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If his voice and his story sound vaguely familiar it is because he was our very first guest on the Market The Brew Podcast 52 episodes ago. Since then, he has grown both professionally and personally. One of the biggest changes came recently and the podcast notes show him with his new wife as they honeymooned on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. Great weather, picturesque views, amazing food and something he doesn’t make, yet, fine wine… During the first podcast we learned of their Beer Amnesty Week in which you would bring in a 6 pack of BAD beer (macro brews) in exchange for a 6-pack of their beer…no questions asked. They would then find unique and interesting ways to use the BAD beer, such as a slip and slide or a beer pool on the roof, just to name a few.  We also learned how his mother was upset about his decision to switch from pre-med to brewing until he started distilling vodka.  After the University of Wisconsin, he spent several years working for a brewery and decided that is what he wanted to do and took off to Edinburgh Scotland to get his master’s degree in brewing and distilling.  Well, if you want to learn more about our guest, re-listen to the first podcast. If you want to hear what he’s been up to since his first appearance on the podcast listen in and Danielle and Travis chat with Zac Treimert of Brickway Brewing and Distillery in Omaha, Nebraska.

We have shared stories from many accomplished brewer’s whose journey started with a home brew kit they received as a gift. Many can still remember the first beer they brewed and like today’s guest, kept a journal of all the beers they have brewed since receiving that first kit. All have taken different but similar paths in their careers to get where they are today. Our guest is still at the beginning of his journey. Building big beers from his small, but growing home brewing system. From family and friends serving as beer tasters to eventually becoming brewing assistances and servers at local beer festivals.  Today’s guest has a small group of friends that has stayed together since those early days of brewing helping this small homebrewer grow. Each year he tries to get into more beer festivals. He relates that most reluctantly agree to let him serve and are surprised when people are talking about how good their beer is. All have invited him back to serve his beers at their festivals. But, like every homebrewer, you lose money brewing for festivals because as a homebrewer you can not charge for your beer.  So, our guest, like so many before him, is working on his business plan. Keeping a list of potential investors, and building a fan base until he can eventually build his own brewery.   Listen in as Danielle and Travis chat with Home Brewer Tyler Sallee owner of Nosey Neighbor Brewing as he shares his brewing journey to date, and his plans for the future.

This brewery is located in a county that until recently had been a dry county in central North Carolina. But in July 2008, voters decisively passed a referendum allowing beer, wine, and mixed beverage alcohol to be sold in the city for the first time in nearly sixty years. Almost 7 years later a schoolteacher and a Lowes manager who became friends, started to brew together and would eventually open the county’s first brewery EVER.   When they first opened the goal was to use inexpensive Gildan t-shirts with a 1 color logo on back to promote the brewery within the city. Later those shirts would evolve into the same branding available in several colors. Realizing their customers had one of each color of the same shirt, they had to start developing new designs that customers and travelers would want to buy and wear. Crafting the first couple of new designs after several of their more popular beers they began to see the sales of those shirts grow. They needed to develop new designs on a regular basis and turn inventory of those designs faster. Listen in as our guests share how they adopted the “buy less but buy more often” philosophy and soon began to sell through smaller quantities of apparel with new designs.

This brewery is located in a county that until recently had been a dry county in central North Carolina. But in July 2008, voters decisively passed a referendum allowing beer, wine, and mixed beverage alcohol to be sold in the city for the first time in nearly sixty years. Almost 7 years later a schoolteacher and a Lowes manager who became friends, started to brew together and would eventually open the county’s first brewery EVER.   When they first opened the goal was to use inexpensive Gildan t-shirts with a 1 color logo on back to promote the brewery within the city. Later those shirts would evolve into the same branding available in several colors. Realizing their customers had one of each color of the same shirt, they had to start developing new designs that customers and travelers would want to buy and wear. Crafting the first couple of new designs after several of their more popular beers they began to see the sales of those shirts grow. They needed to develop new designs on a regular basis and turn inventory of those designs faster. Listen in as our guests share how they adopted the “buy less but buy more often” philosophy and soon began to sell through smaller quantities of apparel with new designs.

Front Page Brewing Company opened its doors in beautiful, historic Downtown Bartow, FL in 2020.  Founded by Johnnie and Bill Levin, Front Page was created to provide a gathering place for the local and greater communities to enjoy brewed on-site quality craft beer and socialize.  After semi-retiring from corporate life, Johnnie was looking for something to take on in the next chapter of her life.  As a long-time fan of craft beer and breweries, this was a perfect opportunity to explore.  After completing the Univ of South Florida - St. Pete Brewing Arts certification program, she realized that she’d found her new “home” and Front Page Brewing Company started coming to life.  Opening on March 14, just prior to the start of the state and nationwide shutdown, certainly proved to be an unexpected challenge, but with the support of a wonderful city and community, Front Page Brewing Company was able to weather the storm and continues to grow and thrive.

