Nick Barron, owner and brewmaster of Albright Grove Brewing Company, has a passion for beer and whitewater. While his family and closest friends come first, the other two have truly made Nick who he is today. A Knoxville native, he loves to explore the art of brewing a delicious craft beer and the beautiful wilderness of East Tennessee.

Nick’s first step into brewing came at home, but the career has now taken him around the world. While crafting early batches of beer in his Knoxville kitchen, he was also crafting his skills at the New Knox Brewing Company. With a better understanding of the science of brewing and a lot of practice in the process, Nick was offered a job at the Smoky Mountain Brewing Company alongside Marty Velas. Soon after, Nick and his wife Nichole moved overseas to London, where Nick studied at the esteemed Institute of Brewing and Distilling.

Given his thirst for a deeper knowledge of brewing and putting those theories into practice, he quickly earned his diploma in Brewing with distinction. The Barrons then moved to Chicago, Illinois, where Nick was hired as the Headbrewer for Flossmoor Station, and it wasn’t long before he was offered the highly sought-after position of Pub Brewmaster for Goose Island. With years of experience at the Clybourn and Wrigleyville pubs and hundreds of new recipes under his belt, Nick and Nichole were on the road again— this time to the Lost 40 Brewing Company in Little Rock, Arkansas. Nick then worked with the Siebel Institute of Technology and their Master Craft Brewer Theory Program in Hanover, New Hampshire, before returning home to Knoxville.  

When he’s not brewing new beers, Nick can be found hiking, biking or whitewater kayaking in the Smokies. Lightly floating on shallow creeks and rivers, he’s found a deep connection to the wilderness and a drive to protect the valuable forests and watersheds that he calls home. With years of insight into the world of brewing, hands-on experiences around the world and a host of awards ranging from the Great American Beer Festival to the World Beer Cup, Nick is thrilled to bring new methods and flavors to Albright Grove Brewing Company. That rich history will push him to thoughtfully create new styles of craft beer, blending innovation with old-world techniques. Stop in for a drink and great conversation.