Founding Contributors

Founders Emil Christian Hansen

In 1883 isolated the first pure brewing-yeast cell (Saccharomyces carlsbergensis) and shared it freely — nearly every modern lager on Earth descends from it.

Canada's regional yeast innovator — forages wild native strains and develops custom house yeasts that give local brewers a regional edge.

Founders A division of yeast giant Lesaffre

One of the two global kings of dried brewing yeast. SafAle US-05 and its stablemates power a huge share of the world's craft batches.

The other global titan of dried brewing yeast (LalBrew). Canadian-rooted, supplying reliable dried strains worldwide.

Founders Chris White

Pioneered liquid yeast for craft. WLP001 California Ale Yeast is arguably the most widely used craft yeast in the world.

Founders David Logsdon

Pioneered liquid brewing yeast for craft brewers; its strain library (e.g. Wyeast 1056) underpins countless flagship American ales.

Boutique estate grower of prized Southern-Hemisphere hops, spotlighting terroir-driven Nelson-region varietals like Nelson Sauvin.

Australia's dominant hop grower, source of Galaxy and other Southern-Hemisphere varietals prized for tropical aroma.

Founders Grower-owned network

Grower-owned hop supplier from the valley that produces the majority of U.S. hops — Cascade, Citra, Mosaic and more.

A North American craft staple for base and specialty malts, extracts, and adjuncts.

One of North America's oldest and largest maltsters, a backbone supplier to both macro and craft.

A heritage British maltster behind Maris Otter and countless classic UK grain bills.

The reference maltster for specialty grains — Carafa, CaraMunich and the malts behind countless European and craft recipes.

Swedish specialists in separators, heat exchangers, and beer clarification hardware used across the industry.

Bridges serious homebrew and pilot-scale pro systems with precision, design-forward stainless equipment.

A mega-engineer of centrifuges, rotary jet heads, and automated brewhouses that let regional and macro breweries scale without losing quality.

Brewhouse and fermentation equipment used from serious homebrew to pro pilot systems.

King of craft glassware; pioneered brand-exclusive glasses and created the iconic Teku tasting glass.

Centuries-old glassmaker that co-developed style-specific beer glassware (IPA, stout) with leading craft breweries.

Point-of-sale and taproom management platform built specifically for breweries, taprooms and cideries.

Founders Josh McKinney & Greg Forehand

Brewery management software integrating ingredient tracking, tank management, and accounting from grain to glass.

Global logistics giant whose beverage cold-chain protects hop-forward beer from heat degradation between brewery and shelf.

The Canadian company that effectively invented micro-canning for craft beer, putting affordable canning lines within reach of small breweries.

Founders The five Ball brothers

The world's largest maker of recyclable aluminum cans, supplying most craft and macro beer cans globally.

A major distributor of glass, cans, and packaging components to the beverage industry, smoothing volatile packaging supply chains.

Maker of PBW and Star San — the non-hazardous cleaning products used in thousands of commercial cellars worldwide.

Founders Paul Fichter

Dominates draft branding — engineers the custom 3D tap handles that market breweries in crowded bars.

The global standard for draft dispense — tap handles, couplers, and commercial line-cleaning hardware.

Founders Peter McCausland

Major supplier of beverage-grade CO2 and nitrogen systems powering carbonation tanks and tap lines.

One of the world's largest industrial-gas suppliers of beverage-grade CO₂ and nitrogen — critical when CO₂ shortages hit the industry.

Represents and lobbies for British Columbia's independent breweries and helps power regional Ale Trail tourism.

Founders Rooted in Charlie Papazian's American Homebrewers Association (1978)

The US craft industry's advocate and watchdog. Owns the 25% ownership definition and administers the Independent Craft Brewer seal.

Fights legislative battles and buyouts for indies, and administers Australia's certified Independent seal.

Runs a shared pool of millions of steel kegs so craft breweries can ship nationally without retrieving their own steel.

Founders Chris Piper

Supplies over half of US craft breweries with screen-printed apparel, growlers, and glassware.

Diagnostics giant whose PCR and microbiology testing lets breweries detect wild-yeast and bacterial contamination before it ruins a batch.

Founders Raymond C. Ward

The gold standard for brewing water testing. Breweries send samples to find their mineral baseline before adjusting for a style.