The Founders of Third Space Brewing, a thriving small business in their hometown, are Milwaukee natives with a passion for creating great beer. They first met at their third space–Camp Minikani, a summer camp located along the shores of Lake Amy Belle in Hubertus, Wisconsin.  Andy Gehl, Co-founder and Director of Sales and Marketing, is a recovering attorney with a passion for craft beer. Andy does a great job heading up sales, marketing and community outreach for the brewery. Kevin Wright, Co-founder and Brewmaster, holds a certificate in brewing from the world-renowned University of California-Davis Master Brewing Program.  Kevin Wright is certainly qualified as he graduated at the top of his class in 2009 before going on to win the JS Ford Award.  An award bestowed each year to the person who scores the highest on the Diploma in Brewing exam, given by London’s Institute of Brewing and Distilling. After graduation, Kevin spent seven years brewing award-winning beer at Hangar 24, a popular Redlands, CA brewery. Eventually moving home to partner with his Camp Minikani buddy to open Third Space Brewing. Located in an old industrial area of Milwaukee the brewery is close to the American Family Stadium, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, and also a location where their beer is sold. During the summer you will often see social media posts of their beer cans in the hands of fans attending games. Beer school came about when Kara Olds, Event Coordinator for Third Space, was talking with a coworker about the lack of accessible education on alcohol/beer in the Milwaukee area. That, combined with Kevin’s wealth of beer knowledge and his love of teaching, made sense to start the Beer School for anyone wanting to learn more about beer.  Kara told us that “For us, it's a great opportunity to engage with our customers and showcase interesting beer from around the state.”

In 2020 the USA Today rated Milwaukee as the 2nd best beer scene in the US second to St Louis, MO. One of the breweries that helped Milwaukee make this list is The Explorium Brewpub. Mike Doble, like the beers he brews, is deep and complex on the inside and wrapped in a playful and unpretentious exterior.  If you live in the Milwaukee area you are familiar with Mike as his name and his brewery are in the news quite often. As a self-proclaimed Type A personality, he has trouble sitting still. He is very active both personally and professionally on social media and makes no apologies for anything that he says or posts. During the Covid shutdown most people made the transition from office to work from home. The service industry took a huge hit with regulations and reductions to their usable space. As most brewery owners were trying to figure it all out, Mike was planning a second location. Listen in as Mike Talks about opening his second location.

You might notice this episode’s guest Christian Layke as he and his business partner Brett were the guests on our last podcast that posted on June 14, 2018. A lot has happened in the world since that last episode, and we have invited Christian back to talk about the past 4 years and to talk about their future. Listen in as Christian shares some exciting new news for the brewery with us.

Having spent the past 20 years managing a foodservice that oversees large events at sports and entertainment venues across the country, Andrew learned that it's about more than just a baseball game or concert. It's about creating an overall exceptional customer experience. Andrew has taken this belief and combined it with his passion for craft beer to help breweries monitor their tasting rooms, increase their in-house revenues, and learn to differentiate as the craft beer industry soars past 9,000 breweries. In addition, Andrew has successfully built a community of 14,000+ Craft Beer Professionals dedicated to the growth and betterment of craft beer across the United States.

Living in Milwaukee has led us to discovering some great beers and even better breweries. We wanted to find a way to share all of the places we have found with our family and friends, which led us to our Instagram page @TheKlevensBrewTour. This page has introduced us to incredible people in the craft beer community and we look forward to connecting with more interesting people through the Market the Brew podcast.

This is our first Market the Brew profile of a Brewery In Planning. Our two guests, Christian Layke and Brett Robinson, are the cofounders of a brewery that will be opening in the DC area in the next 6 months. We’ll be diving into their marketing strategy to build up excitement and visibility around their opening. What’s unique about their approach is that they are making a series of collaborative beers with other local breweries to gain some pre-opening traction in what they are calling the Convergent Worlds Collaboration Series. CHRISTIAN LAYKE Co-founder and Head Brewer Beer has been a part of Christian’s fondest memories—travel to far-flung locations with family and friends, toasting his engagement at Ankor Wat, chatting around many a campfire, and so many more. Drinking beer in Europe, Africa, Asia and, of course, America, got him hooked on enjoying quaffable beer served from beautiful glassware in cozy settings. So much so he was compelled to leave his job at an environmental non-profit 10 years ago to become a commercial brewer. Christian is excited to now be realizing his dream of creating a spot like that in his home community. BRETT ROBISON Co-founder and General Manager It was a revelation when Brett realized beer wasn’t just a flavorless yellow beverage. He told his friends he’d open his own brewery someday. Ten years later the dream is about the become a reality. Brett has toured Europe drinking beer, quit his job in finance and did a brief stint as an assistant brewer. He followed that with managing multiple restaurants and most recently was General Manager of Republic in Takoma Park.

