Brewbound Podcast On Location CBC Conversations with Breeze Galindo and Pam Brulotte

[00:00:00] Justin Kendall: Heading to CBC? Kick things off the day before at Brewbound's meetup at Love City Brewing in Philly, Sunday, April 19th from 5 to 7 p.m. Connect with beer industry leaders, grab a drink, and catch up with the Brewbound team. It's free to attend and walking distance from the convention center. Head to Brewbound.com slash lovecity.rsvp. And don't forget to catch the Brewbound team at booth 956 during CBC. Next on The Brewbound Podcast, more coverage from the Craft Brewers Conference. Hello and welcome to The Brewbound Podcast. I'm Justin Kendall.

[00:00:48] Jessen Fante: I'm Jessen Fante. And I'm Zoe Licata.

[00:00:51] Justin Kendall: And it's sad times for Zoe Licata and myself as this is our farewell for now to Jessen Fante. You're taking a month off. Oh, you scared me. You didn't get fired. No.

[00:01:05] Jessen Fante: I was like, what is happening? Oh, my goodness. Yes. Yeah.

[00:01:10] Zoe Licata: Well, so the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a very generous parental leave program and you can take any of your 12 weeks to bond with your baby before their first birthday. So I'm sneaking in under the wire and going to spend Cora's 11th month of life LARPing as a stay at home mom. And thank you guys for the support. in allowing me to do this. I'm very excited. I'm excited for you. Thank you. I'm also nervous for Cora. Smothered in love. Smothered in love. But she also like she's she's been in daycare since November, since I since my husband went back to work. And she's learned so much. She's grown a lot. Like, I know people kind of poo-poo daycare, but I've been mostly really happy with everything she's learned. But she will be starting a new daycare in the fall for a lot of reasons, just what works best for us. And she's going to be out until then with me. Me for a month, Nana for a week, and Daddy daycare all summer. So I just hope we can all, like, help her continue all of the development. We'll see.

[00:02:10] Jessen Fante: Doesn't regress.

[00:02:11] Zoe Licata: Yeah, I know.

[00:02:13] Justin Kendall: Enjoy the savings.

[00:02:15] Zoe Licata: Yeah. Yeah, seriously.

[00:02:17] Justin Kendall: Well, as I hit, we are at the Craft Brewers Conference. It's day two. We've just seen Professor Bart Watson, Dr. Bart Watson, do his talk on the state of the industry. But first, I want to dive into a little bit of the mood and vibe and the scene that we're seeing here right now. And I'd say it's mostly an upbeat vibe. It seems to be a pretty bustling trade show floor. I don't know. It may be recency bias for me, but how are you all feeling about the scene here?

[00:02:51] Jessen Fante: Yeah, I think it's more positive than I expected it to be. I think maybe we were a little too hard on the whole situation because people seem to be really excited to be here. I think, honestly, some of the booths are a little crazier. Like people showed up a little bit for Las Vegas with some of the the setups. So it's yeah, it seems like people are in happy spirits. I mean, that's we talked about it when we recapped the first session that The whole theme of that really was just positivity. So it's kind of carried over.

[00:03:24] Zoe Licata: Surprises me a little bit, but I think people are actually psyched to be in Vegas. Maybe that's because everybody went out last night and had a lot of fun. But I mean, you and I both headed to the Arch District last night, and I was really surprised at the number of breweries that are all right there. So a really nice scene. I had probably the best dive bar experience I have ever seen. This place called the Silver Stamp. M. Sauter Pints and Panels was doing a pop-up shop, so we popped in and I think we all need to go. Incredible draft list and a chicken that tells fortunes. Like a live chicken? No, no.

[00:04:01] Jessen Fante: It's like a robotic chicken.

[00:04:03] Zoe Licata: A robotic chicken that lays an egg and for 25 cents it will tell you your fortune. So I think we all got to go back. But yeah, Vegas full of surprises.

[00:04:13] Justin Kendall: Add it to the list. And also, you didn't compete, but you went to the arm wrestling event. I did.

[00:04:17] Jessen Fante: I did go to the arm wrestling event, which was so good. I ended up on the hype squad for our friend Julie Hurts, who was a mama bear persona. So we all had don't poke the bear shirts on and we threw gummy bears into the audience. It was so lively in there. Everyone was cheering like for everyone. There was a really intense fight between Dr. J and Breeze from the MJF that they are both very strong women that they it was it went three rounds. It was. Oh, my. Who won? Breeze ended up winning. And yeah, but they went back and forth in that last round. It was intense. Two recent Brubham podcast guests.

[00:05:02] Zoe Licata: I would just like to point out. Yeah. Who did Julie go up against?

[00:05:05] Jessen Fante: Julie went up against, I don't know her real name, but it was a woman in a, her persona was like a care bear, like a bright pink care bear. And she came around and hugged everybody. She was like her, a loving care bear, yeah. Oh, the two bears. Yes, it was bear versus bear.

