Brewbound Podcast

Episodes

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  A Very Energized Cross-Over Product 21.10.2026 42m

  In this era of cross-beverage convergence, anything is possible, even a beer-flavored energy drink. Nutrabolt SVP of marketing Emily Hoyle joined the Brewbound Podcast to discuss, All Hopped Up, the limited-edition offering from energy brand C4.   Hoyle, a Pabst Brewing alumna, explained C4's strategy behind the citrusy, beer-flavored, non-alc beverage, which the company designed to be "really accessible to a lot of different people."   Before the interview, the Brewbound team discusses Stone Brewing founders Greg Koch and Steve Wagner's plans for their former brewery's former flagship location in Escondido, California; hard sports drinks' potential 2027 ceiling, according to Circana; and final takeaways from the National Beer Wholesalers Association's Annual Convention.
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  Why Stadium Partnerships can be the 'Ultimate Sampling Weapon' with Two Robbers' Vivek and Vikram Nayar 14.10.2026 49m

  Two Robbers Spirits Co.'s partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles is helping the 7-year-old company fly.   On the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast, Two Robbers founders Vivek and Vikram Nayar share how partnerships with Philadelphia pro sports teams have helped raise their local profile and increase rate of sale in off-premise retailers.   "It's sort of like the ultimate sampling weapon being able to sell in the stadium," Vivek said. "People talk about how valuable sampling is, but it's even more valuable if someone pays for your product to try it and enjoys it that way."   Two Robbers is entering Year 2 of its sponsorship with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, a deal that allows them to leverage the Eagles' marks on packaging. The Nayars are planning to open up their portfolio playbook this year, introducing single-serve cans featuring the Eagles' logo exclusive to on-premise retailers starting this month.   Vivek and Vikram go deep on their long-term vision for sports partnerships and explain how the company's pivot from hard seltzer to spirits-based cocktails future proofed the business. They also explain why they believe there's room for multiple brands to compete in the category, even in a ready-to-drink stronghold such as Philadelphia.   Before the interview, the Brewbound team catches up on their travels, with road reports from the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) Annual Convention and the Great American Beer Festival (GABF).   Brewbound editor Justin Kendall, managing editor Jessica Infante and senior reporter Zoe Licata offer takeaways from the first day of the NBWA's biggest meeting of the year, including a strong push for franchise law protections and more ironclad contracts with producers, along with the conspicuous lack of hemp talk on the first day.   Plus, Jessica shares her firsthand experience at the revamped GABF, including what worked for the outdoor festival, what didn't and what we're hearing might be next.   The team also covers the big deal of the last week: Constellation Brands' acquisition of SpikedAde for $75 million, with a five-year performance-based earnout that could add $278 million to the sale price. They explain why Constellation dipping its toe into M&A is the bigger story even as hard sports drinks dominate headlines.
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  How a Tech Firm is Trying to Make ABP Season Not Feel like Groundhog Day 07.10.2026 47m

  As far as we know, Bill Murray has never worked for a brewer or a distributor, but employees of both have probably identified with Phil Connors, the character he played in Groundhog Day who was forced to relive the same day over and over.   Tech firm Groundhog thinks it has eliminated the recurring sameness of the annual business plan (ABP) process with collaborative software that ensures brewers and distributors are aligned and able to follow through on objectives.   On the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast, founders Chris Russell and Eric Rabinovitz share the pain points they're trying to solve and how they plan to streamline the process to avoid that Groundhog Day feeling when brands and distributors meet months later.   Before the interview, Brewbound's Justin Kendall and Jessica Infante recap the latest news, including Diageo's plans to shutter the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Baltimore, Mars backing away from its BuzzBallz collab, the end of the FTC's price discrimination probe into Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits and Deschutes' entry into hard sports drinks.
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  Stateside's Matt Quigley on Super Lyte Summer as Hard Sports Drinks Explode 30.09.2026 43m

