We’ve been experiencing a lot of firsts at Mainstem Malt in 2021. We restructured our supply chains to cut our cost of goods by roughly 50% in January, became the first-ever malthouse to invite equity crowdfunders to our team in April, launched our first line of flagship malts in May, and just elevated one of our existing team members to become the first COO of our operation. As if this list of milestones wasn’t enough, we’ve now Photoshopped our faces onto the Power Rangers for the first time in company history.
Jokes aside, when we get down to the core of what we do here at Mainstem, it turns out our talented, passionate, and scrappy crew has quite a bit in common with this colorful fleet of activators. You might say we’re here to disrupt the malt supply industry in the name of progress— with supply chain sustainability, transparency, and meaningful connection to place as our superpowers.
While we’re extremely excited to bring on new talent in the coming year, it all starts with these folks right here.
Alyssa Martinez Neumann and Phil Neumann, Founders
Alyssa and Phil met in 2011 through collegiate road bike racing, got married and moved to Walla Walla in 2013, and launched Mainstem Malt in 2015 as a creative fusion of their two backgrounds.
Phil, with a bachelor’s in Environmental Studies and a master's in Water Resources, has spent his professional life working at the confluence of natural resource conservation and agricultural systems. Alyssa recently wrapped up a decade of agricultural communications leadership with the international sustainable ag champion Oregon Tilth, helping to make our food systems biologically sound and socially equitable through organic certification. Since their first summer together, they also had a dream to become farmers through a mix of value-added production and direct marketing.
In 2014, Alyssa and Phil were struck with a vision that pulled it all together so nicely. They decided to harness their experience in agriculture and conservation, shift the farm dream to a processor dream (at least to start), and start building a malt company as a way to support positive change across multiple industries. Mainstem Malt was born.
In addition to their business baby, Alyssa and Phil enjoy coo’ing to their blue heeler Stuart and look not too far forward to a human baby or two. They find “drinking beer by grain fields during sunset” to beat any streamed programming. They also enjoy many other things like riding bikes, camping, gardening and working on their little blue sugar cube of a house.
Kether Scharff-Gray, Chief Operating Officer
Kether is the operational mastermind at Mainstem Malt these days. She just celebrated her 2nd anniversary with us, in that time growing from our Agriculture & Supply Chain Specialist position to second-in-command as our Chief Operating Officer (COO).
From a Bellingham home base, Kether meticulously plans and synchronizes the complex flows of malting grains from our partnering family farms, through our grain cleaning and malting partners, and on to artisans throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Behind all of this supremely important work is a deep commitment to building stronger food systems, supply chains, and the relationships that tie it all together.
In the wild, this rural Colorado native turned Pacific Northwest local lives for the smell of plum trees and will bike long distances for baked goods – even longer distances for rainforest destinations.
Paul Thurston, Innovations Rep
Paul discovered Mainstem as a customer, fittingly at Goschie Farms where Phil had gathered a group of brewers to showcase Mainstem’s barley at the source. Paul’s life-long interest in the Pacific Northwest’s natural wonders stems from his childhood in Klamath Falls and his college years in Eugene. Now he blends his professional brewing prowess as the Head Brewer at Fortside Brewing (Portland, OR) with his agricultural commitments as the pioneering member of Mainstem’s customer innovations team. Of equal importance to Paul are getting out into peaceful wild places and jamming out to loud music at home.
Aaron Blonden, Innovations Rep
Aaron came to Mainstem after a decade of producing beer with an eye for waste reduction, looking to amplify his skillset with new challenges. He still makes beer where he’s the Head Brewer at 3 Magnets Brewing in Olympia, Washington, now with an enhanced mindfulness of the importance of Salmon-Safe malt as a rep on Mainstem’s customer innovations team. A fleet of various kinds of bikes keeps him out of the brewhouse and in the woods whenever possible.
Erik Chapman, Innovations Rep
Erik, the Head Distiller at Thinking Tree Spirits in Eugene, Oregon, brings twelve years as a professional distiller and a lifetime of conservation ethic to Mainstem’s customer innovations team. He grew up on a small farm on Whidbey Island that raised fowl and small livestock and grew strawberries. He has long been enchanted by getting lost in the Pacific Northwest. Erik’s kryptonite is the condenser water from a boiler.