This episode is a two-parter and it’s about podcasting as a medium to promote your brew. Have you noticed that podcasting, like craft beer, has blown up in the past few years? When it comes to beer podcasts, I find that they fall into one of three categories: beer tasting and beer drinking podcasts; beer making and brewing podcasts; and podcasts that cover the business side of craft beer. This episode explores the idea of appearing on podcasts as a way to tell your brewery’s story and promote your brand. Our guests are Matthew Muncy, founder of the Hopped Up Podcast Network and host of the Barrel Chat podcast PLUS Jessica Rhodes, founder and CEO of Interview Connections and the host of Rock the Podcast.

This episode is about driving traffic – butts in barstools. Specifically, the use of events in creating a compelling reason to come and visit. We are getting the perspective on this from two different breweries. Amanda Zivkovic is the Associate Brand Manager at Heavy Seas in Baltimore, MD. She assists in consumer promotion, tap room events and charity initiatives among other things. Our other guest is Amanda Martin with Walking Tree Brewery in Vero Beach, FL. Amanda is the Event Coordinator & Tasting Room Manager and one of the original team members of the Walking Tree Crew. She has been an integral part of developing the brewery as a highly sought-after event venue.

Ray Goodrich has bounced around from dream job to dream job—starting his post college life as a marine mammal trainer at Sea World. Then he decided to pick up a few Emmys by producing SCC football for Fox Sports. And now? Well now he talks beer for a living. He is the Director of Marketing at Foothill Brewing in Winston Salem, North Carolina and on the show to talk about Foothill Brewing’s unique community-focused promotions.

This is a special compilation episode. We pull the origin stories and behind the brand stories from previous Market The Brew episodes. Here we review 6 special breweries: D.L Geary Brewing Co.; Jester King Brewery; Lakefront Brewery; Our Mutual Friend Brewing Co.; Station 26 Brewing Co.; and MobCraft Beer.

Sarah and John McGarry are a husband and wife duo and are part of a five-person ownership/leadership team that runs Brink Brewing Company in College Hill, Cincinnati. Even though Sarah and John are located in Denver, the pair both have integral roles in the brewery’s operation. With her background in architecture and design, Sarah helped design and build out the brewery before evolving her duties into social media and promoting the brewery. John is a long-time craft enthusiast and a certified Cicerone who works in the financial tech industry by day. At Brink, John contributes to menu planning, beer style planning, and merchandise design.

Like most brewers nowadays, Kyle Vetter got his foot in home brewing. He has been the oak manager at Aspen Brewing, where his fondness for barrel aged beer started to grow. A Milwaukee native, Kyle wanted to bring what he learned in Colorado home. He is the founder of 1840 Brewing – an urban farmhouse brewery focused on barrel aging and blending. He lives by the saying, “Drink slow beer!”

Ryan Wheaton has been a professional graphic designer for the last 15 years. He noticed that his design style catered itself nicely to the craft beer industry and started doing freelance design in the market around 5 years ago. He has been hosting the Branding Brews podcast where he interviews experts in the beer branding space. He is currently the Creative Director at an advertising agency. The conversation in this episode we’ll be discussing what is involved when engaging with a design resource for branding your beer.

This is Market the Brew’s covert, cloak and dagger, Mystery Shopper episode. Our gest is “Sandi” – which isn’t our guest’s real name. Since the episode deals with the private topic of sending in mystery shoppers to a brewery, our guest has their voice masked to remain anonymous. Sandi is the taproom manager at a brewery that can accommodate around 400 people and is projected to produce between 16-18,000 barrels this year.  

Jeremiah Zimmer is an experienced home brewer with over ten years of work history in branding marketing and sales. A few years ago, he partnered up with Jude La Rose and Jason Maxwell to launch Hop Butcher for the World in Chicago. Jeremiah was key in getting Hop Butcher for the World’s Good Ryes Wear Black IPA into the White Sox’s U.S. Cellular Field. The beer is inspired by their beloved south siders and is available in single 16oz cans at the Midwest Craft Beer Kiosk.