Team Members

Daniel Collins
President & Founder
Daniel founded Brew Culture in early 2014 in Vancouver, BC after cutting his chops for a couple years as the Managing Director of another hop distribution company. The experience afforded him the opportunity to grow with an industry that was just beginning to explode, forming key relationships and life-long friends. Although his original role as a 'one-man-show' is long in the past, Daniel still enjoys visiting breweries across Canada, and connecting with our customers first and foremost. After more than a decade in the industry, these days Daniel focuses mostly on business development, but can still be found processing orders via text messages from longtime industry friends who have supported Brew Culture from the beginning. An avid lover of the outdoors, you'll often find him exploring the woods or playing hockey on the backyard rink with his two kids. What's in his fridge? Always a smattering of Belgian brews, and favs such as Tooth & Nail's Vim & Vigor, or Sawdust City's Lone Pine IPA.

Lisa Stefan
Managing Partner
Lisa grew up in North Vancouver, BC and spent years working in Corporate Vancouver before transitioning to the wine industry where her passion lies, and eventually onboarding with Brew Culture when she and Daniel moved their family across the country to settle in beautiful Muskoka, ON. When she's not standing behind her desk, you will usually find her exploring the outdoors, whether it be in the trails or on the water. Being a wine lover, her favourite beers are big, bold and typically Belgian inspired. If you want to keep your arms, don't reach for that Four Winds Triplicity, Sawdust City Princess Wears Girl Pants, or Tooth & Nail's Indescretion!

Trevor Kendall
Operations Manager
Trevor is Brew Culture’s Operations Manager over-seeing all our locations. Trevor comes from a background of operations management with experience running his own business and most recently being part of a successful start-up distillery in North-Eastern Ontario. With a genuine interest in brewing and distilling, Trevor is excited to be working with the raw materials that makes the process possible, and he looks forward to helping the Brew Culture Team achieve their operational goals. He's only recently started to develop a palate for craft beer, but is a quick convert of hoppy beers such as Sons of Kent's 8 Track XPA or Juice Box NEIPA.

Max Cooke
IT & System Administrator
Max was born and raised in beautiful Muskoka, and has been part of the team at Brew Culture since 2017. Before Brew Culture, Max worked at a couple of great Ontario based craft breweries, Block 3 and Sawdust City, so he knows exactly what challenges brewers face, and he provides exceptional customer service and care. An avid home brewer, Max enjoys experimenting with new products and has surprised us with some spectacular brews on our in-house Sabco system. What's in his fridge? Local buds Quayle's Brewery's Silver Lining Dark Lager.

Matt Heeley
Sales and Marketing Director
Matt Heeley is the Sales and Marketing Manager at Brew Culture, a premier supplier of high-quality ingredients to the craft brewing industry. With a passion for craft beer and extensive sales and marketing experience, Matt plays a vital role in driving Brew Culture's growth and fostering strong relationships with breweries across Canada. His expertise ensures that Brew Culture remains a trusted and innovative partner for brewers seeking top-notch ingredients and exceptional customer service.

Stefan Gagliardi
Technical Sales Manager - Eastern Canada
Originally from the Eastern Townships of la belle province, Stefan holds a degree in Bio Chemistry from McGill University. He’s a homebrewer, pro brewer, beer enthusiast, Certified BJCP beer judge, and Certified Cicerone. He's
done everything you can do in a brewery from lugging empties on the midnight shift to running a Quality Control Lab. With 13 years of brewing experience, most recently as the Head Brewer at Alexander Keith’s in Halifax, he brings a brewers perspective to the sales side of raw ingredients, and can provide first hand experience for a wide range of ingredients and processes. His fridge reads like a bromance novel. with an array of new beers constantly pouring through, from true-to-style German Weissbier and lagers, to American IPAs and Sours passing by malt forward English beers, he returns to stouts most often. Honourable mentions include; North Brewing's Twinkle Pony Tiramisu Stout, any Grimross Lager, and hop bombs from 2 Crows Brewing.

Ryan Smith
Sales Manager – Western Canada
Colorado bred and Manitoba raised, Ryan is now more than a decade in the industry across the country. Ryan has been running the show as Western Sales Manager with Brew Culture for the past few years. From humble beginnings as a driver delivering kegs in the depths of Prairie winters, graduating to cellaring and fermentation management in Quebec, and now taking on sales of raw materials in beautiful BC, Ryan provides insight and connections to brewers throughout Western Canada for all their Hop, Yeast and Malt needs. Watch out, his fridge is jammed with beauties such as House of Lager's Bavarian, Left Field's Little Dry Cider, Four Winds IPA, and anyting new that drops from our buds at 33 Brewing Experiment.

Maxim Saumure
Sales Manager - Ontario
Maxim started his career in the beer industry like most, behind the bar. He slowly worked his way from friendly beer-tender to friendly beer-marketer, helping his local brewery modernize their craft message with better digital media. Hooked on the brewing industry, he realized there was still lots to learn. The outside of a bottle attracts the consumer, the bartender romanticizes it, but the liquid inside is the real star. Maxim chose to explore all aspects of beer by joining the Niagara College Brewmaster and Brewery Management program. He then spent 4 years on the production floor as a brewer, learning all the intricacies of the beer making process. He was able to bridge the marketing side of the brewing industry to its production of golden ambrosia. Now Maxim uses his brewing expertise and aptitude to help breweries source the right ingredients for their heavenly beers.

Lisa Kent
Customer Care Specialist
Lisa has lived in Coquitlam, a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia all of her life. With over 17 years of experience in the brokerage industry with a focus on client relations and inside sales, she's happiest when she's helping people.
Lisa loves to travel the world, her favorite city is Ghent, Belgium where she fell in love with trappist beer, particularly Westmalle Tripel. Her love of beer started at 19 with Kokanee and, thanks to all the amazing craft breweries in her area, her horizons and taste continued to develop. She can usually be found with a juicy or hazy IPA in hand on a patio with friends or exploring many trails in the Tri-City area.

Oriana Blackmore
Marketing Coordinator
Muskoka grown, Oriana is both an asset in the warehouse, and behind the camera. With many years experience working in photography among a variety of different situations, she now helps Brew Culture to document collaborations and feature new products in an interesting aesthetic way. When she’s not in the warehouse shipping & receiving pallets of hops, malt, or yeast, you’ll find her behind the lens working on our next batch of images. You're bound to find some Amsterdam Brewery Boneshaker, or anything from Collective Arts in this girl's fridge.

Lisa Dunn
Ontario Warehouse Manager
Lisa Dunn is an experienced professional in the environmental industry. Born and raised in Muskoka, she has a strong connection to the area and a love for the outdoors. In her free time, she enjoys canoeing and appreciates all forms of wildlife. Her favorite beer is Paddle On by Lake of Bays Brewery. Looking to start a new career journey, Lisa has returned to her roots in Muskoka to pursue new opportunities.