[00:05:23] Zoe Licata: I not to bring myself back in here, but I had a great Halloween costume one year at the brewery Halloween party where I was a care beer and I was a pink care bear, but I printed out like an Oktoberfest dine and had it on my belly. It's great.

[00:05:37] Jessen Fante: Well done.

[00:05:38] Zoe Licata: Awesome.

[00:05:38] Jessen Fante: Yeah.

[00:05:38] Zoe Licata: Well, it was fun. I have a little FOMO, so we'll put it on the list for next year.

[00:05:43] Jessen Fante: Definitely. We all need to go next year because it's it was a highlight.

[00:05:46] Zoe Licata: I think you need to wrestle.

[00:05:48] Jessen Fante: No, absolutely not. I will not be up there. It was mainly women who work on the production side and are carrying around kegs. And like, they are very, very strong people.

[00:06:01] Justin Kendall: Zoe, I believe in you. And for the next 365 days, you will be able to prep. By the time we're in Indianapolis on April 28th, I think that you can take the crown.

[00:06:14] Jessen Fante: I appreciate the faith in me. It might be in my blood a little bit. My mom's go-to thing when she's had a little bit too much wine is to try to arm wrestle everybody. Whoa. That's amazing. Yeah. So maybe I need to get some tips from her. Well, you could train with her. Yeah.

[00:06:30] Justin Kendall: You've got the killer instinct in you. So I believe in you, but let's get to some of the news and it's going to be a little truncated. We're going to talk about Dr. Bart Watson's talk and fill us in Zoe, because you were the one paying the most attention and Bart really broke down, you know, where things stand with, you know, the various brewery sizes. So take us through that if you can.

[00:06:55] Jessen Fante: Yeah, all the specific numbers we'll have on the website because I don't have a good enough memory for all of that recall. But yeah, he broke down again. It was like all about kind of positivity. He broke down, you know, craft production was down one percent. But in the scheme of things, that's pretty good because other segments and Total Beer are not doing so great. So craft is is doing all right. tapped into contract for the first time too, which was really interesting, which was flat this year. I expect to see more numbers out of the BA around contract. They're just really embracing that right now. Regionals were up. Regional breweries were up 1%, which was pretty big news. I feel like regionals typically are not doing so well. So that was positivity out of it. The types of breweries that took the biggest hit were microbreweries. They were down. five percent. And Bart said that's because they're kind of squashed in this weird zone where they don't really know what their place is. There is a lot of interesting tips in there, too, about growth versus how much they focus on distribution or on premise. And those seem to vary based on the type of brewery as well. So check out all those details in our coverage. Brewpubs also seem to be, he said, they kind of have to decide what they want to be right now. Those were, I want to say it was relatively low growth, right? Like a single digit. And he said, you know, their brewpubs, it's expensive to operate a brewpub. You're operating as a restaurant, basically. And you have to figure out how you're going to get people to go into your brewpub, especially with just the prices on consumers. up to 40 something percent in just the price to consumer to have food away from your home. And so how are you going to bring consumers in? You really have to differentiate yourself.

[00:08:55] Zoe Licata: Yeah. I remember Bart saying that brew pubs are kind of waging a battle against the couches and smartphones because it's hard to get people out of their house when they have so much at their fingertips to entertain themselves just at home. Throw in how easy it is to get food delivered.

[00:09:12] Jessen Fante: Yeah.

[00:09:12] Justin Kendall: It's a lot. Barta also, he's repeated this before. I mean, this was sort of a, there was a bit of a like deja vu to the speech where he's talking about the need for reinvention to rethink, you know, if you're opening a brewery, you can't just go into an industrial space at this point and draw people in. Like the allure of that, the experience of that. There are 9,683 other breweries that pretty much have that experience.

[00:09:39] Jessen Fante: Yeah. It was also interesting to hear Bart's talk after Fawn Weaver's talk yesterday, because he noted that she really emphasized that the liquid is incredibly important. And yes, it is. But Bart Watson pointed out that you can't just get off on your liquid. You have to be providing something else. So yes, take that advice, but also there's so much good product out there now. You have to actually find a way to sustain yourself as a business beyond that, whether that's providing more for consumers or that's just how you operate differently, focusing on things like your sustainability practices or something.

