The True Craft Podcast

When we started the true craft podcast, our goal was to continue our sharing of expert insight and knowledge of the craft industry, but in an audio format. Over one year, four seasons, and fifty episodes later, we feel like we’ve accomplished that goal. In light of this realization, and with our focus shifting to other initiatives, we’ve decided this was the final season of The True Craft Podcast....

We’re at the end of season 4 and we can't thank you enough for another great season. We thought it would be fitting to cap things off with a friend of the show… Today’s guest is Jason Sleeman, a National Craft Beverage Lender from United Community Bank out of Atlanta, Georgia. Chris and Jason both give their perspective on current start-ups and expansions, the practicality of having no food progra...

Today’s guest is the founder of a brewery with a built-in distribution company, helping other Iowa breweries distribute their beer throughout the entire state. We’re talking with John Martin from Confluence Brewing Company out of Des Moines, Iowa. John explains the distribution company Confluence has built over the years, their early days of packaging and how that’s changed, along with their “Dad...

Today’s guest is a familiar voice in the podcast world and a leader in the brewery space in general. We’re welcoming Augie Carton from Carton Brewing Company and Steal This Beer out of Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. We take a look at Carton Brewing's direct-to-consumer delivery system, we have a discussion on the public view of agriculture versus manufacturing and some of the repercussions these...

Today’s guest is an innovator in the hazy beer space, and an innovator in the brewery space in general, with their efforts of sustainability, inclusivity, and community. We’re talking with Jen Kimmich from The Alchemist out of Stowe, Vermont We talk about how they became a Certified B Corp in 2017, the details and effort behind their 2020 Action Plan, along with a trip back to the early innovation...

Today’s guest is the CEO and Founder of an urban farmhouse brewery that sources their ingredients from local farmers in their area. We’re talking with Josh Patton from Wooden Robot Urban Farmhouse Brewery out of Charlotte, North Carolina. We talk about their self-distribution efforts throughout their entire state, how they are investing in the longevity of the brewery team along with nailing down...

Today’s guest co-founded a brewery specializing in German-style lager, who says they put the I back in “bier”. Of course we’re speaking with none other than Steve Holle from Kansas City Bier Company , out of Kansas City, Missouri Steve tells us about the background behind their authentic German-style beers, some insight into supply-chain issues going into 2022, along with a look into the effects,...

With skateboarders, mountain bikers, rock climbers, etc. all finding their place in breweries across the country, the parallels between craft brewing and extreme sports are everywhere. From the dedication it takes to learn a new trick, to the ingenuity to build and maintain your equipment, to the supportive and collaborative community that surrounds action sports, there’s so much common ground. An...

As you can probably tell from the title, today's guest is a real innovator in the app space. Our guest for this episode is Paul Reiter from Great Notion Brewing out of Portland, Oregon We learn how they got an early foot in the DTC door, their story and impact behind the Great Notion app, along with their collaboration with the Portland Trail Blazers. And much more. Enjoy! Links: Great Notion Grea...

Craft brewing and local communities go hand-in-hand, but it’s much more complicated than simply hosting a few events here and there. To explore this topic further, we’re happy to welcome today’s guest—Adam Benner from Land-Grant Brewing Company out of Columbus, Ohio. Chris and Adam talk about the meaning behind the name Land-Grant, the brewery's experience with award-winning food trucks, along wit...

Welcome back to The True Craft Podcast! We’re kicking off Season 4 with two main changes: First, this season will be about the conversation. In other words, no main topics for each episode. Instead, we let the natural flow of the conversation happen, and we really think you’ll like the result. The second change is there’s no co-host for this season, so just Chris and a guest brewery owner. Our fir...

Today we’re ending 2021 with a bang, and welcoming Maria Pearman for an edition of Friends of SBS Maria is the author of Small Brewery Finance, along with being a CPA, and overall, a total craft beverage expert. In this episode we talk about some of the changes she’s seen throughout her time in  the brewing industry, how her book Small Brewery Finance came to be, some future writing plans, along w...

We’ve got two more episodes for you before the end of the year, and today is this season's edition of Office Hours , a segment we created to highlight the expertise of the team members at Small Batch Standard.  We’re talking with Brewery Accountant and Tax Specialist, Julia Grubbs. She tells us how she earned her CPA title while working on a cruise ship, her journey to working with breweries, alon...

