Brewbound Podcast
The Brewbound Podcast is an extension of Brewbound's leading B2B beer industry reporting, featuring interviews with beer industry executives and entrepreneurs, along with highlights and commentary from the weekly news. New episodes are released every Thursday. Send comments and suggestions to podcast@brewbound.com.
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How Lawson's Stays on Brand, and Rhinegeist's Plans Amid Hemp Bev Prohibition
2023 was a sea-change year for several craft breweries who underwent leadership changes. Lawson's Finest Liquids and Rhinegeist Brewery were among the companies who underwent CEO transitions that year. Lawson's CEO Adeline Druart and Rhinegeist CEO Adam Bankovich discuss entering Year 3 of their respective tenures at the top of those companies in separate featured interviews on the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast. In the first conversation, Druart dives into the "ongoing conversation" at the Vermont brewery of "what makes a Lawson's Finest beer a Lawson's Finest beer" and defines what makes a Sunshine brand. "Really for us, it's IPAs – clear IPAs u...
RNDC's Dismantling; Plus Eco Beverages and Russian River
Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) continues to unwind, so BevNET spirits editor Ferron Salniker joined the Brewbound Podcast to break down the latest. RNDC, once the country's second-largest wine and spirits distributor, has been selling-off markets piecemeal to competitors from coast to coast. Announced deals have included 11 markets to the Reyes Beverage Group, brand rights and some assets to Columbia Distributing, operations in 17 control states to Martignetti. (Note: this conversation took place before Breakthru announced it would acquire RNDC operations in Kentucky and Indiana or that it was revealed Quality Beverage would buy RNDC assets in Nebraska, North Dakota and Sou...
From Beer to Better-For-You: How Octopi Brewing Is Adapting to a Shifting Beverage Industry
<p>In this Brewbound Podcast Interview, Justin Kendall sits down with Mitch Wedemeier, Director of Planning at Octopi Brewing, live from the Brew Expo floor at the Craft Brewers Conference. Now just over two years into its acquisition by Asahi (January 2024), Octopi has refined its strategic vision under the leadership of Paul Verdu. The company is pursuing two parallel paths: continuing as a best-in-class mid-range co-packer while also growing the Asahi Super Dry brand in the U.S. market.</p> <p>Mitch shares that Octopi's co-packing business is currently a 50/50 split between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, with strong demand for...
Reinventing Home Brewing: How Pinter Is Bringing Draft Beer Home
<p>In this Brewbound Podcast Interview, Justin Kendall sits down with Mitch Wedemeier, Director of Planning at Octopi Brewing, live from the Brew Expo floor at the Craft Brewers Conference. Now just over two years into its acquisition by Asahi (January 2024), Octopi has refined its strategic vision under the leadership of Paul Verdu. The company is pursuing two parallel paths: continuing as a best-in-class mid-range co-packer while also growing the Asahi Super Dry brand in the U.S. market.</p> <p>Mitch shares that Octopi's co-packing business is currently a 50/50 split between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, with strong demand for...
Wrapping Up CBC 2026; Plus, Chats with Carbon Copy, Brewers of PA and Love City
After a week of good (dare we say sunny?) vibes in Philadelphia, the Brewbound team regrouped to put a bow on the 2026 Craft Brewers Conference (CBC). Jess, Zoe and Justin discussed the overall feel of this year's event compared to the previous two CBCs in Indianapolis and Las Vegas, as well as the Brewers Association attempting to change the narrative around craft beer. They discuss president and CEO Bart Watson's nudge to tell some of the more positive stories around craft beer, and his own attempts during the State of the Industry speech. Plus, the trio explored RNDC's fire sale thi...
CBC Week + a Blockbuster Brewery Deal
<p >The Brewers Association's Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) rolled into Philadelphia this week – and so did the Brewbound Podcast On Location Studio. In this episode of the Brewbound Podcast, the team shares their early reads on a week in which the vibes seem high compared to previous years. </p> <p>Zoe recaps the opening keynote speech by Unreasonable Hospitality author and former restaurateur Will Guidara, including his hyper-experiential approach to customer service and what a "dream weaver" is and whether you should be concerned that your server is eavesdropping on you. </p> <p>But first, Justin provides details on Firestone Walk...
Ikasu Brewing Leans into 'Weird,' 'Good Beer' and Japanese Culinary Ingredients
<p >Ikasu Brewing founder Masahiro "Masa" Kitano believes his Los Angeles-based, contract-brewed brand has found its niche, leaning into "weird and good beer" that taps into Japanese culinary ingredients. </p> Kitano's history as a home brewer helped him craft out-of-the-ordinary beers, such as a matcha-infused gose. "It's a sour beer with the aroma of matcha, but it doesn't look green," he said. "You smell it and it's super unique. No one's thought about combining sour beer with matcha." Kitano's beer, as well as his story of leaving a career as a medical researcher to chase his brewing dream, coupled with his i...
Q1 Craft Scans, Platform Proliferation, BrewDog's Identity Crisis – and What's a Daycap?
<p >How did craft close out Q1 in scans? In this episode, the Brewbound team convenes to discuss the early read on trends in off-premise retailers with the first three months of 2026 in the books. </p> <p>The conversation shifts to the latest platform builders, as Oklahoma City's Coop Ale Works and Dallas' Four Corners Brewing have created the Frontier Beverage Collective. Meanwhile, Abita Brewing Company is rechristening itself as the Abita Beverage Group, targeting 170,000 barrels this year, and potential mergers and acquisitions. </p> <p>Then the focus turns to new BrewDog owner Tilray Brands' Q3 earnings report and future pl...
Mega M&A Madness with Fingers' Dave Infante
In the wake of major shakeups in the middle-tier that will see the largest distributors getting even bigger and major manufacturers adding brands to their portfolios, Fingers newsletter author Dave Infante joins the Brewbound Podcast to recap a wild couple of weeks in the bev-alc industry. The Brewbound team and Infante cover recent distributor consolidations by the Reyes Beverage Group and Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits and whether this signals a new era of mega distributors. They also discuss the effect these deals could have on small producers, especially brewers who are now competing with a variety of products outside of t...
A CBC Primer with Brewers Association CEO Bart Watson
Brewers Association president and CEO Bart Watson believes the Craft Brewers Conference works best when it's "the big-tent event that everybody is coming to and connecting with." On the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast, Watson explained that he views the largest annual gathering of craft brewers (April 20-22 in Philadelphia) in four buckets: Commerce via the BrewExpo trade show, where brewers connect with suppliers and learn about trends; Education, with a host of new voices on the speaker roster this year; Networking, with a more intentional approach and dedicated sessions; And fun. "CBC should be that week where you do...
