THE TEAM

Josh Letourneau
Co-Owner/Head of Brewing Operations

Josh grew up in Rehoboth, MA where he wandered the woods looking for adventures. For his 21st birthday, his wife, Lindsay, got him his first home brewing kit; this began his lifelong passion of brewing. He graduated from the American Brewers Guild in 2009 and immediately began brewing at Mayflower Brewing Co. in Plymouth, MA. Josh left Mayflower in 2011 to take the Head Brewer position at the then newly launching Grey Sail Brewing in Westerly, where he spent 6 years honing his craft. With Shaidzon, Josh is inspired to use his creativity to produce traditional and creative beers alike, all inspired by brews he has enjoyed from across the globe.

Chip Samson
Co-Owner/President

Chip grew up in West Kingston on Fairgrounds Rd. just down the street from the Shaidzon Beer Co. site. In 2004, he moved out west to Colorado where he lived in Boulder and then Denver before returning to Rhode Island in 2016. Chip furthered his passion for well crafted beers in Boulder spending many Friday afternoons in the old Avery Brewing Co. tasting room and doing multiple brewery trips to Fort Collins and breweries throughout the rest of Colorado as well. After moving to Denver, Chip knew he wanted to be involved in the beer world after thriving in a haven city for craft breweries. Chip moved to Rhode Island and worked together with Josh to bring Shaidzon Beer Company to life. 

ABOUT US

Shaidzon Beer Company is a small brewery in the village of West Kingston, Rhode Island nestled within beautiful coastal South County that opened in 2017 with owners, Josh Letourneau and Chip Samson. Josh and Chip are friends reaching back to their childhoods who both developed serious passions for great tasting beer. Shaidzon ran a tasting room and beer garden from inception until the end of 2024 when it closed for onsite traffic. That doesn’t stop the great beer making its way to you! Shaidzon prides itself on global influence in our beers plus the impact of the growing American craft beer market to produce finely brewed local craft beers. Shaidzon strives to maintain variety and bring you the best beer you can find. Shaidzon beers can now be found in restaurants and liquor stores throughout the state of Rhode Island. 

From our humble beginnings with a few tanks and one small tasting room, we have grown significantly in our production output. Our beers cover a range of styles and influences. Our first ever beer brewed was our Buffalo Czech Pilsner and it remains a staple today. It is one of our top beers in the market along with our Sea & Sand Pale Ale. We pride ourselves on brewing beer with English, Belgian, German, Czech, Italian, Irish, and numerous international influences. We brew light beers, hoppy beers, hazy beers, dark beers, malty beers, and more. We brew lagers and ales. We have never defined ourselves as an ale house or a lager house.

We have seasonal beers that we keep special to their time of year such as our Wicklow - Dry Irish Nitro Stout, our Buttercup Blonde Ale, and our Oktoberfest. 

Cheers to you and we will see you soon with your Shaidzon!