Meet the Brewmies Board

A smiling man with sunglasses hanging from his shirt takes a selfie on the street with a large group of people behind him, some sitting and some standing, near a street art beer can sculpture.

  • "Brett grew up in Buffalo, NY (Go Bills!) and moved to NYC back in 2005 to pursue acting. Like many entertainers, he finds himself mostly employed in the service industry as a bartender and caterer. He began homebrewing back in 2010 in the halcyon days of the rise of craft beer. He joined the Brewmies in 2018 and this is his fifth term as an officer, having served as Events Officer in 2020 and 2021, Vice President in 2022, and Secretary in 2023. He's a bit of traditionalist and prefers well crafted beers made from simple ingredients over gimmicky hype beers that toss the whole breakfast aisle into the mash."

A smiling woman with curly blonde hair wearing a green backpack, holding a black object with a tube, likely a beer dispensing equipment, near a metal bucket on a wooden counter, in a casual indoor setting.

  • Colleen was born and raised in Dublin, Ohio (home of Wendy's and the Field of Corn) and has been slowly moving her way east ever since, spending 11 years in Pittsburgh (home of the Steelers and putting fries on everything) and a few years in New Jersey (home of... pork roll?) before heading on up to Brooklyn in 2016. Her love of brewing started on her 24th birthday, when she received a one-gallon Mr Beer homebrewing kit. The Mr. Beer kit is long gone, but her love of brewing lives on. She has also expanded out to meads, kombuchas, sourdough bread, and just about anything else fermentable. She brews anything that does well in an NYC apartment with too many radiators (e.g., saisons) and has been known to make wheat beers just because they make your apartment smell amazing. Outside of fermenting things, she does data and assessment things in higher education and teaches college students about data analytics and psychology.

Young man with glasses and a beard, wearing a green jacket and white t-shirt, standing outdoors near a river with trees showing fall foliage, holding a Nikon camera strap around his neck.

  • Coming from Milwaukee, Wisconsin was enough of a reason to have an interest in beer, but Ben officially got started in home brewing after receiving a Brooklyn Brew Shop starter kit for the holidays 7 years ago. From there he joined the Brewminaries and it’s been a fun hobby bordering on obsession ever since. Ben loves to brew anything and everything (except brewing the same beer twice) and has dabbled in other fermentables like mead, cider, sake, and more. A pilsner, west coast IPA, or dry Irish stout is his go-to order at the pub but he’s not picky.
    Ben is a Film Producer by trade, working on feature documentaries and commercials.

A man wearing a straw hat and sunglasses is holding a honeybee on his hand, with a beekeeping hive in the background outdoors on a sunny day.

  • Tim joined the Brewmies in late 2020, and this is his third (non-consecutive) term in the position. Tim grew up in a brewing household in the 80s. After an extended hiatus, he got back into brewing and other yeast-based activities during the pandemic. His interest in biology spurred him to first work in an infectious disease lab, and then to jump into science education at the middle school and college levels. In his spare time, he likes to bike around NY, maintain beehives at community gardens in Brooklyn, and pet his dog.

A young man with a beard and brown hair, smiling and looking at the camera, in an indoor setting with warm lighting.

  • Ted was born in Lithuania but moved to the US in 2002 and grew up a Florida Man. After graduating, he stuffed all his possessions into a Prius and moved across the country to Seattle. Once he got bored of west-coast living, Ted decided to break his hip by snowboarding directly into a tree, which somehow landed him in New York City in 2022. By another strange turn of events, Ted started brewing in Jan of 2023, discovered the local homebrew shop, met the Brewminaries, and we haven't been able to get rid of him since. Ted brews about as much mead as he does beer, though he also likes to throw in an occasional cider just to spice things up a bit. Outside of homebrewing, Ted loves to snowboard (yes, still), cook, read, paint, meditate, and do sudokus with weird rulesets. He'll also get into a debate about anything if you let him. For his day job, Ted is a Sales Engineer.

