Spotlight: Oregon's Scholarship Winners
Last week, the Michael James Jackson Foundation (MJF) announced a new slate of scholarship recipients, and two of the seven recipients are Oregonians. "The MJF is a grant-making organization dedicated to supporting people of color in the brewing and distilling trades and provides opportunities for individuals at the start of their careers as well as those pursuing advanced education and skill development." This is the tenth cohort to receive scholarships--more than seventy of which have been awarded to working brewers and distillers.
Let's meet the Oregonians who won this year's award.
Dashawn Agbonze, Von Ebert Brewing
Since he got his first job in Tampa, Florida, a decade ago, Dashawn has made beer for breweries in the Sunshine State and Minnesota, slowly working his way west. He got his start at Tampa Bay Brewing a decade ago and finally landed in Oregon. His first stop was Widmer Brothers, and he's now part of the team at Von Ebert. In addition to brewing, he teaches malting at the University of South Florida.
Impressively, this isn't his first scholarship from the MJF.
"I wanted to complete the master brewer's program at Siebel initially," he said. Due to scheduling difficulties, he had to take the short course. He reapplied and this year will do the full Siebel/Doemens Master Brewer Program.
"That will be 14 weeks in Munich, and within that time there's a two-week travel period where we're going to go to Belgium, maybe Bamberg, Austria, the Czech Republic to check things out."
"My favorite style is kölsch; I love kölsch. I love drinkable, low-ABV beers and I like the sensory experience of wanting to have another glass. I'm hoping that we get to go to Cologne and that I'll get to drink some kölsch there."
Alexis Chanes, pFriem Family Brewers
Alexis Chanes started her beer career by chancing into a job at a distillery in California leading tours. That led to work on the packaging side of things and eventually, her first experiences distilling. Her experience landed her a job doing more distillation at a second distiller. But she was fascinated in the more expansive, creative opportunities brewing beer offered. That interest led her to a job at The Bruery in Orange County, CA, where she found her calling.
"I went to school for art, and I always really enjoyed working with my hands, crafting stuff, so brewing is kind of a blend of that. There's this intersection of art, craft, science, and community, and I just fell in love with it from there."
Alexis plans to do the 22-week American Brewers Guild Intensive Brewing and Science Program, an online course tailored for working brewers. At pFriem, she's mastering the mechanics of brewing, but she's excited to learn more about the science behind the work.
"When I applied for this scholarship, I had so much work experience, but I really wanted some technical knowledge. I'm hoping that with that knowledge I can either go anywhere in the world and brew--or maybe become an educator later on."
"It's a craft of passion, and the community's really amazing. A lot of the people I meet are so passionate and bright--it's inspiring to talk to people. It gets you inspired for beer."
