Mark Hellendrung is the Rhode Island native who bought a fading 1890 beer brand for less than $100,000 and made it New England's again. As owner and CEO of Narragansett Brewing Company, he resurrected a lager that had nearly vanished, brought brewing back to Rhode Island after a 30-plus-year exile, and opened a waterfront brewery and beer hall on the Providence harborfront. Before beer, he ran Nantucket Nectars and coached the team at Magic Hat. His pitch has always been the same: stay homegrown, stay local, and don't sell out to the big guys.
Dois Corvos is Lisbon's landmark independent craft brewery, founded in 2013 by Scott Steffens and Susana Cascais in the Marvila district. What started with a homebrew kit brought from Seattle has grown into one of Portugal's most recognised beer makers — producing roughly 550,000 litres a year, maintaining ~350 oak barrels, exporting to eight-plus countries, and operating two taprooms — all while remaining 100% family-owned with zero corporate backing.