  How do you balance two brands that are runaway successes?   Stateside Brands president Matthew Quigley explained on the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast how the maker of vodka iced tea brand Surfside is juggling the addition of Super Lyte, a non-carbonated hard sports drink (vodka + ade).   From a marketing perspective, Stateside has created dedicated teams for each brand, he explained. On the sales side, the company has built a national accounts team and stable of state managers who, after two years, finally have the bandwidth to take on another brand.   The result is another brand in Super Lyte that is being dubbed the drink of the summer, while Surfside is on pace to sell 13 million cases this year, Quigley shared.   Meanwhile, Super Lyte is expected to sell four million cases by year's end, making it the largest spirits-based ready-to-drink (RTD) launch of all time, he added.   "It shot the lights out in our core in Pennsylvania, Jersey, New York," he said. "It just went gangbusters and it's still doing incredibly, incredibly well."   Stateside is now pushing Super Lyte into 40-plus states to gain a "first-mover advantage" with a host of new challenger brands entering the hard sports drink segment, Quigley said.   The target now is for both brands to cross the 25-million-case threshold.   "If they both get over 25 million cases, which is like High Noon's highwater mark, I'm a happy guy," Quigley said. "I think I've done my job. Time will tell."   Ahead of the interview, Brewbound's Jessica Infante and Zoe Licata breakdown the the latest headlines, including: Samuel Adams front of house workers' successful unionization effort; Mark Anthony's termination of Coors Distributing in the Denver metro; The end of Stateside's lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch InBev over its Skimmers brand. The duo also tackles the NFL's crackdown on player celebrations pantomiming drinking a beer (or juice).
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  Inside the Intoxicating Hemp Beverage Business as Federal Ban Nears 23.09.2026 55m

  Intoxicating hemp beverages as they appear now may vanish from the market in mid-December. A looming federal ban was delayed a month, but the industry hasn't slowed down amid the existential threat.   BevNET and Nosh senior reporter Lukas Southard joins the Brewbound Podcast to give a pulse check on the market, alternatives that may be in play if a ban goes into effect and why some states may ignore the ban altogether.   "When people are being realistic … most of them concede that the December 12th deadline will pass without regulatory being in place," Southard said. "And that brands and stakeholders in this industry are gonna need to at least bide their time into 2027 until some type of regulatory framework is put into place."   Before the interview, the Brewbound team discusses the latest news, including C4's beer-flavored energy drink; Kroger pulling Red Bull from shelves, Tilray's positioning of BrewDog as an Ohio craft beer brand and the Shock Top-Spirit Halloween candy corn beer collab.
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  A Black Rose, a Big Money Resolution and Bleak Scans 16.09.2026 26m

  On the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast, the team analyzes the tectonic shifts in the bev-alc market in the last week, including: Constellation Brands giving Coors Distributing Company the proverbial black rose, with plans to terminate their relationship in the next 30 days, and the odds of its portfolio heading to the Reyes Beverage Group, which entered Colorado earlier this year; Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits paying $12.5 million to resolve a federal probe into bribes given to retail chain grocery buyers; Underwhelming Labor Day off-premise scans; A major equipment manufacturer shuttering its brewing division; And more industry upheaval. Brewbound's Justin Kendall, Jessica Infante and Zoe Licata also ponder the creation of the Two-Zie, a double koozie from mid-strength beer maker Dad Strength.
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  Von Ebert's Dashawn Agbonze on Failing in Safe Spaces and the Importance of Brewing Education 09.09.2026 46m

