By Tera Dacek
The name “Lawson” may make you think of Lawson’s Finest Liquids, one of Vermont’s most sought-after breweries. But when owner Sean Lawson returned to Vermont after living out west, it was to work in environmental science and forestry, not open up a brewery.
We talked to Lawson, a UVM alumnus, about changing his career path to start a successful craft brewery.
When did you first realize that brewing beer could be more than just a hobby for you?
After I graduated from UVM with a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, I went to Montana to do fieldwork with peregrine falcons for a summer then set my sights on being a ski bum for the winter.
I got a job at the Breckenridge Pub and Brewery and eventually started helping occasionally in the brewery. At that point, I was already an avid homebrewer. After that stint, I spent a year in Flagstaff, Arizona working at Beaver Street Pub and Brewery. But I didn’t fully appreciate then how creative and fulfilling brewing as a career could be.
I returned to UVM to get my master’s degree in forestry and worked as a scientist and outdoor educator for 15 years. In 2007, I started to consider opening a small brewery. Friends and family had been encouraging me to do so for years.
Read more on the UVM Outreach Blog.
