This article first appeared in Yankee Brew News

“I make garbage IPAs,” Vilija Bizinkauskas told me while sitting down for this interview. That remarks, followed by her laughter, were just one of the highlights in my fantastic conversation with a truly passionate expert in in the art of beer.

‘Vill-ee-a,’ or just ‘V’ as she’s more often called, was born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts, and graduated from Framingham State University in 2010 with a dietetics degree and zero brewing history. Today a brewing professional for over 10 years in both Massachusetts and Vermont, I met up with her at Break Rock Brewing Company, an ocean-front brewery and taproom located in Marina Bay, Quincy, Massachusetts, where she serves double-duty as head brewer and co-owner and was recently awarded a Gold Medal in the American Light Lager category at the 2025 U.S. Open Beer Championship.

“I’ve never had the ability to compete before,” Vilija shared with me, along with the gold medal itself to hold. “They are so expensive to enter, plus I couldn’t do my own recipes. But I set out a goal long ago that I wanted to win an award for one of my beers, really the only goal I’ve ever had.”

According to Break Rock’s Instagram, Vilija has meticulously refined the beer’s recipe since its debut under the name ‘Houghs Neck’ in July 2023, but she’s quick to clarify: “Yes, the recipe is two years old, but it’s actually only been brewed five times! Last year, I entered the World Beer Cup and JBF with this lager, went to the final round in both cases, and didn’t place because of carbonation. But getting those judges’ results that I went four rounds? That was better than placing.”

Break Rock takes deep pride in being a part of the Quincy community. The brewery’s name is inspired by the quarrying history of the city, and the logo evokes a “Star Drill,” a tool used to split and remove large chunks of bedrock granite. Vilija takes obvious pleasure in sharing with me the local stories, photographs, and artifacts, which are scattered throughout the brewery.

But Vilija is equally passionate about beer education for her community, and not just for brewers. “We are too busy doing stupid videos of throwing shit at Kevin instead of educating our customer,” she told me. “I tell people: if you want to know what an IPA is? Harpoon’s IPA, the color, bitterness, alcohol, everything.  But nobody knows what an IPA is anymore. I always think of Lawson’s quote: “I never made an IPA, I just made IPAs in New England.” Now everyone wants a juice bomb. Really, they should be called flower ales, or a New England style ale, so you’re not confusing it.”

“We are doing a disservice in not educating customers,” she continues. “Beer used to be fun. I think we stopped exciting and educating our customers, and a little complacent, sticking with what we can do best. Our staff is so knowledgeable here; they are happy to walk you through. They are doing the job I can’t do. I can’t be out here open to close every day and be excited about the beer; I need them to be my ten other hands.  Here’s a tip for everyone reading: if you get your bartenders excited about the beer? It makes all the difference. I go to a place that has just okay beer, but I go because of owners and the family. They are good people, and I would rather support people with passable beer than some egotistical snobbish place with excellent beer.”

So, with so much emphasis on both community and education, what about her inspiration when it comes to brewing herself? “I’m always trying to hear what the customers want, of course, because this is their home. But my inspiration is always what’s new out there. What’s the newest yeast strain, and how will it work in a simple setting?”

Small batch experiments, I assume? Nope. “My experiment size is 300 gallons,” she grins. “I’m that confident.  I think it’s more inspiring and exciting when you walk into a place with 12 beers that are all different, but they use the same 4 ingredients. It’s fascinating to learn what the bacterial brings to the table. But at the same time, if I didn’t have the ten years of solid hands-on learning from my predecessors and having the ability to see what they use and why they use it, I would not be here, because you learned from the brewer what to do, not just the job, but the whys, and they made sure to teach you the ways.”

Nearly three years ago, Vilija was elected by her peers to serve as President of the New England Chapter of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas, only the second woman to hold this position.  “I joined the Master Brewers Association on my own dime because I wanted to be with like-minded people, just to shake hands with the people who inspire me. The beer industry used to be all about having passion for making a specific style of beer, doing your best to nail that specific style, then going to colleagues and saying: ‘Try this, and let me try yours.’ Now we are so oversaturated; everyone is trying to diversify, whereas I think if we all come back together as a whole, we could all succeed.  If we collectively worked together, the customers would know what to expect and they could decide what’s better.”

To wrap up this interview, here are more tips from this powerhouse:

“The most memorable beer is the one you don’t remember. It’s when you’re talking and talking to your friend or whoever, and you didn’t even realize you drank most of your beer. Because it wasn’t abrasive, you weren’t taken out of the moment, having a whole inner monologue that shouldn’t exist: ‘Do I get another one? Do I finish it?’”

“Second, that moment when it’s almost gone, and the bartender offers another, you take your last sip and realize how good it is? That’s my goal.”

“Third: if you personally can’t drink two pints of anything you put on the menu? Then don’t expect me to.”

Go meet Vilija and talk beer at Break Rock Brewing Company, located at 534 Victory Road, Marina Bay, in Quincy, Massachusetts, or learn what’s on tap at www.breakrockbrewing.com