Shawn Kelso leaves Barley Browns for 10 Barrel Brewing

It looks like the cat is out of the bag. Shawn Kelso, the GABF Gold Medal-winning brewer at Barley Browns in Baker City, OR, has left the small brewpub he helped put on the map to join the 10 Barrel Brewing team. It's an announcement I hinted at in my recent writeup on The Rise of 10 Barrel, which also broke the news of their upcoming Boise, ID brewery location where Shawn Kelso will become the Head Brewer. Much like Tonya Cornett at 10 Barrel's smaller brewery in Bend, we will see Kelso have free reign at the new Idaho facility. It is very sad to see him leave the state of Oregon, but luckily he will still be close by, and hopefully we will still get to try his brews.

Here is the press release verbiage from 10 Barrel Brewing:

Internationally Recognized brewer, Shawn Kelso, Joins 10 Barrel Brewing
All Star Brewer to head Boise Brewhouse and Join Product Development 
Team with Tonya Cornett and Jimmy Seifrit at 10 Barrel

10 Barrel Brewing Company is proud to announce another world class addition to our brewing team in Shawn Kelso, former Brewmaster of Barley Brown’s Brewing.  Shawn is one of the highest decorated single brewers in the country, winning 50 national medals over the last seven years.  He will be the Brewmaster of 10 Barrel’s second brewpub, opening this summer in Boise, ID.  Shawn will also play an integral role in all product development for the overall company, working hand-in-hand with Tonya Cornett on our 10 Barrel experimental system in Bend.

“What I am most excited about is having the opportunity to work with such world-class talent in Jimmy and Tonya. Joining 10 Barrel is a chance to jump on board with a really aggressive young company that is working hard to push the boundaries of conventional brewing in the northwest.  They are providing me an opportunity to not only contribute to that growth, but to play a critical role in helping shape the direction of the company and challenging myself as a brewer.  Joining an up and coming brew scene in Boise will allow me to really showcase my talents in front of a larger audience, including the entire 10 Barrel footprint”  Shawn Kelso.
Un-Official 10 Barrel Statement

Headline:     Big Daddy Kelso Finally on Board!!
We started talking about expanding our brewery about 2 years ago.  In our first meeting, we put together an impossible to obtain wish list of the top three brewers that we’ve always wanted to work with to lead our brewery.  With the addition of Shawn, the list is now complete! 
Forget about their talents in brewing, there aren’t three other people anywhere that we have more fun working, playing, and drinking beer with.  We are going to completely turn these three loose and see just how far they can push the beer culture.  From our perspective, it’s not about all of the medals they have in their resumes; it’s about their talent, passion, and shared desire to recreate the brewing wheel. As a team, we’re super excited about making one hell of a run with our new leaders at our Boise brewpub and new brewery.