This week’s edition of the Brewbound Podcast brings together industry experts to share their perspectives on what wholesaler consolidation means for smaller craft breweries and if there’s an end in sight to the disruptions.

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.

Vitamin Sea Brewing Company Dino Funari shares how the Massachusetts craft brewery’s growing popularity hasn’t made the company immune to the realities of business, as well as the challenges of balancing time at the brewery with his day job, the goal of maintaining a work-life balance and much more.

Atlanta Brewing Company marketing director Cameron Davis knows what it’s like to deconstruct and rebuild a legacy beer brand. That’s what Davis and her colleagues did in 2018, taking Georgia’s oldest beer brand, the former Red Brick Brewing Company, and transforming it into Atlanta Brewing Company.

In the latest episode of the Brewbound Podcast, FIFCO USA chief sales officer Josh Halpern explains how the company came to embrace being a big-small brewery, how that leads to co-creating brands with reality TV stars and why ceding some creative control to build brand equity with popular platforms such as Barstool Sports is necessary.

Innovation in craft brewing is a lot like a pee-wee soccer game, with all of the players running toward the same ball. At least, that’s how Neal Stewart, the vice president of sales and marketing for Deschutes Brewery, sees it. And that’s not a bad thing.

Iron Heart Canning founder and CEO Tyler Willie’s path to a mobile canning empire started like many others in the craft brewing business. He was a home brewer with dreams of starting his own brewery.

Cider is always taking people by surprise, according to American Cider Association (ACA) executive director Michelle McGrath. “CiderCon always beats the expectations of people who have never been here before,” she said. In Episode 3 of the Brewbound Podcast’s third season, McGrath shared the organization’s goals and challenges as cider fights for share in an increasingly crowded alcoholic beverage marketplace.

The seeds for Kevin Youkilis’ second career were planted while criss-crossing the country playing professional baseball for the Boston Red Sox. The two-time World Series Champion said he would often visit craft breweries or sample the local options during road trips.

A growing number of beer companies are now positioning themselves as beverage companies. Count Everett, Massachusetts-based Night Shift Brewing among those embracing the distinction.

John Bryant hasn’t forgotten the sleepless nights, pacing the floor in the pre-dawn hours wondering how No-Li Brewhouse would make payroll in the Spokane, Washington-based craft brewery’s early days. It’s a feeling many startup founders can relate to as they’re building at a rapid pace.

In Episode 5 of the Brewbound Podcast’s second season, Brewers Association president and CEO Bob Pease gives a snapshot of the craft brewing industry in 2019. Also, Beer Paws founder Crystal K. Wiebe shares how the ebbs and flows of the industry affects a small, beer-adjacent business.

In Episode 4 of the Brewbound Podcast’s second season, Odell Brewing co-founder Wynne Odell and Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman share what it’s like to begin to take a step back from the industry they helped build.

In Episode 3 of the Brewbound Podcast’s second season, Deschutes Brewery founder Gary Fish and other leaders from the Bend, Oregon-based craft brewery discuss the current competitive landscape, the evolution to a beverage company, how difficult it is to get mindshare and focus in 2019, and giving consumers what they want.