[00:10:16] Zoe Licata: Yeah. A couple of interesting things over the past few days where awards specifically have come up. And I think it's been interesting, you know, this morning we heard from Tanya Cornett, the head brewer at 10 Barrel, who was honored with the Russell Sear Award for Brewing Innovation. And she talked about how one of her first, you know, oh my God, I can do this moments was when she won an award at GABF for Golden IPA and the gold medal in the IPA category, not Golden IPAs. And she pointed out like, hey, you know, like the judges can't taste when the beer is made by a woman. And, you know, Fawn yesterday went on and on about how she kept hearing from people throughout the industry that, oh, nobody cares about awards. Nobody cares about awards. Don't bother. But Uncle Nearest, her whiskey brand has gone on to win, I think over eleven hundred medals. So I think it's easy to say, hey, nobody cares about awards when you are of the dominant demographic group in the industry, you can say, hey, nobody cares about awards. But when you are underrepresented and you're trying to make a name for your product, like you do need to lean into this and it gives you credibility with other people.

[00:11:23] Justin Kendall: Yeah, absolutely. And Tanya had a lot of great quotes, too, along with Vaughn. But one of those I thought was Tanya, one day Budweiser is going to buy you or something.

[00:11:35] Zoe Licata: And that happened. But I wonder if the person who said that to her knew that Budweiser would then sell her.

[00:11:43] Jessen Fante: Right. They also know that she would get bought by a cannabis company.

[00:11:48] Zoe Licata: Yeah.

[00:11:49] Justin Kendall: It's a wild world we live in.

[00:11:51] Zoe Licata: Oh, man. So many things that were not on anybody's bingo cards.

[00:11:55] SPEAKER_??: Yeah.

[00:11:55] Justin Kendall: I think that's a good place to leave that. But let's wrap up with another round or tabbing out. And this one hit our radar early this morning. Monster Brewing has released new packaging for the Dale's Pale Ale, Dale's Pale and Dale's Light brands. And I think Dr. Jessen Fante referred to it as... A gel pack? Is that what it is?

[00:12:25] Zoe Licata: I don't know. It's the Jorts equivalent of beer.

[00:12:29] Jessen Fante: Yeah, I can see that.

[00:12:30] Justin Kendall: Going after the denim demographic, definitely. Definitely has a Wrangler look to it.

[00:12:38] Zoe Licata: Yes. I wouldn't call it Jordash. I think you're right. Certainly not seven for all mankind.

[00:12:46] Justin Kendall: So Zoe, we haven't been able to discuss this. Are you buying another round of this rebranding of the Oscar Blues brand? Or I should say Dales, because I feel like we're not really talking about Oscar Blues anymore.

[00:13:01] Zoe Licata: No, and this happened a year ago. This happened right before my last maternity leave.

[00:13:05] Justin Kendall: Yeah. You getting a Jorts pack?

[00:13:07] Jessen Fante: I don't think I'm going to be getting a Jorts pack. Yeah, I'm just going to refrain from that.

[00:13:14] Zoe Licata: Well, I mean, the light lager is acid wash. Does that make you feel any better?

[00:13:17] Jessen Fante: I appreciate their gene diversity, I guess. No, I just, it, it just kind of gives me a little bit of like odd feelings because it's, it falls along the lines, I think of a lot of the branding we've seen from light lager brands that are trying to be super like, America, like, literally, I think it's called America and it looks like Marlboro Red back in there. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yes, that's it. It's an interesting choice that I think it makes sense for all the things that have been happening in that that segment, the stuff we've seen with Bud Light and with people trying to do a lot more light loggers and bring in some of those consumers into craft. But it makes me feel a little icky sometimes just just thinking about that, that who else they might be attracting. Hear you on that.

[00:14:11] Zoe Licata: Yeah. I mean, I admire the dedication to denim innovation.

[00:14:18] Justin Kendall: I mean, we talk about innovation coming in many forms, and here it is.

[00:14:22] Zoe Licata: Denovation. Genovation. I'm done.

[00:14:27] Justin Kendall: All right.

[00:14:28] Zoe Licata: All right, let's get to our featured interviews. We have got two great conversations lined up. The first is with Breeze Galindo, the Director of Operations for the Michael Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling. And then Zoe and I chat with Pam Brulotte, one of the co-founders of Icicle Brewing and a member of the BA Board of Directors. I am so excited that this guest has come to join us, Breeze Galindo, Director of Operations for the Michael Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling. Breeze, how are you?

[00:14:58] Brewbound Podcast: I am great, actually, extremely excited, a little bit nervous. This is my first CBC. I'm really excited to be here and meet new people, but it's always a little bit intimidating. Overall, it's been great. That's amazing. I can't believe this is your first time. I know. I've been in an industry for 10 years and it's, I mean, going to CBC when it's not the most affordable conference to attend. So being a shift brewer up until recently, lead brewer my entire life, there's never really opportunity to come out here when you work for a brewery that's really So now that I'm working for the Michael Jackson Foundation as the Director of Operations, this was the perfect opportunity to be here. And the board and Garrett have been super supportive of that. So it's been great.

