Welcome to Team Mast Landing: Weston Shepherd

We are very excited to welcome the newest member of the Mast Landing production team - Weston Shepherd. Weston joined us in early summer 2021 as our new Production Manager, and with lots on the horizon for this year, he’s already setting us up for success on the brew floor and beyond.

Weston is a Maine native who returned to our fine state after a stint in the Midwest. He grew up with the sights and smells of his dad’s homebrewing gear, so he was right at home in the world of beer production from an early age.

In the early 2010s, Weston was an integral part of getting one of New England’s premiere hard cider companies, Citizen Cider, off the ground. Vermont was a great place to start a career, and like many Weston originally volunteered his time to the craft while working a day job. Upon arriving in Minneapolis, he made the switch to the beer world, landing at the highly regarded Surly Brewing Company working in the cellar and learning how to brew on a larger scale.

What drew you to beer and brewing in the first place?

“I think beer is really interesting because it’s challenging (…) it’s simultaneously refreshing but it’s also bitter, there’s just so much flavor. People sometimes malign light lagers and stuff like that but even a Miller Lite or a Budweiser has so much flavor there. That intrigued me. I grew up in a family that cooks a lot, and my parents own a restaurant & cafe so we always cooked a lot at home. I was one of those kids that never got Twinkies or whatever in my lunch, my mom would say ‘If you like Twinkies, let’s try making them’ - so I wasn’t cool in the lunchroom but it did spark a love for trying to deconstruct things, thinking about flavor, and wanting to make things on my own.”

As our Production Manager, Weston will use his creativity to refine and streamline our processes, setting us up to be efficient and effective. Whether it’s tweaking recipes to improve the consumer experience, or balancing the schedules that help our brewers and cellarpeople succeed, Weston’s problem solving skills will be a huge part of the next chapter here at Mast Landing.

“It’s still kind of the Wild Wild West - people want so much that’s new and so much that’s unique. Consumers across the board are more demanding in a good way. It challenges us to come up with new beers, new processes - How can we make this even hoppier? How can we replicate this flavor profile from something we ate? - the creativity piece is constant.

“Mast Landing is growing really fast, and we want to continue that growth. We want to make sure that everyone who wants to drink our beer is able to find it.”

In essence, a simple statement, but Weston talks about the company’s future with a sense of purpose and dedication. As the company continues to expand both internally as a team and externally onto more shelves & draft lines, our production staff works day in day out to get as much beer out into the world as we can. That goal goes hand in hand with the goal of ensuring that every Mast Landing beer is a unique and fulfilling experience for the amazing people who support us. Weston has every ML fan on the mind, whether new or seasoned, when it comes to planning the future steps that we take on the beer production side.

“We want to share these beers with everyone, and to do that without compromising on quality.”

Couldn’t have said it better, and couldn’t be more excited to have Weston joining our team!