The Start A Brewery Podcast

Continuing the two part conversation about the necessary – nay, essential - systems for your brewing business, our guests take a hard look at the key people who make up your brewery business team. Who are they, how did you find them, and how much of a voice do they have in the direction and decision making for your business? The conversation hits highlights about business structure, communication, sharing of business progress, supporting your team, and ultimately how many hours there are in a day. Larry Chase and Matt Hughes have lived experience from so many different perspectives around this topic, and their wisdom is helpful on just as many levels.

Guests:

Matt Hughes, USI Insurance

 Matt has been a commercial insurance and risk consultant for 18 years. In addition, he has been a brewer for Wynkoop Brewing Company & founder/ former head brewer for Goldspot Brewing Co.

Larry Chase, Great Game of Business Certified Coach

Beer flavor variety brought Larry to craft brewing in 1997. Today he supports and coaches owners who want to build a culture of ownership and employee involvement.

About StartABrewery

StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
 

Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
 

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Beginning a two part conversation about the necessary - nay essential - systems for your brewing business, our guests dig into their areas of specialty to talk through both the philosophy and mechanics interwoven behind the scenes. Mary Brettmann offers insight around the critical financial/Accounting hub of information gathering for effective decision making, Ethan Tsai speaks to the production side of brewing with the realities of the 5S approach to success, and Nancy Trigg talks through the tap room, staff and customer service systems that are so important. While brewery owners of all levels will find good information in this episode, start up, young, and expanding breweries may expand their vision and practical understanding of solid brewing business best practices.

Guests

• Mary Brettmann, President, Beverage Business Builders. Mary has 25+ years of experience in the corporate world. In prior lives, she has been a state auditor, a sales controller, an international treasury professional, a business owner and - finally - a craft brewing CFO for a fast growing regional craft brewery. She calls both California and Minnesota home, plus has clients all throughout the country. She enjoys digging in and creating change with every client.

• Ethan Tsai, PhD, is a Brewing Operations Consultant, formerly GM of brewing operations for Cigar City Brewing and Tivoli Brewing Company in addition to teaching/assisting in the creation of the Brewing & Fermentation Science Program at Metro State University in Denver.

• Nancy Trigg, Owner, Trigg Performance Collective. With 20 years as a high-performing operational leader (7 in the brewing industry), and equal experience coaching and mentoring from within organizations, Nancy blends coaching and business advising to be a great partner to leaders of all levels, helping to optimize both business and individual performance.

About StartABrewery

StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
 

Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
 

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

While podcast episode 014 focuses primarily on Contract Brewing, 015 takes us down the path of Alternating Proprietorships. Jamil Zainasheff shares his experience brewing his recipes for Heretic in an Alternating Proprietorship arrangement before he had his own location, and Candace offers a wider lens with regard to contracts and the legalities of different Contract/Alt Prop combinations of services, licenses, and facility usage. Chock full of tips, tricks, and best practices, this episode is an extremely practical and useful way to expand your perception of what it takes to open a brewery.

Guests

Jamil Zainacheff, award-winning homebrewer, author, beer judge, and host of “The Jamil Show” and “Brew Strong” shows on The Brewing Network, and Founder of Heretic Brewing Co.

Candace L. Moon, Co-Founder of Start A Brewery and Founder/Attorney at The Craft Beer Attorney

Candace L. Moon is a San Diego-based attorney who handles many different legal areas including alcoholic beverage law, contract review and trademark law. (also Co-Host of the podcast)

About StartABrewery

StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
 

Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
 

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 014 explores the business approach to opening a brewery based on contract brewing and alternating proprietorships. Alisa Bowens-Mercado of Rhythm Brewing tells her story of the search for contract brewing, while Phil Markowski of Two Roads and Matthew Osterman of Sleeping Giant share the backstory and intent behind their purpose built contract brewing facilities. Relationships are key, as we learn, and all three guests share tips, tricks, and best practices throughout this episode.

Phil Markowski, Master Brewer/Co-Founder, Two Roads Brewing Co.

Master Brewer Phil Markowski comes from an engineering background. After dabbling in home brewing and winning a few competitions back in the 1980s Phil made the bright decision to go into the craft beer world as a career.