[00:15:41] Zoe Licata: Awesome. Well, let's dive into that. So, you know, before becoming the MJF Director of Ops and the Foundation's first official, Higher, higher. That's great. I mean, that's like, to me, that's always a sign that an organization is growing up and professionalizing. But I'm going to stop opining on this. You were a board member. You've been involved since the beginning. So how have you seen the organization grow and change since you first joined?

[00:16:04] Brewbound Podcast: Definitely more rules, more SOP, us coming on to the board and starting so fresh. We all had all these ideas and all these high hopes of we're going to do this and do that and do this and not necessarily spread ourselves too thin, but trying to figure out, okay, what can we do first? What's the first step that we can take over and know that we're going to succeed? And that was to offer scholarships, to go through that interview process, to market the application process, to ensure that we're getting the word out there, we're trying to market, like, hey, we have these scholarships for People of Color at both Brewing and Distilling, we know we can do this, and we really came together as a board to put the work in. On top of that, being able to evolve from that is, one, we had to understand, like, all right, we need to have a better process, a more thorough process, more streamlined process. And also, we realized that what happens to the awardees after they get their scholarships and after they go through the programs? Where do they go? Where are they? And what's great about working with other board members that are of color is that we all understand how much work needs to get done in order to see any sort of progress. So we're always aware, we're always watching. And not just within the industry, but within ourselves as a board. So while we're going through the interview process, it's normally three board members per applicant. And the board members who were with me on that process noticed that I was quite the cheerleader, extremely supportive, always empowering the applicant whenever they came on, extremely nervous. Mind you, I was the youngest board member to be added, as well as I was simply just a shift brewer at the time, where everybody else on the board were all organization owners, brewery owners, so I was extremely intimidated. So seeing myself in these applicants, I really made sure that I stepped in, ensuring that they felt seen and supported and like, it's okay, just take deep breaths and you belong here and you hold that much value, like we want you to be here. And once they saw how much work I was putting into that, they had asked if I would be interested in starting a mentorship program and spearheading it. Not knowing how to do that at all, I just went for it and put so much work into it. Again, the board members have been so supportive. They absolutely helped whenever they could, whenever I needed them, they were there. And we put together an entire program for it that I was able to run on my own and interview different leaders across the country and the industry. And the first round was Again, intimidating, but it's beautiful to see the amount of support that just came in, not just from the board, but from the industry, as well from the BA, always asking if I needed something. So from there, we started the mentorship program, and the mentors who I work with have been phenomenal, and now my friends, and it's great seeing that kind of support. And after that, of course, came the Director of Operations and being able to step in and see how else can we expand the foundation, making sure that it does last long term. One thing that I'm really passionate about is community building within the industry, within the foundation. What that means is trying to have a constant point of contact with our awardees, with our mentees. And the reason for that is It's really hard to get a foot in the door when you're a People of Color. I mean, when you go to beer festivals, the majority of the people there are white men. And so you think about networking and who gets to be who in front of other people's faces, leaders, brewery owners. I feel like People of Color were just kind of left in the back, were left behind. So the purpose of being able to build more community within the foundation is ensuring that these awardees have access to that nonstop. So I want to be able to build a community board, a website within the foundation to constantly have a networking opportunity for them, where if we all can meet at a festival or a conference like CBC, it's like, great, let's all meet up here. We're going to meet with some founders. We're going to meet with some donors. They need to know your names because you are phenomenal. Foundations are for many reasons, but I am beyond passionate with the MJF because I remember what it was like starting off as a People of Color in 2015, and it was extremely challenging. And for me, it's like, yes, it's going to be hard work, but I never want them to take twice as long to get to where I am. to work hard to get to where they need to be. And the foundation allows that, especially with the person who has been running it like Garrett Oliver. So it's really cool to be able to work not only with Garrett, but see how much work he puts into it. And I wish more people could see how great he is and how passionate he is about ensuring that the MJF really succeeds and has that longevity within the industry to support People of Color in the industry.

[00:20:39] Jessen Fante: That community aspect is so huge because like these events can be incredibly overwhelming just if you're going in there. And especially if you don't have any of those existing connections yet, it's really hard to make those. I mean, craft is massive at this point, but it also kind of acts like a small community. And so if you don't have a connection in there yet, it's really hard to get it. So building that is great.

[00:21:01] Brewbound Podcast: If we really wanted to be as inclusive as we constantly say that we wanted to be, I hear it all the time at conferences, then I feel like an organization like the MJF is a really great opportunity as like a stepping stone where it's like, all right, we're here. Let's have the meet and greets. Why don't you come and meet our awardees? Step over here and come talk to us. And once we kind of have that, we bridge that gap. the progress will start to increase a little bit more and a little bit more every year. So what I would like to see more conferences and even beer festivals, it's always the opportunity to create more space for organizations like the MJF or other organizations that benefit People of Color in both Brewing and Distilling. It'd be fun.