  Von Ebert Brewing brewer Dashawn Agbonze sees himself as the "fun police" – a badge he wears proudly, much like the German brewers that he admires.   "I'm always like, 'Why are we doing this?'" Agbonze said on the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast. "Ultimately, like the Germans, I don't believe in magic. I need an explanation. Let's talk it out. Part of that is, let's train people so that everyone can see the same vision and we have the same goal because we know exactly how to get there."   Agbonze, a two-time Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling (MJF) scholarship awardee, shares his journey climbing the ranks of the brewing industry and why he believes education is critical for up-and-coming brewers.   "The education is important because it enables you to be in a controlled space to fail," he explained. "You're not putting a business on the line. You don't have employees with families that you have to risk in order to learn that 'Hey, a clean tank would make the beer that you want,' or 'Hey, contamination via your canning line can happen,' or how to solve these problems in a safe space."   Failures in a learning environment become key lessons in training the next generation of brewers, Agbonze shares.   Before the interview, the Brewbound team discusses the latest news, including a major departure from Whole Foods' bev-alc team, an update on Pabst's stolen beer, the Beer Institute's latest beer supply data and FIFCO USA's new owner and new/old name.   Brewbound managing editor Jessica Infante also shares highlights from her trip to Asheville for the annual business planning meetings at Highland Brewing and Sierra Nevada.
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  Hard Sports Drinks, Industry Layoffs and Pabst's Stolen Beer 02.09.2026 28m

  The summer selling season wraps up this weekend with Labor Day Monday, and one of the hottest segments of the summer has been hard sports drinks.   Brewbound editor Justin Kendall and senior reporter Zoe Licata dive into the fast-growing segment and how their views have shifted on it over the last year. They look at who is leading the segment now and new entrants looking to fast-follow, including Boston Beer Company.   The duo also recap several rounds of layoffs, including Sapporo USA's wind-down of the Stone Brewing-branded locations in Escondido, California; Mark Anthony's integration of the Finnish Long Drink and coming sales team cuts; and Diageo's ongoing $1.2 billion restructuring effort hitting its NYC headquarters.   Plus, Justin and Zoe discuss low-ABV beers (and Justin cracks Sierra Nevada's new Go-Two IPA) and Pabst's viral stolen beer marketing campaign.
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  Dave Infante on Diageo's Cuts, Garage Beer's Data Center Cooling Plan and BuzzBallz and Pop-Tarts' Boozy Collab 26.08.2026 1h 6m

  Fingers boozeletter author Dave Infante joins the Brewbound Podcast to deep dive Diageo's ongoing restructuring and workforce slashing under CEO Sir Dave Lewis (aka "Drastic Dave" for his reputation for making big cuts at previous stops).    Infante shares insights from his reporting and conversations with Diageo employees, many of whom wondered why the Guinness and Johnnie Walker maker was so slow to adapt to the modern bev-alc competitive landscape.   "The frustration that I heard from current and former Diageo employees was mostly about why weren't we doing this before we had to start laying everyone off," Infante tells Brewbound editor Justin Kendall and managing editor Jessica Infante (no relation).    "You don't have to get to this point before you start pivoting to RTDs."   The trio also hit recent headlines, including Garage Beer and Liquid Death tapping into the real world animosity around data centers and BuzzBallz's recent Pop-Tarts partnership.   Jessica offered a theory on the BuzzBallz-Pop-Tarts team up: "Kids aren't eating Pop-Tarts. You know who's eating Pop-Tarts? Sad, elder millennials who can't afford anything else and want a tiny treat. The moms who would be out marching on the capitol up in arms against this aren't feeding that to their kids."   "They're the ones who are intrigued by the BuzzBallz Pop-Tarts that they saw on Instagram," Dave adds.   "That's definitely going into their Stanley tumblers," Jess says.
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  Do We Need Another NA Version of a Legacy Beer Brand? 19.08.2026 29m

  Does every beer need a non-alcoholic (NA) analog? The Brewbound team discusses on the latest episode of the Brewbound Podcast.    As Molson Coors prepares to launch an NA version of Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, Brewbound editor Justin Kendall questions whether the product is trend chasing or if consumers are clamoring for it. Managing editor Jessica Infante gets White Claw Zero flashbacks, while senior reporter Zoe Licata offers a different perspective after exploring NA ciders.   The trio also analyze recent headlines, including: Samuel Adams taproom workers' plans to unionize and Boston Beer's response, so far; And B3 Beverage's "complicated" partnerships, with a deal for Yards Brewing going forward and others falling through.
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  The Beer Industry's New Era of Competition 12.08.2026 42m

