World Class Judges

Matt Reich

Virginia, United States

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

I began homebrewing in the early 1990s, learning under the tutelage of “The Complete Joy of Homebrewing” by Charlie Papazian. After several years and an ever-growing home brewery, I decided to take the plunge into the world of professional brewing. I went to Germany, where I trained under a Bavarian brewmaster for the better part of a year. Upon my return to the U.S., I signed on as head brewer of a regional craft brewery for nearly a decade. I’ve since transitioned to a support role for a large macrobrewery and have been in that position for 15 years.

Throughout all my experiences in the brewing industry, one constant has remained: the camaraderie and unity among everyone. Beer is the common bond that has held us—and all of civilization—together throughout history, and I feel honored to be part of this community.

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

As one would expect, this level of respect and support is deeply embedded in the World Beer Cup judging community. Each year, we are exposed to new beers, experiences, and innovative ideas from diverse brewers who are constantly raising the bar for beer quality and styles. I’m proud to contribute to our family of beer advocates and brewers.

Nicholas Galton-Fenzi

Western Australia, Australia

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

I was a keen learner, and I started homebrewing at 17. My first batch of beer (kit and kilo) had very poor temperature control and showed a lack of brewing understanding on my behalf … It was absolutely terrible. From then on, I have tried to learn as much as I can about beer, the industry, the ingredients, and the people involved. This journey has taken me through 23 different countries and I have now been involved in over 50 breweries worldwide.

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

I judge at the World Beer Cup because I wish to share what I have learned within the industry. I do it so I can provide my feedback, where I can, and further learn, for myself, about beer styles. I get the opportunity to meet with fellow judges who can also provide additional feedback on the style of beer that is being judged.

What else would you like the world to know?

This industry is rapidly changing, with the amount of additional science and information that comes through on a daily basis. A beer making it through to the second round of this competition is already leagues ahead. Achieving an award is an incredible accomplishment for the brewery involved.

Nathan Keffer

Quito, Ecuador

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

After helping to open a backpackers hostel and bed-and-breakfast in 2012 in Quito, Ecuador, we quickly saw a demand for craft beer. We had guests from all over the world passing through, and many often asked where they could get a good pint. At that time, the only options available were the typical commercial national lagers that small Latin American countries have. Having just graduated from the University of Oregon, we were very familiar with the amazing options local craft beer had to offer, so we started brewing in Ecuador in hopes of serving great beer to our guests and introducing our local friends to the culture of American craft beer.

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

It’s an honor to judge at the World Beer Cup. Judging there is an opportunity to give back to the brewing community I hold so dear, and it allows me to test my skills against other judges with different levels of experience and diverse backgrounds. There’s always something to learn as a judge, and even more so when you are paired with some of the other great people at WBC.

Kevin Ashford

California, United States

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

I discovered craft beer in college while bartending at a restaurant in Harrisonburg, VA. We had about 100 rotating bottles and cans, and I was able to try one at the end of each shift. I was amazed at the variety in beer, and became fascinated by its history and regionality. After getting my degree in international affairs, I discovered I really just liked people and wanted to learn of ways to bring them together. Beer seemed like a good way to do that. I decided to forego my opportunity to work on Capitol Hill in D.C. to fall back on bartending and learn more about beer. One of my regulars at this bar in Maryland was a seasoned brewer at our midsized regional brewery. When I asked him one day if any floor sweeping jobs were available, his ears perked up. He set me up with an interview with the Brewmaster and I was hired on the spot. I fell in love with beer making, and the rest is history. Beer matters to me because it has withstood the test of time. It is a champion of bringing us all together.

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

I judge at the WBC to honor brewers past, present, and future. I believe consumers have the right to enjoy high quality beer, and WBC challenges brewers to provide beer of the highest quality. Judging at the World Beer Cup is so important to me, because I really care about beer and its history. I want to ensure that classic styles remain abundant for generations to enjoy. It is an honor to adjudicate beers from all over the world and share the enthusiasm for the past time of beer making.

