Leonardo Sewald Cunha

Colorado, United States

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

I started as a homebrewer in south Brazil around 25 years ago. I created a homebrew club with some friends, and was getting close to a few fellow Brazilian breweries, who were very friendly towards homebrewers. Eventually, I decided to take it to the next level and earned a brewing degree at Siebel Institute in Chicago. That not only helped me get the brewing and entrepreneurial knowledge I needed but also exposed me to the values of American brewing: fun, camaraderie, creativity, and a serious commitment to quality.

Brazil didn’t have many breweries by the late 2000s, and none of the existing ones were focused on American styles of beer. With that in mind, the decision to start a brewery inspired by American beers in Brazil was an easy one. And it paid off: To this day, Seasons is viewed by consumers as one of the pioneer breweries in Brazil, something I’m really proud of because, to me, beer is so much more than just a beverage. Beer is history, science, culture, and entertainment. There’s a unique social aesthetic to beer, something that brings people together and makes them feel at home with each other. It’s just great!

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

So many things. There’s the learning aspect: I’ve been judging beers for almost 20 years but I’m always learning something new. Meeting fellow judges from around the world is also really cool. From a more personal point of view, being a judge at the World Beer Cup is a privilege; since I started in the brewing business and then became a beer judge, it has always been a dream of mine to be a part of this event.

Competitions like this help shape the world of beer. With so many different beer trends and beer scenes around the world, having a competition like the World Beer Cup raises the bar for everyone: high-level contests draw attention to brewers large and small. Their goals might be getting feedback or having a shot at an award, but what happens, in the end, is a celebration of quality. Each and every year we see higher quality beers on the table. As judges, we see the work of choosing the best beers getting harder and harder every year. And that’s great because that means there’s better beer out there for everyone. Competitions like the World Beer Cup play a big role in that.

Francesca Morbidelli

Florence, Italy

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

I love drinking good beer. I started about twenty years ago. I looked for beers that were unusual, I discovered the beers made by homebrewers, I go in touch with the very first Italian craft breweries. At that time, craft beer renaissance was yet to come! As the Italian craft beer movement was taking its first steps, I co-founded one of the first Italian associations for the promotion of beer culture, where I organized beer culture and tasting courses and wrote for newspapers and blogs. As a matter of fact, I was the first Italian female beer blogger: I’m the founder of the blog pintamedicea.com. Meeting Charlie Papazian in Florence many years ago (around 2010) and listening to Eric Wallace’s talk in Rimini a couple of years later, sparked my curiosity and passion for the history of American craft beer, a subject I now teach in our beer courses as educator. I’m always eager to collaborate with the Brewers Association. I translate their articles and host them on my blog. I wrote and translated countless articles about the American craft beer movement.

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

The World Beer Cup is such an important international competition, and being a judge there was a great honor and a great pleasure. I’ve been a beer judge for about fifteen years and the WBC was a crucial experience for me. I’m passionate about American craft beer. Whenever it’s possible I try to collaborate with the Brewers Association, so I was so excited too be invited at the WBC. I really enjoyed the international atmosphere I found in Colorado, the BA volunteers were fantastic, I was thrilled to meet judges from all over the world and to reunite with many friends. Being part of an international judging panel is always an enriching experience, especially in terms of connecting with other beer cultures.

Greig McGill

Hamilton, New Zealand

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

I was a dedicated consumer beer advocate. I had developed a serious respect and passion for beer, had gone down the rabbit hole, utterly fascinated by the history and nuance of this complex yet simple social beverage. I ended up co-founding a consumer organization in New Zealand—the Society of Beer Advocates (SOBA) in 2006, and also pursuing homebrewing to learn all I could. I traveled to the U.K. and Europe in search of the roots of beer as well as the U.S. to investigate the modern variants produced by the cutting edge of the U.S. brewing scene. I stopped fighting destiny in 2011 and opened Brewaucracy, a brewery in Hamilton, New Zealand. I continue to enjoy beer in (almost) all its forms, and the connections and friendships I have made in the never ending quest for more and more beery knowledge!

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

Judging at the World Beer Cup is hard to describe. There is, of course, always that sense of imposter syndrome that can be hard to shake when you’re sitting around a table with people you have idolized: authors, brewers, history makers. However, there’s also something extremely powerful about “locking in” as all our senses together elevate some great beers at the table to among the ranks of the best beers in the world. The camaraderie, the warmth, the humor, and even the “tales from the trenches” as we await a flight of beers; the efficiency and skill of the stewards, as they work tirelessly to get beers in front of us in the best condition possible; the sense of fatigue, but also of a job well done at the end of each judging session—all of this forms an experience that is unique in my experience of judging. There’s playing guitar in a local bar band, and then there’s jamming onstage with Hendrix. The World Beer Cup is the latter, and I am proud to be considered worthy.

Blanca Fresno

Asturias, Spain

How did you get into the beer industry? Why does beer matter to you?

I started to brew beer 15 years ago. My first contact with independent and craft beer was in Bratislava when I visited a brewpub. Beer is all my life. My passion. I can’t imagine living without beer.

Why do you judge at the World Beer Cup? What does judging at the World Beer Cup mean to you?

It was my goal to judge at the World Beer Cup because it is the most important competition in the world. For me, judging there is my top experience with beer in a beer competition. It was amazing. The professionalism during the journey was incredible.