  The decade-long consent decree that allowed Anheuser-Busch InBev's (A-B) MegaBrew merger with SABMiller to go forward expired in July, removing guardrails that had been placed on the world's largest beer manufacturer by the Department of Justice to ensure competition in the marketplace.    Chris Jones, managing director of Central Market Strategies, joins this week's Brewbound Podcast to explore what competition looks like in a post-consent decree beer industry.   Jones argues the consent decree did its job, creating a competitive environment that allowed new brands over the last decade such as Athletic Brewing, Mark Anthony Brands' White Claw and Boston Beer's Truly Hard Seltzer to become category leaders in non-alcoholic (NA) beer and hard seltzer, respectively, while also preventing A-B "from using its massive size as the world's largest brewer to disrupt the market."    WIth the consent decree's guardrails down, including the removal of an independent monitor who maintained compliance by handling claims of interference and coercion, there now exists "a lot more risk in the system of this market power and abuses of market power that could result from the size and scale of the largest brewer," Jones said.   Going forward, it will be important to track national market share in an already "highly concentrated market" and middle-tier consolidation in the years ahead, he added.   Listen to the full conversation with Brewbound managing editor Jessica Infante here.    Before the conversation, Brewbound editor Justin Kendall and senior reporter Zoe Licata join Jess to run through the latest news, including Lawson's Finest Liquids' first NA beer, what distributors say is on their cut lists, a distributor territory swap in the Northeast and "warm beer takes" on the latest NFL beer marketing.
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  CEO Michelle Ivey Dives Into Lake Hour's Strategy 05.08.2026 37m

  How can a new brand make a splash in the increasingly crowded ready-to-drink waters? A winning combination of differentiated flavors, artistic packaging and a willingness to work the market day in and day out. That's what has been working for Lake Hour, according to CEO Michelle Ivey, this week's featured guest.    RTD canned cocktail brand Lake Hour launched three years ago amid the segment's meteoric rise. Its co-founders – actor Wyatt Russell and film producer Rich Peete – had no prior beverage experience, and tapped Ivey, an industry vet, as CEO in late 2025.   "Once I tried it, I realized it was one of those, 'actually' brands that when you take a sip, you're like 'Wow, actually, this is great. This tastes so good,'" Ivey said. "And so, I was so impressed with what they did and what they built two years in as startup founders that have had no experience in the industry."   Before the interview, the Brewbound team discusses recent headlines, including a proposed reprieve for intoxicating hemp beverages, how many retailers sold out of various bev-alc products during the World Cup and how Anheuser-Busch InBev views itself relative to spirits giants.
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  RNDC's Unpaid Tab, Craft's Mid-Year Number and Boston Beer's Rally Dog 29.07.2026 23m

  Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) is leaving a big unpaid tab. The distributor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week, with liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion, and more than 100,000 creditors.   In this episode of the Brewbound Podcast, Brewbound editor Justin Kendall and senior reporter Zoe Licata dive into the bankruptcy filing, as well as the fallout, with many suppliers left wondering if they'll ever get paid back.   Justin and Zoe also catch up on the other big headlines, including the Brewers Association's (BA) 2026 mid-year report, with projected craft volume declines of 4%. They discuss why the news isn't all bad – with a majority of respondents reporting growth – and  why it's not all good.    The conversation shifts to Boston Beer's second-quarter results and Sun Cruiser's growing importance to the company's bottomline. They also explore Boston's growing fast-follower innovation strategy, including Rally Dog, a potential hard sports drink challenger brand. Plus, they touch on if beer companies might be walking back their opposition to the spirits industry's equalization efforts.   Finally, seasonal creep is here and real as pumpkin beers are already popping up on store shelves.    It's a quick, fun recap of the latest news.  Listen here.
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  The Magic of Airport Beers with Experience Threee's Liz Einhorn 22.07.2026 55m

