Brewery Ommegang, a personal favorite of mine, is sad to see one of its veterans moving on, but is excited about the changes to come. According to a statement released by the company today,
Randy Thiel, Ommegang Brewmaster since 1997, is heading home to his native Midwest. In February, 2008, he will become Director of Quality Control at the New Glarus Brewing Company of New Glarus, Wisconsin. New Glarus Brewing is a 100,000 barrel-capacity brewery well-known for brewing a wide range of world-class, handcrafted beers that are distributed exclusively in Wisconsin. Back in Cooperstown, Phil Leinhart will add the title and duties of Ommegang Brewmaster to his current responsibilities as Ommegang Director of Production.
Randy’s skills will surely be missed. In 2004, he became the first-ever American brewer inducted into the Knighthood of Brewers Mashstaff, by the Belgian Brewers Guild in Brussels, Belgium. But, in Phil, Ommegang sees a worthy replacement. Phil has been in the brewing industry for over twenty years and has worked in and studied brewing in England and Germany, as well as in the US. He has practiced his craft in breweries ranging from brewpubs to craft breweries to – most recently – Anheuser-Busch in Newark, New Jersey. Since then he has overseen 2007’s record-breaking brewing production at Ommegang.
For more on Ommegang, visit the brewery’s website www.ommegang.com or read my comments on their beers here and here.
(image by ericnixon)
[tags]Brewery Ommegang, New Glarus Brewing, Randy Thiel, Phil Leinhart, beer[/tags]
