The Craft Lyfe - Marketing and Branding for the Craft Beer Industry

Have you ever dreamed about running your own business? If so, you’re not alone. A survey conducted by Inc. Magazine found that 63% of working adults in the United States either own or want to start a business. The opportunity to be your own boss, set your own hours, and spend your days doing what you love is a dream come true. Right?! Sure sounds like it for us!  However, the reality is starting any business model, more specifically, a business model within the craft beer industry is tough. It’s a lot of paper work, a lot of dealing with the city and zoning, you’ve got to plan your buildout and much more! It takes patience, determination, and true passion!

Which is exactly what episode 1️⃣8️⃣ is all about! Starting and owning your very own bottle shop and what it takes to do so! Now sit back, grab your favorite beverage, and check out Eddie and Amy Abralde’s story of starting and running their very own Craft Beer Bottle Shop!

𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝:

✪  What led Eddie and Amy to start the bottle shop model?

✪  What kind of relationship is needed while working with distributors.

✪  What they found to be difficult in starting up a bottle shop.

✪  Why they chose to join The Craft Beer Cellar franchise.

✪  The benefits of being a franchisee.

✪  The future of Craft Beer Cellar Fort Lauderdale.

After this episode, you’ll leave with a very important quote, “Customer service is the handshake, hospitality is the hug!” This ideology is truly important when it comes to taking care of your customers, clients, patients, or guests.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐞:

Facebook: facebook.com/cbcftl

Instagram: instagram.com/cbc_ftl/

Untapped: untappd.com/v/craft-beer-cellar-ft-lauderdale/9312923

Website: https://craftbeercellar.com/stores/fl/fort_lauderdale/

When it comes to starting your own business, it can be a long process that requires a lot of time and investment. But the rewards are definitely worth the sweat and tears! Without a doubt, opening your own brewery may be one of the most thrilling and terrifying experiences you’ll ever go through. During this episode, we take an exclusive look under the hood of 3 Sons Brewing Co.  

We learned a bit about the founder, Corey Artanis, what led him into creating his own brewery, the backstory to why he chose the name 3 Sons, the future of 3 Sons, how his brewery ended up on Guy Fieri’s hot TV show; Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives… and much more!

3 Sons Brewery is located in Dania Beach, FL. The brewery is retrofitted in a spacious 11,000 square ft, 1940s warehouse, not far from the Ft. Lauderdale airport, with soaring 30-foot ceilings and a clean, modern design.

During this episode we explored:

✪  How Corey entered the craft beer scene, what Corey was doing in his life before 3 Sons.

✪  What led him to start 3 Sons.

✪  3 Sons + The Black is Beautiful Stout.

✪  3 Sons take on the direct to consumer model.

✪  3 Sons approach to label design.

✪  The marketing and branding tactics that 3 Sons uses.

✪  The future of 3 Sons Brewing.

After this episode, you’ll come to the self-realization that with the right resources, skills, and support from people who have been there, your lyfe journey of starting or creating whatever it is that drives you will not only be successful, but so worth it.

During this episode, we took a sneak peak into the life of Haidar Hachem and Marilyn Oroʑco, the founders and creators of Shōjō Beer Co.. We explore what led them into craft beer, their journey & experience in launching their brand new craft beer brand!

When creating a craft beer brand it’s important to infuse your unique personality so consumers can relate to you – as well as creating unique flavor profiles that speak to your brand!

People value authenticity in the brands that they purchase, and that is exactly what went into creating Shōjō Beer Co.

This desire for a genuine and unique brand experience isn’t going anywhere. If you make quality beer and have a unique perspective to share with the world, then there’s a place for you in the craft beer industry.

During this episode we explored:

✪ What the founders of Shōjō Beer Co. were doing before the craft beer life?

✪ How Haidar began his journey into the craft beer world.

✪ What led Marilyn into becoming a content creator.

✪ What led this couple into creating their own brand and gypsy brewing.

✪ Where the name Shōjō came from.

✪ Their passion for giving back.

✪ Takeaways when starting craft beer brand.

During this episode we got to take a look under the hood of Pompano Beach Brewing Co. We got to see what makes them tick and learned why they decided to embark on a rebrand of their entire brewery. Before we get started, let’s really dive into what a rebrand exactly is. A rebrand is the process of changing your image. It’s a marketing strategy of giving a new name, symbol, or change in design for an already-established brand. The idea behind rebranding is to create a different identity from your competitors in the market.

Sometimes the necessity for a rebrand is obvious and can begin to feel very pressing. Other times, it can be more subtle. While there’s no set-in-stone checklist for knowing when you need to rebrand, we do see a recurring set of criteria leading up to breweries pulling the trigger.

During this episode we explored:

✪ Learning a bit more about Adam Feingold the co-founder of Pompano Beach Brewing formerly known as Bangin’ Banjo Brewing

✪ What led Adam and the other co-founders in the creation of Bangin’ Banjos?

✪ Where the name Bangin’ Banjos came from?

✪ How Covid19 aided in the decision to pivot their business model.

✪ The thought process that went into the rebrand here at Pompano Beach Brewing Co.

✪ The rebranding phases of Pompano Beach Brewing Co.

Whether you’re a craft brewer or a brewery owner, you know that events are a vital part of a breweries marketing strategy. We truly believe events are one of the most powerful ways to build a brand and a community!

