Brewbound Podcast

With Republic National Distributing (RNDC) winding down distribution operations in California ahead of September 1 exit and consolidation continuing among craft wholesalers, this week’s Brewbound Podcast explores the fallout of both in the Golden State. Ferron Salniker, BevNET spirits editor, and Dave Infante, founder of the Fingers boozeletter, join Brewbound’s Justin Kendall and Jessica Infante to look back on how one of the top distributors in the country’s California business crumbled, the effect on smaller bev-alc producers in RNDC’s book and the trickle-down effect on craft brewers. They also explore multistate distributor Hand Family Companies’ entry into the state through the acquisitions of three craft-focused wholesalers – Stone Distributing, Classic Beverage and Scout Distribution in Los Angeles – and the formation of Sunset Distributing. Plus, Brewbound senior reporter Zoe Licata and Justin chat about her recent feature on the hard refresher trend and Gen Z’s aversion to carbonated beverages. Listen here or on your preferred podcasting platform.

New Belgium Brewing resumed brewing at its Asheville, North Carolina-based production facility this week for the first time since Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the region and shut down the brewery’s operations. It was a significant stoppage for the company as the Asheville brewery accounted for around 40% of New Belgium’s total output. In the wake of the hurricane, the brewery was flooded with around 20 inches of storm water. More than three months after being knocked offline, Voodoo Ranger Juice Force will be the first beer going into the tanks in Asheville, with packaged products expected to follow in March. New Belgium CEO Shaun Belongie joins the Brewbound Podcast to discuss the comeback in Asheville, the company’s still-unfolding contingency plans and the road ahead. Belongie also shares New Belgium’s 2025 plans, including the introduction of “Mini Ripper” cans of higher ABV Voodoo Ranger Force offerings; LightStrike hard refreshers; and Bell’s Oberon Light. He also explores going into year eight of Voodoo Ranger, the opportunities for Bell’s, building brands outside of the craft beer bubble and taking over sales, marketing and production of Kirin Ichiban. Plus, the Brewbound team talks Zoe’s trip to the Beer Summit, 2024 off-premise scans and Tilray Brands’ Project 420. Listen here or on your preferred podcasting platform.

This week’s Brewbound Podcast features a pair of interviews with 2024 Brewbound Award Winners. Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver shares why fonio is a game-changing ancient grain for brewers. Brewbound named Brooklyn’s Fonio Rising series of beers its 2024 Best New Product. Plus, Breeze Galindo, director of operations of the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling, discusses the work of the grant-making and mentorship organization, which pays for technical education scholarships for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in the brewing and distilling industries looking to continue their education. But first, Brewbound editor Justin Kendall and reporter Zoe Licata are joined by weekend newsletter writer Sean McNulty to review the latest headlines, including Jim Koch’s succession plan at Boston Beer and President Jimmy Carter’s impact on craft brewing’s history. Sean also quizzes Justin and Zoe for his “Week in Beer Awards.” Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform. Correction: This post was updated with Breeze Galindo’s title of director of operations, and to clarify that the MJF grants are awarded to existing industry members.

