Brewbound Podcast

On this special bonus episode of the Brewbound podcast, the Brewbound team talks with Full Circle Brewing and Societe Brewing live at the California Craft Beer Summit in Sacramento. Full Circle marketing manager Adam Band and brewer Mike Sumaya talk about what’s changed at the Fresno, California-based, Black-owned brewery since new ownership took over in 2016. The duo also discuss the success of building a community through crowdfunding, and the strategy behind the company’s unique distribution map. Societe Brewing co-founder and CEO Doug Constantiner discusses how the San Diego brewery has changed over its decade of life and how the company keeps things fresh while maintaining its core value to “make great beer.” Plus, Constantiner gives an update on the state of craft in California and the biggest challenges brewers are facing now. Listen to both conversations in-full in the episode above, and on popular podcast platforms, including iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Have questions, feedback or ideas for the podcast? Email [email protected]

Live from the California Craft Beer Summit, the Brewbound team catches up with Russian River’s Natalie Cilurzo on the 2023 launch of Pliny the Younger triple IPA, the brewery’s shift from sours to lagers and more. Plus, Oak Park Brewing’s Rodg Little discusses the Sacramento brewery’s mission, the People’s beer and much more. The Brewbound team also catches up on the latest news, including New Belgium’s takeover of Constellation Brands’ Virginia production facility, rumors/speculation of a Boston Beer Company sale to Heineken, and another game of “Another Round or Tabbing Out.” Listen to the interviews in the episode above and on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Have questions, feedback, or ideas for podcast guests or topics? Email [email protected].

The Brewbound team reports live from the California Craft Beer Summit in Sacramento. The team discusses early takeaways from the first major meeting of California’s craft brewers since 2019, including thoughts on David Walker of Firestone Walker’s optimism for craft beer, Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson’s early production data and much more. Listen to the full interview in the episode above and on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Have questions, feedback, or ideas for podcast guests or topics? Email [email protected].

Wisconsin-based contract brewery Octopi Brewing is targeting 7 million cases produced in 2023, and a lot of that product isn’t beer. So how is the overall contract brewing landscape shaping up? Octopi founder president Isaac Showaki discusses. Plus, the Brewbound team plays half-full, half-empty on new products hitting the market, including SunnyD Vodka Seltzer and New Belgium’s Wild Nectar Hard Juice, Bud Light Seltzer’s new-old ad campaign, and a St. Patrick’s Day rally. Listen to the full interview in the episode above and on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Have questions, feedback, or ideas for podcast guests or topics? Email [email protected].

Bump Williams Consulting’s Dave Williams and Brian “B.K.” Krueger discuss the early 2023 beer category retail trends, how the competition for the cold box is shaking out, the accelerated life cycle of brands, and Dry January and Super Bowl trends. They also share the opportunities ahead for smaller craft breweries and when is the right time to expand. Listen to the full interview in the episode above and on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Have questions, feedback, or ideas for podcast guests or topics? Email [email protected].

After a rough week for craft breweries acquired by Anheuser-Busch, the Brewbound team discusses the fallout of the world’s largest beer manufacturer shuttering operations of Platform Beer Co. in Ohio and layoffs conducted at other Brewers Collective brands. The team also dishes on the resurrection of lager brand House Beer and the executive shakeup at Molson Coors. Plus, featured guest Aaron Staples breaks down the effect the Paycheck Protection Program had on the craft beer industry. Listen to the full interview in the episode above and on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Have questions, feedback, or ideas for podcast guests or topics? Email [email protected].

3 Tier Beverages consultant Stephanie Roatis shares the beverage alcohol segments trending up (hint, Dry January did all right) and those on the downward swing in her quarterly 3 Up, 3 Down report. In addition to soaring off-premise sales for non-alcoholic beer, imperial ciders – those clocking in at 8% ABV and above – also recorded an impressive amount of growth in scan data, as did cider producers at the regional level, Roatis said. “Cider had a super transformative 2022 – we saw a lot of the dollars shift into regional players and move away from companies like Ace and Redd’s,” she said. “Cider experienced a volume decline of about 8% last year, but regional cider saw their off-premise dollars grow 22 points since 2018. So now regional players, largely in the Pacific Northwest, are making up about 54% of the category.” On the down side of the 3 Up, 3 Down report, craft beer was flat, buoyed only by two styles: IPAs (+4.78% in the 13 weeks ending January 28) and American wheat (+1% in the same period). Eight of the segment’s top 10 styles declined in dollar sales. In addition to Roatis’ report, the Brewbound team analyzes the Drake’s-Bear Republic craft-on-craft merger, breaks down Boston Beer’s full-year earnings report, questions why one of the largest craft breweries in the U.S. isn’t making non-alcoholic beer a focus, and calls for a moratorium on the use of “drinkable.” Listen to the full interview in the episode above and on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Have questions, feedback, or ideas for podcast guests or topics? Email [email protected].