Today is the 60th birthday of Tom Riley, who was the brewmaster at Anchor Brewing. Tom grew up in the Potrero Hill area of San Francisco, not to far from the brewery he began working at in 1983. He started on the packaging line, then moved on to being a tour guide and later became an assistant brewer. A couple of years ago he was named brewmaster, only the third one at Anchor since the 1970s (not including Fritz Maytag). I’ve run into Tom over the years at events at Anchor events, but got to know him much better last year working on a couple of pieces for Flagship February for which we spent considerable time talking on the phone, and he’s a terrific person. More recently, he’s retired and I’m not sure how he’s spending his time these days. Join me in wishing Tom a very happy birthday.
