Philip Davis isn't some mamby pamby little wanker that just opened up the Brewery-builder's playbook and picked one of the 3 standard brewery models. He didn't open up in an industrial park, didn't pimp himself out to a group of stuffed shirt investors and he didn't read the report to find out the moisture content of the endosperm of the grains he brewed with. He sure as f**k didn't use Ai to design his recipes or automation to brew his beers. He was a dynamic artist and he had something...

Josh Kress is a cool guy that followed his heart, chased his dreams and made his piece of the world just a little bit better. His passion should inspire us all to linger a minute in the mirror today and take a hard look at why we do what we do.  While Husick’s Taphouse ended up out of business, twice, he may have changed the landscape of Sacramento forever. He brought in craft for craft’s sake to an area that was underserved. He struggled against his lack of business experience and fought to...

George Thornton had many fantastic milestones in his career in beer. From humble beginnings slinging beer kits to home brewers at a San Diego homebrew store to building a thriving, symbiotic brewery/homebrew hybrid. He won AHA Homebrew Shop of the Year in 2018 for f**k’s sake.  George will explain how he sees rampant commercialism and growth for growth’s sake as a primary reason for the eventual demise of Home Brewing Company. See, he opened the homebrew shop in 2012, expanded to a brewery...

Few people have been or will ever be as connected in the craft beer industry as Chris Black. If you haven't met him or heard of him, then you surely caught wind that Downtown Denver had a little beer bar called Falling Rock Taphouse for 24 years. In 1997 what we think of as the craft beer industry hadn't really begun yet. With only around 800 breweries in the US, opening a beer bar with 69 taps of what we call craft beer was an anomaly. And while it's hard to believe in 2023, opening a...

Just a quick update on Memorial Day to let you know that Season 5 starts next week. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/damnbrewery/support

Mike Detar is a creative m**********r.  Whatever he did in whichever career in which he did it, he was going to throw passion, fire and grit everywhere he went. Like many of us who are slaves to our creativity, he worked with a mix of attention to detail and a ‘grip it and rip it’ philosophy that took him right to the edge of innovation.  When he opened his brewery in Washington State, he quickly found out that he was going to need every one of his unique talents to fight for...

Adam Cole got the call that so very many people in this industry dream of.  Some rich a*****e picked up the phone and tagged Adam to help him open an overbuilt, beautiful facility with a high-end restaurant. He got to design the brewery, pick out the equipment, set his brew schedule and design his own recipes.  Best of all, he was given sweat equity for his investment of effort, intelligence and management. He was part of the ownership structure with everything that comes with...

In 1993 Alan Sprints opened a brewery in Portland, OR. He did his brewery his way making unique and interesting beers unlike what he found on his local shelves. With a culinary background he was, and is, a true artist, contrarian and inspired creator. Hair of the Dog produced beers that were, and if you’re lucky enough to have some in your cellar, still are, full of flavor, high in alcohol and complex in all the right ways. Alan and his brewery were a major part in creating the strong beer...

New Orleans is a drinking city. And the brothers Boudreaux -David, Matt and Pat - decided this was the perfect place to open their dream. Well, the dream before the dream at least. See, what they really wanted to be were brewery owners one day but they settled with slinging craft beer bottles and cans in a 2700 sq ft retail shop off Magazine street in the crescent city. And they hooked up with a bottleshop franchise many of us know, Craft Beer Cellar.  The neighborhood was made better, the...

Those of us who pay attention to this podcast know that the future is uncertain for the craft beer industry overall. But the beer people in Abilene, TX are feeling the bubble burst maybe a little bit more than most cities. In the first two months of 2023 Abilene lost half of it's breweries. One in January and the other one in February. The had both fought to stay afloat for years and even knowing the other was leaving, neither felt the market in Abilene could support them. I caught up with...

Christina and Jesse don’t make beer. At least not commercially. They have a palate for bone-dry, flavor-driven ciders and their late project Redwood Coast Cidery was their gift to the hard apple cider drinking world. Or at least to the Bay Area of San Francisco. These guys opened a Cidery in 2015 because they couldn’t find the styles of cider they liked to drink - which sounds a lot like every home brewer I knew in the early 2000s. They opened on a responsible budget, grew quickly and...

Back in 2013 a lonely frog thought he’d be cute so he hitched a ride on a NASA rocket. It might have been the most excitement that amphibian ever saw in his life but we’re pretty sure that the RocketFrog died. Years later twin brothers Richard and David Hartogs named their cool brewing project after that poor dead frog. I actually forgot to ask them why but I guess it doesn’t really matter now. Guys, this is one of those stories the craft beer industry thinks doesn’t happen. One of the...

