Ryan Schmiege
Director of Brewing Operations
Ryan’s first beer came as a spelling quiz. When he was 13 and hanging out at a lake in Minnesota, his father asked him to go get two beers for himself and a friend. Ryan said he would, if he could have one. “My father’s buddy, Phil, said, `You can have one if you can spell, Leinenkugel’s.’ I nailed it and earned myself my first approved beer.”
Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, Ryan spent the past 15 years as the assistant brewmaster ast Deschutes Brewery before coming on board at Cascade Lakes Brewing. Now as brewmaster, he is primarily responsible for the quality and continual improvement of the current portfolio of beers while working with the production team to develop new beers.
Innovation in brewing has long been Ryan’s passion. In 2011, he created a barrel aged stout—Bourbon Murder—that took a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival. Over the years, he has become a leading voice in anything barrel aged. At Deschutes, Ryan developed a line of whiskies and subsequently presented at the Master Brewers Association of Americas national conference.
While his expertise may lie in beer, his professional work ethics skew more cheesehead. “I value the greatest sporting franchise to ever exist, the Green Bay Packers,” Ryan said. “I apply the collaboration I see my team use to all operations at the brewery. Team over individual.”
Once a student at the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire, Ryan has a son currently enrolled at the University of Wisconsin—La Crosse, both schools a maddeningly long drive from the Packers’ Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
In Central Oregon, Ryan loves canoeing, camping, gardening and exploring Scotch in his free time.
FAVORITE STYLE OF BEER: “AS A WISER MAN ONCE SAID, `THAT WHICH IS CLOSEST AT HAND.’”