Meet Ilona, Draught Works Microbe Wrangler!

Born and raised in the lush beauty of Boise, ID, Ilona’s insatiable thirst for education brought her to wild and wonderful, Missoula, MT. As a student at The University of Montana, Ilona consistency chose classes that really peaked her curiosity. Though her initial interest was in public health, taking these scintillating courses launched her to discover her passion for microbiology, eventually leading her to change her major (though her interest in public health still remains).

In early 2017, as she approached graduation, Ilona’s professors encouraged her to apply for an internship at one of Missoula’s many local breweries to gain some experience in her field, and to learn more about real life applications of what she had been learning and practicing at the university. At the time, Ilona didn’t even know that breweries needed microbiologists or lab technicians.

Draught Works was the very first brewery that Ilona reached out to, and admittedly we were very excited to explore the possibility of inviting a microbiology student to our team for the semester, as we had never employed a QA/QC intern before! Shortly after reaching out, she was invited to come down to Draught Works for an interview and a tour of our facility. Ilona absolutely rocked the interview (and we would later find out she basically just rocks at life in general), and she was pleasantly surprised to leave about an hour later with an internship offer!

“Learning about brewing science has been fascinating, especially learning about the yeast,” Ilona said, “I feel like yeast was somewhat under covered in my degree curriculum.”

In fact, there was quite a lot to learn about brewing for Ilona, “There was quite a steep learning curve, even though I brought a lot of knowledge to the table.”

Ilona’s hunger for knowledge, and exceptional work ethic helped her far exceed ALL expectations during her internship period. So much so, that Draught Works offered her a full time position immediately following graduation.

Ilona’s day-to-day work is pivotal in helping us achieve our mission to build YOU AND YOURS better beers. Her bright smile and attitude, dedication to craft, and ability to dish it back to the brewers makes her and invaluable asset to our production team and to Draught Works Brewery as a whole.

Ilona leads a healthy vibrant life! When she’s not wranglin’ microbes in the lab, she’s out and about biking, hiking, or snowshoeing! She also enjoys volunteering in the kitchen at The Poverello Center, and watching the occasional cat video on YouTube.

Her favorite beers are beers that are easy on the yeast. “They like lighter, low gravity beers like ‘That’s What She Said’ Cream Ale and Shadow Caster Amber Ale.

“I really appreciate the yeast as the living organisms they are.” Ilona said, “If the yeast aren’t having a good day, no one is having a good day.”

View another ramble: Meet Shelby The Beer Goddess