MicroBrewr Podcast

MicroBrewr Podcast episodes:

• 12.28.2018

  MicroBrewr 093: Sharing profits and building community with a cooperative brewery

  William Hubbard and Mike Johnson are helping to build the Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It follows the cooperative brewery business model. Cooperative breweries are an increasingly popular way to build a local brewery that helps build the...

  
• 12.31.2017

  MicroBrewr 092: Email marketing for breweries

  Alex Standiford in Akron, Ohio started Fill Your Taproom to help breweries attract more customers. He does that through website development, social media management, branding, and email marketing. “It’s not about trying to get people to buy your stuff. It’s...

  
• 10.11.2016

  MicroBrewr 091: Let them do the job you hired them to do

  Michael Altman was in the industry for years when he bought a brewpub. Now he’s been operating Iron Springs Pub & Brewery in Fairfax, California for 12 years. Before they opened he had to have back surgery and totally reinvent...

  
• 11.17.2015

  MicroBrewr 090: State of the podcast

  TRANSCRIPT: Welcome to MicroBrewr podcast. Where we talk about everything craft beer related, but especially for if want to start your own microbrewery or take your existing brewery to the next level. As usual, I’m Nathan Pierce, the host of...

  
• 11.10.2015

  MicroBrewr 089: Make whiskey from high-quality craft beer

  Over a few beers, Tim Obert’s friend from college, Clint, told him that whiskey is actually made from cheap beer. They got to thinking, why not make whiskey from high-quality craft beer? Thus was born Seven Stills of SF, in...

  
• 11.03.2015

  MicroBrewr 088: A brewing pedigree from Kansas to Texas

  Andrew Huerter comes from a family of brewers. His parents were founding members of the Kansas City Beer Meisters homebrew club and his dad won a blue ribbon for one of his beers. Now Drew is following in their footsteps....

  
• 10.27.2015

  MicroBrewr 087: Differentiate your brewpub with unique menu items

  At 55 years old Ken Carson tried to get a job at a brewery, but nobody would hire him—even for volunteer. So with no brewing nor restaurant experience, he started Nexus Brewery in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “I fell in love...

  
• 10.20.2015

  MicroBrewr 086: The future of apple cider in America

  Nick Gunn and his wife were working for her family’s winery. They had the idea to start growing apples for cider. One of the cideries to whom they were selling apples decided to close down and they offered to sell...

  
• 10.13.2015

  MicroBrewr 085: Starting a brewery is a full-time job

  Cody Martin worked in civil engineering and environmental engineering. After touring some breweries and seeing that they use familiar equipment, he asked his wife if he could start a brewery. She found work in Texas and he started Martin House...

  
• 10.06.2015

  MicroBrewr 084: A healthy alcoholic beverage: hard cider

  As soon as Mark McTavish could acknowledge alcohol, he gravitated toward hard cider. Later, he attended beverage management school and opened a craft beer bar in Toronto, Canada. Now in the U.S., Mark owns a cider distribution company and 101...

  
• 09.29.2015

  MicroBrewr 083: Market branding for a cider company

  Fran Toves’ son challenged her to enter cider into the homebrew competition. After her 3 entries made it to the top 10, she figured it time to take the product to market and started Common Cider Company in Drytown, California....

  
• 09.22.2015

  MicroBrewr 082: Gluten free beer for a large market

  Brian Kovalchuck has a background in finance and marketing and came to beer late in his career. After he helped with the turnaround of Pabst Blue Ribbon, Brian became CEO of the gluten free Bard’s Tale Beer Company in Minneapolis,...

  
• 09.15.2015

  MicroBrewr 081: An R&D laboratory for craft beer

  The guys at Portland Kettle Works had the idea to start a nanobrewery. They needed one of their employees to run it, so Chris Sears stepped up and took charge of Labrewatory in Portland, Oregon. “If Portland is anywhere close...

  
• 09.08.2015

  MicroBrewr 080: Brewing the American Dream winner for 2015

  A friend asked Marta Jankowska and her husband whether they wanted to use his warehouse space and go pro with their brewing. The warehouse space fell through, but they were far along in the process, so they decided to go...

  
• 09.01.2015

  MicroBrewr 079: The importance of budgeting for working capital

  Wim Bens was born in Belgium and moved to Texas when he was 7 years old. He applied to American Brewers Guild just to have the option. Now, 3 years after opening Lakewood Brewing Co. in Garland, Texas he can...

  
• 08.25.2015

  MicroBrewr 078: Around the world and back with the craft beer industry

  Bill Morgan has brewed on 2-BBL systems all the way up to 250-BBL systems. Craft brewing has taken him around the world and back. Now he’s gone full-circle, brewing on 4-BBL system and loving the flexibility it provides at The...

  
• 08.18.2015

  MicroBrewr 077: The importance of writing your goals

  Michael Peticolas learned about homebrewing from his mother. After achieving all the goals he set for himself in the legal field, he decided to pursue his passion of beer with Peticolas Brewing Company in Dallas, Texas. Michael says he feels...