[00:21:40] Jessen Fante: You brought up creating that mentorship program. So the MJF provides scholarships, but also the big aspect of this is that mentorship. Why is it so important to have just beyond the financial benefit of being able to pay for an education? What is the importance of having that kind of connection and guidance?

[00:21:57] Brewbound Podcast: It kind of brings me back to when I was graduating college. I thought all you needed, I was the first person in my family to go to college. And so I thought graduating and having a diploma meant that you just had an abundance of opportunities to work in the field that you wanted to. And turns out you really just needed your dad to know somebody or to run a company or you needed more connections, right? So a lot of people in that group have that opportunity. The same thing goes in Craft Brewers. It's like, I didn't know that I was, you know, it's not about just going to brewing school because I don't have, I've never had the money to go brewing school. I really started from the ground up. But at the same time, it's understanding, like, you also have to know people. You have to ensure that you have the skills and the education, even if you can't afford it, let's find that. And also the mentorship, right, the guidance. If I had a mentor back then, I feel like my career would have accelerated a little bit more than what it is now. Although, again, I feel like my experiences have taught me a lot. And with that, the mentorship program allows awardees to be able to, yes, have the scholarship, but what do you need post scholarship? Do you need guidance on how to manage a brew team? Do you need more skills and experience on how to work in the production team or in the cellar or on the brew house. What is it that you need? Do you need guidance? Do you need education? Do you need access? Do you need networking opportunities? Do you need contacts? Do you need to know where it is that you could work next? Do you feel like you're unsure that you're meant for this. Okay, well, I can find the right mentor for you to help guide you. And what's beautiful about these mentors is some of them are technical and like that's their focus. Some of them would rather work with more experienced brewers. Some of them would rather work with green brewers. Some of them would rather just be just a level of support for people in the industry. And that's great because we all learn in different ways. We all function different ways. We all survive in different ways in the industry. Because I feel like again, the Craft Brewers industry, when you're a People of Color, you're surviving. And having a mentor, the perfect mentor for you, allows you to work on those things. So we go through, like, we interview the mentors. So I ask the mentees, like, what do you want? And then I interview the mentors to make sure this is what they can offer, and then I categorize all of them, where it's like, it's more for support, technical, the beginning process, networking. So I have them all in these categories, so once when I find the, not only the personality, personality to match, As soon as I have that, then I'm like, okay, you guys have six weeks. If this doesn't mean anything, let me know, I'll be checking in, but this is all you, because every mentor has a different style of mentoring. And that's so important. If someone's extremely social, if you have a really social mentor with someone who's extremely shy, then that really social mentor can be like, let's talk about networking and the hard parts of it and what we can do. If you kind of put them in a position where they're given a mentor where they feel mostly intimidated and the mentor is more of like, not really empathetic, but just more technical, then the mentee would be extremely intimidated, not wanting to really open up about what is it that they don't know. Right. The important part is listening to them and being able to offer what it is that they need, not what you think they need. Right. And that's what's so beautiful about the mentorship. And then you find the mentor that can offer them that and giving them the conversation of like, all right, this is Enrique. This is his specifics. This is what he needs. He's a little bit on the shy side, but I think if you kind of empower him a little bit, he's really going to come out of his shell. What do you think? And it'll be like that. And having the opportunity to get to know some of these mentees, because, again, I also come from a Shift Brewer world, I come from an employee standpoint, it allows me to converse with them the way that a coworker would converse with them, not like I'm in a more leadership role, you're supposed to feel intimidated. It's more like, no, I got you, don't worry about it. Like, text me if you need anything.

[00:25:39] Zoe Licata: Yeah. Awesome. Well, I think one thing people always wonder is how can they get involved? How can they help? So how can people in the industry best support the MJF? What do you most need from the community?

[00:25:52] Brewbound Podcast: Exposure, support. listen, show up. It'd be great to have people in the industry show up to things that we are offering or things that we're putting together. We're always happy to take any sort of donation. We have a link on our website, mjf.org, to be able to continue supporting our awardees through time. I think since we've been open, we've been able to offer about give or take $200,000 worth of scholarship money. That means 44 scholarships and aside from that, it's also money on books or any other support that they actually need. And mind you, this isn't something that we can do overnight where we open the application process and we just give out checks like that. It really does take time and throughout us being founded and getting all of our tools together to get it started, it has taken time to be able to get to where we are, like Jackson Foundation that's trying to be successful and maintain its course, right? What people could really give us is the opportunity to create space for us, invite us, not like specifically Garrett and I, but invite our awardees to attend their conferences, invite awardees to attend festivals. Regardless of the beer being poured, festivals are also extremely important for awardees to attend and to meet other brewery owners, meet other brewers, again the networking opportunity. It's not just about the money, again that'd be great, but it's also what other support systems that they can offer that still allows them to be a part of changing the course of the industry to be more inclusive and diverse. What would be great is just be more inclusive. Just come talk to us. We're a lot of fun and we can teach you a thing or two as well as minorities. So yeah, just come hang out, come picket. Let's go do stuff.