Part 1 of my Video Blog Series.  I explore the ancient concept of Memento Mori and how looking death in the eye can make us better brewery operators.  Throughout the ages our art, philosophy and, of course, religion all explored ways for us to share and remind each other of the concept of Memento Mori. Literally, remember death. One day you will cease to exist. No matter how hard you cling to life, to legacy and even to love, your days are numbered. Ashes to ashes and all that. “On a...

Jim and Betsy Pence have been around the ‘ol block a few times. After a love of wine led to a love of craft beer which opened the door to a love of mead, they decided to do what many of you are deciding to do. They wrote a business plan and set about opening their very own craft meadery in Charlotte, NC. They chased after their dream, bought equipment, started brewing and then closed down almost immediately. Then they did it two more times. Jim has joined us to day to share what’s he’s...

Most people only have one spouse. Having more than 2 careers at a time is rare. The world would be far better off if we’d never had a second Crow movie. Or absolutely anything Keanu Reeves ever did other than John Wick. There was only one ring in that book. One goal can win a soccer match. But somehow when it comes to the production of beer today, we think every brewery should make 7 million mediocre beers. One-offs, seasonals, brand extensions, variety packs and special releases. All...

I’d like to introduce you to Bob Sylvester, founder, brewer and all-around badass from South Florida’s Brasserie St. Somewhere. Bob started brewing back in the early days of this last craft beer explosion. You know, back in 2008 when owning a brewery was still counterculture, hip and a bit radical. He managed to create a unique and interesting lineup of beers that garnered him international acclaim and a loyal fanbase of like-minded craft beer drinkers. He grew from meager beginnings into a...

Just an update to let you know I'm still here and preparing for a Hell of a season 4 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/damnbrewery/support

People like to say that I don't want people to follow their dreams if they're dreaming about mash paddles and mass distribution. While that's not entirely true, I do think the odds are you'll be living on ramen noodles and stolen Netflix.  But if you ARE gonna start a brewery, the point would be to do it right and make some money. And before you get to that point, you have to figure out just how in the world you are gonna pay for it. You’ll need hundreds of thousands of dollars, preferably...

Eddie Chimi, or Anderson, or whatever he's calling himself these days, is a craft beer industry veteran. He’s damn near an expert on getting beer from the manufacturer to the a*****e waiting in line to buy a can of it. You know that I’m always on the lookout for people who’ve been around the craft beer block and lived to tell about it. And I’m fascinated to have conversations with people who are willing to disagree with me. Eddie fits both of those perfectly. He worked at Goose Island...

Molly Ware heads up revenue production at The Infinite Monkey Theorem. I’ve long said that what other booze producers experience should inform and prepare us for what we face in beer. Molly was kind enough to step away from the highly competitive and unfairly overfunded wine industry to sit and answer my questions today. And I think if you listen to the end, you’ll be better for it. I asked her on the show to share the experience of closing 3 of their urban wineries. While the beer industry...

You may not have heard of Kevin Abbott. But you’re not likely to forget him. He’s a guy who’s brewed at three different breweries. He was at Funky Buddha before the fairy tale exit that happened in 2017. He was the brewer back when they had a 1 BBL system in 2010, he was there for the 30BBL expansion in 2014 but he was safely gone when they sold for 80 million 4 years later. He was at Due South during their formative years. Due South closed their tasting room a few months ago. Then he...

Today’s guest got bitten by the brewery bug in 2012. Back when there were less than 2500 breweries nationwide and you could still convince yourself that there was room for one more. Like many of us he thought, start small, build it up slowly and grow incrementally over time. Invest in growth, recapitalize and add market share along the way to success. But his multiple award-winning brewery got swallowed first by the massive growth of his massive brewery neighbors and then by an...

If you’ve been paying attention over my last 20-whatever episodes you know that craft beer is an ugly place to try to make any money. You do not go into beer to get rich. Or even to pay your light bill. Well, here’s a news flash I bet you didn’t see coming: HOMEBREW SHOPS AREN’T MAKING ANY, EITHER. For today’s episode I sat down with Scott Birdwell to discuss what it’s like to own a homebrew shop for over 40 years and then watch it slowly die. This cat was selling homebrew equipment back...

Earthlings, meet Gene Bouck, the mad scientist from the late Genetic Brewing in Florida. Gene started as a home brewer, like many of you. Gene dreamed of the freedom of entrepreneurship like many of us. And, as part of an ever-increasing pool of dead and dying breweries, Gene watched his brewery suffer and die. The goal of this podcast has always been open and honest conversation with people who’ve been there. People who’ve put their futures on the line in an attempt to craft something...

Dan Garrison is the founder and proprietor of TX’s first legal bourbon distillery, Garrison Brothers in Hye, TX. I wanted to interview Dan because I knew that there were lessons we could learn from how spirits goes to market. I was positive that there were overlaps in the cash flow model for aging bourbon vs fermenting beer. I knew that he had overcome massive obstacles on the path to building his nationwide brand. And I was certain that understanding his business would make us better in...