Robert Vail
Senior Head of Innovation, The Boston Beer Company
2017 ALUM OF THE YEAR RECIPIENT
Robert Vail, Senior Head of Innovation, has been with The Boston Beer Company for three decades. Robert first joined the company as a Brewery Representative on the Sales team. Following in the footsteps of founder Jim Koch, Robert hit the streets selling Samuel Adams beer and educating drinkers and the industry about the quality and craftsmanship of craft beer.
His hard work paid off and Robert quickly rose to the rank of District Manager. He was responsible for launching Samuel Adams beer in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois. Robert later returned to Boston and oversaw the Samuel Adams distributorship that Boston Beer owned for a brief period of time so that the brewery could self-distribute locally. After a year, he was promoted to Division Manager for all of New England. After several years, his area of responsibility was extended to include New England down to Pennsylvania. From there, he went on to tackle the role of Division Manager of the On-Premise team responsible for National accounts for the next two years.
Robert is currently the Senior Head of Innovation and has helped to develop the Twisted Tea, Angry Orchard, Truly Sparkling, 26.2 Brew, Tura Kombucha, and Wild Leaf Hard Tea brands. He resides in Massachusetts with his two sons. Outside of work, Robert is a board member of My Life My Choice organization, which provides resources, training, and counseling to help adolescent women leave harmful situations and build new lives for themselves. Robert is also a Board Member of The School of Hospitality at Boston University and Freebird Rides, which helps drive customers to restaurants in the United States.
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