Who We Are

CEO, CFO & MASTER BREWER

Craig Wensell, Sanitizer in Chief, Brewing Operations Manager, CEO, CFO, 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!

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.

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.

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.

PARTNER