Wilmington Brew Works is the only production brewery in Delaware’s largest city. Housed in a 100-year old former laboratory in the old 9th Ward, we are keeping the spirit of the building’s origins alive with new and innovative Ales, Lagers, Sours and Ciders. Our family-friendly taproom has plenty of indoor and outdoor seating for you to enjoy a drink with friends – old and new.
We brew a wide range of styles, one to fit every taste bud imaginable. Our NE IPAs, fermented with a cultivated wild yeast strain, have become a signature style for us, while our fruited kettle sours are changing people’s perceptions of what a beer can be. In addition, Wilmington Brew Works operates an alternating premise license allowing us to operate as a Cidery and produce a line of hard cider.
Ownership Team:
Craig Wensell
Chief Executive Officer and Master Brewer
Craig Wensell, Sanitizer in Chief, Brewing Operations Manager, CEO, and Janitor. Craig has degrees from Oklahoma State University and The Florida State University. Early in his career, he taught orchestra K-12 before moving on to teaching at different universities to include The Florida State University. Craig is an amateur Double Bassist and has played across the country with many different groups such as The Columbus Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, and The Delaware Symphony Orchestra. He has performed at The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame for Barney Kessel and has performed music in Weil Hall in New York City. Craig also served in Afghanistan as a Blackhawk (UH-60 A/L) Crew Chief. During his service he reach the rank of E-5 and earned numerous commendation for outstanding performance including 1000 accident free flight hours. His family has a long rich history of home-brewing that goes back to the 1980s. Craig enjoys endless hours at the brew kettle, reading technical papers, and watching yeast make beer!
John Fusco
VP Creative & Brand Marketing
John got into graphic design, marketing and social media by accident. A Marine Engineer by trade, with a degree from the US Merchant Marine Academy, and a Masters from Temple University in Engineering Management, he’s a navy civilian in his day job, and spent 20 years as a Strategic Sealift Officer in the Navy Reserve. In 2004, after some après ski, he started a T-shirt company in Wilmington with some friends that eventually became WhizBang Concepts. He has drawn logos and artwork, and produced apparel, for a number of local businesses, charities and breweries, which is how he met Craig. John and his wife Lisa have chaired the Philadelphia Walk for Williams Syndrome thrice. He plays drums and guitar in a band called Double Down that rarely plays outside a basement in Glen Mills. He’s a New Yorker by birth, but has now lived in Delaware as long as he has in NY. He has three young girls, and will try any beer twice. Most more.
Dan "Beerman" Yopp
Brand Ambassador
Dan “Beerman” Yopp is the Master of the Custodial Arts at Wilmington Brew Works. As a Delaware native who has spent his entire life in the state, he graduated from Wilmington University with a B.A. in Business Management. Dan became interested in homebrewing from a neighbor and quickly realized he enjoyed it very much. As an avid gardener who enjoyed growing everything from sweet garlic to habanero peppers, he found the “Do it Yourself” method in homebrewing very rewarding. He joined the First State Brewers to enhance his skills, and along the way he met the esteemed gentlemen which would go on to being his business partners. Favorite beers styles are Stout, Porter, & Barleywine, especially if they are barrel aged.
Derek "DJ Sudz" Berkeley
Brand Ambassador
Derek Berkeley, Beer Hunter, and Janitor In Training. Derek hails from Canada which helps explain his love for beer and hockey. Nomadic by nature, his travels have taken him from the snowy tundras of Montreal to the badlands of Boston, deserts of Charlotte, wilderness of Virginia and most recently the ‘burbs of Delaware. Having realized at an early age that earning a college degree would allow him to buy more beer, he embarked on his “Decade of Learning” at the University of Lowell where he almost became the first undergrad in history to get tenure. When not honing his Beer Hunting techniques, Derek enjoys racing tricycles, and refereeing Women’s Roller Derby.
Keith Hughes
Partner
Keith Hughes, Partner. Keith has a degree in Accounting from The State University of New York. Early in his career, Keith employed his talents to the cosmetics industry, working for Estee Lauder companies. Having conquered lipstick costing, Keith embraced the complicated world of software revenue recognition and served as the Director of Finance for the Digital Science group of Thermo Fisher Scientific. Keith’s heart and soul will forever be of the lemmings in their eternal quest for a new hops combination. “NEIPA’S forever,” will likely be a headstone epitaph.
Team Members:
Ryan Rice
Brewer
Ryan, a Wilmington native, learned to make cider while working as an instructor at the North American Bushcraft School in Hedgesville, WV. When not cleaning taplines in the brewery, Ryan can be found skating and coaching for Diamond State Roller Derby under the alias, John E. Applespeed. His current favorite WBW brew is Ü and he has been begging Craig to make a lactose free sour. Instagram: @ciderryan
Ashley
SENIOR SHIFT LEAD
Ashley is a singer, actress, & Cicerone Certified Beer Server who recently moved back to her hometown of Wilmington, DE after spending many years living in NYC. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance: Music Theatre from New York University and is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association. Some of her favorite regional theatre credits include the Media Theatre, Flat Rock Playhouse, Depot Theatre, and Sharon Playhouse. Ashley performs locally with 2Step Acoustic as a singer and keyboardist. When she’s not working or enjoying delicious craft beer at WBW, she’s probably hanging out with her husband Zach, their two cats Michael & Lita, and goldendoodle puppy named Isla.
