Kelly McKnight (she/her/hers) studied pre-med and chemistry at Harvard before transitioning into brewing. She was the head brewer at a small brewpub in Boston before being asked to move back to her hometown and brew for New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado. Kelly has been brewing for New Belgium for ten years where she began as a Production Brewer and quickly moved into R&D where she has been the Lead Research & Development Brewer for the past six years. She operates and manages all R&D brewing in the 10hL Pilot brewhouse. Kelly spends her time working with her team to innovate versions of future large brands that will go to scale on the production systems, collaborations with other breweries, base blends for the Wood Cellar, pure raw material research brews, and one-off specialties for the taprooms. Since her time in the R&D department Kelly and her team have won numerous medals and awards for their innovative beers including Voodoo Ranger Juice Force which is the #1 craft beer launch of all time.

When Megan Parisi had left Cambridge Brewing to be Brewmaster at Bluejacket in DC Kelly was the only female brewer in the state of Massachusetts. In 2011 she started the Pink Boots Boston Chapter to be able to connect with fellow female brewers in New England. After moving back to Colorado Kelly has taken several leadership roles in the local brewing community including Chapter Leader and Co-Leader for Fort Collins, CO. Since 2011 she has spent her time with Pink Boots organizing numerous collaboration brew days, meetups, and educational opportunities.

For nearly two decades Kelly has focused on her education as a brewer. This includes CAMRA, IBD, MBAA, Yakima Chief Hop School, numerous Innovation and sensory courses, international collaboration brews, domestic and international beer judging, and TasteTrek.