Each month, the Beer Business Finance Association will shine a spotlight on one exceptional craft brewery to explore what makes their business thrive. In this exclusive conversation, we hear from Jake Lohse, Founder of Presidential Brewing. We go beyond the beer to uncover best practices, smart financial strategies, creative sales tactics, and the real-world lessons they've learned. This is your front-row seat to learn from peers who are building profitable, resilient breweries and raising the b...
Jun 30, 2025•57 min
Today on the podcast Brynn Keenan from Grist Analytics talks brewery operations, data-driven decision making, and how Grist helps breweries improve performance. Grist Analytics provides data-driven solutions that help breweries optimize their production processes by transforming raw brewing data into actionable insights. Their platform enables consistent quality, improved efficiency, and reduced waste through real-time monitoring and advanced brewing analytics. Key Points How to replace paper br...
Jun 23, 2025•44 min
In today's podcast you'll learn how MarginEdge gives you accurate insight into taproom profitability on a daily basis—no waiting for end-of-month reports. What are your most profitable menu items? Where are costs increasing and eating into profits? How do we get everyone talking about the numbers and helping achieve financial success? You'll get answers to these questions and more to help your increase taproom profits. Key Points How to properly price menu items for profit Tactics to stay laser ...
Jun 13, 2025•1 hr 4 min
Today on the podcast we talk loyalty programs, memberships and recurring revenue strategies with Ross Stensrud from Tapwyse . Tapwyse creates custom apps to create predictable and repeating income for your brewery business. Need a solution for slow seasonal business cycles? Tapwyse can help. Key Points How to use the $1 beer to get a 17x return on investment Flash rewards: How to use push notifications to instantly reward customers and get them coming back more often Want to sell more to-go beer...
Jun 06, 2025•47 min
Today on the podcast we hear from Chris Dial, