Vinnie Cilurzo is the Co-owner with his wife, Natalie, of Russian River Brewing Company. Aside from their downtown Santa Rosa, California, brewpub, they also own and operate a newer and larger production brewery/brewpub a few miles away in Windsor. The newer Windsor brewery has been in operation since 2018 and includes a 75-barrel brewhouse, a 5-barrel pilot brewery, seven open top fermenters and a Koelschip for spontaneous fermentation. In 2008, Vinnie received the Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing by the Brewers Association, the U.S. craft brewers trade association. In 2017, Vinnie and Natalie were honored to receive the Brewers Association Recognition Award. Vinnie spends a lot of time giving back to the industry having served on the Brewers Association Board of Directors, speaking at countless professional and home brew conferences over the years, and helping form the Hop Quality Group in 2010. Vinnie was awarded the Brewmaster and Brewery of the Year Award three times between the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup competitions along with dozens of individual beer medals.
Natalie Cilurzo is the Co-Owner and President of Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa and Windsor, California. Natalie has been in the wine and/or craft beer industries since the age of 16. Her husband, Vinnie, opened Blind Pig Brewing Company in 1994 in Temecula, CA, while Natalie was working at a local winery and putting herself through college. In 1997, Vinnie and Natalie moved to Sonoma County where Vinnie began brewing for Russian River Brewing Company originally located at Korbel Champagne Cellars. Korbel closed the brewery in 2003 and gave Vinnie and Natalie the opportunity to acquire the Russian River brand. After 19 years in the wine industry, Natalie made the decision to join Vinnie full time when they opened their Santa Rosa brewpub in 2004. Over the years, she has developed a passion for giving back to the beer community, whom she considers family, as well as the community in which they live. Natalie previously served nine years on the Board of Directors for the California Craft Brewers Association, two of those years as Board Chair. She is now back on the CCBA Board in an at large role. In 2017, Vinnie and Natalie were awarded the "Brewers Association Recognition Award.” And, in 2019, Natalie was honored to be recognized as a "Distinguished Alumni" from her alma mater, Sonoma State University (SSU). Some of her favorite things to do, when time permits, are hiking, working on her 1968 Chevy pickup, and spending time with Vinnie and their three cats!
Jonny Garrett is a multi-award-winning author, journalist, filmmaker and podcaster. He’s best known as the cofounder of the Craft Beer Channel, a Youtube channel with over 160,000 subscribers and 13 million views.
As well as travelling the world making films he has written four books including A Year in Beer (2021, CAMRA Books) and The Meaning of Beer (2024, Atlantic). Between those and his Youtube channel he has won seven British Guild of Beer Writers Awards and been named Beer Writer of the Year twice, making him the most decorated writer of the last decade. He's also won two North American guild awards and the Fortnum & Mason Drinks Book of the Year for A Year in Beer.
He started his career working for Jamie Oliver as deputy editor of his website, and has been working full-time in beer since 2018. Through his work and achievements he’s become one of the most recognisable and trusted experts in the beer world, as well as one of the most entertaining and approachable drinks journalists. He lives the dream in Hitchin, southern England, working from a garden studio he built himself to include a state-of-the-art homebrewery.
Nick believes great beer will change the world. After attending the Master Brewers Program at UC Davis, he spent ten years in the US craft beer industry including time in brewing, distribution, and sales. In 2016 he moved to Cape Town to start Soul Barrel Brewing, a brewery focused on local ingredients, barrel aging and making distinctly South African beer.
Joya Taft-Dick is a writer, editor, memoirist, homebrewer, former “gender & development” worker, and forever third-culture kid. After 10+ years working for local and international non-profits and non-governmental organizations, she completed a master’s program in creative writing at the University of Cape Town, where she focused on narrative nonfiction, and made a professional pivot into the world of writing and editing. Joya is now one of two editors of On Tap, South Africa’s first and only beer-dedicated magazine. More of her writing can be found in HuffPost, The Guardian, Global Post, Mic, Global Citizen, Safe, Foyer, and Anchor magazines. Joya is personally interested in the intersection of beer and community and pursuing the question: How can beer give back?