A long career at various breweries has led to dozens of medals from the GABF and WBC, along with many other medals at regional and international competitions. Phil also wrote the book on Farmhouse Ales, literally, and is thrilled to be in his dream job: working with friends to create a brewery from scratch with state-of-the-art equipment.

Alisa Bowens-Mercado, Owner/Brewmaster, Rhythm Brewing Co.

Rhythm Brewing Co. is a New Haven, CT based brewery, founded by Alisa Bowens-Mercado. Realizing the lack of craft lagers on the market, Alisa decided to create her own. Her flagship beer, Rhythm, is a modern American-style lager with an ABV of 5.5%. Brewed with South African hops, Rhythm is unfiltered, flavorful, and has a slight bite that leaves you wanting more. 

Music, Dance, and Beer have played a significant role in Alisa’s life. Both of Alisa’s Grandmothers’ were beer drinkers, and on special occasions, they would sip, dance and converse about “Finding your Rhythm in Life”.

Matthew Osterman, President & Founder, Sleeping Giant Brewing Co.

Sleeping Giant Brewing Co. is the result of President & Founder, Matthew Osterman creating the type of contract brewing facility that he and his business partner were looking for when they needed one. Listen for the colorful story of his homebrewing journey in his college dorm through the advent of Sleeping Giant and its current role in the Denver and regional area.

About StartABrewery

StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
 

Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
 

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 013 continues the discussion with Chris Leach of Wild Goose Filling, Alex Smith of ABS Commercial, and Brian Mollohan of Ruby Street Brewing about all things equipment. Where 012 was more shopping information and considerations, 013 takes us further into customized equipment, the entirety of costs associated with brewing equipment, and all things cans….including growlers vs. crowlers. Listening to both episodes will give you confidence in both shaping your vision and searching for the right vendors to work with to get you there.

Episode 013 is sponsored by ABS Commercial.

Brian Mollohan, Owner, Ruby Street Brewing

Brian Mollohan founded Ruby Street Brewing after years of homebrewing and building custom brewing systems for friends.  Ruby Street is a family owned manufacturing business that specializes in building small scale nano and pilot brewing equipment.  Ruby Street is unique in that all equipment is built to order with flexible designs, customizable options, competitive pricing and unrivaled customer support.

Alex Smith, Midwest Sales Consultant, ABS Commercial

Alex’s first foray in to fermentation was actually at a wine growers internship through the University of Georgia Sustainable Ag program.  Realizing he had neither the patience of palate for wine, he soon pivoted to beer and never looked back.  Since then he has worked in almost every aspect of the beer industry from retail to production and everything in between.  Over 5 years ago, he helped open our sister company, Raleigh Brewing Company, where he served as yeast manager, head brewer and productions manager.  Now with ABS commercial he wears just as many hats, covering sales, technical consulting and on-site brewing support.  Alex resides in Denver, CO and heads up the Colorado wing for ABS Commercial.  When not in the office or on the brewhouse, Alex can be found roaming the mountains with his wife, Natalie and their two dogs, Gracie and Wren.  He also enjoys wrenching on and riding bikes, fermenting foods and tinkering with whatever needs tinkering.

Favorite Beers: A roasty schwarzbier, a juicy IPA or Schlenkerla Urbock

Chris Leach, Regional Sales Manager, Wild Goose Filling

Chris Leach is the East Coast Sales Manager for Wild Goose Filling. He comes from a background in the hospitality industry, attending the Culinary Institute of American and working in all facets of the restaurant industry. Chris shifted course in 2006 to the beer industry brewing at Keegan Ales in upstate NY before moving into consultative sales. His sales experience includes off-premise retail, distribution, cidery/distillery representative and packaging equipment. Chris has been working with breweries to design, configure and implement over 300 packaging lines over the past 5.5 years. 

About StartABrewery

StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
 

Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
 

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

In Episode 012 our guests weigh in on one of the most popular topics of conversation when talking about any brewery: brewing equipment. In addition to in depth advice about brewing system capacity, the group gets into what kind of questions to ask equipment suppliers, how to evaluate equipment, considering used equipment, when and how to consider mobile canning vs. purchasing your own canning line, and more. Keep an eye open for a Part II of this topic, as rumor has it there are lots more areas to discuss!

