We are excited to announce the addition of San Diego beer veteran Marc Martin to the Thorn team as CEO. After GM and beloved-beer-man-about-town, Tom Kiely, departed Thorn to move back to the East Coast, we sought out someone that would be able to carry on Thorn’s unique and ambitious vision as well as help take our brewery to the next level as a San Diego beer producer.
“I am truly fortunate to join the Thorn Brewing Co. team and am confident we will achieve great things together,” Martin states. “Thorn’s production brewery, neighborhood-focused tasting rooms, and co-manufacturing capabilities all help to differentiate them and provide plenty of opportunity ahead. Thorn is already one of San Diego’s finest breweries and our plan moving forward is to focus on quality and becoming a top regional iconic brand.”
Martin has been in the beer industry for 15 years, spending 13 of those years at Karl Strauss Brewing as the Vice President of Beer where he oversaw sales, marketing, production, distribution, operations, quality control, and warehouse responsibilities. He continued his San Diego beer experience through his consulting firm where he worked with breweries like Rincon Reservation Road Brewery, Second Chance Brewing Co, and Westbrew, to name a few. Marc has fit in incredibly well with the Thorn crew, having already worked extensively with Thorn’s Head of Production, Shawn Steele, at Karl Strauss for a number of years.
“When we started looking for a new leader at Thorn, the first person I thought of was Marc,” Steele explains. “Working with him for 10 years earlier in both of our careers I thought he would be a great fit and addition to our team. He is a real pro and a great person to work with. I’m really looking forward to the next 10 years.”
Cheers! We can’t wait for what’s in store for Thorn!