On this episode, we got to kick it at my favorite brewery, Tarpon River Brewing to chat it up with one of South Florida leading planners of beer festivals, happy hours, bar crawls, and home brew competitions - Stuart Skopit From SFLHops!

Stuart truly knows how to put on an amazing craft beer event. His events are so awesome that they got the attention of South Florida’s most popular entertainment news series, Deco Drive - which showcases trendy restaurants, events, and businesses right here in the South Florida area!

During this episode we explored:

✪  Positive community impact of craft beer events.

✪  Why Stuart created SFLHops.

✪  The benefit to local breweries working with SFLHops or other event planners to host different craft beer events.

✪  The process that goes into creating events.

✪  SFLHops’s recipe for success.

✪  Why he thinks it is important for homebrewers to enter local competitions such as his Curated Craft Carousel Beer Festival.

The craft beer industry is an industry unlike any other. Brewers collaborate on recipes, trade ingredients, and encourage customers to visit neighboring breweries. While it may seem like some markets are oversaturated with craft breweries, it’s this shared sense of community and camaraderie that allows these businesses to thrive.

With that in mind, are there any benefits to starting up multiple breweries, (different locations - with different ideologies, design, theme, and most importantly, different beer styles) versus one brewery?

The person best equipped to answer this question, is none other than John Falco! If you don’t know who John Falco is, let me tell you. John is the cofounder of 3 fantastic breweries - Lincoln’s Beard Co, Strange Beast, and Maxwell Bro - each with its own theme, feel, and vibe!

This is exactly what we dive into on Episode 13 of The Craft Lyfe!

Highlights of this episode:

✪ Why the number 13 is special episode.

✪ John’s back story - before the craft beer lyfe.

✪ The start of Lincoln’s Beard.

✪ The benefit of starting multiple small breweries.

✪ Marketing approach for each brewery.

✪ New venue alert - 4th location.

Beyond just a memorable logo - good branding has the ability to increase the value of your company, provide your employees with direction and motivation, and helps makes acquiring new customers that much easier. So what exactly is a brand?

This is exactly what we dive into on this episode of The Craft Lyfe! We chat it up with Daniel Pfaffenbach & Denielle Mizrahi the founders of Yeasty Brews Artisanal Beers. We discuss why communicating your brand story consistently is so important + we learn the exact formula they used to propel their brand before they even opened up their brewery!

Highlights of this episode:

✪ Home-brew to professional brewing

✪ Why the name “Yeasty”

✪ The backstory of Yeasty Brews

✪ The creation of Banana Slinger

✪ Getting attention is a new currency - Tap Handles

✪ Distribution of their beer prior to opening their brewery

✪ Their relationship with Lincoln’s Beard Brewing

Success doesn’t happen by accident and can’t be sustained by luck. You can’t build a great business, achieve a massive goal, or rise to the top of your profession by just going through the motions. It takes a ridiculous amount of hard work and consistently showing up every single day! The only way to get ahead in life is to hustle harder than everyone else and always staying on top of your grind!

This is exactly what we dive into on this episode of The Craft Lyfe! We chat it up with Davy, Head Brewer/Co-Founder of Orchestrated Minds. We discuss the hustle, the grind, and the mindset it takes to go after what you want and how to turn your dreams into a reality!

Highlights of this episode:

✪ What it means to hustle.

✪ Working through adversity.

✪ What the word failure means to Davy.

✪ Recipe for success.

✪ Working hard vs working smart.

✪ The mindset needed to start a business.

On this episode of The Craft lyfe we chat it up with McKay Ferrell one of the founders of Gulf Stream Brewing. Gulf Stream Brewing Company opened its doors in Fort Lauderdale in 2018. Their 10 BBL brew house is housed in a 5,300 square foot warehouse in the Middle River Terrace neighborhood in  Fort Lauderdale.

For us, Gulf Stream Brewing is and always will be an iconic place for The Craft Lyfe. Not only have we spent a lot of time here, but this is the brewery where we won our first home brew competition with SFLHops.

During Episode 10, McKay discusses what led him and Ty to the creation of Gulf Stream and what the founding principles are that guided them to stand true to Gulf Streams brand! We also dive into the following:

✪ McKay’s background

✪ Why MaKay and Ty choose Fort Lauderdale as the home to start their brewery.

✪ McKay’s outlook on social media.

✪ The impact of social media marketing to a breweries overall growth.

✪ Gulf Streams brand founding principles.

Have you ever thought about becoming a social influencer or using one for your business? You may be asking yourself, “What does it even mean to be a social influencer?”, right?

Well, an influencer is a person who is a thought leader in a particular niche/industry and through their passion they create dynamic content that results in creating a following!

On Episode 9, we chat it up with Christy Jo aka Beer.Brat as she’s known on Instagram. During this episode, we discuss why she initially embarked on her journey of documenting her passion and creating amazing content of craft beer, fancy dresses, and unicorns! We learn how she created an audience that finds value and trust in the content that she creates.

We also dive into the following:

✪ The benefits of becoming a content creator/social influencer.

✪ Things you should consider throughout your steps to becoming an influencer/creator.

✪ The different levels of social influencers.

✪ The difference between a social influencer and a brand ambassador.

✪ Why businesses obtain huge advantages by using content creators/social influencer.

If you’re eager to build an influential personal brand and become a thought leader in your industry  - sign up for our FREE video series by visiting: brandbuildersgroup.com/fsf/sp/