In this edition of Friends of SBS, we’re talking with a true community leader for all professionals in the craft beer industry. Today’s guest is Andrew Coplon from Secret Hopper and Craft Beer Professionals . We talk about Andrew’s journey to where he is now, what it’s like working with Secret Hopper, and all the great things happening with the Craft Beer Professionals group. Enjoy! Links: SecretH...

We’re back with another edition of our Friends of SBS series.  Today’s industry expert specializes in brewery branding, sales, distribution management, and much more. Our guest is Julie Rhodes the founder of Not Your Hobby Marketing Solutions out of Broomfield,  Colorado. In this episode, Chris and Julie dive deep into the topics of distribution, content marketing, and outside sales. Enjoy! Links:...

Today we’re taking a look back at all our topics and guests from the Season 3 of The True Craft Podcast. Thanks to our guests, our amazing co-host Adam Robbings, and of course our listeners! In this episode, Chris and Adam talk main takeaways from Season 3, along with an overview of hops contracts. Enjoy! Links: Reuben’s Brews Reuben’s Sightglass

Craft brewing is getting competitive... and crowded. Nowadays, if you’re a new or an existing brewery, you have to ask yourself this question: What makes my brewery different from every other brewery out there? For this episode, we sat down with a TRVE expert on the topic, Nick Nunns from TRVE Brewing Company out of Denver, Colorado. We talk about how TRVE overcame the early obstacle of being unde...

For the past 3 seasons we’ve covered the topic of distribution. Today we want to get a little more specific, and talk about pricing within distribution. The guest for this episode is Mark Bjornstad from Drekker Brewing out of Fargo, North Dakota. We talk about different scope of distribution philosophies, the concept of premium pricing, and Mark tells us why Drekker doesn’t see the process as sell...

If you’ve listened to the podcast up to this point, you may have noticed how much we bring up EOS . For those who are unfamiliar, EOS stands for entrepreneurial operating system, and is the brainchild of entrepreneur and author Gino Wickman. In our second episode of this season, we spoke with Michael Memsic from Sanitas Brewing Company , who we found is also obsessed with EOS and utilizing it ever...

Today we’re discussing the ever relevant topic of distribution. Adam talks about the high demand in the early days of Reuben’s, what the process of transitioning from bottles to cans was like, and an overall perspective on cultivating a relationship with distributors. Then we talk to Susan Michalek and Jeff Manol from Muddy York Brewing Co out of Toronto, Ontario. They tell us how they’ve transiti...

Today we’re talking about sharing the vision and leading the brewery team. The guest for this episode is Harris Stewart from TrimTab Brewing Co out of Birmingham, Alabama. We hear from Adam about the different cultural leadership styles he has experience with, Harris tells us how he transitioned away from micromanagement, and how he views company decision making. We had an absolutely stellar discu...

Today we’re talking operations. In other words, how to keep sh*t from hitting the fan. Adam tells us about his current search for a Director of Operations role, the methods used when introducing a new brewer, and the hiring/interview process at Reuben’s Brew.  Then we bring in our guest, Aaren Simoncini from Beer’d Brewing Company out of Stonington, Connecticut.  He tells us about the process of r...

Marketing? Advertising? Branding? PR? Call it what you like… the bottom line is customers need to know you exist.  In this episode we start off with Adam giving us the background behind the clean look of the Reuben’s Brews logo, he tells us about the 10 by 10 test and how it helps with shelving choices, along with an overview of some early branding decisions. Then we bring our guest, Bret Hamilton...

For the first two seasons we’ve reserved the second episode to discuss what we called atypical times, but things have changed since then. Depending on where you are, things may be returning to “normal.” So today we’re talking about this post-COVID world we live in. Adam tells us what he considers one of the most important factors from lockdown times, how distributors reacted to closing down, and t...

Welcome back to another season of The True Craft Podcast ! We’re thrilled to introduce our co-host for Season 3, Adam Robbings from Reuben’s Brews out of Seattle, Washington. Adam is an incredible wealth of knowledge as well as a podcasting pro as the co-host of the podcast Reuben’s Sightglass . We start the season off with Adam telling us why he says he was “pulled” into opening a brewery rather...