The Start A Brewery Podcast

The 007 episode is a break to check in with three industry veterans about their craft beer journeys. Key elements of the discussion include how mission statements & values shine through their existing businesses and, overall, how business plans have or have not played a part in the various breweries they have been with over time. Their experiences showcase the differing approaches to business through the years, down to writing a business plan “for an audience of one”, as Sam puts it.

Mark Youngquist, Owner/Brewer, Dolores River Brewing Co.

Cofounder of Rock Bottom Breweries, the Colorado Brewers Guild, and founder of the Dolores River Brewery, Mark has been actively involved in the brewing industry for over 35 years, and is a ICF certified coach specializing in leadership, business development and entrepreneurship to those looking to explore their passions and dreams.  

Mark began brewing in 1987 at BridgePort, founded the Rock Bottom Breweries in 1990, resurrected the Boulder Brewery in 1991, and was a founding member of the Colorado Brewers Guild.  He opened the Dolores River Brewery in SW Colorado in 2002 and is a mentor with the BA mentorship program.

Sam Calagione, Brewer/Founder, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (& affiliated businesses), Boston Beer Co.

Sam Calagione has been focused on brewing beers with culinary ingredients since 1995 when Dogfish Head first opened as the smallest craft brewery in America. Today, Dogfish has grown into a 400+ person company and is one of the most recognized breweries in the country.  Dogfish Head is based in Delaware with Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, an off-centered brewpub and distillery, Chesapeake & Maine, a geographically enamored seafood restaurant with a James Beard nominated cocktail program, Dogfish Inn, a harbor-front beverage-themed motel and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, a production brewery and distillery featuring a Tasting Room & Kitchen.  Dogfish currently sells beers, spirits, and canned cocktails across the U.S.  In July 2019, Dogfish Head proudly merged with the Boston Beer Company.  Sam’s innovative style and collaborative spirit has earned him a reputation as one of the industry’s most adventurous entrepreneurs and brewers. Sam has authored four books and was named the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional in 2017.  Sam, Mariah, and their family reside in coastal Delaware.   

Mitch Steele, Brewmaster & Co-Founder of New Realm Brewing Co.

Mitch is the Brewmaster and Co-Founder of New Realm Brewing Co. in Atlanta, GA. He has been brewing beer professionally for over 34 years, studying brewing science at the University of California Davis and home brewing prior to becoming a professional brewer in 1988. Since 1988 Mitch has managed brewing operations and innovation with four different breweries, including 14 years with Anheuser-Busch followed up by 10 years at Stone Brewing in San Diego county, where he managed all brewing operations as Stone Brewing grew from a 50,000 bbl operation to one of the top 10 largest craft brewers in the country, operating 4 separate breweries in 2 countries. In 2012, Mitch authored the Brewers Publications book IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale and in 2014, the Brewers Association awarded Mitch with the prestigious Russell Scherer Award for innovation in craft brewing. In addition to his duties at New Realm Brewing Co., Mitch currently chairs the Brewers Association Supply Chain Sub-Committee, was just elected to the Brewers Association Board of Directors, and sits on the Board of Directors for the GA Craft Brewers Guild.

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

This session is an excellent Branding 101, including finding those differentiating elements, how to avoid the hop cones and barley in your logo (unless you grow them), and understanding how this translates to your brand family development on the shelf at retail. Indeed, looking from the retail shelf backward, the group discusses being intentional with your decisions at this stage as your foundation for growth later.

Guests:
 

Emily Hutto, Founder/CEO of RadCraft: Emily Hutto is an experienced journalist, marketing professional, and public speaker who specializes in the craft beverage supply chain. After years of freelance writing and authoring the book Colorado’s Top Brewers, she founded RadCraft in 2012 to serve the communications needs of maltsters, hop farmers, brewers, and distillers.

Misty Gordon, Founder/Owner of Misty Gordon Creative: Misty Gordon is a Multimedia Graphic Artist and Creative Director specializing in creating strong, visually stimulating design and providing cohesive marketing collateral across multiple platforms.  After years of working in the advertising industry in various markets, Misty opened Misty Gordon Creative in 2010 to address the needs of the craft beer industry.