The Brewbound Podcast in 2024 featured a mix of interviews with industry heavyweights, analysis and a new roadshow component with stops at the California Craft Beer Summit in Sacramento, the Craft Brewers Conference in Las Vegas and the National Beer Wholesalers Association’s Annual Convention in San Diego. The most-listened-to episodes of 2024 touched on leadership changes in the industry, conversations from the road and major events and strategizing. Here’s a look back at the most popular Brewbound Podcast episodes of the year, in reverse order. Links are in the headlines for those who want to catch up. 10. Diving into Early Year Bev-Alc Data Trends with 3 Tier Beverages 3 Tier Beverages’ Mary Mills and Stephanie Roatis parsed the early year data, including positive cider trends in convenience, non-alc beer growth, hard seltzer rationalization and much more. They also dug into the growing trend of private label hard seltzer and whether anyone can break through the hard coffee curse. Plus, the Brewbound team discussed the potential strike at Anheuser-Busch InBev’s U.S. breweries (note: this was recorded before the tentative agreement was reached), and they played Another Round or Tabbing Out on the chances of Michelob Ultra challenger brands staking a claim of the better-for-you beer market. 9. Road Reports, Private Equity Deals and More Leadership Changes The early part of 2024 is always packed with travel to industry conferences. In this late January episode, Brewbound reporter Zoe Licata shared her experience at this year’s CiderCon in icy Portland, Oregon. Meanwhile, both Zoe and Brewbound managing editor Jess Infante offered takeaways from the Beer Industry Summit in San Diego resort city Coronado. As always, the team broke down the biggest news of the week, including a craft-on-craft deal in New England, a private equity firm selling part of its stake in Mikkeller, a CEO change at Sapporo-Stone Brewing, another Heineken exec joining Lagunitas’ c-suite and an update on the bidding for Anchor. Plus, listener-favorite game Another Round or Tabbing Out centered around the return of the Coors Light train for the Super Bowl. 8. Ding Dong, Drizly is Done; Plus, Scanning the Craft Scans Uber said goodbye to e-commerce alcohol delivery platform Drizly in March. Brewbound editor Justin Kendall and weekend newsletter writer Sean McNulty discussed the decision and why it’s another blow for brewers. Plus, the duo discuss full-year 2023 craft beer scan data, the narrative (or lack thereof) for craft heading into 2024, and why the early read wasn’t great. Other topics include New Jersey finally giving the state’s craft breweries a break, Tilray wilding out with new products and Lawson’s trying to get the low-ABV Beach Party started. 7. MikMak’s Rachel Tipograph on the Post-Drizly Bev-Alc E-Commerce Landscape In the wake of Drizly’s shut down, MikMak founder and CEO Rachel Tipograph analyzed what’s next for beverage-alcohol e-commerce. In the conversation, Tipograph explained why many alcohol producers were caught off guard by the announcement and who she expected would pick up the market share once held by Drizly. 6. Firestone Walker Details Its House of Brands Strategy Firestone Walker’s marketing approach for the 805 brand has featured black-and-white short films of athletes and artists as part of its Authenticos partnership program. CMO Dustin Hinz and brand director Hannah Barnett explored the marketing approach for the Paso Robles, California-based craft brewery’s biggest brand, 805, and how it plays with the company’s wholesalers. The two also discussed how that approach differs from the rest of its portfolio, including Cali Squeeze, Mind Haze and the F Brands. 5. How a Las Vegas Wholesaler is Prepping for the Super Bowl How do wholesalers in the Super Bowl’s home city prep for the biggest football game of the year? Breakthru Beverage Nevada beer division VP Deacon Nauslar shared when preparations began, how much of a bump the distributor is expecting, how the event will compare to a Formula 1 race earlier this year, and how the biggest football game of the year measures up to a normal week servicing Sin City. New Orleans, you’re next. 4. How to Make a Summer Shandy Work Year-Round Molson Coors-owned Leinenkugel’s made flagship Summer Shandy a year-round offering this year. Leinenkugel’s president Tony Bugher and John Leinenkugel hopped on the podcast to share why the company made the move and what it meant for the brand. The conversation took place months prior to Molson Coors shutting down the Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin-based facility, laying off more than 50 workers and transferring the remaining Leinenkugel’s production to Milwaukee. Those moves appeared to blindside the Leinenkugel family, who had brewed beer in Chippewa Falls for 157 years. The Leinie Lodge and pilot brewery in Chippewa Falls remain open. 3. What Even Happened in 2023? Fellow beer industry journalists Kate Bernot and Christopher Shepard joined the Brewbound team to recall the bev-alc/non-alc crossover brand madness of 2023, craft beer’s stormy seas and a potentially grim outlook for draft beer sales. The conversation isn’t all doom and gloom, as the crew discussed positive developments in taproom hospitality and non-alcoholic beer options. Little did anyone know what 2024 would bring. 2.  Topa Topa, Match Point and That’s Delicious Financials on What’s Working For Craft The Brewbound team’s road trip to Sacramento for the California Craft Brewers Association’s Craft Beer Summit led to several conversations with California craft brewers, including a three-pack of chats with leaders from Topa Topa Brewing and Match Point Brewing, as well as the founder of That’s Delicious Financials. Topa Topa founder and CEO Jack Dyer explained the importance of Chief Peak IPA to the brewery’s business and why it’s the beer he’s always thinking about. Match Point Brewing co-founder Simon Chen shared the Albany-based brewery’s path to opening a taproom and also making connections with consumers in his hometown. And That’s Delicious Financials founder Drew Kearns expressed optimism about the craft brewing industry, as well as the most difficult conversations he’s hearing on the financial side of the business. 1. An Exit Interview with Naomi Neville of Allagash Brewing 2024 brought a lot of change at top craft breweries across the country, including Allagash Brewing. Naomi Neville departed the Portland, Maine-headquartered craft brewery after 14 years of leading and building its sales team and helping turn the brewery into a regional powerhouse led by Allagash White. Neville reflected on her experience building the Allagash brand and dished on where she sees the segment going and what’s next for her. Neville ended up leaving the beer industry and is now the program director for the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs.

