Sonya Giacobbe and Cat Wolinski cheesin’ at the Village Voice Brooklyn Pour beer festival, Sept. 2014.

#WCW: Sonya Giacobbe

Beer Cred:

• Co-owner, KelSo Beer Co.
• Previous Trainer/Assistant Manager, Pyramid Alehouse

Sonya Giacobbe is the better half of KelSo, a Brooklyn-based beer company that launched in 2006 with Kelly Taylor, husband and overseer of the Heartland Brewery restaurant group (the “Kel”) and Giacobbe (the “So”) at the helm.

Recently, KelSo was awarded the Brooklyn-Made Gold Certification from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce for producing local ales and lagers that meet the Gold qualifications of being headquartered in Brooklyn, staffed in Brooklyn and most-if-not-all made in Brooklyn. The Clinton Hill-based beer company’s products (KelSo Pilsner, KelSo Nut Brown Lager) are now available on draft and in cans up and down the East Coast from Philadelphia, Penn. to New London, Conn.

Along with co-running the KelSo show, Sonya previously served as director of the Simon & Schuster and Machete Speakers Bureaus of the Greater Talent Network.

Well Said: 

“You don’t need to push the envelope to make a memorable beer. I want to be able to have two beers with dinner and still be able to give my kids a bath.” — KelSo of Brooklyn, Josh Bernstein, Edible Brooklyn Spring 2011: Issue No. 21 

Cheers to that, Sonya!
– Beer Affair