Episode 012 is sponsored by Wild Goose Filling.

Guests: 

Brian Mollohan, Owner, Ruby Street Brewing

Brian Mollohan founded Ruby Street Brewing after years of homebrewing and building custom brewing systems for friends.  Ruby Street is a family owned manufacturing business that specializes in building small scale nano and pilot brewing equipment.  Ruby Street is unique in that all equipment is built to order with flexible designs, customizable options, competitive pricing and unrivaled customer support.

Alex Smith, Midwest Sales Consultant, ABS Commercial

Alex’s first foray in to fermentation was actually at a wine growers internship through the University of Georgia Sustainable Ag program.  Realizing he had neither the patience of palate for wine, he soon pivoted to beer and never looked back.  Since then he has worked in almost every aspect of the beer industry from retail to production and everything in between.  Over 5 years ago, he helped open our sister company, Raleigh Brewing Company, where he served as yeast manager, head brewer and productions manager.  Now with ABS commercial he wears just as many hats, covering sales, technical consulting and on-site brewing support.  Alex resides in Denver, CO and heads up the Colorado wing for ABS Commercial.  When not in the office or on the brewhouse, Alex can be found roaming the mountains with his wife, Natalie and their two dogs, Gracie and Wren.  He also enjoys wrenching on and riding bikes, fermenting foods and tinkering with whatever needs tinkering.

Favorite Beers: A roasty schwarzbier, a juicy IPA or Schlenkerla Urbock.

Chris Leach, Regional Sales Manager, Wild Goose Filling

Chris Leach is the East Coast Sales Manager for Wild Goose Filling. He comes from a background in the hospitality industry, attending the Culinary Institute of American and working in all facets of the restaurant industry. Chris shifted course in 2006 to the beer industry brewing at Keegan Ales in upstate NY before moving into consultative sales. His sales experience includes off-premise retail, distribution, cidery/distillery representative and packaging equipment. Chris has been working with breweries to design, configure and implement over 300 packaging lines over the past 5.5 years. 

About StartABrewery

StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
 

Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
 

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 011 brings together decades of ingredients and processes experience for a thorough discussion of “What are you brewing?”.  Neil Witte, Erik Fowler, and Niko Tonks are all brewers who in time have specialized in quality, yeast, and hops. The scope of their work within the industry and connection to both the brewing and business side is apparent as they offer practical advice about everything from recipe costing, house yeast, secondary hops markets, and ultimately to the proper way to brew and serve a nitro beer.

Erik Fowler, Director of Education & Craft Hospitality, White Labs

Erik has been with White Labs since 2014. Before coming to White Labs, he worked for a prominent regional brewery, a nano-brewery, and several beer and wine focused retail outlets. He has led education classes on yeast handling, sensory techniques and QC. Erik holds his Cicerone® certification as well as a certificate in the Business of Craft Beer from San Diego State University.

Neil Witte, Associate Director of Exams for the Cicerone Certification Program, Founder/Owner of Tap Star & Craft Quality Solutions

Neil Witte is the Owner/Founder of TapStar and Craft Quality Solutions. He's a 23-year beer industry veteran, draft beer specialist and one of 19 Master Cicerones.

With TapStar, he takes the industry draft quality standards he helped develop as a co-author of the Brewers Association Draught Beer Quality Manual. and certifies quality standards at draft beer retailers. He then promotes those retailers who serve the highest-quality draft beer with consumers.

With Craft Quality Solutions, he travels the country helping restaurants, bars, breweries and distributors through such services as draft system design, installation, troubleshooting, and service; distributor draft department consulting and training; on-premise sales team draft system training; and brewery field quality and sensory program consulting and training.

About StartABrewery

StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
 

Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
 

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Niko Tonks, Central Region Sales Manager, Yakima Chief Hops

Niko Tonks is the Central Region Sales Manager for Yakima Chief Hops. He started his brewing career at Live Oak Brewing in Austin, Texas in 2011, co-founded Fair State Brewing Cooperative in Minneapolis in 2013, and joined YCH in the fall of 2022. He has extensive experience with technical brewing, recipe development, and R&D brewing. He lives in Southern Minnesota and enjoys a fine pilsner beer.

