Rob Tod’s interest in brewing began when he got a job as a keg washer for Otter Creek Brewery in Vermont after graduating from Middlebury College. While working at Otter Creek he sampled many styles of beer and was struck by the inventiveness and depth of beers brewed in Belgium – where brewers had available an unlimited palette of raw materials, yeast strains, and brewing techniques. Though these styles were scarcely heard of in the US at the time, Rob looked at the Belgian brewing culture as an opportunity to give people a unique experience
with beer.

Motivated by his experiences, Rob founded Allagash Brewing Company in 1995 with a dedication to crafting the best Belgian-inspired beers in the world. His first beer brewed – Allagash White – is still the company’s top seller. In the past two decades, Allagash has grown from a one-man operation into one of the Top 50 Craft Breweries in U.S. (by sales volume) and earned a spot on Maine’s Best Places to Work list for three years running.

Rob has been nominated as a James Beard Award semi-finalist for the past 3 years, and is currently the Chair of the Brewers Association trade group.

View video from the event below:

Video Recorded October 18, 2016

Randy Billings has covered the city of Portland for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram for more than four years. Working as a journalist in Southern Maine since 2005, Randy has written about municipal governments, community news, local music and business news for a variety of publications. His work has been recognized by the Maine Press Association and the New England Newspaper and Press Association.

He is a lifelong Mainer and musician, who has been brewing beer at home for the last two years.