She Blinded Me With Science

Meet Lynn Pronobis, chemist, brewer, athlete, friend, and all around extraordinary woman. Lynn began her career at Union Craft as an intern in 2012 while completing her chemistry degree at UMBC. She wasn’t planning on a career in brewing, she actually started out wanting to go to med school to become a heart surgeon. After working at a hospital she gained clarity and realized that it was not the right path for her to lead a happy, healthy life. Next she explored a career in pharma – but soon grew disenchanted with the process and the waste. A career in brewing was never on her radar, but an internship was an integral part of resume building in the waning years of college and a brewery seemed like a great fit where she could apply her acumen in chemistry while gaining valuable experience. To call Lynn a ‘knowledge sponge’ would be an understatement- she has a subconscious drive to learn everything she possibly can, to immerse herself in process and execute her duties swiftly and efficiently, all while finding ways to improve the final results. This is her nature, and she is by nature a scientist.

It was not until her second internship with Union that she realized she was in the right place- perfectly suited for a career where she could meld her scientific background with her need to be challenged both physically and mentally. Union not only provided all of these things- they also provided the team environment she craved. Having played softball for UMBC, Lynn was not only used to the team atmosphere- she required it. Lynn has performed just about every job in the brewery as part of the learning process, and she has grown right alongside the brewery. She is responsible for launching their cask program- which has become an incredible and indelible success. What started as an experiment has turned into an important component of Union’s portfolio.

For Lynn, casks were the perfect platform to figure out how to combine flavors.  It is also a place where her rigid scientific training flows seamlessly into art. Lynn will be the first person to tell you that her base of operations – her foundation- is math and science where everything begins. She starts with her end goal and works backwards to attain it. That is not however where it ends. Cask beer is art just as much as it is science and Lynn has found the sweet spot in the give and take between the two.  In 2018 she broke her own record by taking over 350 casks to market, something most would have thought implausible in the not too distant past in Maryland. Although many people still don’t understand what casks are, in Baltimore the population of those that do is incredibly rich, according to Lynn.

She has a well-earned reputation for her casks. Many accounts are wary of casks until they find out it is made by Lynn. She instills confidence- they trust it because they trust her. This is what she has been working toward- trying to make her cask program the very best in the state.  It hasn’t always been easy however and there is a trail of lessons learned, some surrounding fruit, some surrounding process. Her motivation is strong as she wants to make THE perfect dark sour, a lesser known style and measurably more difficult as a kettle sour.  This woman appreciates a challenge! Anyone that has sampled her dark sour and the dark fruit undercurrent that delicately tantalizes the palate knows how very talented she is. Many believe she has already achieved her goal of producing THE perfect dark sour.

Casks are also the vehicle that inspired her recipe writing. There is a freedom with the cask program- total control over process and ingredients that she enjoys. There are certain limitations however that are not present when brewing. One example would include the ability to add and then remove ingredients after a desired time (which you cannot do from the cask). After watching Kevin Blodger write recipes for years she gained a tremendous understanding of the relationship between malts and hops, and how the flavors interact. Kevin has been a font of knowledge that she has eagerly tapped into.

Lynn has a hand in almost everything happening in the brewery. She is responsible for brewing operations in addition to the barrel ageing and cask programs, distribution oversight, and a host of operational processes. One improvement that she is very proud of is her keg location map. After attending an MBAA seminar on managing a warehouse, she was struck by an idea to improve efficiency. She created a 16 lane layout, complete with coded markings allowing for swift keg access and retrieval for rotation and distribution. This coded language can be seen throughout the brewery from the brew schedule, to the barrel program, to her meticulous recipe notes. My favorite was a cask note marked ‘killed it’, an indicator that a cask turned out exactly as planned. Having tried that particular cask I could not agree more! These are all hallmarks of an orderly, scientific mind.

This mind has served Lynn quite well. She is extremely sharp with an uncanny ability to see the big picture where many get mired in the details. She has a maturity well beyond her 29 years which, combined with her extensive brewing experience has now cast her in the role of learned mentor- be assured however that her thirst for knowledge is never quenched. Her life hasn’t always remained as tidy and easily quantifiable as science; in fact quite often it has been a battle.

A female in a predominantly male industry faces intense scrutiny, and Lynn is no exception. As a gay female this has brought a greater range of challenges and reactions. As a woman, Lynn quickly grew tired of the assumptions that she was either a bartender (because she couldn’t possibly be a brewer), or incompetent because she was a woman, or very young, or both. She only wanted to be looked upon as an equal, and she made certain that she could carry her own weight- literally. When Lynn started at Union she would go in the bathroom and do pushups every day to make sure she could carry full kegs, and move the ladders and other equipment on her own; physically capable of doing everything the men could do. At Union she was treated as an employee, an equal, a member of the team, which was and always is the desired goal.

At times being gay was easier for Lynn because she was looked upon as more of an equal since she wasn’t an option for men, and she wasn’t going to steal anyone’s girlfriend. It was almost easier to become good friends with coworkers. Outside of the brewery it was an entirely different story. Unfortunately sexism is still commonplace, but Lynn’s method of dealing with it has changed. When men would hit on her she used to attempt to diffuse the situation by telling them she was gay which often resulted in relentless badgering about her sexuality. She often received ignorant comments like,

 “You just haven’t met the right guy yet…”

All of this used to make her incredibly angry, but over time she learned to change the narrative with quick-witted, funny responses like,

“Perhaps YOU just haven’t me the right guy yet!”

There is nothing more powerful than turning the tables by demonstrating how much you don’t care what others think about you. For Lynn this was completely liberating. Sometimes, she still finds herself frustrated but that is when she takes to the forklift – an instant salve. Detaching from social media also provides respite- although social media has become the main driver for sales and marketing in this day and age. It is also a place where unkind thoughts are ubiquitous.  

This past year has been perhaps the most frustrating she has experienced. It has been a perfect storm of challenges- one after the other from the aluminum tariffs creating havoc with canning and in particular labelling when trying use alternative cans; the move from the old brewery to the new collective; the government shutdown which backlogged TTB approvals; the closure of a Crown Cork and Seal plant; and the high volume of sales in the taproom at a time when production was limited (due to the host of issues listed). There is a light at the end of this tunnel, but the road is long, and she is pacing herself. The old brewery is still operational at least for the next year, and the 20 bbl system is currently being used as the pilot system. An unusually large pilot system.

At the end of the day there are many things to take away. The first is that Lynn loves what she does- what she produces, and she loves the team that is Union. Her hope is that people take a moment before judging (beer or people for that matter) and think about the process, the various elements that needed to coalesce to make that beer- from the ingredients, to packaging to distribution. She wants people to really take the time to understand the beer. On this front headway is being made, and in part that is due to her ability to talk to people about beer, the style, and the inspiration for it.

The future is looking very bright for Lynn and for Union. In fact Lynn wants to see Union supplant Natty Boh as the beer synonymous with Baltimore- a town she will never leave. She also wants to surpass National Brewing Company’s peak production (yes we are headed for a brewery capable of producing millions of barrels of beer annually!)  

The next time you stop at Union for a pint or a growler take a moment to ask about the style, the process, the inspiration, as you might be pleasantly surprised. Oh and one last thing to remember- if Lynn isn’t smiling it doesn’t mean she is in a bad mood, she’s just plotting the next delightful creation, and one I can’t wait to try!

Sláinte