[00:27:39] Zoe Licata: The thing that I find so impressive is that, you know, like, you know, diversifying the industry is the thing that we've all been talking about forever, forever, forever. And it just kind of got talked about. Garrett, like, just went and fucking did it. To see the action, to see this organization take shape, to see you sitting here as the director of ops, to know that there's 44 awardees in the world, like, it's so impressive. My God, I'm gonna cry. This is embarrassing. I'm just, like, blown away, you know? And I think if anybody can make this happen, it's Garrett. The man is Force.

[00:28:10] Brewbound Podcast: Also, I keep saying it, where it's the industry really doesn't know how much Garrett puts into his purpose. in the industry, like he has goals, he has a vision. And also like who else was doing it at the pace that Garrett is doing it now. And I feel like Garrett looked around and was just like, all right, I'll do it and watch me do it. And it's not like I can do it better, but also like watch how I'm doing it and ask me how I'm doing it. And let's continue creating that and expanding on that. It's not a competition. It's not a game. It's more of like, now we can work together. I created this foundation so that we can work together as an industry. And okay, now let's do it. Yeah. And also he has a great sense of style. People need to pay attention with a way of his style. Like that's how the Craft Brewers industry should be dressing day in and day out. I want a hat and a nice like coat. He's so nice too. The nicest. The nicest.

[00:29:07] Zoe Licata: Well, before we let you go, I do want to talk about one thing that's going on with you. So, you know, you were at Other Half for years and now you're launching, you've launched your own brewery. Can you update us on Miluna and how does it feel to be building something from the ground up for yourself?

[00:29:21] Brewbound Podcast: It's terrifying, and it's nerve-wracking, and it's also beautiful at the same time. What I love about Mi Luna is I'm building a brewery that I've always wanted to work for, and being able to do that is, yes, it's a lot of work, and my purpose is to be able to try to create something that the industry hasn't really done, and just taking a different formula of how to open a brewery out here. Specifically New York, that's where it's opening. The reason why I decided it's time is because, I mean, listen, I've been in the industry for 10 years. I've been brewing for eight. I started a women's forum to empower women. I started a traveling forum called Luminary Voices that also holds forums where we can talk about women and their voices and put them on a platform. I'm a director of operations for the Michael James Jackson Foundation. I'm also a board member for Beer Culture Center based out of Chicago. You guys, I've done the work and I'm continuously doing the work and I'm a brewer. And I brewed beer throughout that entire time. So for me, being able to not only know how to engage in the community and create community within my own self is one, this is something that I want, but also with beer because beer is a connector. And I really miss my culture. Being in New York, I really miss my culture a lot. I'm Mexican. And I really wanted to see a place where I could not only see myself, but other people as well. not only in front of the bar and in the taprooms, but also in production as well. And being able to share my culture and include people in my culture and teach them what we do, being able to combine that with what I love to do, which is brewing, that's something that I've always wanted to see. So I'm like, all right, let's just try it and let's see what happens. So it's been great. Right now I'm working on getting my wholesale license to be able to contract brew. There's a great brewery in Brooklyn that's willing to help me get the product out. The industry has been super supportive. For example, like the Brewing Company that I worked with, it's actually Latina operated and Latina owned, Latina founded, and they're based out of Mexico City, which goes to show the purpose of Milunas to be able to empower and put a spotlight on not only Latinas but People of Color who are going to help me create something phenomenal in this industry. I love it and I'm here for it and it's going to take a lot of work but I mean, We're all here because we put in the work and because it's taken us some time to get here, right? Especially as women. So I'm not afraid of how long it's going to take. I'm not afraid, period. I am nervous, but if you're nervous about something, that means that you are in love with it and it's worth it, right? Why not take the risk? Why not jump? I've been jumping my whole life in this industry and it's working out for me. I just want to bring people along with me. I want to bring People of Color along with me. I want to bring Latinas along with me because it's been time. And Mil Luna is a great way to be able to get that started and to get it going. And so far, the response has been amazing to see. It's really beautiful. So I'm really excited. Awesome. Well, we can't wait to watch. Oh, my God. You guys are totally coming to the grand opening. I mean, you guys have to come out to New York. It's going to be great.

[00:32:21] Jessen Fante: Yeah, we'll take a nice quick Amtrak ride or something. Easy peasy. Oh, absolutely. We're there.

[00:32:27] SPEAKER_??: We're there.

[00:32:27] Zoe Licata: Bree, thank you so much for joining us.

[00:32:28] Jessen Fante: This was awesome. Thank you for having me.

