interested in serving on the Guild’s Board of Directors and what do you hope to achieve?
My hope is to foster further collaboration between the craft brewing industry and craft maltsters in order to strengthen our ties to local and sustainable agriculture, pave the way for innovation and quality, and better tell the stories of all of the people who work to make local beer possible.
What skills, resources, and/or connections do you feel you will be able to contribute to the Guild’s Board?
I have been professionally brewing for 14 years in Virginia and North Carolina. I have overseen production and managed teams at breweries with vastly different production volumes and objectives. My career has focused on farmed and foraged beers that express the traditions and heritage of the land that they come from. My passion for brewing revolves around recipe development and ingredient sourcing, and I have developed close relationships with many suppliers across the region, working directly with farms and malt houses. I have been an outspoken advocate for craft malt and have spent much of my career not only using it in my own recipes but also encouraging other brewers to do the same, often acting as a resource for other brewers. I have also been active with trade organizations in both states and have organized several festivals, maintaining strong connections to brewers across the region.
What other long-term volunteer opportunities have you been involved with (including service on other boards of directors)? Please list and describe your responsibilities with each below.
I served as a Board Member of the North Carolina Brewers Guild for 2 years, where I co-chaired legislative affairs subcommittee. In addition to routine board responsibilities I worked to advocate for North Carolina’s craft brewing industry. This included lobbying state and federal legislatures to vote in favor of legislation that promoted the growth and development of the industry.
What is one thing that your fellow Guild members should know about you?
Before brewing I studied Political Science and worked as a field organizer for political campaigns. I learned a lot doing that work, but I was very happy to make the transition to brewing.
Tim Schnars, Meadowlark Brewing & Spirits
- Role: Director of Brewing & Distilling Operations
- Location: Sidney, MT
- Guild Member Since 2019
What is your personal vision for the craft malt community?
Building a seamless integrated network of professionals committed to craft malt.
Why are you interested in serving on the Guild’s Board of Directors and what do you hope to achieve?
I’m a champion for craft malt and I hope to discover the hidden opportunities available for craft malt culture to expand public and professional awareness of craft malt quality.
What skills, resources, and/or connections do you feel you will be able to contribute to the Guild’s Board?
I’m a professional brewer of eighteen years with post-secondary certification in graphic design and advertising. I’ve made friends from Philly to Portland and beyond in the brewing industry, and maintain an interest in U.S. state controlled substance laws.
What other long-term volunteer opportunities have you been involved with (including service on other boards of directors)? Please list and describe your responsibilities with each below.
I’ve served as President of the Illinois Craft Distillers Association since 2021 and have been a member of its Board since 2019. I lead the organization’s government affairs and consumer engagement efforts with a main focus in delivering the most favorable regulatory and business environment for craft distilleries in our state, as well as educating consumers about the array of craft spirits produced in Illinois. As President, I coordinate with our lobbying organization and meet with lawmakers around legislation on the state level — both bills we want to pass or proposed changes that we want to respond to — and also work with national distilled spirits organizations to help organize the efforts of different states and coordinate on the federal level. I also coordinate the Board’s monthly meetings and quarterly member meetings, and help organize our yearly spirits festival.
What do you hope to achieve as a Craft Maltsters Guild board member?
I hope to help broaden awareness of craft malt among consumers and producers. People should know what sets craft malt apart and how supporting local maltsters is great for the local economy and community, while also diversifying the range of flavors that breweries and distilleries can achieve. I also hope to use my experience as craft distiller (and craft malt buyer) to help the craft malt sector effectively market its grain to people like me. While I come at this from a producer’s perspective, I want to harness my experience leading Illinois’ craft distillery guild to help the Craft Maltsters Guild achieve its legislative and organizational goals.
What is one thing that your fellow Guild members should know about you?
I’m deeply committed to growing the category of American single malt whisky and specifically championing the use of craft malt. I had been meeting the criteria for craft malt certified distillery for years before my distillery sought certification, and we use 100% locally produced craft malt from a maltster I know, trust and respect. While not a maltster myself, I earned a Master’s degree in Brewing & Distilling from Heriot-Watt University, where I made good friends who would later move into the malting world and I studied malting and grain selection in depth — not many distillers I know have written papers on the use of near-infrared reflectance to assess the commercial potential of new malting barley varieties!
International Member Nominees:
Brad Woolner, Voyager Craft Malt
- Role: General Manager
- Location: Whitton, NSW, Australia
- Guild Member Since 2020
What is your personal vision for the craft malt community?
To see craft malt become a reliable, innovative, sustainable industry
Why are you interested in serving on the Guild’s Board of Directors and what do you hope to achieve?
The guild was a significant help to our business when we started around 10 years ago – now is a good opportunity pay back some of that goodwill with knowledge / experience gained over the journey.
What skills, resources, and/or connections do you feel you will be able to contribute to the Guild’s Board?
At Voyager we have built a malthouse from the ground up over a 10 year period. This has provided a lot of experience in the industry both from a practical and governance point of view. Having fulfilled all the roles from design, operations, innovation, accounting and governance I feel like I have a broad skill set to hopefully contribute to the broader objectives of the guild.
What other long-term volunteer opportunities have you been involved with (including service on other boards of directors)? Please list and describe your responsibilities with each below.
Not a lot recently as creating and running a malting business is not only a full time role but tends to be all consuming. Previous to starting Voyager I held board positions at local sporting clubs for Squash and Australian Rules Football.
What is one thing that your fellow Guild members should know about you?
I’m not afraid of doing hard things – eg I ran a marathon this year. I grew up on a farm in regional Australia, studied Bachelor of Business Accounting and Finance at university, worked in the corporate finance world for a decade before starting Voyager Craft Malt with long time friend Stu Whytcross. And I obviously can’t count / follow instructions when asked to provide one thing.
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