Brewbound Podcast

In this era of cross-beverage convergence, anything is possible, even a beer-flavored energy drink. Nutrabolt SVP of marketing Emily Hoyle joined the Brewbound Podcast to discuss, All Hopped Up, the limited-edition offering from energy brand C4.Hoyle, a Pabst Brewing alumna, explained C4’s strategy behind the citrusy, beer-flavored, non-alc beverage, which the company designed to be "really accessible to a lot of different people.”“It is crisp, light lager-inspired, but with a citrus note of orange,” she said. “It comes across a little bit more flavor-forward with fruit notes that are more common in the energy space, more like a summer shandy. It's just something that's highly drinkable, highly sessionable.”All Hopped Up is available for a limited time via TikTok Shop, Amazon and C4’s website.Before the interview, the Brewbound team discusses Stone Brewing founders Greg Koch and Steve Wagner’s plans for their former brewery’s former flagship location in Escondido, California; hard sports drinks’ potential 2027 ceiling, according to Circana; and final takeaways from the National Beer Wholesalers Association’s Annual Convention. Listen here or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 

Two Robbers Spirits Co.’s partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles is helping the 7-year-old company fly. On the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast, Two Robbers founders Vivek and Vikram Nayar share how partnerships with Philadelphia pro sports teams have helped raise their local profile and increase rate of sale in off-premise retailers. “It’s sort of like the ultimate sampling weapon being able to sell in the stadium,” Vivek said. “People talk about how valuable sampling is, but it’s even more valuable if someone pays for your product to try it and enjoys it that way.”Two Robbers is entering Year 2 of its sponsorship with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, a deal that allows them to leverage the Eagles’ marks on packaging. The Nayars are planning to open up their portfolio playbook this year, introducing single-serve cans featuring the Eagles’ logo exclusive to on-premise retailers starting this month. Vivek and Vikram go deep on their long-term vision for sports partnerships and explain how the company’s pivot from hard seltzer to spirits-based cocktails future proofed the business. They also explain why they believe there’s room for multiple brands to compete in the category, even in a ready-to-drink stronghold such as Philadelphia. Before the interview, the Brewbound team catches up on their travels, with road reports from the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) Annual Convention and the Great American Beer Festival (GABF). Brewbound editor Justin Kendall, managing editor Jessica Infante and senior reporter Zoe Licata offer takeaways from the first day of the NBWA’s biggest meeting of the year, including a strong push for franchise law protections and more ironclad contracts with producers, along with the conspicuous lack of hemp talk on the first day. Plus, Jessica shares her firsthand experience at the revamped GABF, including what worked for the outdoor festival, what didn’t and what we’re hearing might be next. The team also covers the big deal of the last week: Constellation Brands’ acquisition of SpikedAde for $75 million, with a five-year performance-based earnout that could add $278 million to the sale price. They explain why Constellation dipping its toe into M&A is the bigger story even as hard sports drinks dominate headlines.Listen here or on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

How do you balance two brands that are runaway successes? Stateside Brands president Matthew Quigley explained on the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast how the maker of vodka iced tea brand Surfside is juggling the addition of Super Lyte, a non-carbonated hard sports drink (vodka + ade).From a marketing perspective, Stateside has created dedicated teams for each brand, he explained. On the sales side, the company has built a national accounts team and stable of state managers who, after two years, finally have the bandwidth to take on another brand. The result is another brand in Super Lyte that is being dubbed the drink of the summer, while Surfside is on pace to sell 13 million cases this year, Quigley shared. Meanwhile, Super Lyte is expected to sell four million cases by year’s end, making it the largest spirits-based ready-to-drink (RTD) launch of all time, he added.“It shot the lights out in our core in Pennsylvania, Jersey, New York,” he said. “It just went gangbusters and it’s still doing incredibly, incredibly well.”Stateside is now pushing Super Lyte into 40-plus states to gain a “first-mover advantage” with a host of new challenger brands entering the hard sports drink segment, Quigley said. The target now is for both brands to cross the 25-million-case threshold. “If they both get over 25 million cases, which is like High Noon’s highwater mark, I’m a happy guy,” Quigley said. “I think I’ve done my job. Time will tell.”Ahead of the interview, Brewbound’s Jessica Infante and Zoe Licata breakdown the the latest headlines, including:Samuel Adams front of house workers’ successful unionization effort;Mark Anthony’s termination of Coors Distributing in the Denver metro;The end of Stateside’s lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch InBev over its Skimmers brand.The duo also tackles the NFL’s crackdown on player celebrations pantomiming drinking a beer (or juice). Listen here or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