Episode 010 harkens back to Episode 003: Foundational Elements, and continues with the critical decision making of Ownership, Kitchens, and what kind of brewery approach you will be using. Beginning with a thorough discussion of strategies and pitfalls of various locations, our guests work their way through approaches to design, working with contractors, architects & other professionals, functionality above and beyond such as solar or water sustainability practices or equipment, and more. Dustin, Andy & Derek offer best practices as well as examples of challenges created by issues at this juncture on their journey.

T. Dustin Hauck, Principal, Hauck Architecture

With over twenty-five years experience in the profession, Dustin has participated in all aspects of architectural practice. As principal of the firm, he is the driving force behind all of the firm’s projects and designs, responsible for project management and document production. A local resident of San Diego, California, since 1985, Dustin began his architectural career in 1996, and founded Hauck Architecture twelve years later. His background includes a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Hammons School of Architecture at Drury University, study at the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland, and hands-on experience in the construction industry while assisting his family in their many construction endeavors. Dustin’s combination of thorough analysis, client considerations, and attention to detail constitute the foundation of Hauck Architecture’s approach to every project, whether it’s a green home design, a sustainable restaurant renovation, production brewery, or ADA code compliance upgrades.

Derek Wasak - Founder, Lead Consultant - Plato Brewing and Consulting Inc.

Derek is a 14 year veteran of the craft beer industry, an award winning Head Brewer, and has direct experience planning, designing, building, and operating multiple craft breweries. Most notably, he has worked at Smuttynose Brewing (NH), Stone Brewing (CA), Duckfoot Brewing (CA), as well as others in Southern California ranging from 1000 bbl-180,000bbl/yr+. Derek is a graduate of UMass Lowell, Siebel Institute, World Brewing Academy, and Doemens Academy and specializes in brewery business planning, equipment and space planning, expansion planning, and project management. After spending most of his career as Head Brewer he decided to step off the production floor to start Plato Brewing and Consulting in 2020 to utilize his operational experience and help others realize their dream of opening a Brewery as well as save them time and money throughout the process.

Andy Hooper, Director of Business Development for Barnum Mechanical

Andy is the Director of Business Development for Barnum Mechanical, a design-build engineering contractor.  He is an award-winning Brewmaster with over 15 years of experience in brewery design, sustainability, wastewater treatment, and process engineering.  He holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and holds a Master Brewers’ certification from the U.C. Davis Master Brewers extension program.

About StartABrewery

StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
 

Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
 

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 009 carries forward the critical decision making from Episode 008 into the biggest of pictures about your business, digging into the food component (kitchen) as a major factor in determining whether you’re planning a tap room (only), a brewpub, or a packaging brewery. With decades of experience individually, our guests together represent a very diverse collection of perspectives on this topic. From the headaches to the financial benefits of a kitchen, and diving into the  situational possibilities for production breweries and tap rooms without food, this discussion covers a ton of useful ground for the start up or expanding brewery.

MATT POTTS, FOUNDER/CEO OF DESTIHL:
Matt Potts is the Founder, CEO and General Counsel of DESTIHL®. Matt also served as DESTIHL’s original Brewmaster from 2007 until January 2022 when he passed on the mash paddle. Matt received his Bachelors in Ag Science from the University of Illinois in 1991, his juris doctorate in 1993 from DePaul University College of Law and became a licensed attorney in 1994. While practicing law, he started homebrewing at the end of 1995, and he & his wife, Lyn, eventually opened their first brewpub, Elmwood Brewing Company (‘EBC’), near the law office in 2001.

In 2007, Matt attended Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago, securing his Associate in Brewing Technology certificate, and then started up a new brewpub and full-service restaurant concept, DESTIHL Restaurant & Brew Works, in Normal, IL. In 2013, DESTIHL opened its first production brewery in Bloomington, IL, reaching capacity by late 2015. In 2017, DESTIHL Brewery opened its new destination, regional Brewery & Beer Hall facility in Normal, which is now expanding its capacity to over 60,000bbls/year and has a brewhouse capacity of over 150,000bbls/year.

