Jeff McCabe
CO-FOUNDER of BIG WOODS BREWING, serial entrepreneur, wilderness adventurer/educator, canoeist/fisherman, aviator, husband, father, long-term home brewer, friend of dog, and world traveler. Favorite quote: “What you do speaks so loud I cannot hear what you say” (Emerson). Jeff resides in a log cabin in the Big Woods of Brown County and on the side of a mountain in Northeast New Mexico. His favorite beers…‘complex’ stouts and ‘big’ IPA’s, his love…the September Woman…QUAFF ON!
Ed Ryan
Ed Ryan is one of our three founders. He’s a native hoosier, an accomplished beer drinker with a developing palette and he has a pretty fair handle on financial markets and investments. What we like about Ed is that he is fearless and when its time to jump he says “Follow me!” According to Ed, he likes living in the “big woods” (Brown County), everyone who has helped or encouraged us with the building of Big Woods Brewing Company, cool places to eat and drink beer, coaching my sons’ soccer team, my boys, my fabulous wife, friends and family (my brother, his family and parents!), finance, investing and money management, entrepreneurship, gadgets, e-commerce, pure water, rock and roll, apple, travel, chaos, seeing the forest for the trees, mountain biking, golf, figuring it out, Colts football, and IU Basketball (we’ll be back). Ed’s Favorite beers…Big Woods Stout , Gumball Head, and Two Hearted Ale.
Tim O’Bryan
Tim O’Bryan is our Brewer. At this writing, he has just put another batch of the Six Foot Blonde in the fermenter (SFB is our work crew’s favorite Big Woods Beer and will be on Tap #1). Tim hails from Charlestown Indiana. He doubles as the Innkeeper at the Allison House Inn on Jefferson Street. He’s married to Megan O’Bryan and is often seen in town accompanied by his Boston Terrier, Duke. He began brewing a few years ago with Jeff McCabe. Jeff is quick to say that despite his 20 year head start, Tim quickly surpassed him as a brewer. Tim brews the way he cooks (he is an outstanding Chef), which means he balances a methodical and precise approach to brewing with a flair for experimentation and original ideas. As you might expect of someone associated with Big Woods, Tim is an avid outdoorsman, an Eagle Scout in fact. He is an accomplished paddler, fisherman and he’s a dead shot with a muzzle loader. Always a quick thinker, Tim once rescued himself from a “quicksand bog” up in the wilds of Ontario by lassoing himself to a nearby tree. His favorite beer is stout and his original recipe is on Tap #6. “TIM”S STOUT” is smooth and carefree as it goes down!
Spring Smith
Spring is Big Woods’ Restaurant and Bar Manager. Before signing on to the Big Woods team, she managed Chateau Thomas Winery in Nashville. Spring likes living in the Big woods, enjoys spending time with her kids and loves being a young grandma. Her two Pit Bulls, Zoey and Kilo think she is perfect just as she is, whether she is laughing ’til her stomach hurts or singing show tunes while dancing on the bar. Having spent several years in Wisconsin, she has an educated beer palette and she sports a cheesehead whenever the Packers are playing. Go Pack!!! She takes great pleasure in getting to know people and their stories (after all, everybody has one). Spring serves “great tasting food” to satisfy “Big Woods” appetites, with something for everyone including carnivores, vegetarians, beer lovers, mountain bikers, and couch potatoes. Last but not least, she treasures all the folks in the Big Woods, her family and friends…”because that’s what its all about, isn’t it?
Emily Stone
I am the BIG WOODS Lead Chef. I started cooking when I was three years old (and started washing dishes before that). I do not enjoy wrestling with goats, but in a life or death situation, the goat would lose…when I’m not cooking. I love fishing big open water or small ponds. I also played softball for many years. Rhinos and elephants are my favorite animals. I love stories and learning about people’s lives. My family has a Zoo in Boston. I’m a Taurus and want to travel the world. I love to make sushi and think it’s needed in Nashville (sushi night at Big Woods? I think so). I don’t quit talking until people talk back to me. I’m a hot pink kind of chef. I graduated from Johnson and Wales school of culinary arts last winter. I can’t wait to open up Big Woods #2! I only wear Nike tennis shoes. I love to laugh, and always have a smile to share. I’m afraid of snakes. Morning yoga keeps me alive. At Big Woods, its my mission to re-define pub grub with a gourmet touch. I believe that my food tastes better when I’m happy and cooking…negative energy only brings bad flavor!
