Brewbound Podcast

This week’s edition of the Brewbound Podcast looks back at headlines from late December 2020 and the start of the new year. The Brewbound Team discuss the federal government making the excise tax cuts permanent; the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services maintaining the daily servings of alcohol at two drinkers per day for men; the Sheehan family lawsuit; and Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson’s 2020 recap. Listen to the episode above, or find it on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. New episodes of the Brewbound Podcast are published every other Thursday. Email [email protected] with questions, comments or suggestions for future shows and guests. Editor’s Note: This podcast was recorded days before the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

With the annual Brewbound Live business conference less than two weeks away, the Brewbound team shares the schedule for the two-day event during the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast. Brewbound Live on December 14 and 15 will feature discussions from New Belgium CEO Steve Fechheimer, Denizens Brewing co-founder Julie Verratti and market research firm Nielsen and Nielsen CGA, as well as panel discussions with leaders from retailers (goPuff, Walgreens), emerging beverage companies (Five Drinks, Lone River Beverage Company, Cann, Future Proof) and more. The conference will also delve into mental health issues in the beer industry, with psychiatrists and authors Carlin Barnes and Marketa Wills, and Allagash Brewing HR director Celine Frueh and Hidden Springs Ale Works co-owner and psychotherapist Jacqueline Warner Garman. Day One will wrap with a happy hour and networking opportunity with industry leaders, including Tomme Arthur (the Lost Abbey, Port Brewing, The Hop Concept, Tiny Bubbles), Sinead Carey (Wine Warehouse), Dharma Tamm (Rogue Ales & Spirits), Donn Bichsel Jr. (3 Tier Beverages) and more. The conference will wrap up December 15 with a toast, featuring business leaders who have made a difference in 2020, including Allagash founder Rob Tod, Crowns & Hops founders Benny Ashburn and Teo Hunter, Border X and Mujeres Brew House founders David and Carmen Favela, Brewability founder Tiffany Fixter and Beer Kulture president and CEO Latiesha Cook. Brewbound Live is free for subscribers to Brewbound.com. Also on this post-Thanksgiving episode of the podcast, the Brewbound team discusses Thanksgiving eve trends and the latest headlines. Listen to the episode above, or find it on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. New episodes of the Brewbound Podcast are published every other Thursday. Email [email protected] with questions, comments or suggestions for future shows and guests.

In early November, Canadian cannabis company Aphria struck a $300 million deal to acquire Atlanta’s Sweetwater Brewing Company — the maker of the 420 Extra Pale Ale brand and other cannabis-themed products. This week’s edition of the Brewbound Podcast discusses the opportunities and challenges ahead for the combined company, the size of the cannabeer market and more with: Liz Connors, director of analytics for Headset, a firm that tracks cannabis data and analytics; Rick Maturo, associate director of client services for the cannabis practice at Nielsen; And Sean McNulty, host of the Selling Craft Beer podcast. McNulty and the Brewbound team also discuss growing e-commerce player goPuff’s deal to acquire BevMo, Tree House branching out in Massachusetts, Mark Anthony investing in another production facility to make White Claw, Diageo recalling Guinness 0.0 and more. Listen to the episode above, or find it on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. New episodes of the Brewbound Podcast are published every other Thursday. Email [email protected] with questions, comments or suggestions for future shows and guests.

The wholesaler landscape has been shaken up in several states, as industry giants Reyes and Anheuser-Busch continue to merge, acquire and swap wholesaler businesses and distribution rights in major markets such as Chicago, California, and Indiana. This week’s edition of the Brewbound Podcast brings together industry experts to share their perspectives on what it means for smaller craft breweries and if there’s an end in sight to the disruptions. Joining this week’s panel are: Marc Sorini, general counsel for national trade group the Brewers Association Kimberly Clements, co-founder and managing partner of Pints LLC, a beverage advisory firm based in Tucson, Arizona; And Donn Bichsel, the founder of 3 Tier Beverages, a consulting firm based in Chicago. The panel weighs in on the ramifications of Reyes’ acquisition of 16.1 million cases from Monarch Beverages, merger of Windy City and Chicago Beverage Systems and other moves in California. Additionally, they weigh in on think tank pieces calling for the end of the three-tier distribution system, the role of independent wholesalers, and ways the distribution system could be evolved to better meet market demand. Listen to the episode above, or find it on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. New episodes of the Brewbound Podcast are published every other Thursday. Email [email protected] with questions, comments or suggestions for future shows and guests.

Large beer and CPG companies are trading on the equity of their top brands to try to get a piece of the $3.49 billion hard seltzer segment. The latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast brings together industry experts to discuss new introductions from Anheuser-Busch InBev (Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer, Bud Light Lemonade Seltzer), Mark Anthony Brands (Mike’s Hard Lemonade Seltzer), and New Belgium (Fruit Smash), as well as Molson Coors’ partnership with Coca-Cola on Topo Chico Hard Seltzer. This week’s panel features: Lester Jones, chief economist of the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA); Lisa Derus, communications consultant and certified Cicerone; And Kaumil Gajrawala, managing director of equity research at Credit Suisse. The panel shares their thoughts on if these products can be incremental to existing products, potential for cannibalization and how regional players can gain a foothold in the segment. Additionally, the panel discusses the completion of Anheuser-Busch’s acquisition of Craft Brew Alliance and what it means for the world’s largest beer manufacturer’s 23 craft beer brands, the NBWA’s 83rd Annual Convention, the shortage of aluminum cans and Molson Coors’ flurry of partnerships. Listen to the episode above, or find it on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. New episodes of the Brewbound Podcast are published every other Thursday. Email [email protected] with questions, comments or suggestions for future shows and guests.

The Brewbound Podcast is back. After taking a hiatus from new episodes during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brewbound Podcast returns with a new format, moving away from how-I-built-this-style interviews to bring you fresh takes and context on the latest news stories from executives, entrepreneurs and experts. In our first roundtable discussion, Brewbound editor Justin Kendall and reporter Jess Infante are joined by: Tomme Arthur, the co-founder of the Lost Abbey, the Hop Concept, Port Brewing and now Tiny Bubbles in San Diego; Caitlin Braam, founder of Yonder Cider and co-founder of the Source Cider in Seattle; And Bourcard Nesin, a beverage analyst at Rabobank and the co-host of the Liquid Assets podcast. On this week’s episode, the crew discusses the joint venture between Yuengling and Molson Coors; the U.S. Department of Justice approving Anheuser-Busch InBev’s acquisition of Craft Brew Alliance; a bleak report on the state of the industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and the reality of e-commerce sales trends. Listen to the first episode of the revamped Brewbound Podcast above, or find it on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. New episodes of the Brewbound Podcast are published every other Thursday. Email [email protected] with questions, comments or suggestions.

Dino Funari may be Vitamin Sea Brewing Company’s harshest critic. Funari — who co-founded the brewery in February 2019 with Peter Kiley, Joshua Sherman, and Richard DiBona in Weymouth, Massachusetts — knows there’s always room to improve, and he’s still searching for that batch of beer that he loves. The search for better has helped Vitamin Sea stay humble even as accolades have been heaped on the 1-year-old business. “To us, we’re just doing the same thing that we were doing before — we’re still homebrewing even though we’re not,” Funari told Brewbound editor Justin Kendall during the latest installment of the Brewbound Podcast. “Instead of being in a small basement, we’re in a much larger basement. And instead of 20 to 30 to 50 coming by to try our beer, now there’s 1,000 or 1,500 coming by. It’s still people, it’s the same general concept. And they’re paying for it now.” Funari likened the lines of people every Saturday — now formed with social distance in mind — to the movie 50 First Dates. “Every Saturday, it’s a repeat of opening day for us,” he said during the mid-February interview. “It’s just madness. There’s so many people showing up, and there’s a line before we open, and we go through the same process.” Now, those people are lining up at a social distance in mind due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease, COVID-19. Selling beer-to-go has allowed Vitamin Sea to avoid laying off any of its employees. In Episode 8 of the Brewbound Podcast’s third season, Funari shares how Vitamin Sea’s growing popularity doesn’t make the company immune to the realities of business, the challenges of balancing time at the brewery with his day job, the goal of maintaining a work-life balance and much more. ‘Being an older guy in this industry at the ripe old age of 48, I do know that quality of life is very important to me,” Funari said. “If I can create a legacy for my family and make this to a point where myself and my partners and the people who work for us can still have quality of life and enjoy their families, I think that’s more important to us than making millions.” Listen to the latest episode of the Brewbound Podcast above, or find it on popular platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. New episodes of the Brewbound Podcast are published Thursdays. Email [email protected] with questions, comments or suggestions.