[00:32:30] Zoe Licata: I appreciate it. Hey, we are here on the trade show floor at the Craft Brewers Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. I'm Jessen Fante. I'm Zoe Licata. Guess we're going fancy and dropping full names today. And our guest is Pam Brulotte, the co-founder of Icicle Brewing, also a BA board member. Pam is a very big deal in many circles. So I'm thrilled that you're here to join us, but Pam, how are you doing? Oh, so great. That was a very impressive intro. No pressure. So Pam, I mean, I've got prepared questions for you, but I feel like we could just sit here and chat. But I mean, so your family's history goes way back in the Yakima Valley. Yes. More than a century in the hop industry there, which is super impressive, but probably just going to hit you with a big one right to start with. How does it feel to carry on a family legacy like that?

[00:33:20] On Location: Great question. So I did marry a hop farmer, he was fifth generation. And then we actually did branch off on our own and farmed wine grapes. And then we sold our vineyard to start our restaurant and his parents retired. So now we mainly just have cousins. I don't know if you know Shelly and Eric Demery from CLS Farms. That's my husband's second cousin and we have lots of friends, but no longer in the hop industry, but we still are because we buy a lot of hops now. Exactly. Naturally, yes. Integrated in every which direction, but that's really, really cool. Yeah, it's kind of full circle because I'm actually speaking on a panel with Shelly later today. And we were talking and we were first here in like 1997 as 20 something newly married hop farmers at the hop convention. So it's kind of full circle that we're back here. Yeah. I mean, what are your family parties like? That must be really fun. Always. Yeah, you know, everyone is kind of family in Moxie. And so the brulee, like family reunions are quite large. So I feel like I'm married into a great family. Yeah. So you guys founded Icicle. What year was that? So we built it in 2010. Our restaurant Munchen House, we had built that in 2001. And yeah, we just our town didn't have a brewery, the brewery that was there had moved out and so it was a great opportunity to kind of get back into making Craft Brewers and, and we just always believed in selling local Craft Brewers which was hard back in. The early 2000s, not a lot of choices, but having the hop history and really wanting to support local, that's how we started. And we're very excited to start our brewery. And we built in 2010, opened in 2011.

[00:35:08] Jessen Fante: So for people who aren't familiar with Icicle, how would you describe what the feeling of the brand is, what you guys specialize in, all those details?

[00:35:15] On Location: So if you've never been to Leavenworth, Washington, we live in a Bavarian-themed town. And so when you're there, it does feel like you're in the Alps a bit if you go to leavenworth.org, check it out. It's a very small town, so our population is like 2,500, 6,000 if you count the outlying areas, but we get millions of guests. And so it's just a beautiful place. We have three kids, so it was a wonderful place to raise kids. They're all adults now. And I'd say we are known for our outdoor culture, a lot of skiing. mountain biking, hiking. We have the Icicle River. That's what we're named after. And so a lot of river fishing, fly fishing, just great outdoor community. And we are a small community. So as you know, breweries are very connected to communities. And so we definitely feel that in our town. Awesome.

[00:36:11] Zoe Licata: So I was checking out like your website and your social to get ready for this chat and I noticed you have really fun taproom events, like a spelling bee and slot car racing. How does that affect your on-premise business, that drawing in new visitors?

[00:36:26] On Location: Yeah, I mean, I think it's we've always believed that like experience is so important. We've been in the hospitality industry since 2001. And even at a restaurant, we've always had live music. And especially after the pandemic, you know, we've seen that on tap beer has gone down and that people kind of got used to staying at home. And so being a brewery in a small community, we want our community to connect. And so how do you do that? You have activities. And I think if you want to have a diverse customer base, you need to try lots of different activities, not the same old thing over and over. And so that's kind of been our philosophy. Sometimes it's a dead, sometimes it's a packed house, and that's what makes it fun. We never know.

[00:37:09] Zoe Licata: Then you never know unless you try it.

[00:37:11] Jessen Fante: Yes, yes. Yep. Another thing that your brewery does is you are part of 1% for the Planet. Can you just explain why you wanted to do that and what that means?

[00:37:20] On Location: Yeah. I mean, it's a big commitment because you are committing to donating 1% of sales. And we wanted to do it because we were already naturally doing that. And we actually had a lot of nonprofits that weren't a part of that. And so once you become a 1% for the Planet business partner, you actually can recommend nonprofits to join. And so for us, that was a key part of it is really connecting our nonprofit partners to a larger organization that they already are fulfilling the sustainability mission. And so for us, that was just important. And it's not the only thing that we give to you, but that's a big part of it.

[00:38:06] Zoe Licata: Awesome. Well, I mean, you're also on the BA's Board of Directors and you serve on the DEI committee, which is huge. What's that experience been like for you?

