Rob was born in Munich, Germany, the descendent of a long line of moonshiners, bootleggers, and speakeasy owners. Weaned on black lager, he was destined to brew his own beer. A Yale PoliSci degree was just the thing to get him going; while working on campaigns in North Carolina, he took up homebrewing for relaxation. A stint on Capitol Hill was all the motivation he needed, going professional in 1990 as a brew lackey/delivery boy for Old Dominion Brewing Company in Virginia, working his way up to Brewmaster and winning multiple awards for his German-style lagers and groundbreaking hoppy ales.

 

After Brewmaster gigs in Manhattan and New Jersey, Rob made his way to  the Tetons of Idaho. There, as Brewmaster of Grand Teton Brewing, he embraced the ancient tradition of making beer with local, untreated water and locally-grown malt and hops. His Bitch Creek ESB set the standard for American Brown Ales to follow, and his sour- and barrel-aged beers won national and international acclaim.

 

Rob returned to Virginia in 2017. He’s now in his seventh year as Production Manager at Three Notch’d Brewing in Charlottesville, and loving every minute of it.  Since he  has a crew of super-smart and talented people to make it, the beer's tasting pretty darn good.  Rob knows this, because he tastes every batch.