Don’t let Dan’s self-deprecating humor fool you—he knows he has a good thing going here. “I was a total nerd in high school,” he says. “Now I get to live this big adventure.” His title might be president, but his real job is professional people person. Dan’s specialty: “Find really great people to do the work I don’t know how to do, and support them in their roles.” It’s working. If you ask his team, Dan’s gift for vision and leadership makes him the Pied Piper of beer. People just want to be part of what he’s doing. (It doesn’t hurt that what he’s doing is creating delicious beer.)

Before starting Utepils, Dan honed his brewing chops as co-owner and president of Vine Park Brewing. He also served on the board of the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild, including a stint as president. So he’s still a nerd, but now he’s a super social beer nerd with a really cool job.