What happens when you combine accounting expertise, homebrewing passion, and entrepreneurial spirit? 

For Elliott H. Johnson II, it was creating Soul Mega – a thriving beer brand that's challenging traditional craft brewery models.

In this illuminating conversation, Elliott shares his journey from making "really bad" homebrew batches to building a recognized beer brand without a physical brewery. 

Soul Mega's contract brewing approach allowed them to enter the market with minimal capital investment, focusing instead on wholesale distribution and community building. 

When COVID-19 hit just six months after their launch, Elliott pivoted to become "basically an Uber Eats driver for a year," personally delivering beer to maintain customer relationships.

What makes Soul Mega distinctive is their approach to creating taproom-like experiences without a physical space. 

Their signature event, Mega Fest, combines a beer festival with DJ performances and community celebration – perfectly embodying their mission to "promote creative culture and inspire folks to pursue their interests and passions." 

Strategic collaborations with established breweries like Stone, Port City, and Tröegs have expanded their reach, while partnerships with graffiti artists for label designs connect the brand to creative communities.

Elliott's financial background shines through in his meticulous approach to business management. He maintains a 13-week cash flow forecast, uses CRM software to track account performance, and prioritizes in-person visits to high-performing retailers. 

His candid insights about navigating challenges – from finding a new contract brewer when their original partner suddenly closed to handling regulatory hurdles – provide valuable lessons for any entrepreneur.

Whether you're considering alternative brewery business models, looking to strengthen your brand connection with customers, or seeking practical strategies for sales growth without a taproom, this episode delivers actionable wisdom from someone who's making it work against the odds.

Thor Cheston shares the remarkable journey of Right Proper Brewing Company, from its successful 2013 brew pub opening to the challenges of expansion and the transformative power of implementing open book management. 

His candid insights reveal how focusing on core products, financial transparency, and efficient operations turned their struggling production facility into a thriving business with healthy EBITDA.

• Starting as a Georgetown student who fell in love with craft beer while working at a pizzeria
• Opening Right Proper Brewing in 2013 as a neighborhood hub with immediate success
• Expanding too quickly in 2015 with a production facility that struggled for years
• Pivoting in 2019 from creative-driven to leadership-focused business model
• Implementing open book management with full financial transparency
• Reducing product line to focus on consistent, marketable core beers
• Displaying financial statements on 8x16 foot whiteboards for all employees to see
• Creating incentive programs where employees share in profits when goals are met
• Understanding that profit enables purpose rather than being the purpose itself
• Building a business model specific to Right Proper rather than copying other breweries

You can reach Thor Cheston at Right Proper's Brookland facility at 202-247-6274. 

He welcomes text messages and is always happy to talk with fellow brewery professionals.

We dive into mastering your brewery budget with a practical three-step approach that transforms financial planning from overwhelming to achievable. This workshop provides tools and strategies to create a useful financial roadmap that aligns with business goals.

• Begin with the end in mind – set one clear financial goal (typically 10-15% profit) before planning anything else
• Know your stakeholders – identify requirements from banks, investors and others to incorporate into your plan
• Set firm deadlines – create a budget preparation timeline with clear responsibilities and milestones
• Use historical financial analysis to establish context for your projections
• Break down planning by department and involve team members to create ownership
• Consider balance sheet and cash flow implications, not just P&L
• Implement weekly financial huddles to shift from lagging indicators to leading indicators
• Use visualization tools like dashboards to make financial data more accessible
• Remember that budgeting isn't just about spreadsheets but about creating a financial roadmap

Join the Beer Business Finance Association to access the complete Brewery Budget Course with all tools and templates discussed in this workshop.

Sara Watson and her husband Brent turned their dream into reality with Vacancy Brewing in Austin, Texas, combining his brewing expertise with her hospitality marketing background to create a community-focused taproom experience.

• Building Vacancy Brewing after a six-month road trip across North America to find the perfect location
• Hiring a taproom manager to allow the founders to focus on business development instead of daily operations
• Implementing tighter beer loss and discount policies with transparent communication to improve margins
• Tracking weekly taproom net sales compared to both prior year and budget to stay proactive
• Creating the Vacancy Collective membership program to transform loyal customers into brand ambassadors
• Balancing innovation with consistency by maintaining core beer styles while rotating specific recipes
• Successfully navigating lease renewal challenges by gathering knowledge from multiple real estate professionals
• Finding the sweet spot between doing tasks yourself and knowing when to bring in outside expertise

Visit Vacancy Brewing in South Austin, find them online at vacancybrewing.com or on social media @VacancyBrewing to learn about their events including karaoke, trivia, music bingo, and more.

Brian Deignan shares how his brewery, Validation Ale, achieved 29% growth last year through systematic innovation and strategic expansion while he, as an owner, maintained a Monday-Friday, 9-5 work schedule. 