Fal Allen

California, United States

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

I started as a homebrewer in 1985. I was working at a waterfront bar in Seattle and one day, while I was checking in a couple of cases of Redhook, I had an epiphany: I thought, “Wait a minute, someone gets paid to make Red Hook beer. Maybe I could get paid to make Redhook beer!” So I started visiting the Redhook brewery in the Fremont district and sharing my homebrew with the brewer. I would stop in a couple of times a week and ask him to try the beers with me. Finally, he hired me with the provision that I not bring him any more of my homebrew. For a few years I worked at the brewery during the days and tended bar at night. Rick the brewer was kind to me and rotated me through most of the positions in the brewery. I learned a lot about beer. In 1989, I got a job as a full time brewer at Pike Place Brewery. Then, in 1999, I moved to Anderson Valley Brewing in California, where I am today.

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

I judge the World Beer Cup for a couple of reasons. One, for the opportunity to judge with other people that have a different take on beer than I do. To learn and discuss beer and brewing with these folks and make new friends and partnerships in the brewing world. Second, I like to keep up to date on what is going on in the wide wide world of beer. Being selected to judge the most prestigious beer competition in the world is a great honor. I feel very lucky to be in such esteemed company of great brewers and beer industry people.

Noel Sanchez

Stuttgart, Germany

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

I’ve been a beer enthusiast since an early age, mainly because of the close relationship between beer and heavy metal. It has always been my favorite beverage during fun times. Beer and music can bring people together in a curiously special bond. I greatly enjoy being an agent who promotes this wonderful human connection—and making a living from it.

In the mid-2000s, my interest in understanding beer more deeply was sparked when some relatives invited me to brew beer at home. A few years later, while working as a creative director, I participated in a brainstorming session to create the brand for the first microbrewery in Panama. Seeing the boom that craft beers were experiencing, I saw an opportunity to quit advertising and dedicate myself fully to the beer industry.

In 2014, I began my journey as a beer professional, studying and formally training with various organizations. Since then, I have managed to stand out in different fields as an entrepreneur, consultant, and educator. I also became a beer judge at competitions held in more than 20 countries, building a large network of colleagues and opportunities across the globe.

Today, I’m the regional sales director for BrauKon in Germany.

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

For me, having the opportunity to participate as a judge in the largest and most important beer competition in the world, next to internationally respected professionals, is an honor, a privilege, and a great reward for dedication.

Greig McGill

Hamilton, New Zealand

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

I was a dedicated consumer beer advocate. I had developed a serious respect and passion for beer, had gone down the rabbit hole, utterly fascinated by the history and nuance of this complex yet simple social beverage. I ended up co-founding a consumer organization in New Zealand—the Society of Beer Advocates (SOBA) in 2006, and also pursuing homebrewing to learn all I could. I traveled to the U.K. and Europe in search of the roots of beer as well as the U.S. to investigate the modern variants produced by the cutting edge of the U.S. brewing scene. I stopped fighting destiny in 2011 and opened Brewaucracy, a brewery in Hamilton, New Zealand. I continue to enjoy beer in (almost) all its forms, and the connections and friendships I have made in the never ending quest for more and more beery knowledge!

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

Judging at the World Beer Cup is hard to describe. There is, of course, always that sense of imposter syndrome that can be hard to shake when you’re sitting around a table with people you have idolized: authors, brewers, history makers. However, there’s also something extremely powerful about “locking in” as all our senses together elevate some great beers at the table to among the ranks of the best beers in the world. The camaraderie, the warmth, the humor, and even the “tales from the trenches” as we await a flight of beers; the efficiency and skill of the stewards, as they work tirelessly to get beers in front of us in the best condition possible; the sense of fatigue, but also of a job well done at the end of each judging session—all of this forms an experience that is unique in my experience of judging. There’s playing guitar in a local bar band, and then there’s jamming onstage with Hendrix. The World Beer Cup is the latter, and I am proud to be considered worthy.

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.

Jose R Ruiz

Chih, Mexico

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

I started homebrewing back in 2001 and then moved for work to live in Michigan, there I met some brewing friends that were also Bee Judge Certification Program judges. They taught me how to brew all grain batches and then I took a course to become BJCP Certified. In 2008, on returning to to Mexico I wanted to open up a microbrewery, but I found out that there were no suppliers for ingredients in Mexico. I started looking for suppliers that were willing to have a new distributor in Mexico and that is how I set up Micervesa, the first brewing supply company in Mexico. After that I was invited to organize the first BJCP beer competition in Mexico, since I was the only BJCP Certified judge at that time, and that is how Copa Cerveza Mx started and became the most important Beer competition in Mexico.

