Following the recent departure of former Abita Brewmaster Mark Walters from Columbia’s River Rat, the brewery has hired a former regional beer rep and avid homebrewer to join the brewing team.

Tyler Pawelkop, a Tampa, FL native and the former product and general manager of Columbia’s World of Beer, began working at the Columbia brewery Monday. Pawelkop most recently worked as a regional sales rep for The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery and is an avid homebrewer in Columbia. He joins Head Brewer Drew Walker, a former brewer at Abita and Alaska’s Kassik’s Brewery, and owner and brewer Mike Tourville.

I recently talked with Pawelkop about his new position and was told River Rat is working on producing a few new releases, the first of which is slated to come out this Saturday, May 10. Look for more new RR releases throughout the summer.