Thorn Brewing appoints new CEO

Thorn Brewing is pleased to announce the addition of San Diego beer veteran Marc Martin as CEO. After GM and beloved-beer-man-about-town, Tom Kiely, departed Thorn to move back to the East Coast, the company sought out someone that would be able to carry on Thorn’s unique and ambitious vision as well as help take the brewery to get to the next level as a San Diego beer producer.

“I am truly fortunate to join the Thorn Brewing team and am confident we will achieve great things together,” says Martin. “Thorn’s production brewery, neighborhood-focused tasting rooms, and co-manufacturing capabilities all help to differentiate them and provide plenty of opportunity ahead. Thorn is already one of San Diego’s finest breweries, and our plan moving forward is to focus

on quality and becoming a top regional iconic brand.”

Martin has been in the beer industry for 15 years, spending 13 of those years at Karl Strauss Brewing as the Vice President of Beer, where he oversaw sales, marketing, production, distribution, operations, quality control and warehouse responsibilities. He continued his San Diego beer experience through his consulting firm, where he worked with breweries like Rincon Reservation Road Brewery, Second Chance Beer Co., and WestBrew, to name a few. Marc has fit in incredibly well with the Thorn crew, having already worked extensively with Head of Production, Shawn Steele, at Karl Strauss for a number of years.

“When we started looking for a new leader at Thorn, the first person I thought of was Marc,” says Steele. “Working with him for 10 years earlier in both of our careers, I thought he would be a great fit and addition to our team. He is a real pro and a great person to work with. I’m really looking forward to the next 10 years.”

Thorn beer is currently available throughout California, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada, with offerings ranging from double dry-hopped IPAs to the first ever Baja-style lager, to San Diego’s first canned craft michelada.