Maker of ridiculously good beer, Matt Van Wyk is the brewmaster at Eugene, Oregon’s Oakshire Brewing Company. Over the years, he’s won a gaggle of awards, to include GABF Brewmaster of the Year in 2006 while brewing for Flossmoor Station in Chicago. How’d he get so good? Keep reading.

BREWVANA: Who is one of your favorite and influential-to-you brewers in the industry and why?

MATT VAN WYK: As with everyone else in the series, it is utterly impossible to name just one influential brewer, so I’ll give you four.

First, Todd Ashman, currently of FiftyFifty in Truckee, California. Todd preceded me at Flossmoor Station in Illinois, and as a 2.5-year-experienced brewer at the time, I certainly knew it all. I, of course, didn’t. Through his mentoring and the riffs I did on the solid foundation he built, I was able to grow and have great success. Furthermore, if you know Todd, he does not subscribe to the Keep It Simple Stupid mantra, as he is an expert at layering flavors and aromas through complex malt and hop regimes, and I learned from that. Finally, I wouldn’t have had a clue with barrel aging experiments without Todd’s trailblazing experience throughout the 1990s. I owe much of my current success to Todd.

Second, I would say Jeff Bagby, formerly of Pizza Port and now of Bagby Beer. Jeff doesn’t know this, but he taught me to be thoughtful, careful, and creative, whether you are making your everyday pub drinker or your attempt at an international brewing award. I also think that, at times, he doesn’t take himself or his beer too seriously, something we could all learn from. It’s just beer after all.

Next, I give you a triumvirate of brewers. (so now we’re at six). From a trip to Belgium I got the pleasure of meeting Armand DeBelder, Jean Van Roy of Cantillon, and Frank Boon of Boon Brewery. What I learned from them is patience, patience, patience. Plus, cutting corners is not acceptable in the pursuit of great art and tradition.

Finally, while not a professional brewer, he is a professional chef who brews: the Homebrew Chef, Sean Paxton. His thoughtful use of flavors, textures, aromas, and also the use of beer are mind blowing. If you’ve heard Sean wax poetic about food and beer, you’ve likely heard him start a sentence with, “If you think about…” The dude is always thinking about beer, flavors, combinations, experiences. I subscribe to his philosophies as both a home cook and a brewer.

I could go on and on about brewers who have had a positive influence on my career.

Hill Farmstead Brewery’s Shaun Hill is no slouch around the mash tun. He guided the young brewery to RateBeer’s “New Brewery of the Year” title just two years ago, and this year, with eight of the top ten beers on the list and a full 25 percent of the top 50 beers released in 2012, Hill Farmstead was named not only Best Brewery in the US, but also Best Brewery in the World. Who within the industry does Hill look up to?

BREWVANA: Who is one of your favorite and influential-to-you brewers in the industry and why?

SHAUN HILL: At this time, I have several favorite brewers. For bright, beautiful hoppy beers: Alpine. Pat’s Duet and Nelson are fantastic expressions of what hop flavor and balance should be. I also think Tomme Arthur and the Lost Abbey/Port Brewing operation do a great job achieving a unique and distinct house profile in blending their barrel aged beers. I believe that Stone has demonstrated that a brewery can experience explosive growth while still producing and maintaining a very high quality product. Arrogant Bastard and Sublimely taste exactly the same today as they did when I first tasted them many moons ago.

The list goes on… Beers we like to drink.

Most influential brewer? John Kimmich at The Alchemist in Waterbury, VT. I used to spend at least one day a week at their pub in 2004/2005/2006/2007 – and John became a close friend, critic, and inspiration. Without him, Hill Farmstead’s Hop-Forward beers would certainly not taste the way that they do…

Vinnie. Like Madonna, Sting and Prince, Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing Company is one of the great American brewers who could get away with just one name. Refer to “Vinnie,” and folks know who you’re talking about. Not only is he credited with brewing the first Double IPA, Vinnie’s also known for his work with barrels and bugs—and his willingness to share his expertise. Who inspires him?

BREWVANA: Who is one of your favorite and influential-to-you brewers in the industry and why?