  
• 08.11.2015

  MicroBrewr 076: Carrying the torch of authentic beer styles

  After a microbiology degree and studies at the world’s premier culinary college, Seth Gross was working at a restaurant and hanging out at the nearby Goose Island Brewpub. Pretty soon they offered him a job. Today Seth owns his own...

  
• 08.04.2015

  MicroBrewr 075: Recruit the right people for the right job

  Mark Doble opened Aviator Brewing Company, Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, in November 2008. In less than 7 years he has started a brewery, a trucking company, a restaurant, two bars, and soon a new brewery with a distillery. All of...

  
• 07.21.2015

  MicroBrewr 074: Contract brewing for homebrew craft beer club

  Noble Brewer is an online craft beer club featuring homebrewers’ best beers. It’s not exactly legal to sell homebrew by mail, so Claude Burns at Noble Brewer connects the homebrewer with a commercial brewery. Then they ship great homebrew from...

  
• 07.14.2015

  MicroBrewr 073: Contract brewing: quality product with low barrier to entry

  David Olsen dives into things all the way. He decided that he wanted to homebrew, so he read about 15 books and took some short classes at UC Davis. Within 6 months he was winning awards at homebrewing competitions. He...

  
• 07.07.2015

  MicroBrewr 072: Batch 4,000 and brewery law reform in Minnesota

  Dave Hoops has been brewing for decades. He brought what he learned in California to Minnesota and helped change the brewery laws there. Now his West Coast style beers have been working well for Fitger’s Brewhouse Brewery & Grille, in...

  
• 06.30.2015

  MicroBrewr 071: Four years from brewing school to brewmaster

  Ashley Kinart began homebrewing to learn about the brew process so she could better answer customer questions at the craft beer bar where she worked. She eventually realized that it really interested her, so she enrolled in the World Brewing...

  
• 06.23.2015

  MicroBrewr 070: Brewery law reform and scaling up in Indiana

  Jeff Mease worked in his parents’ grocery store when he was a kid. “I had grown up in a family business,” he recounts. “By the time I was legal, I didn’t have any fear of business.” Indeed, when Jeff was...

  
• 06.16.2015

  MicroBrewr 069: Arrrgh! What to do when yer job gets boring

  Mark Robertson got bored of his job, so he opened a brewery. Pensacola Bay Brewery, in Pensacola Bay, Florida follows their local heritage with a fun pirate motif. But they’re not all scurvy. After 5 years, Pensacola Bay Brewery is...

  
• 06.09.2015

  MicroBrewr 068: An SBA loan can help open or grow your brewery

  Two years ago, Adam Charnack and his partners got a $254,000 SBA-backed loan to start Hi-Wire Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina. Today, they’re expanding to a second brewery with another SBA loan. “The SBA involvement in craft beer,” says Adam,...

  
• 06.02.2015

  MicroBrewr 067: How to find investors for a brewery

  UPDATE: Mistakes and clarifications have been corrected, per Jenny Kassan. You planned the brewery of your dreams. You researched the market and you know it will be profitable. But you don’t have a million dollars under your pillow to start...

  
• 05.26.2015

  MicroBrewr 066: How to get an SBA loan for a startup brewery

  Kris Kennedy works in the Small Business Lending Group with First Community Bank in Roseville, California. They were the first financial institution listed as an allied trade member of California Craft Brewers Association. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s loan program...

  
• 05.19.2015

  MicroBrewr 065: Finding the right small business insurance for a brewery

  Moores Insurance Management, in St Paul, Minnesota is an independent insurance agency. They’re not an insurance company; instead they act as an advocate for small businesses, to assess risk and help pick the best insurance plan for your situation. Jack...

  
• 05.12.2015

  MicroBrewr 064: How to write a business plan for a brewery

  Dave Lavinsky went to business school at University of California at Los Angeles. After he won a business plan writing competition, he wrote a few for other businesses. Then he started Growthink, in Los Angeles, to help entrepreneurs and business...

  
• 05.05.2015

  MicroBrewr 063: A hundred-page business plan and barely enough money

  At the height of the great recession, Kevin Selvy had a hundred-page business plan and started Crazy Mountain Brewing Company in Edwards, Colorado with $500,000. He calls it an irresponsible amount of money and estimates that nobody should do it...

  
• 04.28.2015

  MicroBrewr 062: Cohesive brand development for your brewery

  Measured Methods is a multi-purpose agency focusing on craft breweries and other artisanal crafts. They’re based in Burlington, Vermont, but they can provide a variety of services for breweries anywhere. They focus both on the front end, such as branding...

  
• 04.21.2015

  MicroBrewr 061: Use social media to directly interact with your customers

  Tim Mather was just getting into craft beer when he and a friend created the highly-popular mobile app for beer drinkers, Untappd, based in Los Angles, California. “Neither of us really knew anything about beer,” admits Tim. “I knew that...