A man with glasses, a beard, and a cap making peace signs with both hands, sitting at an outdoor table with five stacked wine glasses that have the words 'WESTVLETEREN TRAPPIST' printed on them. In the background, a building with wooden accents and glass doors.

  • Darren’s from the teetotaling part of Virginia but moved to New York after spending a beer-loving decade in South Carolina (go Gamecocks.) He picked up homebrewing after getting the same kit you probably got back when he was 23, and gave it up after about 7 mediocre batches and one truly horrible pineapple IPA. But - he picked it back up in 2020 and hasn’t stopped crowding the one-bedroom he shares with his wife, dog and two cats with kegs and tubing since! He loves to brew Belgian beers and sip hazy IPAs, but his first true love is Miller High Life. Outside brewing, Darren is an avid runner, cook and loves taking trips with his wife.

A man with a beard and a gray t-shirt pours a dark beer from a bottle into a plastic cup at a social gathering in a kitchen, with other people partly visible.

  • Matt grew up in North-central NJ, then living in Hoboken for 13 yrs before moving to Brooklyn where he currently lives with his wife and dog. He always liked beer, especially Guinness, but not seriously getting into it until a trip up to Boston where he got his hands on Trillium, and Treehouse on the ride back home. He’s been alarmingly hooked ever since. He started brewing in 2013 after his wife bought him a homebrew starter-kit. Little did she know it would lead to many fermenters, kegs, and a few barrels. He was recruited into the Brewminaries by Sheri back in 2017, when officers were still called Dictators. His favorite beers to brew are aged sour beers, funky saisons, and NEIPAs. Matt pays the bills with photography, oil painting, and IT work. (enjoyed in that order)

Former Officers

2023

President - Laney Vela
Vice President - Kari Vaughn
Events Officers - Alex Kalaf
Treasurer - John Scott
Science Officer - Tim O’neal
Dean - J Francisco Balderas Woolrich
Secretary - Brett Vanderbrook

2022

President - Roman Goyenko
Vice President - Brett Vanderbrook
Events Officers - Josh Vickery and Dustin Wheeler
Treasurer - John Scott
Science Officer - Tim O’Neal
Dean - Geoff Walano
Secretary - Rob Jenkins

2021

President - Pia Sen
Vice President - Alex Kalaf
Events Officer - Brett Vanderbrook
Treasurer - Joseph Zhong
Science Officer - Tyler Cannon
Dean - Dustin Wheeler
Secretary - Josh Vickery

2020

President - Theresa Ten Eyck
Vice President - Pia Sen
Events Officers - Rachel Zeiss and Brett Vanderbrook
Treasurer - Joseph Zhong and Calista Nasser
Science Officer - Alex Kalaf
Dean - Claudia Jones-Bourne
Secretary - Carrie Soom

2019

Dictator - Carrie Soom
Vice Dictator - Ben Kainz
Events Officer - Rachel Zeiss
Treasurer - Theresa Ten Eyck
Science Officer - Colleen Davy
Dean - Alex Neubauer
Secretary - Renee Jonas

2018

Dictator - Rachel Zeiss
Vice Dictator - Ariel Schwarz
Events Officer - Tara Hankinson
Treasurer - Greg Badavas
Science Officer - Ben Kainz
Dean - Leo Gil
Secretary - Carrie Soom

2017

Dictator - Rachel Zeiss
Vice Dictator - Ariel Schwarz
Events Officer - Sheri Jewhurst
Treasurer - Merlin Ward
Science Officer - Alex Biedermann
Dean - Otto Berkes Jr.
Secretary - Dustin Pope

2016

Dictator - Sheri Jewhurst
Vice Dictator - Merlin Ward
Events Officer - Alex Kalaf
Treasurer - Robert Sherrill
Science Officer - Xavier Serrano
Dean - Katarina Martinez
Secretary - Alex Biedermann

2015

Dictator - Sheri Jewhurst
Vice Dictator - Merlin Ward
Events Officers - Alex Kalaf and Robert Sherrill
Treasurer - Barry Wasser
Science Officer - Xavier Serrano
Secretary - Ive Rodriguez