Julie Rhodes, Owner/Educator, Not Your Hobby Marketing: With over two decades of experience on the business side of the craft beverage industry, Julie Rhodes founded Not Your Hobby Marketing Solutions in 2019 to assist small to medium sized beverage producers with their sales, marketing and distribution plans. She’s an educator, strategic business consultant, journalist, and advocate who enjoys analyzing market data just as much as skiing and sci-fi movies.

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 005 - Your Business Plan: Mission Statement, Perspective, Values & Vision brings together the very different perspectives of a mediator (“ombudsman”), employment law attorney, and diversity educator to discuss the questions “Who are you?” and “What do you collectively as a team and a business represent?” In exploring what mission statements are, why they are important, and how to help others create them, the group gets into the importance of walking your talk  for your own team, for your community, and to continue to maintain best practices as an employer of choice.

Guests:

Ren Navarro, Owner/Operator, Beer. Diversity. With nearly a decade of experience in the alcohol industry, a passion for encouraging personal and professional growth, and her trademark wit, Ren is here to educate, enlighten, and engage. Since launching Beer. Diversity. in 2018, Ren has become a known name at breweries, wineries, distilleries, and beyond. She has given talks on diversity and inclusion at several colleges and countless festivals, panels, radio shows, and podcasts throughout North America. In addition to being a diversity educator, she is a craft beer consultant for bars and restaurants in Ontario, Canada, and an educator for countless businesses throughout North America.

Jon Hyman, Esq., Chair of the Employment & Labor Practice Group and Co-Leader of the Craft Beer Practice Group, Wickens Herzer Panza. Jon serves as outside in-house counsel for businesses. He has extensive experience on more specialized labor and employment law issues, such as wage and hour compliance, social media, cybersecurity, and other workplace technology concerns, affirmative action compliance, and union avoidance and labor relations. Jon is also co-founders and co-practice group leaders of the Firm's Craft Beer practice. In that capacity, he helps brewers, brew pubs and restaurants, and businesses that serve the craft beer industry navigate their specialized business, legal, and regulatory issues. He is also the author of the renowned and award-winning Ohio Employer Law Blog (www.ohioemployerlawblog.com, an American Bar Association Blawg Hall of Fame inductee), which he updates daily to provide businesses and human resources professionals breaking news and other updates on the ever-changing landscape of labor and employment law. Jon is licensed in the states of Ohio. 

Jason Gladfelter, Owner, Vombuds (a Virtual Ombudsman). Jason is a beer geek with a conflict management profession (or is it the other way around?) who developed Vombuds, a virtual ombudsman, to help small businesses with their internal dynamics. He is Professional Human Resources certified, has a conflict resolution degree, and has been a conflict management consultant for 15 years in both India and the US. He is an admitted beer dork/homebrewer and is Level one Cicerone Server.

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

Your Business Plan: The Academic Perspective is the first of a series of episodes dedicated to creating your business plan. We begin with a group of professors with a variety of backgrounds speaking to the whole of the plan, with emphasis on its importance, the approach people take, what’s effective or not, and finish with common mistakes. Each guest shares their wisdom to close, and this one has a bit of a surprise in the wrap up!

Our Guests:

Jon Reynolds is the founder of Brewplan, a strategic marketing advisor to craft brewers, craft distilleries and boutique wineries. Jon has been referred to as a “Beer and Beverage Strategist” in the beverage industry with more than 42 years as an insightful branding, sales and marketing professional for a large regional brewer, wine importer, craft brewers and currently as President of Sales Results for his own consulting business. Jon is also a Certified Instructor of the Business of Craft Beer course at UVM.  Jon publishes a monthly beer industry blog for craft brewers also on the UVM Business of Craft Beer Website that focuses on business trends, beer consumers, distributor issues, legislation that affects craft brewers, marketing tools, and strategic planning to improve brewery profits. The monthly beer industry blog is hosted by UVM, and additional insights and resources are available at www.brewplan.com. Jon can be reached at [email protected].

Ethan Tsai, PhD, formerly a professor for the brewing industry program at Metro State University, was most recently the general manager of all brewing operations for Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, after his tenure as the director of the brewery for Tivoli Brewing Company in Denver.

