2019 Craft Brewers Conference

Rob Tod
Founder
Allagash Brewing Company


After graduating from Middlebury College, Rob took advantage of his education by washing kegs for Otter Creek Brewery in Vermont. While working at the brewery, Rob was able to sample many styles of beer and was struck by Belgian beers in particular. Belgian brewers, Rob learned, enjoyed an unlimited palette of raw materials, yeast strains, and brewing techniques—allowing them to create inventive and surprising beers. Though the Belgian style was scarcely known in the U.S. at the time, Rob saw in the Belgian brewing culture an opportunity to give Americans an experience with beer that they’d never had before. So, Rob founded Allagash Brewing Company in 1995 with the goal of crafting the best Belgian-inspired beers in the world. The first beer he brewed—Allagash White—is still the company’s top seller. In the past two decades, Allagash has grown from a one-man operation to one of the Top 50 Craft Breweries in U.S. (by sales volume) and has earned a spot on Maine’s Best Places to Work list for five years running. Rob has been nominated as a James Beard Award finalist for the past two years, and is the Past Chair of the Brewers Association.

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