DESTIHL’s award-winning beers are now distributed in almost 40 states, plus Canada and Sweden, including its industry-changing Wild Sour Series, which was one of the first sour beers packaged in cans, its DeadHead® IPAs (including 2021 Gold and Bronze Medal winners in the coveted Juicy/Hazy IPA & Imperial IPA categories) and many other beers. DESTIHL started doing some contract brewing in 2018, but due to so much word-of-mouth growth for these services, it is now launching a new, separate division of its brewery called CANOPOLIS™, which is focused on contract brewing.

Matt served on the Board of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild from 2010-2020 and Chairman of the Guild’s Government Affairs Committee from 2017-2020, which was instrumental in securing many changes to Illinois laws over the years to secure production cap increases, self-distribution & beer transfer rights and many other important rights and protections for the growth of all Illinois breweries.

Chris Black, Co-Founder Falling Rock Tap House

Chris Black is a 40-year veteran of the Craft Beer Wars. From his start working at an early Beer Bar to stints working for Importers, Distributors and Breweries, to his ultimate goal of owning one of the World’s most well-known Beer Bars, The Falling Rock Tap House in Denver, CO for 24 years, Chris has experience in all three tiers and a passion for helping people set up a great experience for their customers. Essential elements include Good Design and Layout, Sound, Lighting, Seating and most importantly, setting up your Draught System properly.

Tom Hennessy, Founder Colorado Boy Brewing

Tom Hennessy has opened seven breweries of his own and helped open over 130 more with his Colorado Boy Brewery Immersion Course. He is  the founder, along with past partners Tom White, Greg Atkin and  Rick Post, of Scalo Northern Italian Grill in Albuquerque, Pranzo in Santa Fe,  and IL Vicino Wood Oven Pizza in New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas. His video Frankenbrew, from 1995 has become a cult classic in the brewing world. His three previous brewing books include The Brewery Operations Manual, The Affordable Brewery, and Colorado Boy SOP. Tom lives, brews and writes in his mountain town of Ridgway, Colorado, with his wife Sandy.

About StartABrewery

StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
 

Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of  Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
 

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 008 covers one of the most obvious and essential initial topics in Ownership and Organizational Structure. Yes, you need to explain your decisions and the resulting organizational outline in your business plan, but the importance of this gets into tax implications, decision making for the company, succession planning, following legal guidelines for investors, etc. And as Mary points out during this episode, you need to know your partners well, because you’re going to spend a lot of time together and you need to be on the same page.

Guests:

Mary Brettmann, CPA, President, Beverage Business Builders

Mary holds an active CPA license in Minnesota and California & has 25+ years of experience in the corporate world. In prior lives, she has been a state auditor, a sales controller, an international treasury professional, a business owner and finally a craft brewing CFO for a fast growing regional craft brewery. Mary’s current mission is to teach the industry what she’s learned and to help people get to the next level in their journey. And so in 2015 Beverage Business Builders was born. Mary calls Minnesota – and now California -  home, but has clients all throughout the country.

Jeff Mendel, Partner/Director, Left Hand Brewing Co.

Mendy, aka Jeff Mendel, is one of the original owners of Tabernash Brewing Co, which merged with Left Hand Brewing Co. in 1998. Mendy has been on the Board of Directors for Left Hand since that time in addition to being fully immersed in all things with the Brewers Association. He is currently on the Events Committee for the BA, was co-Founder of the Colorado Brewers Guild, has been the Director for the Institute for Brewing Studies, and Director of the Microbrewers Conference and Trade Show among other leadership roles in the industry.

Jeffrey O’Brien, Attorney/Partner, Chestnut Cambronne PA  

Jeff O’Brien is a partner with the law firm of Chestnut Cambronne PA, practicing in the areas of business and real estate law.  He represents several craft breweries and distilleries, helping them with financing issues, real estate matters, the launch of their businesses, intellectual property protection, operational issues and all of their other legal needs.  He is a frequent commentator on issues pertaining to liquor law. Jeff is licensed in the States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and South Dakota.

About StartABrewery

StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
 

Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of  Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
 

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license