Gregory Dunkling is  Director of the Business of Craft Beer Program (BoCB) at the University of Vermont

Greg is founder and director of UVM’s program. Greg has met with hundreds of breweries over the past decade, offering guidance to individuals interested in starting a brewery; and others who seek industry knowledge to transfer skills into the beer world. Although Greg has never had the pleasure to own a brewery, he has great passion for working with the BoCB team of amazing instructors to give people an edge for success in craft beer.

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

Our mission today continues the thread from our Gut Check episode, where we discussed the critical
questions that you should ask yourself as you make the decision to move forward with your dream.
Those were the deal breakers, the alarm bells to respect, and the signals that should be heeded lest you
move forward into hazardous, potentially disastrous areas with a new business.

Today we follow that with the first fledgling steps for moving forward, assembling those essential
elements to create a solid foundation upon which to construct a compelling business plan.
This discussion makes this ephemeral, hypothetical, “what if??” scenario very much more real. When
you consider ownership structure, sales, costs, production, and hard factors like ceiling height and water
line capacity, “Your Dream” becomes boots-on-the-ground real. So get ready to get your hands dirty!

Guests:

Dustin Hauck of Hauck Architecture

William Camacho of CLTVT and HRVST

Brook Bristow of Bristow Beverage Law

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

This discussion bridges the dream with the preliminary steps you will need to take to create your initial business plan, and these topics  - though critical – are not necessarily dream crushers. Some can inspire you to evaluate and shift in the necessary direction to find a solid path forward. Others may be of greater consequence and require a significant overhaul.

 
Guests include: 

Tom Hennessy, Colorado Boy Brewery (https://coloradoboybrewing.com/ )

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 of multiple restaurants in multiple states. 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.

Jeff Mendel, Left Hand Brewing Co. (https://lefthandbrewing.com/ )

Jeff Mendel was one of the founders of Tabernash Brewing in 1993. In 1998, Tabernash merged with Left Hand, and Jeff worked with them for over a decade more. Jeff was, and still is, very active in the brewing world, and also teaches a beer appreciation course. Jeff was also Co-Founder and Director of the Colorado Brewers Guild, a member of the Brewers Association events committee since 2003 (assisting with the planning and execution of signature events such as GABF, CBC, and SAVOR), former Director of the Institute of Brewing Studies, and awarded the Brewing Studies Recognition Award in 1993. 

Kary Shumway, Craft Brewery Finance, Beer Business Finance, University of Vermont (https://craftbreweryfinance.com/ )

Kary Shumway, owner of Craft Brewery Finance and Publisher of Beer Business Finance, brings a wealth of experience in strategic planning, finance, distribution, logistics, pricing strategies, cash flow planning, budgeting, and more to UVM’s Business of Craft Beer program. Kary is a CPA, a former CFO for a beer distributor and current CFO for Wormtown Brewery in Worcester, MA. He's spent the last 20 years using finance to help improve financial results in his beer businesses; now he helps other craft breweries do the same.

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

Welcome to the Start A Brewery podcast, where we discuss all things relating to start ups, open, and growing breweries from concept to execution. 

Our mission today is to discuss the inspiration to open a brewery, that dream as it first presented itself and began to take shape. Where did it begin, how long did you sit on that idea, and what people, hobbies, and other parts of your life contributed to this inspiration? And then – did elements of your original vision, this exciting but perhaps somewhat fuzzy idea, carry forward into your brewery?
 

Our guests:
 

• Ron Jeffries, Founder and inspiration behind Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales with his wife, Laurie,
• Ray Astamendi, Co-Founder and original Head Brewer at Saint Archer, Mission & Fall Brewing among others,
• Charlie Gottenkieny, award-winning homebrewer, Co-Founder, Head Brewer and Educator at Bruz Beers, and
• 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.

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

Start A Brewery Co-Founders, Laura Lodge and Candace L. Moon, welcome listeners to their new podcast about all things with regard to starting (or growing) a brewery. Episodes will launch every other Tuesday and track the process from the original vision (The Dream) through developing a business plan and into Plan, Act, Open & Grow, mirroring the structure of the website.

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