The brewing world was very aghast when 10 Barrel Brewing gutted its multi award-winning brewing team led by icon, Tonya Cornett. But that team is back in the brewhouse with a new project: Upp Liquids. Not sold on that name yet.
They will be at the Immersion Brewing location and the group with Cornett, Ian Larkin, Jose Ruiz and Ben Shirley will partner up with Immersion Brewing owners Sean Lampe and Amanda Plattner and make the switch to Upp. Initial beers will be 1st Upp Super Juicy IPA, Chasin’ Sunsets a yuzu ginger tart ale, and Arriba a Mexican-style lager.
Like so much spent grain, Canadian cannabis company, Tilray is dumping a who’s who of Oregon brewing talent from 10 Barrel Brewing in Bend.
Gone is former Barley Brown’s brewmaster Shawn Kelso, former brewmaster Jimmy Seifrit, former Bend Brewing brewmaster Ian Larkin and most notably GABF medal machine, Tonya Cornett.
You can write a book (others have) about the malfeasance of SABInBev but at least they were not stupid enough to cut loose that murderers row of brewing know how. It would be the equivalent of the Kansas City Chiefs, waiving Mahomes, Kelce and Coach Reid in one fell swoop.
This is, unfortunately, typical corporate shortsightedness. Keeping talent happy and hoppy is not valued as much as profit. And what is thought of now as cost savings is going to end up losing them customers in the short term and will also introduce more competition in the long term as those brewers either start their own places or go to a brewery and bring their ‘rizz with them.
It takes a special attitude for a large corporation to grow a small company under its banner and most do not have the people skills or vision to accomplish it. Tilray has shown their true colors.
I am a big fan of 10 Barrel beer and of Tonya Cornett. Heck, I am a big fan of beer from Bend. Of which, I can’t get much except for Deschutes. But a Brown ale forward ale with some hops sounds good to me.
