World Class Judges

Ken Smith

Colorado, United States

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

I sold wine for 10 years before joining the Boston Beer Company in 1995. I was looking for a change and the beer industry was becoming (and has continued to become) more interesting. My early days were spent in sales, transitioning to sales training in the early 2000s. I currently teach classes on everything beer and that environment continues to evolve. I believe that beer and its history, culture, and science will continue, as it has for millennia, to be a part of humanity way into the future.

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

Meeting others of like mind from around the world and being able to taste the best brewers have to offer is a thrilling experience. Friends are made and new beer styles are experienced! How cool is that?

Julia Herz

Colorado, United States

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

When I was little, I had a soap and perfume collection. My dad traveled for work, and he’d bring back soaps, while my mom would bring perfume samples. I would smell them, feel the texture, and consider the shapes, colors, and ingredients. I also paid attention to my dad’s imported beers in the fridge and the food my mom was cooking. Based on aroma, I’d try to guess what was for dinner while I was upstairs in my bedroom. That was all the stage I needed to become a judge.

When I moved to Colorado, I had been homebrewing and started to become interested in what judges were doing. The bottom line is that I followed my interests and worked to learn sensory techniques about hedonics and beer styles. To me, beer is the most incredible beverage to judge because it is limitless in ingredient possibilities. Judges are instruments for what we perceive, and our job is to tap into what we sense, relay that back to the entrant, and share where it meets or misses the style guidelines—kind of like a lawyer interpreting the law. 😊

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

Working to the level of being accepted and invited back to judge the World Beer Cup is a career highlight. Every time I judge, I learn and grow, and the WBC is unique because it has the most robust collection of international beer judges of any competition I can point to. Judging with peers from the same country is different from judging with judges from around the world. We help each other shed more “style bias” when judging from different cultural lenses. Hands down, the WBC is *the* judge invitation to snag. I like to tell new judges the only way to get invited is to put in the work, study, taste, brew, and apply.

Craig Thomas

California, United States

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

My first brewing job was meant to be a stepping stone into distilling. However, as I pursued my master’s in brewing and distilling at Heriot-Watt University, I began appreciating beer more and more. To me, it felt like a more experimental, exciting, and forward-thinking craft. The diversity of ingredients, techniques, and historical traditions delivered a broader, more compelling story of flavor and experience than distilled spirits did. There is so much to learn, and each moment of learning is aided or reinforced by sensory experiences that have created very impactful memories for me.

Since graduating in 2014, I’ve done my best to shape my career path by putting myself in situations where I can absorb knowledge from people with different types of expertise. I’ve had the privilege of traveling the world tasting beer while working with Bill Simpson and AROXA. I’ve brewed with some of the best at Firestone Walker Brewing Company, tested my practical and theoretical sensory knowledge as part of the ASBC Sensory Subcommittee, and explored beer dispense in order to earn Master Cicerone. Now, at Abstrax Hops, I’m reevaluating everything I thought I knew about beer. New frontiers never end!

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

There is no other place where so many diverse, knowledgeable, and experienced people gather to taste and talk about beers and beer styles. What better spot to challenge preconceptions, discuss new techniques, and discover new trends? Furthermore, the competition brings in a plethora of world-class examples across so many styles. It is the only place where one can repeatedly experience technical precision and artistic expression in equal measure—sometimes at the same time. Competitions like the World Beer Cup are outlets where a brewer’s intent can be fully grasped and appreciated, as these beers are labors of love, often produced fresh and free from the constraints of distributor deals, consumer preferences, cost-of-goods quandaries, and dispense dilemmas.

Tetsuya Kojima

Tokyo, Japan

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

Beer has completely changed my life. About 25 years ago, I was just a craft beer fan. One day, I attended a beer festival in Tokyo sponsored by the Craft Beer Association and saw a flyer for a Beer Judge Seminar. I became interested in the beer judge qualification program in Japan, and a few years later, I took the seminar and got certified as a beer judge.

