[Courtesy of Bend Brewing Company, 9/8/10]

Head Brewer Tonya Cornett is the mastermind behind Bend Brewing Co.’s award-winning beers. Originally from Marion, Indiana, Tonya came to Bend in 2002 and immediately started wowing the locals with her fine brews. Brew-fest judges were the next group to be impressed.

Tonya’s first award came in 2006 when she won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival for Hophead in the American IPA category—the largest category that year. The following year she won a silver medal for Outback X in the Strong Ale category. Both wins put Tonya and Bend Brewing Co. on the map, as well as made for some very excited fans back in Bend.

But the best was yet to come—in 2008, Tonya was honored as the first woman to win the title of World Beer Cup Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year. Since, she’s been invited to guest brew within the U.S. and overseas, in both England and Belgium.

Tonya first discovered beer in the mid-1990s in Colorado, and soon began home brewing. Her first brewery job was at H.C. Berger Brewing in Fort Collins, where when she wasn’t putting together packaging and giving tours, Tonya was begging Brewmaster Sandy Jones to let her brew. Soon enough, she got her chance. Next Tonya took a job back in Indiana at Oaken Barrel Brewing where she worked for two years before deciding it was time to get serious about brewing. Off to Germany she went, to the World Brewing Academy, a partnership between Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago and Doemens Academy in Munich.

She joined Bend Brewing Co. in 2002, and the rest is history.

Tonya’s favorite part of the brewing process is recipe development. She finds the brewing community in Oregon to be very supportive and welcoming. She thinks running her own small brewing operation is much more challenging than she ever thought it would be. She loves porter and vanilla ice cream. She thrives under all of the attention her award-winning brews have brought to her, but says, “The day an article focuses on my beer and not my gender will be a good day.”

Come by the pub and taste Tonya’s excellent creations, and stay tuned for her next award…for more are surely on the way.