EP-409 Rachael Hudson of Pilot Brewing Company
Good Beer Hunting
Some people know early on they’re destined to be their own boss. Rachael Hudson is one of these people. She’s the co-owner and head brewer at Pilot Brewing Company in Charlotte, North Carolina, a small brewery that’s made big waves in her local scene and beyond since opening in 2018. Since then, the business has racked up accolades at the Great American Beer Festival, the US Open Beer Championship, and the North Carolina Brewers Cup Competition, including being named North Carolina Brewery of the Year for 2023. But for as nice as the awards are, Rachael says opening a brewery isn’t...
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TG-014 The One with the Spring Slump
Good Beer Hunting
Spring hasn’t sprung for craft beer yet this year. It’s more like a belly flop into a deflating pool filled with the ghosts of profitable years of yore and future hopes for a better summer. But rather than languish in low numbers, beverage alcohol companies big and small are dabbling in new products, new segments, and really anything they can to stay afloat. In this episode of The Gist, I’m joined as always by Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot to talk about first quarter numbers for 2024, innovation across segments, and what BrewDog may be up to after CEO James Watt stepped down as CEO....
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EP-408 Jen Price of Crafted for Action and CraftBeerCon
Good Beer Hunting
“If you can see, you can be it.” I believe this adage is a great example of the value of diversity in all aspects of life. Seeing someone who looks like you in spaces where most don’t is an unspoken invitation that you belong there too. When I started dipping my toe into Atlanta’s craft beer scene, Jen Price was the first Black woman that I encountered. I was immediately intrigued by her and might have stalked her Atlanta Beer Boutique profile on Instagram before I even had my own beer account. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of following Jen’s journey (and writing about...
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TG-013 The Gist—The One With The Boogeyman
Good Beer Hunting
Bongs, beer, and boogeymen—on this episode of The Gist, we kick things off with cannabis. Then, Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot shares her insights from the 2024 Craft Brewers Conference in Las Vegas. We’re also joined by special guest Paige Latham Didora, who chats with us about non-competes and the FTC’s recent ban on them. What does it mean for the beer industry? Keep listening to find out.
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OT-001 Orchard To Table: A Celebration of Pacific Northwest Cider
Good Beer Hunting
This is a special episode hosted in collaboration with the American Cider Association—a great way to bring you an episode with audio from an event dedicated to cider in the culinary space. While you will hear my voice now, this conversation is led by Leah Scafe of Stockpot Collective in Portland, Oregon. Leah worked with the Cider Association to host the roundtable discussion called “Orchard to Table” during the organization’s annual CiderCon event in January 2024. With Stockpot Collective, Leah produces unique food and beverage events, and leads conversations that are specific to the...
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CL-141 Reverence for the Irreverent — Brewing Magic at Brujos Brewing
Good Beer Hunting
Magic takes time, patience, and intention. So does brewing. The two concepts intertwine fantastically and theatrically in Jeff Alworth’s Signifier for Good Beer Hunting, titled “Long Live the Sorcery — Brujos Brewing in Portland, Oregon.” In the piece, he delves into the magical world of Brujos, a business that officially opened in March 2024, but has been percolating for a decade under the creative vision of owner and brewer Sam Zermeño. What started as a brand and hobby picked up steam on social media around 10 years ago, when Zermeño was still a homebrewer in Southern California...
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EP-407 Hillary Barile of Rabbit Hill Farms & Malthouse and Craft Maltsters Guild
Good Beer Hunting
Hillary Barile isn’t sure what she’d call herself first: a farmer or a maltster. In reality, she’s both, working as a fifth generation farmer at Rabbit Hill Farms & Malthouse in Shiloh, New Jersey. There, she and members of her family produce barley and other crops, as well as run a small-scale malthouse that supplies ingredients for breweries and distilleries. And, as president of the Craft Maltsters Guild Board of Directors, she works to educate and grow the craft malt community across North America and beyond. So why, and how, did she make the jump from farming pottoes to...
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TG-012 The One About Last Year
Good Beer Hunting
It’s time for the Brewers Association’s annual report for 2023. Who came out on top? Who’s new to the list and how did they get there? What on Earth is going on with draft sales, and what new data is still to come from the upcoming Craft Brewers Conference? All this and more is next, on this episode of the Gist.
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EP-406 Michael Duckworth of True Anomaly Brewing Company
Good Beer Hunting
You’ve heard the joke—four scientists walk into a bar, and hilarity ensues. But have you heard the one about a few NASA employees opening a brewery? It’s not a setup. It’s how True Anomaly Brewing Company in Houston, Texas actually started, when four friends and homebrewers decided to trade in the final frontier for a shot at making their own beer. Michael Duckworth is co-founder and CEO of True Anomaly, which was recently named Brewery of the Year at the Texas Craft Brewers Cup for the second year in a row. Now in their sixth year, True Anomaly specializes in making wild and...
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EP-405 Maddee McDowell of The Tasting Alliance
Good Beer Hunting
What happens when a respected name in wine and spirits tries to make a move into the beer world? Does their experience translate into a new category, or do they have to build a reputation from the ground up? Does the beer industry welcome interlopers, or view them with skepticism and confusion? And if they’re asking to judge your beer at a new competition, does anyone show up? These are all questions I asked myself when I was invited to judge at The Tasting Alliance’s second ever beer competition in December 2023. I, like some others in and around beer, had never heard of the group, or...
info_outlineIt’s only February, but beverage companies are already setting the stage for the rest of 2024 with new products, big investments, and… TV ads? Today, Kate Bernot and me, Beth Demmon, recap the best and most blah Super Bowl commercials, discuss the potential of high and low ABV products, and you’ll hear from Drinkways Editor Emma Janzen about the economic outlook for spirits this year. This is the Gist.