About 10 years ago, I received a phone call from Ryouji Oda, former president of the Craft Beer Association, asking me to serve as a lecturer at the beer tasting program and beer judge qualification program sponsored by the association. Now, I’m a lecturer for the association, teaching beer tasting and judging methods at seminars. I’m also a competition director at Japanese beer competitions, such as the International Beer Cup and the Japan Great Beer Awards.

In fact, I don’t work in the beer industry. My actual job is as a computer science professor at a college in Tokyo. However, beer occupies a significant part of my life. I am, and always will be, very happy to spend my life in the world of craft beer.

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

My first judging experience at the World Beer Cup was in Nashville in 2018. As a certified beer judge, I wanted to contribute to events like this to help raise the quality of craft beer. This was the primary reason I joined the World Beer Cup. Another reason was my desire to stay updated on global trends in craft beer, which remains a crucial part of my experience at the WBC. I hope to judge new beer styles at every World Beer Cup. It’s an excellent learning opportunity for me, and I can share my experiences from the competition with my students and fellow beer judges in Japan.

Dominic Charbonneau

Quebec, Canada

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

Like most brewers, I started as a homebrewer, and decided to offer more flavor to the people by starting my brewery. To do this, I needed to understand and know beer styles and taste them, so I studied and traveled to taste every style of beer. This led to earning Beer Judge Certification Program and Cicerone credentials, which now help me every day in the brewery.

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

Judging the World Beer cup is like judging at the Olympics. It is a huge competition where the best of the best are represented. The challenge of finding the appropriate beer for the style in every flight is incredible and a great training for developing my tasting skill, and of course to help brewers understand their product.

Sebastian Carrillo Miño

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

Since I can remember, beer has always been a mystery for me. I wondered why it had that golden color, why it was so bright and bitter, how it was made. It has always been and continues to be my desire to know how to make the best beer in the world.

I grew up thinking and wanting to know the ways to make it. I started studying chemistry, homebrewing, and working in breweries to be able to make my dream come true. Beer is life for me.

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

What could be better than tasting and rewarding the best beers on the planet and learning from the best judges? It is just a unique and unrepeatable experience.

Mirella Amato

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

I have been working in the beer industry for over 15 years now. I was drawn to the industry because I wanted to raise awareness of, and appreciation for, my local craft beers. Beer is such a varied beverage and can be appreciated on many levels. There’s always more to learn about it and yet, as complex and multi-faceted as it is, it remains approachable.

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

I’m honored to have been judging at the World Beer Cup since 2010. For me, it’s a place to share my knowledge and passion. It’s a place to learn from my peers and continue to hone my palate. It’s a place to taste the latest interpretations of styles and spot emerging trends. It’s a community of like-minded people from all over the world that I look forward to reconnecting with every year to hear about what is going on in the world of beer internationally.

Jesse Brown

Washington, United States

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

I was a bartender in Wyoming who wanted to understand more about the production of beer, whiskey, and all things drink. Around 2006, while studying at the University of Wyoming, my friends and I would drive down to Fort Collins for weekends to visit breweries. New Belgium had a big impact on my early craft beer journey. Fast forward to January 2009—one semester from graduating—the economy had collapsed.

I moved to Lander, Wyoming, to climb and bartend. I convinced the new head brewer at Lander Brewing Co. to give me a job washing kegs. I self-studied all the brewing books I could afford, soaking up as much knowledge as possible. Ten years later, I love making craft beer more than ever in the Seattle area.

Beer matters to me because what I create brings communities together. Anywhere in the world, beer serves as a social conduit. It always brings me joy to see people gathered in the taproom.

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

I deeply care about the sensory aspect of beer, and I judge at the World Beer Cup for many reasons. One reason is my love for the qualitative experience—everything that goes into judging a beer is shaped by personal history and knowledge of styles. I’m constantly challenged by other world-class judges and always return home inspired with new perspectives.

Judging at the World Beer Cup is an honor. It allows me to have deep conversations with some of the best brewers and judges in the world.

