Beernet Radio

Constellation was victorious in their bid to classify their sugar-based seltzer brands -- Corona Seltzer and Modelo Rranch Water -- as beer under the sub-licensing agreement they signed with ABI back in 2013. Beer Business Daily legal correspondent Bianca Bruno, who was on the ground in Manhattan in federal court for most of the trial, sits with the gang to discuss the hot-button issues and behind...

Today the gang (minus Harry, who was traveling) catches up with Coronado Brewing Co.'s Clinton Smith, CCO, and Dave Schreiber, vp sales.   00:00 into 02:30 show starts ================================= Watch on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/beernetradio Podcast feeds:  https://www.beernetradio.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5mk5ITn9bXu1KOvx21QzEb Apple: https://podca...

Today we speak to Craig Purser, CEO of the National Beer Wholesalers Association, who gives us a primer to the upcoming NBWA Legislative Conference, topics of interest, and what to get your wife for her birthday. ================================= Watch on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/beernetradio Podcast feeds:  https://www.beernetradio.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5mk...

Today the gang speaks with The Finnish Long Drink co-founders Evan Burns and Mikael Taipale, marketers of the gin-based RTD that is bucking convention in the space.  We talk celebrity partners, the heritage of the drink in Finland, owning a small but growing category, pushing through the pandemic, and more. Show Starts in earnest: 01:10 00:00 intro - technical difficulties and hilarious bante...

This week the gang caught up with Lester Jones, chief economist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association. We recorded in the lobby of a downtown Austin hotel, (which is why one camera angle was shut off in the middle because we were "filming without a permit."). We cover the economy, inventories, predictions, and more.    Show starts in earnest at 11:45 =============================...

This week the gang sits with John Lane, the proprietor of the Winking Lizard Tavern family of 16 beer-centric restaurants/taverns in northern and central Ohio, a good proxy for indie on-premise performance.  John speaks of draft vs bottle pricing, foot traffic trends, the latest in labor issues, beer vs spirits, and more. 00:00 intro - hilarious yet mundane banter. 05:30 John joins the call....

Today the gang speaks with Jordan Bass, co-founder of non-alc health and wellness drink Hop Wtr, on their recent trends, routes to market, Constellation's investment, and more.  ================================= Watch on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/beernetradio Podcast feeds:  https://www.beernetradio.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5mk5ITn9bXu1KOvx21QzEb Apple: htt...

Today the gang speaks with data guru Brandy Rand, chief strategy officer at IWSR, on our Super Bowl ad takes, rise of spirits and RTDs, how Gen Z drinks, and what are borgs? ================================= Watch on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/beernetradio Podcast feeds:  https://www.beernetradio.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5mk5ITn9bXu1KOvx21QzEb Apple: https://podc...

Today the gang has a fascinating conversation with Rob Sehllman, director, Chill State Collective (cannabis-infused beverage co-manufacturing and distribution in Minnesota), and Lisa Hurwitz, co-founder and president, Happi (cannabis-infused seltzers), one of six members of Chill State Collective's portfolio. Minnesota is an interesting state in that they have a different approach to cannabis regu...

Today the gang speaks with Austin craft beer alumn Josh Hare and his newest venture, Rick's Near Beer, a line of de-alcoholized beers with a budget beer vibe, on the eve of their Texas rollout.  ================================= Watch on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/beernetradio Podcast feeds:  https://www.beernetradio.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5mk5ITn9bXu1KOvx...

Today the gang speaks with retail chain and data experts at Bump Williams Consulting: Dave Williams - VP Analytics & Insights, and Brian “BK” Krueger -  VP Business Development & Portfolio Strategy, about RTDs, pricing, spring resets, craft, premium lights, and more.   ================================= Watch on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/beernetradio Podcast feeds: &n...

Exhausted and depleted, your fave beer editors hop on the pod to discuss a few of the highlights of the Beer Industry Summit, which just wrapped at the Breakers in Palm Beach.   We talk A-B, Constellation, Heineken, Mike's, wholesalers, and more (including a surprise cameo of beer colleague in a Netflix documentary).  ================================= Watch on Youtube:  https://www....

Patco Brands, best known for wine-based hard seltzer Rancho La Gloria, acquired Kyla Hard Kombucha last week, it was announced. Kyla's Lavender Lemonade is the fastest-growing 16oz can in the hard kombucha category. Today the gang speaks with Kyla's president, Morgan Robbat on Kyla's future expansions, the deal with Patco, and more.  Read article in Craft Business Daily on the deal:  htt...

