About the Award
The Award of Honor is presented to esteemed members of Master Brewers in recognition of their substantial contributions to brewing science, technology, or operations, which have positively impacted the Association. While recipients are not required to have made contributions in all of these areas, the award acknowledges the significance of their achievements, even if their impact is concentrated in a single field. Nominees for the award must be current Master Brewers members in good standing.
2025 Awardee
Dave Thomas is brewer emeritus at Dostal Alley Brewpub in Central City, Colorado and US journalist for The Brewer and Distiller International (London). Prior to retiring from Coors Brewing Co. after 32 years, Dave was Director of Malting & Brewing R&D and Traveling Brewmaster living and working in Golden, Colorado; Edinburgh, Scotland; Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea; Burton-on-Trent, England; Memphis, Tennessee; and Shenandoah, Virginia. From 1981-1983, Dave earned an MSc in Brewing with Professor Sir Geoffrey Palmer OBE at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh as Coors’ first-ever professional brewing student.
In addition to authoring research and review papers on barley breeding, malting, brewing, carbohydrate and enzyme chemistry, beer filtration, brewhouse technology, beer flavor stability, plant hygiene, brewery waste treatment and carbon dioxide quality, Thomas has written two books. The first, “Of Mines & Beer!” relates the history of 19th century Colorado breweries. “The Craft Maltsters Handbook”, was written to capture much of his malting experience for the 100+ startup craft maltsters in North America, who sometimes call him the “godfather” of craft malt.
Thomas has been a member of Master Brewers and ASBC since the 1970s, and the Craft Maltsters Guild since its inception in 2013. He volunteered to serve on several national and local committees and boards within these organizations. While this extra work does not pay monetarily, it rewards us all in building strong networks, making lifelong friends, and can even lead to special recognition like the prestigious Master Brewers Award of Honor!
“I feel terrifically honored and somewhat unworthy to receive such a tremendous honor from Master Brewers. I imagine when my name is called at the award ceremony the more senior members in attendance will say ‘He’s still alive?’ and the younger brewers will ask ‘Who?’ Either way, I am humbled by this acknowledgement of my 50 years in malting and brewing and thank all of my friends and colleagues in Master Brewers and to Staff for this wonderful award.”
