CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: No guest in studio today so Ken, Dan, and Wendy look over a list of the 25 most important American Craft Beers (According to Food and Wine - https://www.foodandwine.com/beer/craft-beer/25-most-important-american-craft-beers-ever-brewed ), discuss the use of Untappd in 2023 and why the gamification of Untappd ruined beer reviews, Ken chats about craft beer flights needing to go away, and the gang ends the show talking about tipping culture in the USA, the changes we can s...
Jun 24, 2023•1 hr 24 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: Two and a half years ago we brought Arctic Circle into our online studio as one of our first guests to the Michigan Beer Series, a series promoting the local craft beer community that has supported us for so many years. Since then, Eric and Deven have been crushing it in Chesterfield, so we wanted to catch up to see what they have been up to. The highs and lows of opening during a global pandemic, how they stuck to their wants of creating a lot of coffee beers, and what ...
Jun 11, 2023•1 hr 1 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! The news this week brings an article discussing brewers yeast being found in paintings along with what a beer festival at a local art site composing both brewer culture with their own personal culture. Nick chats up about Perdue teaming up with a brewery to make an official beer for beer can chicken. Dan talks about running into weird beer laws in Utah and has us pondering what weird law’s we’ve ran into, and Ken chats about the death of big brand craft and how t...
May 29, 2023•1 hr 8 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: Festival season is in full gear so Ken and Wendy give some updates on the most recent festivals they’ve attended, and then the crew talks about what they do and don’t like in festivals, what they want to see some more of in festivals, and what are some future festivals they’d like to attend. From beer choices to games, vendors and options, they think about what makes a beer festival in 2023 better than others. Ken finishes by pondering what a beer festival would look lik...
May 27, 2023•1 hr 1 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: It’s been seven years and more than three hundred episodes since we last spoke with Adam at Ascension, and a lot has changed since then. From his explosive opening in 2015 to now, they’ve added their THICC seltzer line, countless amazing variants of Gorilla Juice, their famous hazy beers, but Adam in this episode talks about the importance of his business which includes empowering his employees to be the best versions of themselves. Sit down with one of our rare 1 on 1 i...
May 25, 2023•28 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! A slow news week but Ken starts off the show with the official statement from Better on Draft regarding the Founders situation at hand. We then go into the news talking about how Not Your Fathers and Henry’s were a little ahead of their time as net sales of Monster branded booze is continuing to grow. Nick talks about bread made from Naan and asks us to think about food products we may want to see in beer, and Ken ends the show talking about Athletic on JetBlue f...
May 08, 2023•37 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: Brad and Kerri started B. Nektar as a side gig to take Brad’s passion of meadmaking and turn it into something fun and different. But since 2008 the ebbs and flows of life have caused them to constantly have to audible their lives, their business plans, and what will happen in the future. Brad talks about historical ingredient supply issues, changing his business plan from side gig to full time, and how he reacts when the market is in constant flux. As a business owner t...
May 08, 2023•1 hr 1 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! The BA announced the top 50 this year and there are some big jumps. We see more merger organizations joining the top 50, Athletic is inching close to the top 10, and we say goodbye to Bell’s in the list officially. Wendy talks about more than 2000 cans of High Life being destroyed in Europe, and Dan talks about refreshers from Smirnoff and we look into beer refreshers and ask why many breweries are changing up some of the most well known craft beer brands includi...
Apr 24, 2023•36 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: We ask the question that every brewery in progress asks themselves. What will make their brewery unique, special, and stand out against a crowd of nearly 10,000 other breweries in the country. We ponder the same question by asking what we as the consumer wants? Ken, Wendy, and Dan talk about what they look for in their favorite breweries, what can be turn offs to them, and what we may want to see more of. Wendy talks about the kind of games she’d like to see more of, Ken...
Apr 22, 2023•1 hr 2 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! This weeks craft beer news talks about the changes in serving rules at sports venues and how with updated public transportation and the ability to take Uber and Lyft, why the rules of last calls before the game is over is past due for a change. Ken solidifies his commentary that craft beer bubble theories are all dead, and Wendy talks about how hydroponics can change the world of beer for the future, which may also include powdered beer. Ken's Article - Craft bee...