  
• 04.14.2015

  MicroBrewr 060: How to make a website that people find

  Allan Wolfe is a beer writer who started UnEarthed Creative in Chicago, Illinois. His online marketing firm helps small businesses in the new world of online marketing. They specialize in marketing for small breweries. “If you’ve got the best beer,...

  
• 04.07.2015

  MicroBrewr 059: How to get the most out of a beer festival

  Beer festivals are an important part of a startup brewery’s marketing plan. Stephanie Carson and SuperFly Fabulous Events in Asheville, North Carolina put on 11 beer festivals every year. I asked her, how much do beer festivals play a part...

  
• 04.02.2015

  MicroBrewr 058: Be confident to get where you need to go

  Laura Ulrich is the small batch brewer at Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California. She has worked there for 11 years, after working in the bottling line at Odell Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado. “Twelve years ago,” says Laura,...

  
• 03.31.2015

  MicroBrewr 057: Create new revenue streams for your brewpub

  Jamie Baertsch did an internship with Wisconsin Dells Brewing Co., in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, and she stuck around until they started paying her. Today she’s the brewmaster, winning awards for her beer, and planning the expansion to a production facility....

  
• 03.24.2015

  MicroBrewr 056: Applying organic chemistry to brewing

  Nadia Vazirzadeh had only a bachelor’s degree in biology, zero knowledge of beer, when she started working on the quality control team at Golden Road Brewing, Los Angeles, California. “I knew I wanted to do something the rest of my...

  
• 03.17.2015

  MicroBrewr 055: Use contract brewing to de-risk with minimal cash injection

  If you’re like me, you don’t have a million dollars to start the brewery of your dreams. If you have brewing skills and can create recipes, contract brewing could be a way to create a product and establish a customer...

  
• 03.10.2015

  MicroBrewr 054: Start a debt-free nanobrewery

  We all have a dream to start a brewery. Many of us don’t have the money required to start the brewery of our dreams. Lynn Jacobs and her husband, Jeff, started Great Storm Brewing in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with no...

  
• 03.03.2015

  MicroBrewr 053: Pink Boots Society empowers women in beer

  Teri Fahrendorf had been brewing professionally for 19 years when she went on a road trip. She visited 71 breweries, brewed at 38 of them, and blogged the whole way. Throughout the trip, she did meet a few other women...

  
• 02.24.2015

  MicroBrewr 052: Share your brewery’s story with a podcast

  Joe Short started Short’s Brewing Company in Bellaire, Michigan in 2004. Today Short’s Brewing is one of the fastest growing of Michigan breweries. Their young, savvy marketing program includes a podcast. “A large part of making people aware of us,”...

  
• 02.17.2015

  MicroBrewr 051: Augment your brewery’s marketing plan with a podcast

  Podcasting is exploding. Even breweries are using podcasts to share their story or as part of their marketing plan. John Lee Dumas, founder and host of Entrepreneur On Fire, in San Diego, California is the expert on podcasting and starting...

  
• 02.10.2015

  MicroBrewr 050: Have passion and be persistent

  Drew Dillman from Craft Conscious, in Cincinnati, Ohio, interviews all sectors of the craft beer industry. Rather than beer tastings or reviews, he pulls back the curtain on the business of beer. Nearly 100 audio interviews are in iTunes and...

  
• 02.03.2015

  MicroBrewr 049: Planning California’s first cooperative brewpub

  You’ve decided that your brewery is going to be a cooperative. Now you need to find others who will share the burden and resources. You can work together to start your own brewery. That’s what Christian Borglum and others are...

  
• 01.29.2015

  MicroBrewr 048: Package your beer cheap and easy with mobile canning

  You pinched every penny. You begged, borrowed, and stole to start your brewery. People are enjoying your beer at the taproom, and now you want to expand your reach. You still don’t have capital to buy a dedicated canning or...

  
• 01.27.2015

  MicroBrewr 047: Proof of concept for a brewpub co-op

  If you’re thinking of starting a brewpub, the cooperative business model might be the way to go. Chris Hamje has been at Black Star Co-op Pub and Brewery, in Austin, Texas, since shortly after they opened. He explains how the...

  
• 01.20.2015

  MicroBrewr 046: Start your brewery as a worker-owned co-op

  The cooperative business model is gaining popularity. Even many craft breweries are forming as co-ops. If you want to form your brewery as a co-op, Janelle Orsi, Executive Director of Sustainable Economies Law Center, in Oakland, California can answer your questions....

  
• 01.13.2015

  MicroBrewr 045: Launch your brewery with a strong opening night

  You’ve spent months working toward opening your brewery, now you’re finally ready for the public. How do you come out with a bang? Henry Thornhill and friends recently opened West Cork Brewing Company in Baltimore, Ireland. They share how to put...

  
• 01.06.2015

  MicroBrewr 044: What every brewery should know about trademarks

  There are so many stories about breweries in trademark disputes. The last thing you want is to get sued or pay legal fees to protect yourself. Paul Rovella is attorney and partner at L+G, LLP Attorneys at Law in Hollister,...