VINNIE CILURZO: I can’t pin it down to one person; I have to list four people: Ken Grossman, Sierra Nevada Brewery; it is no secret I am big Sierra Nevada fan, not just for their amazing beers but for the way Ken pursues quality and the way he runs his brewery.  As an industry, we are very lucky to have someone like him around to inspire the rest of us.  I was lucky enough to do a collaboration with Ken’s son Brian at Sierra Nevada; it was amazing seeing the inter-workings of SNBC.  Ken and his staff never do things the easy way, but they always do it the proper way.

I also have to tip my hat to Peter Bouckaert at New Belgium for inspiring and teaching me the art of sour, barrel-aged beers.  I’m also a big fan of Jean Marie Rock at Orval for his amazing depth of knowledge of Brettanomyces and finally Hedwig Neven at Duvel for his ability to make amazing Belgian beers.

John Laffler. Until recently, he was the guy making oh-so-many cool Goose Island beers even cooler. Now, he’s struck off on his own, working with Dave Bleitner to bring Off Color Brewing to the Chicago beer scene.

BREWVANA: Who is one of your favorite and influential-to-you brewers in the industry and why?

JOHN LAFFLER: Simple—Armand Debelder at Drie Fonteinen. Most of the beer I drink comes from people I know by first name and of everyone I think he best embodies what I love about beer and the people who make it. That there’s this thing that we do and it’s easy to think that we’re very, very clever for it, but it’s important to not forget that our craft is an art that has been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. It’s how we learned to survive, to store food, and it’s defined and been defined by culture both high and low. It’s part of something bigger than us, and we need to think about that when we make beer. Art is a response to things poor, nasty, brutish and short. This is ours and Armand taught me it’s important to make something beautiful.

Oh, and also Jeremy Danner at Boulevard because he’s funny on the Internet.

You’ve probably heard of Mitch Steele. He’s the brewmaster at Stone Brewing Company, where he brews a string of aggressive, arrogant and impressive beers. He’s also the author of IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale.

BREWVANA: Who is one of your favorite and influential-to-you brewers in the industry and why?

MITCH STEELE: Two people that I think have really shaped my career and my approach to brewing:

1. Professor Michael Lewis (UC Davis). Michael Lewis has taught hundreds/thousands of today’s best brewers. He is uncompromising in his commitment to brewing consistency and quality. As a brewing science student at UC Davis in the 1980s, I was indoctrinated into what it takes to brew a quality beer consistently, and these are focuses that have remained with me through schooling and in subsequent brewing positions at Anheuser-Busch and Stone Brewing Co. I also appreciate the fact that Michael Lewis likes to stir the pot in the craft brewing industry, and he’s not afraid to let brewers know that they might not be as good or as technically sound as they think they are. This is something every brewer should take to heart—even if you don’t always agree with his stance, his points are well thought out and worthy of further discussion. I think he has taken it on as a personal mission to not allow craft brewers to become complacent or smug with their success!

2. Steve Wagner: I absolutely loved and sought out Stone’s beers before I got the job here. Stone IPA was (and still is) one of my favorite IPAs. Except for my homebrewing projects, I had never brewed beers with the sheer flavor intensity that Stone is known for until I got here. Stone approached hops in the brewhouse differently than I had experienced in prior positions, and their brewhouse hopping and dry-hopping amounts were much higher than anything I had ever done before. I have used the past and current Stone brewing procedures as a starting point for the recipes that I have done in the last seveb years. I have been inspired to try ingredients, quantities and processes that I had previously might have thought were crazy. No limits—that’s one thing I’ve learned from Steve. In addition, Steve has given me a tremendous amount of creative input, and now I am using his approach with me to do the same with my brewing team. And he has supported m  fantastic opportunities to brew at other breweries and in other countries. You learn so much from traveling to other breweries.

(I really had trouble picking contemporary brewers as favorites because there are so many of them that I admire and respect. My “short” list includes Vinnie Cilurzo, Tomme Arthur, Patrick Rue, Ron Jeffries, Peter Bouckaert, Ken Grossman and John Keeling.)

To start, let’s find out who influences the talented and heavily-decorated brewmaster from Firestone Walker, Matt Brynildson.

BREWVANA: Who is one of your favorite and influential-to-you brewers in the industry and why?

MATT BRYNILDSON: Ken Grossman, owner of the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, is my hero brewer. He is the most quality-minded and knowledgeable brewer alive today. He is the pioneer that blazed the trail that the rest of us craft brewers walk today. There are many other brewers that I admire, but Ken is head and shoulders above them all.