[00:38:13] On Location: Yeah, it's been great. I never really was into politics or anything, but I did get involved with our state guild and I eventually became president of the Washington Brewers Guild. Then that evolved into I'm running for a board position and I also served on the market development committee for the Brewers Association and then I currently serve on the PRM committee and now I co-chair the DEI committee and I'd say I have imposter syndrome a lot. But I share that with people because I want to share that you can feel like you're not good enough, but still do it. Raise your hand. I think people sometimes think that there's the Brewer'Brewers Association and then there's their brewery, but the Brewer'Brewers Association is us. It's not us or them. I try to be a listening ear if there are things that we can work on for the Brewers Association and if there are people who have a lot of passion and I encourage them to get involved because we do try to represent our industry and also represent the people who aren't yet represented in our industry. That's really what it's all about is growing and I'm trying to share what is that pipeline to serve on the board.

[00:39:31] Zoe Licata: So, I mean, let's talk about the DEI committee because I think that's a lot of people are really, really wanted to succeed. So what has the progress looked like over the past few years?

[00:39:41] On Location: Huge. So something New York this year is that Dr. J is now was hired full time. And I know you guys spoke to her too, so I won't go too much, but I'm so excited about the social impact division with HR and We had our pre-conference event here, which was amazing. I met someone who was a brewery in planning and I was like, I'm so glad you're here because the people, we are people businesses. And so social impact, DEI, HR, that is support of the wellness of our people and taking care of them. And that is what I believe is the main part of our industry. The beer is a wonderful, it's the main part too, but we need the people to make the beer. Yeah, so I'm very excited for just the initiatives that we have for our industry, like the association accountability and things that we have in place for that, but also a big part is really growing our representation. And I was so excited that now contract breweries can vote too. That's a huge segment of our industry that wasn't represented. Yeah, but always looking for ideas if people want to see change.

[00:40:58] Jessen Fante: You mentioned that pre-conference event, the Thrive event, which was yesterday as of now when we were recording this, but do you have like a big takeaway from that event yesterday or something that really stood out about that gathering and who was there?

[00:41:09] On Location: You know for me, being a people leader, I'm very conscious of how can we continue to develop our people but also take care of them because there is a lot of burnout and hospitality. And I think if us as leaders aren't. being aware of that, we have to take care of ourselves and take care of our people. So self-love, self-care. We have a Thrive Live event tonight, which is also about advocacy and wellness. And I think that that would be my take home is take care of yourself and take care of your people. Awesome. Now, you got a big award a couple of years ago. Yeah, with mine personally, the FXMAT. Yes, yes. In defense of the industry. Yes. We did win, Icicle did win some World Beer Cup gold, but personally, talk about me.

[00:41:58] Zoe Licata: You, Pam, won, you know, so the BA gives away, or gives away, that's not really the right, confers. No, they did, they gave it. confers these awards on people in the industry for various things. And you won the FXMAT Defense of the Industry Award in 2021, which is a big deal. So how did it feel to receive that honor from your peers?

[00:42:18] On Location: It was very surreal. I was shocked when I got the call. I was like, are you sure? Because I can think of a few other people. But no, it was a huge honor. And like I said, a lot of that is advocacy, you know, legislatively, which isn't my strong suit. But that's why I say anyone can be involved and you can learn, you can learn and be passionate about your industry. And so, yeah, it was a huge honor. And I just felt very, I'm still like a little shy about it, but I am presenting the awards tomorrow, so I get to give it to someone. Continue to spread the love.

[00:42:56] Zoe Licata: That's awesome. I mean, I feel like it's your imposter syndrome talking. You totally deserve the award. I know. But I mean, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have the same feelings myself. Yeah, we all do.

[00:43:08] On Location: That's why we have to talk about it.

[00:43:10] Zoe Licata: Jump in. Exactly.

[00:43:12] On Location: What are you most looking forward to about this week? I feel very fortunate that we were able to bring a lot of our team here because so many times if I come to like CBC or GABF, you know, I learn so many things and I try to take it back but some things are lost in translation and for me, I'm so excited that our icicle team gets to be here. We do have co-owners, we shared some ownership a few years ago. Yeah, so just for them, and we have 10 of us here, including my husband and I. For me, it's a privilege, and I feel like I'm very grateful to have them here and have them continue to develop themselves.

[00:43:57] Jessen Fante: That's been, I feel like, a common thought that we've heard just today, is people have been really excited to get their team members here and to experience it, which is so great.

[00:44:06] On Location: So important.

[00:44:07] Zoe Licata: We're all learning. Yeah. Well, Pam, thank you so much for joining us. This has been awesome. It's so great to hear about what you and the crew are up to in your charming Bavarian theme town.

[00:44:18] On Location: I know, now I want to go. I don't even get paid by the tourism department. It's very natural. Thanks for being here and sharing our stories. Of course.

[00:44:31] Justin Kendall: And that's our show for this week. Thanks to our one man audio team, Joe. Thanks to Jess and Zoe for holding it down here. And thanks to all of you for listening. We'll be back next week.