Delinquent sounds like a nasty word saved only for those that are frequently in trouble, often for being too smart for their own good. This isn’t far from the truth with Haley Warren, a high-spirited brewer at Wiley Roots Brewing. She has grown a respectable reputation in the brewing industry, but all of that started with some distilling she probably shouldn’t have been doing.
Distilling isn’t an easy thing to do even on top-of-the-line systems, but somehow a teenager from South Carolina managed to do it with potato mash in a pot without her parents even knowing! After discovering that fermentation science was a thing, she didn’t need the bite of moonshine to nip her in the bud to get her pursuing an education! Starting off working towards a degree in biochemistry, she made the (not so surprising) jump to fermentation science at Colorado State University.
Moving to Colorado started her career really moving before she even graduated. An internship at a quality lab introduced her to several local brewers, followed by landing her first official brewing position at McClellan’s Irish Pub that specializes in cask ales. From there, she moved into malt, which gave her a new appreciation for beer and guided her in distinguishing which beers she really enjoyed and why in a new way. She returned to brewing again and has now landed at GABF medal winner Wiley Roots. Quite the illustrious career so far for a self-described “delinquent.”
Distiller, biochemist, maltster, brewer… oh Mylanta! What’s next for this intrepid adventurer in the fermentation world???