After graduating with a B.Sc in Human Life Sciences at the University of Stellenbosch, Andrew pursued a post-graduate degree in Wine Biotechnology. He has worked at wineries in New Zealand, California and France as well as in the brewing industry, at both large-scale and smaller producers. Today, Andrew works as Regional Sales Manager for Africa at Fermentis, a division of Lesaffre Group.
Rachael is a brewer by passion and a brewery owner by even more passion. She has been immersed in this beer journey for over half of her life, brewing professionally since 2011 and before that working for beer bars and craft beer focused restaurants. Rachael likes to showcase her creativeness through her beers, both available in Pilot’s tasting room and throughout North Carolina. She runs an educational brewery by providing sensory training and beer training for team members and guests of Pilot. She uses Pilot to fuel her philanthropic goals by raising awareness and funds for different local charities. In her free time, Rachael co-hosts the fabulous beer podcast, False Bottomed Girls, judgse beer competitions, plans Charlotte Craft Beer Week and consults for the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority. She is a BJCP Certified Judge, Advanced Cicerone and Certified LUKR Tapster.
Megan, a Microbiology Master's graduate, found her passion for brewing 16 years ago, while at uni. She transitioned from homebrewing to owning and brewing for her own brand, Clockwork Brewhouse. She's a certified BJCP judge and also mentors the brewing course at the 1000 Hills Chef School. Over the years, Megan has won multiple awards for her brews. She is deeply passionate about brewing and is excited to see the beer industry continue to grow.
Rob Heyns, co-founded League of Beers in 2012, then joined forces with Yuppiechef, delivering over 2M beers to fans across SA. In 2017, he broke SA's crowdfunding record by launching Sugarbird, then expanded a range of drinks innovations to top retailers. In 2019 he co-founded Tiny Keg to make canning accessible to all brewers and wine makers. Recently, he re-launched League of Beers as part of The Beverage Club and joined Southern Skies to reinvigorate and reimagine beer and spirits clubs.
Troye is best known for his podcast #Beertime which is in its 8th year and has over 110 episodes. He is also known for his Beer Art which he sells to equally beer obsessed folks around the world. Lately he has become known for his Beer School sessions which he hosts around South Africa. Troye is on a mission to educate consumers on how to taste beer and enjoy the many different flavours in this exciting beverage.
Charlene is the CEO of the Beer Association of South Africa (BASA). A highly accomplished legal and business professional with extensive leadership experience, she holds a legal degree, an MBA, and certifications in executive leadership and financial management. She has held senior positions, including Executive Manager: Strategy, Governance, Risk & Compliance, and General Manager: Legal, Compliance & Regulation in the insurance sector, where she led ethics and compliance programs. She also served as General Counsel and Executive Director at a leading fire and security company, overseeing corporate governance, mergers, acquisitions, and competition law.
She has received numerous accolades, including the 2015 Businesswoman’s Association of South Africa Achiever Award for leadership in assurance services and nominations for General Counsel of the Year (Africa Legal Awards) and Compliance Officer of the Year (Women in Compliance Awards). A sought-after speaker, she regularly presents on Corporate Ethics, Governance, and Business Strategy.
Derek was one of the founding partners of Devil’s Peak Brewing Company with Russell Boltman, Dan Badenhorst and JC Steyn. He is now the CEO of Signal Hill Products which includes Devil’s Peak but also Striped Horse, Strongbow, KIX and St Francis brands, and has breweries in Cape Town and Nairobi and soon to be opening another one in Johannesburg. Prior to beer, he spent more than fifteen years in Oil & Gas and Supply Chain at Sasol, Bidvest, Shell and Adapt IT.
Zoleka Lisa is the Vice President of Corporate Affairs at South African Breweries (SAB), a position she has held since July 2019. With over a decade of experience across various functions within the company, she has played a key role in shaping SAB’s reputation, public policy, stakeholder engagement, and sustainability efforts in Southern Africa. Zoleka is a member of the executive committee and oversees the corporate affairs strategy for South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Namibia, including public policy, stakeholder relations, transformation, entrepreneurship, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives. Her leadership extends to key board roles, including serving as a trustee of the SAB Foundation, and contributing as a board member of the Beer Association of South Africa (BASA) and she previously was a on the board for the global AB InBev Foundation and Business Unity South Africa (BUSA).
