Tapping into a Passion: Chip Stone '94

Chip Stone ‘94 is passionate about beer. As a long-time home-brewer and self-described “prolific volunteer” at beer festivals, Chip always assumed his devotion to craft brews would remain a hobby. In 2013, Chip was living in St. Louis, Missouri, a city with a thriving beer scene, working as a systems administrator in the IT Department at Washington University. By chance, he found himself pouring beers at a festival one weekend next to a brewer from Schlafly, Missouri’s largest locally owned independent brewery. Chip was a big fan of Schlafly beers and had always considered the brewery to be his dream employer. The two men got to talking (as fellow beer aficionados do) and his new acquaintance mentioned that Schlafly needed help with a Siemens automation system that was used in the brewery. Did Chip happen to know anyone who understood beer and computers? Did he ever.

 

Chip jumped at the opportunity and joined Schlafly that summer as an automation engineer. Earlier this year, Chip was recruited to join Elysian Brewing Company in Seattle, Washington as Lead Brewer. Thrice named Large Brewpub of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival, Elysian Brewing operates four neighborhood restaurants in addition to a production brewery. Elysian is particularly well known for its seasonal pumpkin brews and hosts the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival in Seattle each fall. Chip made the move to Seattle and now finds himself in the happy position of having passion and purpose united. “Beer people are good people,” notes Chip. “I’m still that guy who loves going to festivals and being out with people who are passionate about beer, and I like seeing people enjoy what we made.”