Highland Brewing owner and CEO Leah Wong Ashburn provides an update on how Asheville, one of the country’s great craft beer cities, is recovering in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Last weekend, Highland brewed its first beer since the hurricane cut a path of destruction through Western North Carolina. Ashburn shares the steps the brewery took to return to operations, starting with ensuring that all of its team members were accounted for and had their basic needs covered, and then stabilizing the business. She also explains the importance of people visiting Asheville now, after the biggest month of business was wiped off the calendar. Ashburn also discusses Highland’s first post-hurricane milestone, the release of Cold Mountain winter ale November 7-11. Plus, Jess and Justin touch on several headlines, including a craft brewery deal in Iowa, the vibes at the Massachusetts Craft Brewers Guild’s annual meeting, a leadership change at the American Cider Association and the pending closure of Revolution Brewing’s Logan Square brewpub after 15 years. Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.

The Brewbound team dives into the top stories in the beer business, including the “strategic partnerships” made by Maui Brewing parent company Craft ‘Ohana to hand off leadership of Modern Times Beer’s daily operations and hospitality businesses. The team also discusses Boston Beer’s latest earnings report, which one analyst called “messy,” the performance of Twisted Tea and a write down on craft beer brands. The conversation then turns to beer being the preferred choice for Halloween celebrations. Plus, this week’s episode features a pair of conversations recorded during the National Beer Wholesalers Association’s Annual Convention. The first features David Christman, NBWA VP of state affairs, who shares why intoxicating hemp is the most talked about state-level issue and why distributors should have a seat at the table of those discussions. Then, Behold Beverage Intelligence’s Sean Mossman and Glazer’s Beer and Beverage’s Laura Melzow will explain how artificial intelligence is changing workflow in the middle tier. Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.

The 2023 craft brewery production data is officially in. Justin, Zoe and weekend newsletter writer Sean McNutly dive into the high-level data points and sift through some of the surprises in the numbers. They also discuss planned changes for the 2024 edition of the Great American Beer Festival and why they may be a positive for the festival experience. Then, they discuss Heineken ceasing production at the Lagunitas facility in Chicago, consolidating operations in Petaluma, California. Sean also provides a Central Park beer report that features a lot of White Claw. The episode closes with an interview with Brewjeria co-founder Agustin Ruelas and Norwalk Brew House founder Ray Ricky Rivera on Los Farmworkers, the fifth iteration of a collaboration series that benefits nonprofits supporting migrant workers. Listen here or on your podcast platform of choice.