Joe & Wendy
Celebrating their 30th anniversary this year! These two love birds met when they were going to school at Cornell University in Ithica, New York and have been together ever since. Wendy spent her previous career working in the hotel and private club industry. Her level head helps keep Joe’s entrepreneurial zeal in check, or at least most of the time. Joe spent his previous career in the manufacturing industry where he owned and operated his own business making custom beds for people with physical disabilities. His vast knowledge and experience in business has contributed to all of our success thus far and has enabled us to expand even faster than originally planned. One year for Christmas, Wendy got Joe a home brewing kit as a gift and Joe’s passion for making delicious craft brews now thrives off of what started in his garage at home! Joe and Wendy have a true love for beer, especially when it comes to Belgian style ales. In fact, two of our original flagship beers, 4 Mad Chefs (a Belgian style Quadrupel) and Agents of Chaos (a Belgian style Strong Dark Ale), were two of Joe’s original home brew recipes. Before deciding to open the brewery and make the leap into the craft brewing industry, Joe and Wendy traveled to Europe, mainly Germany and Belgium, where they conducted “research” on what styles of beer they wanted to consider for the brewery. Joe and Wendy can be found all over the place, whether it’s at the brewery assisting with and overseeing day to day operations, traveling around the state of Virginia to promote our beer at craft beer festivals, or being present at our various tap takeovers, tastings and other special events. They are the faces of our company and the co-captains who guide us!
Ben Hallock
Bottling line supervisor/inventory management/wearer of the red shirt
Joe and Wendy’s son, Ben is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the bottling line and packaging inventory. He traveled to California with Joe to Hangar 24 Brewing in Redlands, California where they worked on the bottling line for two days and then helped disassemble the machine and shipped it back to Virginia. He is responsible for the constant maintenance and repairs that come with a bottling line. Like everyone else he also helps with brewing, cleaning, kegging and pitching in at the taproom when needed. He too can be found at tastings, tap takeovers and festivals.
If you don’t get the wearer of the red shirt reference we feel sorry for you:)
Thom Bradley – Head Brewer
Thom discovered what beer could be while serving in the Far East in the Navy. When he returned to the states it was before the Craft Beer movement started and beer that he enjoyed was hard to find. In 1993 he started homebrewing and getting his formal and informal education in brewing. Thom has been a professional brewer for most of a decade.
He is married to Jeannene and has 2 daughters. When he’s not brewing you can find him cooking and riding his motorcycle in the Roanoke region.
Logan Fewster
Born and raised in Floyd County, Logan started at Chaos in January of 2016 to help with packaging. After over a year of kegging and bottling he took the position as an Assistant Brewer. As an Assistant Brewer Logan has become well trained in and the art of brewing. Logan started his American Brewers Guild class in the beginning of June and will finish in December with the qualifications of a Master Brewer. As a lover of live music Logan spends his free time going to concerts and festivals. It has been said that you can see him at Widespread Panic shows across the south.
Nick Krause
Being idle was never one of Nick’s objectives. “A job well done is its own reward”, is a lesson he learned early on from his father who taught him a little of everything from auto repair to plumbing. He taught himself zymurgy: the science of fermentation. A stint in the engineering field honed his abilities to troubleshoot, be creative, and handle lots of stress. Well maybe that last one was actually another lesson in life and helped Nick realize that it was time to move on. After moving to Virginia from Illinois, he was fortunate to have the opportunity to purse a life of passion; a life of making beer. Nick enjoys all beer styles, but especially porters, likes dogs and cats equally, and can often be found tinkering with one thing or another. Nick recently graduated from the American Brewers Guild.
Alex Harless
Chaos Mountain Brewery’s Tap Room manager Alexander Harless has had quite a bit of success when it comes to beer. Alexander worked for Roanoke’s own Blue 5 Restaurant Inc. (Voted Best Beer Bar in VA) for five years. He also has his Cicerone Beer Certification . His knowledge and love for beer has grown from attending private tastings and constantly searching for the best beer he can acquire. Alex has actually tasted over 2,500 different types of beer from all over the globe! Yeah, you could say he knows his stuff. Alexander is the go-to guy for booking music, food, entertainment, private parties, and special events at Chaos Mountain Brewery. You could call him “Captain Chaos”.
Laura Custer
Laura is our latest hire for the taproom and she brings with her many years of experience and knowledge from working as a bartender and server in the restaurant industry. She is just starting to learn more about what craft beer is all about and how much better it is than drinking yellow fizzy water. Laura can sling brews just as well as some of the best of ’em and she has become a great asset to serving our patrons.
Taylor Hathaway
Taylor is one of our backup, on-call bartenders for the taproom. She is brand new to the craft beer industry and is learning more and more each day she works. While she may only work occasionally, she can definitely help you pick out which of our beers is right for you!
Chris Craighead
A true jack of all trades, Chris is the guy who keeps everyone on their toes and prevents heads from getting too big. Chris is wherever the work needs to be done, whether its inside a tank, milling grain, working in the building or entertaining guests in the taproom.