Brewing Exceptional Beers Behind the Scenes

All About Beer Magazine - Volume 36, Issue 5
November 1, 2015 By

Andrew Mason of Three Floyds Brewing Co.

Andrew Mason

Three Floyds Brewing Co.

Munster, Indiana

Madison Roane, director of brewery operations at Cigar City Brewing, and Three Floyds Brewing production manager Andrew Mason were talking shop between sessions at the 2013 Craft Brewers Conference when they realized they were in the midst of a conversation that should include more brewers. The Production Managers Panel resulted in 2014, and again in 2015.

“I feel like we get to see just about everything in the brewery from grain to glass, so it’s a fun chance to pick each other’s brains for an hour,” explains Mason, who wrote the proposal and recruited panelists from breweries of varying sizes. They answer questions of no interest to the marketing department, such as how many “brite” (packaging) tanks a growing brewery needs.

Mason describes himself as something akin to the brewery sergeant. He still opens the brewery two days a week and closes it one as well, making sure the right raw materials are on order for the next six weeks. “For me it’s very important to dry hop a tank with one of the other brewers … to make sure everybody is doing things the way you want them done,” he says.

If he weren’t on the panel, he’d be in the audience asking questions. Three Floyds produced 11,000 barrels a year when he started in 2009 and will make about 50,000 in 2015. “We’ve got contractors in here almost every day,” he says. “(This job) is a bridge between big picture and the things that need to get done every day.”

Stan Heironymus

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