Taste Radio Ep. 67: Deep Ellum’s John Reardon Discusses Entrepreneurism, Growth Plans


Last December, Texas’ Deep Ellum Brewing sold a 56 percent stake to Storied Craft Breweries, an upstart growth capital group founded by the creators of Effen Vodka and led by beer industry veterans Steve Berg and Adam Lambert.

Following that investment, Deep Ellum is growing at about 50 percent, and the brand still isn’t distributed outside of its home state.

“We’ve got a lot of runway ahead,” brewery founder John Reardon said during a recent episode of BevNET’s Taste Radio podcast.

What is Taste Radio, you ask? It’s a podcast for beverage, food and beer professionals, produced by BevNET.com (Brewbound’s parent company). Originally launched as a podcast for the non-alcoholic beverage industry, the program recently expanded its focus to include interviews with executives and entrepreneurs across the broader food and beverage landscape.

On this latest episode of Taste Radio, Brewbound assistant editor Justin Kendall and BevNET managing editor Ray Latif talk with Reardon, who also serves as the CEO of Deep Ellum. During the interview, Reardon explains how he got into the craft beer business, discusses his plans for growth and why he thinks Deep Ellum can become a “dominant” regional craft brewery.

Also in this episode: Project NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg and BevNET’s Jon Landis are joined by Scott Norton, founder of natural condiment brand Sir Kensington’s; and Gwen Burlingame, founder of lactose-free ice cream brand Minus the Moo, is the next guest on Elevator Talk.

Editor’s note: This interview was recorded during last month’s Brewbound Session in New York City. Interested in attending our next full-day business conference? Join us in Santa Monica, Calif., on Nov. 29!