  The pre-flight beer ranks high on many people's lists of simple pleasures, but what does it take for that beer to end up in a pint glass?   Experience Threee founder Liz Einhorn joins this week's episode of the Brewbound Podcast to discuss the complexities of beer service in airport concessions. She shares the pros and cons of brewery-branded airport taprooms and what it takes to secure (and keep) a draft line in a busy airport bar.   Before the interview, Justin and Jess break down the latest beer industry headlines, including a lawsuit between Ballast Point's owners over allegedly ill-gotten business loans, new leadership at the National Black Brewers Association and James Watt's second attempt to buy back BrewDog.
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  Best Day's Tate Huffard on Fitting Into Non-Alc Beer's 'Belonging' Phase 15.07.2026 40m

  Best Day Brewing founder and CEO Tate Huffard believes the modern non-alcoholic (NA) beer movement is now in its second wave – one characterized by "belonging."   "What we see now is that non-alcoholic beer belongs on menus, it belongs in beer sets," Huffard said on the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast.    Best Day was made for NA beer's second wave in which coolers on boats in the summer are stocked with NA and alcoholic beer and fridges at parties also include both options, Huffard said.    "All of these beer occasions warrant a great non-alcoholic beer and yet part of the magic is unpacking and uncovering these new occasions that deserve a beer," Huffard said. "Case in point for me is a lunch beer."   The first wave – driven by the rise of Athletic Brewing Company – helped normalize NA beer and remove the penalty box elements of old-school offerings, Huffard explained.    "I give those guys an incredible amount of praise for creating an environment where people could participate in the category and it wasn't weird," he said. "And the concept of non-alcoholic craft beer was born in that first wave."   The second wave is about growing the pie, expanding grocery baskets and taking NA beer's share upward from 2% to 10% and beyond, Huffard said.    In the episode, Huffard discusses Best Day's 30% distribution growth this year and retail expansion, finding luck in craft brewery taprooms, navigating the disruption caused by the launch of Anheuser-Busch InBev's Michelob Ultra Zero and much more.    But first, the Brewbound team also catches up on the latest news, including July 4 scans, exec moves at New Belgium and a Jersey banner plane and patio tent update.
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  Pour One Out For Deschutes' Kirkland Helles; Plus, World Cup, July 4 and Jersey Shore Chatter 08.07.2026 26m

  Can a letter writing campaign save Deschutes' co-branded Kirkland Signature Helles, the same way Jess saved her childhood zoo?    The Brewbound team and weekend newsletter writer Sean McNulty discuss the end of the cult favorite lager on the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast, including an outpouring of somber reactions to the news.    Justin recaps his conversation with Deschutes CEO Peter Skrbek and why he's not sweating the decision as the company's portfolio is growing. But could a public show of support from Costco members flip the decision? Jess shares that it worked for her hometown zoo.    The team also shares their personal July 4 experiences, including a view from the Jersey Shore, and the mixed results by channel for the World Cup and surge of imported beer.    Zoe also explains why quality is a default expectation for consumers now, and shouldn't be a marketing talking point in 2026.
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  Shootin' the Breeze Ahead of the Fourth 01.07.2026 29m

  On the latest Brewbound Podcast episode, the Brewbound team catches up on how Independence Day is stacking up as a heat wave sets in for much of the country. Hot Topics: U.K. beer prices vs. the U.S., and other across-the-pond observations from Zoe's trip to London; Jersey Shore banner plane ads, which have been heavily skewed toward 1 brand, according to Jess' on-the-ground reporting; July 4 beer promos, such as a meat-and-beer deal spotted in IA by Justin; And other quick hits, including Allagash's new Maine-centric ad campaign, the impact of the World Cup on beer and why now is the time for hot RTD brands to explore a sale.
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  Kilts, Bagpipes and Lots of Lagers – How Hendler Family Brewing Welcomed World Cup Fans 25.06.2026 34m

