Matt Webster – Supreme Chancellor of Beer

Matt Webster is a craft beer enthusiast, educator, event goer, blogger, restaurant advisor, private dinner consultant, celebrity video show host and above all, proudly passionate about all things beer. With nearly a decade of professional beer experience, Matt is known as the Supreme Chancellor of Beer.

Matt’s “beerducation” began at Deja Brew, a unique brew-on-premise (BOP) located in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts where he was tutored by Owner/Operator Ray Schavone. He then took his beer knowledge to Delaware and received a more formal education working for Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, DE as Mid-Atlantic Sales Manager. At Dogfish, Owner/President Sam Calagione showed Matt the power of a full scale production facility.

Matt founded Drink A Better Brew in 2008 to help share his love for craft beer. He now shares his beer knowledge with well-known chefs, restauranteurs and caterers. Matt also teaches craft beer classes at the Boston Center for Adult Education and the Brookline Center for Adult Education. Additonally, Matt travels to private homes and offices for private craft beer tasting events.

Matt is a graduate of St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury, MA where he captained the basketball team his senior year. He received his business degree from Babson College and enjoyed a fine athletic career. Matt resides in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The Supreme Chancellor’s Council of Advisers
Amanda Graves – Personal Chef

Born in England into a family of caterers, J. Lyons and Co., Amanda grew up learning to appreciate great food. Choosing to take a gap year after seven years at an all-girls’ boarding school, she attended the Cordon Bleu in London. Subsequently she earned an honors degree in German at Bristol University, spending her junior year in Vienna, Austria. Following graduation, Amanda relocated to Massachusetts and married Mr. Cook – hence the name “Amanda Cooks!” They had two children and Amanda worked for several years at Barnes & Noble before opening her own catering business in 2000.

Amanda won the Telegram & Gazette’s People’s Pick award for Best Caterer of 2007 and also won the People’s Choice award at the Girl Scout’s “Fork it Over” cookie recipe contest. She brings a personal touch to every event, customizing menus to suit all tastes and occasions. Her specialties are European dishes, sauces and soups, and she enjoys creating original recipes, including healthy alternatives.

Christine Zecker – Resident Grape

Christine Zecker is the owner and operator of Educated Grape, a multi-faceted wine company, “Where Wine Education Meets Fun!” She has over 17 years of expertise in all facets of the wine industry and Educated Grape is celebrating its’ third year next month.

She began her career and love of food and wine with a degree from Johnson & Wales Culinary Program located in Providence, RI. While attending the university’s weekend full time program she also was a Psychiatric Specialist 91F in United States Army Reserve.

Upon completion of her education, she soon began working for Ruby Wines, a family owned wholesale company based out of Boston, MA where she was the Central Massachsuetts West Territory On/Off Premise Managing. She also served as the art time Dining Room Manager/Sommelier at Sonoma Restaurant in Princeton, MA. Sonoma is a Dirona award winner, and is listed on the Phantom Gourmet top 100 restaurants in New England. Chris remains an integral part of the culture at Sonoma through guest sommelier appearances.

She then went to work for the Sole Proprietor in Worcester, MA – the highest volume single location restaurant that pour Mondavi products in the entire country. She was the wine buyer, trainer, dining room manager and bar manager at this very high volume four-star restaurant for over two years. She then helped open a second highly successful restaurant run by the same owners – 111 Chophouse - where she worked for an additional two years.

She then began her career with Yankee Spirits then in Rockland, Attleboro, and Sturbridge, MA. She worked two years part time in their boutique wholesale division with lines including, but not limited to the Australian Premium Wine collection, Robert Kacher, and Classical Wines of Spain. Christine was responsible for the assistance of the sale of this asset to its new owner and also served as the Director of Retail Sales for four years.

Mike Gerhart – Brewmeister

Originally from Suffern, NY, Mike Gerhart began homebrewing at the age of seventeen with his dad and has been breing professionally since 1997. A graduate of the Johnson State College in Johnson, Vermont, Mike worked part time as a cellarman and brewer at Kross Brewing Company (’97-’98) in Morrisville, VT and then later for Magic Hat Brewing Company (’98-’00) in Burlington, Vermont.

He then took his on hands experience to Berlin, Germany where he received his Brewmastwers and Malsters degree from the prestigious Versuchs Und Lehrenstalt Fur Braueri Und Malzerie (VLB) where he studied under Professor Wackerbauer. Upon finishing his degree, Mike ventured back to his home state of New York to run Old World Brewing Company (’01) – a brewery he built from scratch. Through his hard work and passion for making world class beer, Mike was recognized by the mayor of New York City, Rudolph Guliani, as the catalyst for bringing beer back to the city with his re-creation of an old time favorite – New York Harbor Ale.

Mike then landed in Shenendoah Valley, Virginia where he worked as a Quality Control Analyst and Special Projects Manager for Coors Brewing Company (’01-’04). During his tenure with Coors, Mike was fortunate enough to attend the MSc program at Herriot Watt University in Brewing and Distilling. With fresh images of steaming stills in his head, he ventured a little bit closer to home and served as the Brewery/Distillery Manager for Dogfish Head Brewing & Eats Brewpub (’04-’08) in Rehoboth Beach, DE, the pilot facility for Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, DE for four years.

Most recently, Mike has been promoted to Brewmaster at Otter Creek Brewing Company (’08-present) in Middlebury, VT where he oversees production and is responsible for re-energinzing the Otter Creek and Wolaver Organic brands.