Lisa Fusco
Designer/Alamo Events
Lisa is a Mechanical Engineer by degree, but these days is more interested in the design aspect of spaces and how best to intersect modern and vintage styles. She helps to make the taproom look beautiful, especially during the holidays. Mom extraordinaire to her and John’s three daughters. She also tells John whenever his artwork doesn’t look good, which is a crucial role!
Bryce
SHIFT LEAD/ASSISTANT BREWER
Bryce is a native of Wilmington, Delaware. He attended the University of Delaware, earning a Bachelor of Science in Applied Nutrition while competing on the Division 1 Swimming and Diving team. Having accomplished a great deal within the NCAA and USA Swimming as an athlete, he has redirected his career to become a coach, hoping to make a positive impact on his swimmers’ lives. Bryce is also an amateur homebrewer and is constantly brainstorming up some sort of crazy idea for mixing two very different styles of beer. When he is not at WBW, he is either hanging out with his dog Ollie, playing disc golf, or playing the guitar.
David
SHIFT LEAD
A military brat, David moved around a lot as a child before his family settled in Milford, DE. After graduating from High School, David headed up north to attend the University of Delaware. David and his wife moved to Wilmington, where they still reside. Having spent a portion of his formative years living in Germany, David holds a soft spot for German beer styles and lagers of all shapes and sizes. Despite falling head first into the IPA craze of the early 2000’s, this is the well he always goes back to. To this day David visits Germany whenever he is able. Holding degrees in both Fine Arts and Accounting, David spends his days as the Production Manager/Accounts Payable manager for a textile printing company in West Chester, PA. When not working David can be found drawing (including WBW’s Undelivered Mail and Distracted Thought’s can labels), playing disc golf, making music, or traveling the world with his wife Jess.
Sheila
SHIFT LEAD
Team Member Since: March, 2019
Favorite WBW Beer: Tangerine Dream
I Daylight as a: Hairstylist
My Cool Hobby: Roller Derby
My Family/Pets: 2 Dogs
My Favorite WBW Moment: Wishing “some of you were here”
Erin
SHIFT LEAD
Erin is a Pennsylvania native, hailing from the Kennett Square area. She briefly lived in Wilmington, DE which is how she discovered WBW. In her earlier years, she studied public relations/communications and used those skills to work for a professional outdoor lacrosse team. Erin eventually took her customer service skills and curiosity around computers to the IT industry, where she worked for one of the largest tech companies in their retail store. This is where her love of craft beers really developed at many after work happy hours. When she is not working, Erin’s most likely road tripping to new breweries, getting lost in a good book for her book club, playing video games or playing with her old boxer, Jackson.
Nathan
SHIFT LEAD
Nathan has lived in Newark his entire life, only recently moving to Wilmington. He’s worked in the service industry for 11 years and started his career at a different brewery. After moving to Wilmington, he decided it was time to put his passion for beer to use at Wilmington Brew Works. Nathan is also a student, well on his way to a degree in Elementary Education (K-6). When not at work, he likes to go hiking with his dog Bailey, and tending to his 11 chickens.
Benjamin Kaminski
Website Development
Ben was born in Pennsylvania and spent most of his childhood there. It wasn’t until 2000 that Ben landed in Delaware and, unbeknownst to him at the time, he would decide to stay in the first state permanently. Ben has been in the web development field for over 25 years and has worked on projects of all sizes. Web development for Ben Kaminski spawned out of a passion for music. He spent many years playing in heavy metal bands and knew the importance of having a website before the era of social media networks. Ben’s love for craft beer came the first time he tried a New England IPA. He couldn’t believe that a beer could taste so good and be so fulfilling. Having tried only corporate beer previously, the taste of the NEIPA was so dramatically different and better; he discovered a whole new world of beer that would lead him on a road of discovery that continues to this day. Ben enjoys playing guitar, writing music, playing golf, and taking road trips to breweries.
Laura McDonald
Photographer
Laura, aka Paparazzi, loves taking photos. You may see her around the brewery laying on the floor or climbing on a table to get the perfect photo of beer. Never before a “beer person” before discovering the brewery, she is now a full-on sour beer lover. Visit her website www.lauramcdonaldphoto.com for both family and commercial photography work.
Jeff Kempista
App Development
Jeff is a man of mystery who made our menu display app. His app is awesome and makes it so you can see what’s on tap and we can change it on the fly.