  Mass Appeal Draught House and Grille opened on the eve of the kick-off of FIFA World Cup 2026 at its neighbor, Gillette Stadium.    Hendler Family Brewing co-founder and CEO Sam Hendler joined the Brewbound Podcast to discuss how the multi-branded taproom handled an influx of guests, what Scottish fans prefer to drink (Jack's Abby House Lager) – and what they're not drinking.    "​​The majority of the audience who's been down there on game day has been the international fan base, and House Lager has been consistently the No. 1 seller, and it's not particularly close," Hendler said. "We're selling 6 or 7x the House Lager than we are of the top-selling IPA in that taproom right now."   Hendler shared insights into the World Cup-driven boost at the company's Night Shift taprooms and beer gardens and how they prepared their brands (Jack's Abby, Wormtown, Masshole Light and Sloop) to stand out in the trade during this high visibility time.   In the Boston area, hosting the World Cup and thousands of spectators who have come to support their teams has been a boon for the hospitality industry, particularly beer distributors and breweries.   "On the ground, the atmosphere has been fantastic. People have been showing up, people are having a great time, and they're drinking a lot of beer as it goes on," Hendler said. "There's been so much talk in beer about winning occasions that are beyond what the beer occasion has always been, and the industry still obviously needs work to do on that, because the World Cup, unfortunately, won't last for 365 days a year forever. But it's clear that beer is a winner for this occasion, and it's been absolutely fantastic."   Before the interview, Justin and Zoe discuss the results of the Brewers Association's annual Harris Poll of consumers' views on craft beer, recent developments in the ongoing collapse of Republic National Distributing Company and a first impression of Keystone Light Apple.
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  Athletic's Bill Shufelt is Bullish on the Future of NA Beer – and the Beer Category 17.06.2026 52m

  Athletic Brewing co-founder and CEO Bill Shufelt is "the most excited" he's felt since founding the dedicated non-alcoholic (NA) beer brand.   On the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast, Shufelt shared what's driving his hyped feeling, with a foundation he and co-founder John Walker laid about a decade ago. That foundation is built on a team of 300 co-workers, bicoastal brewing facilities, a strong distribution base for its core beers, a slate of new products hitting retailers and marketing campaigns beginning to ramp up.   "I'm very bullish on the long-term health and growth of the category and our part in growing that," Shufelt said. "It was very hard to get non-alcoholic beer from zero to 2% of beer, but there are actual retailers in the U.S. [where] non-alcoholic beer is touching up against 20% of their beer sales."   Those retailers lend credence to Shufelt's belief that NA beer can be a much bigger part of the beer category. Shufelt explained that consumers are very early in the NA beer discovery curve, with the vast majority unaware how the product has changed in the last decade.    Even with the stage set for growth, Shufelt acknowledged that Athletic still has work to do for the company and the segment to reach some of his loftier goals.    For Athletic in particular, which holds around 22% of the NA beer segment, distribution remains its biggest opportunity.    "In independents, no matter how much our distributors smile at us and tell us we're a priority, we're in like 10% of their independents," Shufelt said. "And I can go into stores in almost any state in the country and look at a shelf that is controlled by our distributor that has five-plus non-alcoholic beer products on it, and Athletic will have none. There's just such untapped distribution out there still."   For now, Shufelt is focused on driving Athletic and NA beer forward. But could the future include an IPO? An Athletic led by someone else? Shufelt said it's possible, but he doesn't want to be on the outside looking in on an opportunity he was one of the few people to see.   Before the interview, Justin, Jess and Zoe discuss the latest headlines, including the mixed results craft brewers are seeing from the World Cup, the American Cider Association co-locating its 2027 CiderCon conference with the Brewers Association's Craft Brewers Conference, the closure of Nebraska's largest craft brewery and the top new products of so far this year.
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  F.X. Matt Brewing's Fred Matt on Mid-Strength Beer and Generating Retail Energy; Plus, Changes Coming to GABF 11.06.2026 35m

  At 138 years old, F.X. Matt Brewing isn't slowing down.  President Fred Matt joined the Brewbound Podcast to discuss the Utica, New York-based craft brewery's plans for 2026 and beyond, which include Saranac Weekend Warrior Mid-Strength, a 3% ABV hazy IPA and Right Coast Spirits Italian Ice, a vodka-based RTD produced in partnership with Barrel One Collective.  Plus, Jess and Zoe discuss news highlights, including changes coming for the Great American Beer Festival and 2025 production data for taprooms and brewpubs.