Brian explains his unique concept where beers compete for menu placement based solely on sales data, and his methodical annual process for identifying growth opportunities.

• Validation Ale's competitive model forces continuous innovation with 143 unique recipes created in three years
• Each beer category features a "validated" beer and a challenger that can replace it if sales are higher
• Brian's systematic "growth driver" process evaluates potential initiatives based on revenue potential, capital requirements, and feasibility
• Distilling spirits emerged as this year's growth initiative, generating 28% beverage revenue increase from day one
• Building consistent profitability across all days of the week took patience—nearly 2.5 years before lunches and slow days became profitable
• Staff culture focuses on training managers to "think like owners" through regular coaching and biweekly all-staff meetings
• Social media marketing works best when showcasing behind-the-scenes content with staff rather than polished promotional material
• High engagement metrics don't always translate to actual customer visits—line dancing content went viral but only two people attended

Key Takeaway: For brewery owners struggling with financial challenges, implement a systematic growth driver exercise to identify new revenue opportunities rather than remaining stagnant in a shrinking market.

Resources

• Learn more about Validation Ale
• Sign up for the FREE brewery financial training newsletter

Each month, the Beer Business Finance Association will shine a spotlight on one exceptional craft brewery to explore what makes their business thrive. 

In this exclusive conversation, we hear from Jake Lohse, Founder of Presidential Brewing. 

We go beyond the beer to uncover best practices, smart financial strategies, creative sales tactics, and the real-world lessons they've learned. 

This is your front-row seat to learn from peers who are building profitable, resilient breweries and raising the bar for the industry.

Whether you're a new brewery or a seasoned operator, you’ll walk away with fresh ideas and proven tactics to grow sales, improve profitability, and strengthen your business.

Resources

• Learn more about Presidential Brewing
• Check out Jake's book: Shifting Gears, The Ultimate Road Map to Crafting Your Legendary Brewery or Restaurant
• Get the free brewery finance bulletin

Today on the podcast Brynn Keenan from Grist Analytics talks brewery operations, data-driven decision making, and how Grist helps breweries improve performance. 

Grist Analytics provides data-driven solutions that help breweries optimize their production processes by transforming raw brewing data into actionable insights.

Their platform enables consistent quality, improved efficiency, and reduced waste through real-time monitoring and advanced brewing analytics.

Key Points

• How to replace paper brewing logs with a powerful data analytics tool
• Tips to overcome a big brewery challenge - effective production scheduling
• Benchmarking study and the 360 degree efficiency review

Resources

• Connect with Brynn, [email protected]
• Get the free brewery financial training newsletter

In today's podcast you'll learn how MarginEdge gives you accurate insight into taproom profitability on a daily basis—no waiting for end-of-month reports. 

What are your most profitable menu items? 

Where are costs increasing and eating into profits?  

How do we get everyone talking about the numbers and helping achieve financial success?

You'll get answers to these questions and more to help your increase taproom profits. 

Key Points

• How to properly price menu items for profit
• Tactics to stay laser focused on margins every single day
• The power of the "Controllable P&L" - a real-time look at taproom profitability
• Features and benefits of MarginEdge: Automated invoice processing, real-time food and beverage cost tracking, menu item analysis, and much more

Resources

• Connect with Andre from MarginEdge, [email protected]
• Watch the video replay of this free workshop
• Sign up for the FREE brewery financial training newsletter 

Today on the podcast we talk loyalty programs, memberships and recurring revenue strategies with Ross Stensrud from Tapwyse.

Tapwyse creates custom apps to create predictable and repeating income for your brewery business. Need a solution for slow seasonal business cycles? Tapwyse can help. 

Key Points

• How to use the $1 beer to get a 17x return on investment
• Flash rewards: How to use push notifications to instantly reward customers and get them coming back more often
• Want to sell more to-go beer? Learn how this brewery used Tapwyse to sell out of one SKU and bring in an additional $1k in the process
• How to create sticky, trackable, and profitable marketing campaigns

Resources

• Connect with Ross to learn more about Tapwyse: [email protected], or by cell, 760-209-6048
• Get the FREE financial training newsletter for breweries

Today on the podcast we hear from Chris Dial, Insurance Specialist at CS&A insurance and Owner of Wanderlinger Brewing Company in Chattanooga, TN.

Chris knows the brewery business as an owner and operator of Wanderlinger. And now he's using his skills and experience to help other brewery owners properly insure their businesses with the right coverages at the right price. 

Summary

• Insurance cost-savings opportunities you might not even know exist
• "The chiller died...but the brewery didn't." Hear the story of how the right insurance paid off for this brewery
• Biggest brewery insurance mistakes...and how to avoid them

Resources

• Connect with Chris on LinkedIn, by phone 615-496-6070, or email [email protected]
• Sign up for the FREE brewery financial training newsletter