During the summer, we’re going to be talking to local brewers and other beer professionals about what you can look forward to when visiting breweries in our area. We start today with Progression Brewing’s Todd Sullivan. Progression Brewing Company is located at 9 Pearl St.
in Northampton. (George Lenker photo) George Lenker When you’re hiring a brewer for a new brewery that’s only one city block away from another incredibly popular one that’s been thriving for more than three decades, you’d better make a great choice. So it’s a good thing Progression Brewing – which in 2018 opened a mere 5-minute walk from the legendary Northampton Brewery – got Todd Sullivan as its head brewer.
Sullivan, who started homebrewing in college at age 18, said he got his start from “the cool kids down the hallway” who had a homebrew set-up and were making beer. Although he was in college for commercial art/industrial design, he later decided to attend the Siebel Institute for Brewing Technology. Sullivan then spent time honing his craft at several Massachusetts breweries before being hired by Progression owner Drew Starkweather.
We asked Sullivan about his brewing approach, his favorite beer and what people can look forward to when visiting Progression, among other topics. Q, Do you have any kind of guiding philosophy for brewing? Keep it simple. I use about four different malts for all of my IPAs.
I like to learn the nuances of malts and hops and see how they work together. .
