Brock L. Wagner
Founder / Brewer -- st. arnold brewing company
Brock Wagner has a long history with beer. In fact, it starts before he was born. His great-great-great grandfather came from Alsace in the mid-1800's and opened Wagner's Beer Hall in San Francisco (now the oldest existing bar in the city, renamed The Saloon.) Brock grew up in Cincinnati and Brussels, both big brewing towns, where he was exposed to many of the beer styles of the world. Then in college at Rice University, fate (and a friend) introduced him to homebrewing. This love of beer and brewing is what eventually led him to the inevitable: opening Saint Arnold Brewing Company, now Texas’ oldest craft brewery.
Brock has grown the brewery from a small operation in a state with no craft beer market into one of the 50 largest craft breweries in the country. Saint Arnold brews a wide variety of year-round, seasonal and special release beers. The brewery has done well in prestigious competitions, winning 18 medals at the Great American Beer Festival and 10 medals at the World Beer Cup. This is the most medals of any brewery in the South.
Brock has been engaged in moving the industry forward. He was on the board of the Brewers Association (the national craft brewers organization) from its formation in 2004 to 2008. He has been a founding board member of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild from 2009 until present. In 2013, the Texas legislature passed laws significantly improving the legal landscape for Texas craft brewers, an effort Brock had been leading for over 10 years.
Prior to starting the brewery, Brock spent six years in investment banking working on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions projects totaling more than $4 billion (which was a lot of money back then). Brock graduated from Rice University in 1987 with a BA in Economics and Managerial Studies.