Von Ebert Brewing brewer Dashawn Agbonze sees himself as the “fun police” – a badge he wears proudly, much like the German brewers that he admires.“I’m always like, ‘Why are we doing this?’” Agbonze said on the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast. “Ultimately, like the Germans, I don’t believe in magic. I need an explanation. Let’s talk it out. Part of that is, let’s train people so that everyone can see the same vision and we have the same goal because we know exactly how to get there.”Agbonze, a two-time Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling (MJF) scholarship awardee, shares his journey climbing the ranks of the brewing industry and why he believes education is critical for up-and-coming brewers. “The education is important because it enables you to be in a controlled space to fail,” he explained. “You’re not putting a business on the line. You don’t have employees with families that you have to risk in order to learn that ‘Hey, a clean tank would make the beer that you want,’ or ‘Hey, contamination via your canning line can happen,’ or how to solve these problems in a safe space.”Failures in a learning environment become key lessons in training the next generation of brewers, Agbonze shares. Before the interview, the Brewbound team discusses the latest news, including a major departure from Whole Foods’ bev-alc team, an update on Pabst’s stolen beer, the Beer Institute’s latest beer supply data and FIFCO USA’s new owner and new/old name. Brewbound managing editor Jessica Infante also shares highlights from her trip to Asheville for the annual business planning meetings at Highland Brewing and Sierra Nevada. Listen here or on Apple or Spotify

The summer selling season wraps up this weekend with Labor Day Monday, and one of the hottest segments of the summer has been hard sports drinks. Brewbound editor Justin Kendall and senior reporter Zoe Licata dive into the fast-growing segment and how their views have shifted on it over the last year. They look at who is leading the segment now and new entrants looking to fast-follow, including Boston Beer Company. The duo also recap several rounds of layoffs, including Sapporo USA’s wind-down of the Stone Brewing-branded locations in Escondido, California; Mark Anthony’s integration of the Finnish Long Drink and coming sales team cuts; and Diageo’s ongoing $1.2 billion restructuring effort hitting its NYC headquarters. Plus, Justin and Zoe discuss low-ABV beers (and Justin cracks Sierra Nevada’s new Go-Two IPA) and Pabst’s viral stolen beer marketing campaign. Listen here.

Fingers boozeletter author Dave Infante joins the Brewbound Podcast to deep dive Diageo’s ongoing restructuring and workforce slashing under CEO Sir Dave Lewis (aka “Drastic Dave” for his reputation for making big cuts at previous stops). Infante shares insights from his reporting and conversations with Diageo employees, many of whom wondered why the Guinness and Johnnie Walker maker was so slow to adapt to the modern bev-alc competitive landscape.“The frustration that I heard from current and former Diageo employees was mostly about why weren’t we doing this before we had to start laying everyone off,” Infante tells Brewbound editor Justin Kendall and managing editor Jessica Infante (no relation). “You don’t have to get to this point before you start pivoting to RTDs.”The trio also hit recent headlines, including Garage Beer and Liquid Death tapping into the real world animosity around data centers and BuzzBallz’s recent Pop-Tarts partnership.Jessica offered a theory on the BuzzBallz-Pop-Tarts team up: “Kids aren’t eating Pop-Tarts. You know who’s eating Pop-Tarts? Sad, elder millennials who can’t afford anything else and want a tiny treat. The moms who would be out marching on the capitol up in arms against this aren’t feeding that to their kids.”“They’re the ones who are intrigued by the BuzzBallz Pop-Tarts that they saw on Instagram,” Dave adds.“That’s definitely going into their Stanley tumblers,” Jess says.Listen here or on your preferred podcasting platform.

Does every beer need a non-alcoholic (NA) analog? The Brewbound team discusses on the latest episode of the Brewbound Podcast.As Molson Coors prepares to launch an NA version of Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, Brewbound editor Justin Kendall questions whether the product is trend chasing or if consumers are clamoring for it. Managing editor Jessica Infante gets White Claw Zero flashbacks, while senior reporter Zoe Licata offers a different perspective after exploring NA ciders.The trio also analyze recent headlines, including:Samuel Adams taproom workers’ plans to unionize and Boston Beer’s response, so far;And B3 Beverage’s “complicated” partnerships, with a deal for Yards Brewing going forward and others falling through.Listen here.