Steve Beal, Master of Whisky & Liquid Archaeologist(c)
2003 "Spirits Ambassador to the World" Award Winner, Ambassador, Writer, Broadcast Personality
Steve is a very familiar figure to both the consumers who enjoy them and the those in the trade who make and sell fine single malts. He has earned the respect of everyone he meets with his endless energy and passion for all things distilled and whisky in particular.
Steve is admired and well known by top-shelf bartenders, chefs, waitpersons from the San Francisco Bay Area and across the country. Although he is the official brand ambassador for the Classic Malts of Scotland( & Johnnie Walker Blended Scotch Whiskies, Bushmills Irish Whiskey, Crown Royal Canadian Whisky, Bulleit Bourbon and George Dickel Tennessee Whisky, many have come to consider him the unofficial brand ambassador for the category of whisky as a whole.
He is regarded as one of the top distilled spirits experts in America.His start in the whisky business was one of fate and being in the right place at the right time. He was working for a well known culinary school when he received a call from someone looking for “…a Scotsman with a kilt who knew something about whisky...” The next thing he knew, Steve was standing in front of huge crowds, extolling the virtues of the water of life. From lecturing future chefs about spirits, he was now sharing his knowledge with the world.
Steve comes to his knowledge of sppirits through a very personal journey. He has trained at several distilleries, including Dalwhinnie, Caol Ila, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Oban, Talisker, Lagavulin, Glenkinchie, Cardhu and Royal Lochnagar. He has worked for major suppliers and distributors as well as The Whisky Shops of Scotland (Scotland’s largest retailer of fine malts) and helped with the launch of their San Francisco store, their first U.S. based location. He is a pioneer in internet whisky sales and consults for a large number of retailers, both on and off premise. He has presented training and sales programs to almost all the major single malt brands and done private venue tastings for the consumer in settings to numerous to list.
In addition to his work as an educator and ambassador, Steve has also been a judge for the prestigeous San Francisco World Spirits Competition since its inception. He has served as contributing editor for Patterson's California Beverage Journal (Tasting Panel Magazine). He serves on the General Council of the US Bartenders Guild Master Mixologist credential program where he chaired Group 3 - the whisky catagory, is a lecturer at the School of Fine Spiirts and Service in Las Vegas. He also can be heard weekly on the nationally syndicated radio show, Food Guy & Marcy, as a member of the Kitchen Cabinet as "Spiritual Advisor" and contributor of "the Cocktail of the Week"... (www.foodguyandmarcy.com )
Steve jokes that whisky ‘was the first true food which ever passed my lips”. He is descended from a long line of Scots, some of whom have been in the whisky business, but as he says..”most of them have kept the industry alive single handedly as loyal consumers”. He has been a presenter for the Wine & Spirits Focus for Bon Appetit magazie and at numerous culinary events, including the Beaver Creek Culinary Festival in Colorado.
He is a graduate of the University of Arizona and Oxford University. He studied classic European cusine and culinary arts in Paris. He also holds a Master of Divinity Degree from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley. He is an ordained Priest of the Episcopal church and when he isn’t busy teaching the world about fine spirits, he spends a great deal of his time volunteering with San Francisco’s homeless population and as Associate Pastor of San Francisco's Grace Cathedral.
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