Apr 17, 2023•47 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: With a last minute cancellation and Dan on vacation, Ken hosts a brewery draft for Wendy and Nick where the three select breweries companies from all over the world for their portfolio, size, and quality. Join us to see which ones we picked, yell at us for the many we missed, and come up with your own in the comments of what you would have picked! Sponsors: North Center Brewing - https://northcenterbrewing.com/ Zetouna Liquor - https://www.facebook.com/Zetouna-Liquor-Fin...
Apr 15, 2023•1 hr
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! While our interview with Mikkel of Mikkeller got delayed, we wanted to talk about the closing of their final location in the US and what this means for non-american beer in the US. Wendy starts off the show however with a National Beer Day quiz with Ken and Dan answer the questions, and Ken finishes the show talking about Bevana, its take on the supply chain, and what beer distributors could do to help properly distribute beer all over the country without some st...
Apr 10, 2023•48 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: 2023 marks the 20th year of The Alchemist being in business, but we sit down with the power couple of Jen and John Kimmich to talk about how they got there. From offering salary and health care to their employees, to rebuilding after Hurricane Irene, the story of The Alchemist is one that can be taught in business schools for years to come. Join us as we chat about hazy IPA’s, meeting Heady Topper fanboy Scott Ian of Anthrax, and more on this episode of Better on Draft. ...
Apr 08, 2023•57 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! We start off the show with Nick bringing us some news out of Tesla and their Gigabier, Wendy talks about San Diego making some beers out of air conditioner condensation, Dan chats about more speculation on a possible buyout of Boston Beer Company, and Ken ends the show talking about the off premise sales drop for St. Patrick’s day this year, and why he thinks there will be a continued consolidation of some of the bigger brands beers. Got a news segment you want u...
Apr 03, 2023•55 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: When you think about the top breweries of metro Detroit, there is a well known secret out there about a certain brewery in Royal Oak, aptly named, The Royal Oak Brewery. Jeremy Altier joins us to talk about his decade plus time in the industry including his current place of employment, which he has garnered a lot of attention for some of his GABF Award Winning Beers, festivities including the Kolsching Hour, and why “The ROB” continues to have a wide array of craft beer ...
Apr 01, 2023•55 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE!Ken continues down his rabbit hole of stats and data to see what is moving forward and backward with regards to sales of specific craft beer brands. Dan follows it up with a article about how Gen Z is just not drinking as much as Millennials and Gen X, and Nick gives us an article about the most and least expensive areas in the country, and we have lots of questions on how they came up with this list. We hope you enjoy this weeks episode of the craft beer news, re...
Mar 19, 2023•44 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: Opening a brewery in one of the most densely populated brewery towns in the states, just before lockdowns, FlyteCo has had quite the journey from their opening in 2019 to their second site late last year, and more. Join us as we chat with Mogran about the collaborations the brewery does including Stripes to Bars, which assists qualified veterans the ability to earn FAA certificates and become commercial pilots. That story and more on this weeks episode of Better on Draft...
Mar 19, 2023•1 hr
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! Ken gets the other three hosts to rank the best to worst drinking holidays in the USA, Wendy talks about the bump in beer bought in Philadelphia prior to the Super Bowl, Dan chats about Sierra Nevada investing in Riot Energy, and Nick asks us what we'd wait in line for, if it came with a free beer. Ken's Article - A Boozy List of National & International Drinking Holidays in 2023 - https://www.findmeabrewery.com/drinking-holidays/ Wendy's Article - Philly spe...
Mar 13, 2023•52 min
March Draftness Predictions End 3/13/2023 at 7pm ET - https://challonge.com/MarchDraftness2023 CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: Another week without a guest so we settle some scores with comments we've made in the past. Is the Craft Beer Bubble a myth? Who we think has a chance to take it all on March Draftness for this year? What are your bucket list breweries and why? Nick brings up a topic from last week about czech lagers and wanted to add his commentary. Sponsors: North Center Brewing - https://nor...
Mar 11, 2023•59 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! Wendy starts us off talking about the big cuts to ABI breweries and we discuss if ABI could literally end those breweries, take the recipes and just make it under the ABI banner. Dan talks about breweries adapting to the changes in the industry and really take a look to see if that bubble will ever come, and if it may already be here. Ken finishes the episode talking about pre-workout beers that Athletic intends to make, and what constitutes a pre or post workout...