Fernanda Meybom

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

I have always liked beer and my grandmother was a homebrewer.As a chemical engineer,I became more familiar with the fermentation process and the beer industry. After my graduation and a sommelier course, I decided to learn more about sensory analysis. I got involved with beer competitions and local homebrewers associations, including organizing competitions and conferences.I’m a master’s candidate in food engineering and beer science. I recently co-authored a chapter about pairing beer and food in Guia da Sommelieira de Cervejas (Beer Sommelier Guide), and co-authored a chapter about probiotic beer in Protocols in Technology of Probiotic Foods and Beverages for Springer Protocols. I’m also the technical advisor at the Regional Council of Engineering and Agronomy of Santa Catarina in Brazil. I am an active BJCP Certified judge and for the last 10 years I have judged in international beer competitions in Chile, Spain, Mexico, South Africa, Belgium, Argentina, and Uruguay. I’m the co-founder of Passaporte Cervejeiro, a company that organizes beer travel groups to Belgium. I have taught several courses in Brazil. Writing and cooking are my passions, and after five years as a columnist for Revista da Cerveja (Magazine of Beer), I now share recipes at my own website.

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

The World Beer Cup is one of the largest and most prestigious competitions in the world, and winning a medal there is celebrated as a significant competitive achievement. Being selected for the judging team is therefore a great honor and an achievement for beer professionals, as well as a great responsibility to select the worthiest beers from among the entries. Being part of the World Beer Cup is a great validation of my hard work, study, and preparation in the beer industry, and a wonderful way to use my beer evaluation skills.

Sebastian Hohentanner

Tokyo, Japan

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

I was born and raised in Munich, Germany, so good beer was always a given for me—available almost anytime, anywhere, especially in our beautiful beer gardens. However, while studying in Japan, I learned that this wasn’t the case everywhere. Searching for a good Bavarian-style hefeweizen in Japan started my journey into the world of craft beer. It led to a career in the Japanese beverage industry, supplying breweries with brewing equipment, ingredients, and education to create some of the best beers we have in Japan today.

In my daily work, I am truly grateful for the opportunity to connect the brewing culture of my birthplace with the brewing culture of the place I choose to live. Nothing brings people together like beer!

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

The World Beer Cup is the most prestigious and well-established beer competition—a model for beer competitions worldwide. Therefore, it’s an honor and a privilege to judge at the World Beer Cup. Judging beers with industry veterans and colleagues from around the globe in such a well-organized, professional setting creates a unique opportunity to continuously learn about beer and sharpen sensory skills. I especially appreciate the discussions with fellow judges during and after the competition. Everyone’s openness to share knowledge and experience, help one another, and enjoy beer in a friendly and collegial atmosphere is amazing. I hope to participate in and contribute to the World Beer Cup for many years to come.

Shaun O’Sullivan

California, United States

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

After several career changes in my twenties—from being a photographer for a local Los Angeles weekly covering music and politics, to working as a CNN assignment desk editor, and then as a legal clerk at a high-powered corporate law firm—I found my passion in homebrewing, with the goal of one day opening my own brewpub.

Discovering my destiny and community within craft beer has been incredible, and I still can’t believe I get paid to do this.

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

I often tell aspiring beer judges that becoming a judge at the World Beer Cup can make you a better brewer and person. The experience involves interacting with fellow international beer judges, honing the skills of listening and being open to discussion. It’s a humbling experience that requires judges to set aside their egos, as we all strive toward the common goal of recognizing the best beers.

Steve Gonzalez

Californa, United States

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

I’m a decent scientist with a deep love of history and my family has a culinary background, from French to Mexican cuisine. I took a break from studying in college to homebrew with some friends and saw all of those things in beer: science, heritage, anthropology, food presentation, and preparation. A natural fit, and a perfect way to step away from physics and organic chemistry for a few hours.

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

It keeps me current, I get to taste things I have never tried before with no preconceptions, no biases. All of that makes me a better brewer!