About Barb

Barb McDonald, Brewery & Distillery Consultant

Experience & Education

As a consultant, Barb focuses on grain-to-glass production, making sure that she knows and understands every decision you’re making to streamline and improve all of your processes. Her eye toward materials & equipment can help you with starting a new operation, improving your current operation, or expanding into new frontiers. 

Barb’s impressive resume includes time at Durango Brewing Company as a QA/QC Analyst and assistant brewer, distilling with Law’s Whiskey House, speaking at the James B. Beam Institute Industry Conference, and working across the country with breweries and distilleries of all sizes and types.

Engineering. Quality. Passion.

Barb is a distilling and brewing consultant and chemical engineer driven by Engineering, Quality, and Passion. Specializing in high-quality, efficient beverage alcohol production, Barb can help you with designing, implementing, and optimizing brewing and distilling processes from concept through scale-up. She provides technical guidance and Quality Assurance support to ensure every product meets the highest standards.

Born and raised in Kentucky, Barb developed a lifelong passion for fermentation and spirits—especially whiskey. Her work blends sound engineering principles with practical industry experience, focusing on sustainable, cost-effective solutions that help producers create exceptional beer and spirits from soil to glass.

Great beer and spirits don’t happen by accident — they’re built on Engineering, defined by Quality, and fueled by Passion.

Barb also loves live music and the outdoors. She has a passion for great food & drink, travel, and being on the water. She’ll travel anywhere, anytime to explore new and old food and beverages along the way.

Medals & Awards

Membership & Associations

Barb has membership in:

Contact B. Ellen Consulting

If you’re ready to help your brewery or distillery reach new heights, reach out to Barb today to set up your consultation.