Mar 06, 2023•45 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: A last minute cancellation has us shifting gears for episode 312 of the Better on Draft Podcast where the hosts begin to discuss a litany of topics in the beer world including why when they want a beer flavored beer, adjunct beers still seem to catch their eyes more. What is the best way to allocate limited beers and products to the fans and your customers as a beer store. They discuss pre-flying rituals and fill in the other time with questions about dive bars, airport ...
Mar 04, 2023•46 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! Ken discusses a bit about his trip to San Antonio and Austin to start the show including his fun tour at Shiner, then goes into the world of craft beer business as Athletic getting it's investment is a cause for concern in the future of craft NA beer with Athletic housing 20% of all NA Beer Sales total. Nick talks about direct to consumer delivery for craft beer in Illinois and why the craft beer fans want it, but those with money will try to stop it. And Rob end...
Feb 20, 2023•59 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: For the last handful of years, Edwin over at City Built Brewing has been brewing some of the best hazies, fruited sours, and high octane stouts in the state. This past weekend he came into our virtual studio to talk about the history of him in craft beer, his career history in teaching, and what the future will hold for City Built Brewing including a new food program. We learn about how the Run The Jewels Collaboration came about, and where the ideas for his award winnin...
Feb 19, 2023•57 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! Rob's Topic - Craft Beer Packaging Trends Recap – 2022 - https://www.brewersassociation.org/insights/craft-beer-packaging-trends-recap-2022/ Wendy's Article - TOP 5 CRAFT BEER TRENDS OF 2023 - https://www.firestonebeer.com/top-5-craft-beer-trends-of-2023/ Dan's Article - Last Call: Ballast Point Owner Kings & Convicts Exits Former Saint Archer Facilities; MA Judge Issues Ruling in Jack’s Abby-Atlantic Termination - https://www.brewbound.com/news/last-call-bal...
Feb 06, 2023•44 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: For those of you who may not know, Robear will be leaving the show in two weeks to go on to other projects, and while we are excited for him to keep growing his brand, we couldn't just let him get away without first sitting in the hot seat that he has put guests into for the past seven years. So come take a seat, crack open a beer, as we dig deep into the history of Robear, what he's learned the past seven years during the show, and what the future will hold. Sponsors: N...
Feb 05, 2023•58 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! This weeks news has Nick talking about some of the more famous Super Bowl Commercials including figuring out what ones were actually Super Bowl commercials and what ones weren’t. Dan talks about the new upcoming Monster Energy RTD entering the market, Dani discusses dynamic marketing and how she is currently debating whether to go to a beer spa, and Ken learns about how stores can sell shots of Fireball even though they aren’t licensed to sell liquor, and how a c...
Jan 23, 2023•43 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: What started off as a dream to work in Aviation turned into the largest gift to the Metro Detroit craft beer community. Well before the craft beer boom happened in the 2000s, Ashley’s job at a local grocer in Royal Oak Michigan showed what you can do with building relationships, gathering new product, and promoting not only local but breweries all across the country and world. Ashley’s is so well known that local meadmaker B. Nektar actually made a mead dedicated to his ...
Jan 21, 2023•52 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! This weeks news brings up a few topics including the launch of zero proof cocktails from Dan, the Laverne and Shirley bottling line being sold by Nick, BrewDog in a marketing disaster by Rob, Dani talks about Fat Tire no longer being an Amber Ale, and Ken talks about price stabilization within the industry and gives an insight into the industry with helping the other hosts understand what a loss leader is. All this and more this weeks news episode Ken's Topic - U...
Jan 16, 2023•59 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST INFO: Three decades of experience for Fran Caradonna is not really common yet in the craft beer industry, and while we do hear from some of the major players from the 90s, Friday night we talked to Schlafly CEO Fran Caradonna to talk about the changes in the industry throughout the decades, how Schlafly has both grown and receded during it’s time, and what the future of the community and industry holds. A great episode on what’s important then can be important now! Sponsors: N...
Jan 14, 2023•58 min
CRAFT BEER PODCAST NEWS EPISODE! Nick starts off the show discussing the department of energy and their investment in New Mexico in making beer better by removing water adjuncts. Wendy discusses the 6 beer industry trends to watch in 2023 including a massive discussion about ABV per dollar, and Rob discusses how Dry January may not be beneficial to everyone who drinks. Want to hear our thoughts? Enjoy the first news episode of the year. Want to add your thoughts? Put a comment below or join us F...
Jan 09, 2023•1 hr 1 min