Phusion Projects, makers of Four Loko and Mamitas tequila seltzer, came onto the scene in 2005 as arguably the original disrupters.  Today the gang speakers with Phusion co-founders Jaisen Freeman and Jeff Wright, along with their VP Marketing Samantha Catalina, to talk about their innovations (spoiler:  Pirate Water coming), the FMB landscape, and their ongoing partnership with Barstool...

Today Harry speaks with Patrick Tickle, and new-ish CEO of Encompass Technologies, and Bill Kraich, their longtime VP of E-Commerce, about the evolution of simple beverage distributor route accounting software (RAS) to the digital hub of the post-production supply chain, and how RAS vendors have progressed through cloud computing and data integration from "order taking and reconciliation" to now i...

Today the gang speaks with Katie Beal Brown, founder of Lone River Ranch Water, now with Diageo, where we talk about the nature of seltzers/rtd's going forward, how Lone River fits into that narrative, and more.  ================================= Watch on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/beernetradio Podcast feeds:  https://www.beernetradio.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/sho...

Today the gang speaks with Austin Sawyer, co-founder and president of CounterMeasures Corp. (CMC), which provides shared sales rep services to beverage producers, as well as assisting in opening up new markets, key account and wholesaler management, and retail marketing and POS programs. We speak philosophically about the changing nature of the supplier-wholesaler relationship, ABI's response to t...

Today the gang sits with Athletic Brewing co-founder Bill Shufelt, who tells us that there could potentially be more beer consumed outside of typical 'beer occasions' than in them, and non-alc beer is the vehicle to take us there. Bill is unabashedly bullish on non-alc and Athletic's prospects, particularly now that they have secured KDP as an equity partner, they are in 50 states, and are ramping...

Today our guest postponed so the gang briefly groks Keurig Dr Pepper's $50m investment in non-alc brewer Athletic Brewing.   Note:  Video feeds on Spotify and at www.youtube.com/beernetradio About Beer Business Daily publisher Harry Schuhmacher joins his editors and other guests once a week as they grok the industry issues of the day.   -Podcast Hotline: Text or call Harry in confid...

Today the gang (minus Harry who was on a plane .... or was he?) catches up with Sam Calagione, co-founder of Dogfish Head, where we talk about their innovations for 2023, (and taste a few), plus the usual grokking of the pressing industry issues of the day, (where Sam turns the mic on Jenn and Jordan). Note:  Video feeds on Spotify and Youtube:  www.youtube.com/beernetradio ---About--- B...

Today the gang groks Boston Beer's recent pivot to lighter-tasting products -- zigging where others zag -- and the nature of malt/sugar seltzers versus spirits-based RTDs and how brands are jockeying for position between the two, and a quick discussion on what the TTB/IRS raid(s) on Southern Glazer's means.  Note:  Video feeds on Spotify and YouTube at:   https://www.youtube.co...

Today Jenn and Harry speak with the Managing Director - Broadlines and Food Retail at MKM Partners, Bill Kirk (full disclosure - Bill is also married to our Executive Editor, Jenn Litz-Kirk). We speak about beer and colas, supermarket mergers, c-stores selling weed legit from actually within the stores, and more.  00:00 intro - hilarious banter, Harry shows off multi-camera capabilities, for...

Today the gang speaks with Adam Kost, founder of the line of spirit-based RTDs, Country Luau.  Adam has an interesting background, having come from Waterloo Sparkling Water, ABI's ZX Ventures, and Pernod Ricard, to name a few.  Today we talk about the nascent launch of Country Luau -- its differentiation, the rtd market in general, linking with music, and more.   Interview Starts: &...

A journalist, distributor, and economist walk into a bar........ After the first day of the NBWA Convention general session in Chicago, Harry and Jenn record a quick and dirty show with distributors Rebecca Maisel of Gulf Distributing in Alabama and Florida, Don Faust of Faust Distributing in Houston (and a partner in KEG 1, LLC), and NBWA chief economist Lester Jones for an informal discussion ab...

Today Jordan and Harry sit down right after the Mark Anthony Brands 2023 distributor meeting in the lobby of the Sheraton Grand in Chicago to talk through our impressions of their new innovations. Note:  The audio is poor, but we've included subtitles in the video. Watch the video on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlB0dArHJmA ---About--- Beer Business Daily publisher Harry Sch...