Boston native Mike G mashes in on his Dorchester Amber at Rock Bottom on May 1. Photo by Eric Sorensen

Iowa brewers Eric Sorensen and Mike Gauthier dusted off Mike’s Dorchester Amber recipe to brew a special beer today. For Boston.

The collaboration beer was brewed at Rock Bottom-West Des Moines today and will be released at a special tapping at Rock Bottom on May 15. All of the proceeds from this beer will be donated to support those affected by the Boston Marathon bombing.

Can’t wait until May 15 to lend your support? Good. Go to El  Bait Shop on May 6 at 5 p.m. On that night*, Mike and Rafaela Pfister will donate all of their tips to the cause, as well.

Do your best to attend these special events as Iowa beer works to help our friends in Boston.

*This night carries a bonus: They’ll be spinning Boston punk rock all night long!

To wit: Iowa’s Madison County Winery and Twisted Vine Brewery. For starters, the St. Charles nanobrewery is located on the premises of MCW. And over the weekend, the owners of both businesses held their third in a series of three Beer and Wine Appreciation nights. Attendees scored education on all things beer and wine, as well as samples, tours and food pairings. And me.

MCW owner Doug Bakker and TVB owners Brian Sabus and Steve Breman asked me to come talk beer and monks, so I showed up with “Diary of a Part-Time Monk,” a tale of mythbusting ancient legends and a pen for signing books. Folks made me feel welcome, asked good questions and brought book after book after book.

The two businesses have found a solid coexistence of beer and wine and this event really underscored that. The programming reflected a respect of both genres of drink and the crowd certainly appeared a blend of both worlds.

I had a great time talking and drinking both beer and wine, and am very much a fan of both businesses. Located roughly a half-hour south of Des Moines, they’re both out of the way and easy to access. Do check ‘em out.

Since I live in the boondocks of Iowa, it is often (frustratingly) difficult for me to attend every beer release, event, dinner, festival or shindig that I’d like to. So imagine my happiness when the stars aligned for me to kill two beery birds with one stone last weekend.

Kyle, Derek and I had already committed to judging/stewarding at the Iowa Brewers Union’s IBU Open, which made for a beautiful happenstance when the new Clive nanobrewery, 515 Brewing Company, scheduled its Grand Opening celebration on the same day.

After a morning of judging bitters and weizens (and tucking into a few Confluence [where the homebrew competition was held] offerings during our break), we made a dash for the area code-monikered 515, which four homebrewing friends (Ryan Rost, Dave Ropte, Brandon Criger and Bailey Forrest) worked to launch.

It was jolly-well packed. By the time we arrived—a couple hours after the doors opened to a snake of eager imbibers—two of 515’s IPAs had already kicked (not sure what kind of stock they started the day on, but they operate on a humble three-barrel system). We wrapped our tastebuds around three of their offerings: Numb Nut (spiced brown), Lil’ Tart (Berliner Weisse) and Belgian Paradise (spiced Belgian Pale Ale).

I went to the 515 Brewing Company grand opening shindig on March 23. It was crowded. The beers were good.

In short, we quite liked them all. Though we didn’t get into their IPAs or Impy Stout, the trio we tasted showed a nice range, and all were multi-pint drinkable, though I’d personally spend more time with Numb Nut in the winter months (as if this spring looks like spring, just yet).

I was most interested in the prospects of the Berliner Weisse, a style I love, but that is not so pale ale-ubiquitous. As Dave and Ryan explained during an interview with me on Iowa Beer Insider a couple weeks ago, it was designed with restrained sourness. Personally, I like face-punch sourness, but found that this approachable version not only revealed their brewing skill, but also presented a light-but-flavorful brew for a crowd that might not be looking for a punch in the face just yet. I really think that this sessionable style is an overlooked transition beer, and I’m delighted that they’ve chosen it as a year-rounder.

The Belgian Paradise is a Belgian Pale Ale brewed with grains of paradise, coriander and ginger. Like the Numb Nut, the spicing complemented the style without being off-puttingly overdone. Having tasted a number of over-spiced beers in my life, their spicing decisions showed great skill.

So the good news is that the Des Moines metro area has another brewery among its swelling ranks. There is no bad news.

Go check ‘em out.

I call it Dunkel Kyle.

Here’s how you can get your own: