Brewbound Podcast

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.

Prior to launching Athletic Brewing in 2017, co-founder Bill Shufelt spent about 12 years working in the hedge fund world. During that time, he found that drinking alcohol, staying up late and waking up early made it difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle. So Shufelt went sober. And in the process of abstaining from the craft beers he had grown to love, Shufelt wondered why nobody was making a high-quality, non-alcoholic option for craft drinkers. His idea was to produce a fully fermented beer to under 0.5 percent ABV without the need for dealcoholization equipment. “If any of the traditional technologies worked, to make a good non-alcoholic beer, one of these very well-funded mega breweries or craft breweries would already be making it that way,” he said. Shufelt, along with co-founder John Walker, experimented with hundreds of batches of homebrew before dialing in their process. About a year ago, Athletic brought a range of non-alcoholic craft beer to market, from golden ales to goses. The company’s timing was perfect, as a growing number of consumers are beginning to cut back on boozing. According to Nielsen, 66 percent of legal-drinking-age consumers between the ages of 21 and 34 are making efforts to reduce their overall consumption. At the same time, 25 percent of beer drinkers are more interested in consuming alcoholic beverages that were produced with wellness in mind versus “a couple years ago,” the firm recently told Brewbound. So what does the future hold for non-alcoholic craft beer? “In the next five or 10 years, it’s going to be everywhere,” Shufelt contends. In episode 40 of the Brewbound Podcast, Shufelt discusses his outlook on the emerging non-alcoholic beer sector in the U.S., and the occasions in which his products — and others like it — play. Listen to episode 40 of the Brewbound Podcast above, as well as on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and Soundcloud. New episodes of the Brewbound Podcast, which is co-hosted by Chris Furnari and Justin Kendall, are published every Thursday. Episode 41, featuring Matt Katase, the co-founder of The Brew Gentlemen, will be released on Thursday, June 20. For questions, comments or suggestions, please email [email protected]. Show Notes: 0:00 – 23:45: Chris Furnari and Justin Kendall introduce episode 40, discuss the Beer Institute’s annual meeting and share recent news 23:45 – 51:14: Furnari and Kendall interview Athletic Brewing co-founder Bill Shufelt 51:14 – 1:01:22: Furnari and Kendall share takeaways from the interview

Fergal Murray spent 31 years with Diageo Ireland, as both a Guinness master brewer and a global brand ambassador. During that time, he poured perfect pints of the iconic Irish Dry Stout for former President Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth II, Jimmy Fallon, and Tom Cruise, among many other international dignitaries and celebrities. But his brewing industry expertise stretches far beyond the draft handle. Over the course of his more-than-three-decades career with Diageo, Murray worked alongside the global marketing and sales teams to help drive awareness of the Guinness brand, and to educate wholesalers and retailers across the world. These days, Murray is consulting for small breweries and distilleries across the world, most notably with Wachusett Brewing in Westminster, Massachusetts. On a recent trip to the U.S., Murray stopped by the Brewbound offices to chat about building brands on-premise, the emerging non-alcoholic beer trend, and the tug of war between the desire to satiate consumer demand for innovative products with the need to hone and perfect core recipes. “Every high-performance something or other comes out with something new with an improvement,” he said. “Brewer — tell me what you’ve done to make your beer better.” In episode 21 of the Brewbound Podcast, Murray discusses the changes to the American beer scene that he’s witnessed during his long career in beer, his latest collaboration with Wachusett and innovations that could drive future category growth. Also in this episode: Brewbound editors Chris Furnari and Justin Kendall share their takeaways from the 16th Annual Beer Business Daily Summit in San Diego. Listen to episode 21 of the Brewbound Podcast above, as well as on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and Soundcloud. New episodes of the Brewbound Podcast, which is co-hosted by Furnari and Kendall, are published every Thursday. Episode 22, featuring Russian River Brewing co-owner Natalie Cilurzo, will be released on Thursday, February 7. For questions, comments or suggestions, please email [email protected].

Josh Landan is back in the beer business. Landan, who co-founded Saint Archer in 2013, sold the San Diego craft brewery to MillerCoors in 2015, and departed the country’s second-largest beer company in 2017, has launched a number of new startup ventures based in Southern California. Those new businesses include a craft-focused beer and wine wholesaler called Scout Distribution, and a new craft beer brand called Harland Brewing, and a wine label called Claxton Cellars. Landan is also the co-founder of Villager Goods, a company that makes non-alcoholic beverages, as well as organic kids juices and snacks. But the impetus to rejoin an ultra-crowded and intensely competitive craft beer segment was not only aimed at building new companies with his closest friends but also helping other alcohol beverage entrepreneurs avoid some of the pitfalls associated with running being a startup. “When I got into Saint Archer, I didn’t know anybody or anything,” he said. “I needed help. There were so many questions. I didn’t know anything.” In episode 19 of the Brewbound Podcast, Landan talks about his time building the Saint Archer brand and the lessons he learned as a first-time entrepreneur. He also discusses the differences between building a beer company and a non-alcoholic beverage company. Also in this episode: Brewbound editors Chris Furnari and Justin Kendall discuss the early 2019 headlines and storylines. Furnari and Kendall also make some predictions for the new year and provide an update on the Goose Island field goal challenge. Listen to episode 19 of the Brewbound Podcast above, as well as on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and Soundcloud. New episodes of the Brewbound Podcast, which is co-hosted by Furnari and Kendall, are published every Thursday. Episode 20, featuring House Beer founder Brendan Sindell, will be released on Thursday, January 24. For questions, comments or suggestions, please email [email protected].

About four years ago, Hops & Grain Brewing founder Josh Hare began the process of transitioning his Austin-based craft beer company from a licensed manufacturing brewery to a brewpub. He wanted to take advantage of a new Texas law that allowed brewpubs to sell beer directly to consumers for off-premise consumption while simultaneously expanding his operation. So Hare signed a lease on an adjacent space inside the building where his brewery was located and spent nearly $80,000 on the beginning stages of an expansion while he waited for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to approve the switch. Then his request was denied. The problem? A hallway dividing his existing brewery and the new space he was planning to expand into meant that his vision of occupying the entire building would never be realized. “In the state of Texas, spaces under one permit have to be contiguous,” he said. “And that hallway created a non-contiguous space between what was our original space and what we wanted to be the new space.” So Hare opted to maintain his manufacturing permit while he spent the next two years planning another attempt. And then he was denied again. This time, Hare learned that his licensed manufacturing brewery was located in an area of Austin that was not zoned for direct-to-consumer alcohol sales. “Manufacturing is fine. Giving away free beer samples is fine. But if you are actually trying to transact, that doesn’t work unless you sell more than 51 percent of your revenue from non-alcohol sales,” he said. In episode seven of the Brewbound Podcast, Hare takes a deep dive into his company’s complicated four-year process of becoming a licensed Texas brewpub, and why he feels the state’s confusing direct-to-consumer sales laws need modernizing. Hare also discusses how he’s financed Hops & Grain’s growth, why he feels Texas beer wholesalers wield too much power and why current Texas alcohol laws make it difficult for upstart breweries to breakout. Also in this episode: Brewbound editors Chris Furnari and Justin Kendall share the latest news and run down segments. Listen to episode seven of the Brewbound Podcast above, as well as on iTunes. The episode is also available on Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and Soundcloud. New episodes of the Brewbound Podcast, which is co-hosted by Furnari and Kendall, are published every Thursday. Episode eight, featuring Constellation Brands’ Bill Hackett, will be released on Thursday, November 1. For questions, comments or suggestions, please email [email protected].