Beer matters to me because I see it as a social drink that unites people and countries. Beer is one of the few things countries have in common as a drink, but of course with a great diversity of styles. Beer is fun and it is best shared with friends.

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

Being a judge at the World Beer Cup is a tremendous honor, as it allows me to participate in the most prestigious beer competition worldwide. It is a great opportunity to meet new beer judges and share and learn from their experience, and explore the beer culture from their countries and cities. It is also a great responsibility to judge and select the best beers on the table that will be given awards, knowing that they mean a lot for each brewery.

I think beer competitions are a great motivation for brewers to do their best effort and keep brewing excellent beer, and this elevates the overall beer culture and experience to the end consumer.

Lucy Corne

Cape Town, South Africa

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

I had been working as a freelance travel writer for several years when I moved to South Africa in 2010. I decided to diversify my writing portfolio, as travel is tricky and expensive in Africa. The craft beer scene was just about to take off, so I started writing a beer blog for a local travel magazine. The blog became a book, and later I was approached by a publisher looking for an editor for South Africa’s first beer magazine—a job I ended up doing for six years. Along the way, I took the BJCP exam (four times), passed the Certified and Advanced Cicerone exams, and spent a lot of time running beer appreciation courses for the industry and the general public.

I now run the African Beer Cup, Africa’s biggest beer competition, as well as South African National Beer Day, and am a partner in BeerEx Africa. I went from being a travel writer who occasionally wrote about beer to having beer pretty much take over my life—in the best possible way. It’s a wonderful, welcoming industry that I’m proud to be part of.

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

It is a matter of great prestige to judge in the World Beer Cup, and I’m honored to have been part of the judging team again in 2024—my second time judging in the competition. Judging alongside industry legends and experts is an endless source of knowledge, and it’s also a great networking opportunity.

Vasilios Gletsos

Vermont, United States

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

I was a puppeteer, touring around performing and started discovering classic beer styles from around the world. Also, I was really DIY oriented and fell in love with making beer at home. I got really into it after leaving Vermont and moving to Oregon, where I soon made the crossover into commercial brewing. Beer is deeply woven into the fabric of human social, cultural, scientific, and agricultural life. I love that about it and also how it stimulates my mind body and heart.

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

I really love the opportunity to meet new people who care as much as I do about this profession, and to reconnect with old friends. I enjoy testing my perceptions of beer and gaining new perspectives from other judges, as well as from the beers we judge. I also love the honor of tasting the best efforts of hard-working brewers.

Emily Vegas

Thüringen, Germany

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

For me, beer is everything; it’s both my profession and my hobby. When I’m not working at the brewery, I’m judging competitions, reading books about beer, taking courses, or simply enjoying some beers. My life has meaning, thanks to beer.

I started working at Polar Brewery in Venezuela in 2015 after graduating as a biologist. I began as a brewer apprentice and then moved to Germany, where I worked at Doemens Academy in the laboratory and pilot plant. There, I took a course to become a brewmaster and graduated in 2019. After becoming a brewmaster, I started working at the Institut Romeis, performing chemical and analytical controls for breweries in Germany and around the world.

In 2021, I began working for Oettinger Brewery as a quality assurance specialist (microbiology and chemistry), and since January 2023, I’ve been working for Paulaner, also in quality assurance. During my first two years in Germany, I served as a steward for the European Beer Star Competition, and in 2021, I started judging various beer competitions, including the Austrian Beer Challenge, Concours de Lyon, African Beer Cup, World Beer Cup, and Women’s Trophy.

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

I had already judged in several competitions in Europe, and I dreamed of participating as a juror in the largest competitions in the world and in other countries outside Europe. That’s why I applied for the World Beer Cup—it’s one of the most important competitions globally. I also wanted the opportunity to meet amazing professionals from around the world and learn more about beer. It’s truly wonderful, and I’m very proud of it.