Founded in 2017, Sesiones del Migrante is a unique beer collab and celebration of the Mexican migrant workers who travel to Yakima each year to harvest hops for breweries across the globe.

Initiated by Cervecería de Colima, Cerveza Loba, Ronin Fermentation Project, SouthNorte, Yakima Chief Hops, and Bale Breaker, Sesiones del Migrante is a project and beer aims to honor and recognize a pivotal underrepresented community in beer. And each year, proceeds from this beer go to local nonprofits who support the migrant farm working community in the Yakima Valley. The group also brews a series of the beer in Guadalajara, Mexic,  Colima, Mexico, and Graeagle, California where a portion of the proceeds go to their local migrant communities.

In this session, the founders of the project will discuss the who, where, what, why,  and how  behind their project as well as the international and cultural impact it has made.

Ryan Brooks of SouthNorte, has always loved beer. When he wasn’t traveling the world behind a drum kit, he was home-brewing. A lot. He eventually turned this into a career, working his way up to Brewmaster at one of San Diego’s most award winning breweries. While honing his brewing chops in Sand Diego, Ryan moved to Tijuana where he judged home-brew competitions, made tons of friends and met his wife. He wanted to expand into cocktails to bring people the flavors of Mexico to all beverages. Ryan now lives in San Diego but his heart is in Baja, this dual influence is what makes Ryan the perfect SouthNorte brewer.

Victoria Garza is the Latin America Sales Manager for Yakima Chief Hops where she has worked since 2013. She graduated from the University of Washington in 2012, where she studied Intercultural Communication. Since 2013, she has worked with distributors and commercial brewers to make hops more accessible; no matter where they’re at in the world. As a native of the State of Washington, she hopes to continue the connection of hops in the Pacific Northwest to breweries across the globe.

Charlie Johnson is the founder, co-owner, and brewer of Ronin Fermentation Project, and also head of global brewing operations and head brewer of Gweilo Beer. He has worked in a wide range of facilities from large production scale brewing to brewing in brewpubs. He has run multiple brewing facilities and has been a head brewer at Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada facilities. Johnson also runs Ronin Fermentation Project’s consulting division. Through consulting contracts, he has advised brewery startups in six countries, including Mexico, Argentina, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States.

Alejandro Magallanes is one of the founding partners at Cerveza Loba. With a finance and fashion industry background, together with 3 more friends he began brewing in 2011, starting what is today one of the most awarded breweries in México. Years later, with a family now, he is the former Mexican Brewers Association president, continues to run Cerveza Loba, believes in independence, collaboration, the need to give back to society, passion for excellence and the importance of having fun. 

Kevin Quinn graduated from the University of Washington with dual degrees in Business Finance and Geographic Information Systems in 2005.  After spending time in the financial services industry in Seattle, he took a position in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho as the Director of Franchise Sales & Development at the corporate headquarters of The Pita Pit.  Upon moving to Yakima in early 2012, he further developed his brewing knowledge by helping with nearly every batch brewed on the nano brewery and took brewing courses at UC Davis Extension and the Siebel Institute.  For the first two years at Bale Breaker, either Quinn or Smitty brewed every batch of beer on our 30-barrel system, but as we have continued to grow and expand, Quinn has been focusing more of his time and energy in developing the sales and distribution side of our business.

 Kevin Smith graduated with a degree from the University of Washington in 2010 and started working at Two Beers Brewing Company in Seattle, WA shortly after graduation. During his time at Two Beers, he worked his way into a position as a Shift Brewer, learning the many aspects of what it takes to operate a successful brewery. In addition to his commercial brewing experience and education at UC Davis Extension, Kevin spent countless hours on the family farm’s 10-gallon Sabco “nanobrewery” developing the recipes for Field 41 Pale Ale and Topcutter IPA.  At Bale Breaker, he is in charge of the production side of the brewery, which includes everything from recipe development, the procurement of raw materials to maintaining the high quality and consistency of our beers.

THIS SESSION IS SUPPORTED BY:

EVAN TRENT + KERRY WALSH