Please meet Kat Hess, The MJF Sir Geoff Palmer Award for Brewing: “My name is Kat Hess. I was born in New Hampshire and moved to southwest Virginia when I was very young. While I was always fascinated with chemistry growing up, business really grabbed my interest in high school and I ultimately graduated from Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!) with a degree in property management. After graduation, I moved to Boston where I met the love of my life and developed my love of craft beer. We had a wicked awesome craft beer bar right around the corner from our condo that had around 400 beers on tap and 200 in bottles. It was there that I discovered my love for IPAs and french saisons and realized just how varied and nuanced the craft beer world is. We traveled all over New England discovering new breweries, speaking with brewers and beer tenders alike, picking their brains about what it was like working in such a cool industry. When we moved to Colorado, I jumped at the opportunity to change careers and dive into craft beer. I started by cleaning kegs part time, to working on/running the canning line, to full time cellaring/brewing, and am now the Lead Brewer for Pikes Peak Brewing Company. This industry has helped rekindle my fascination with chemistry while also keeping piquing my interest in the business of brewing. This journey has been a wild ride and I’ve loved every minute of it. I am so grateful for this scholarship from the MJF to help further my education and reach heights in this industry that I’ve only dreamed of. ‘Never tell me the odds’ - Han Solo” Kat is applying to the UC Davis Master Brewer’s program. Next up: Sarah Perez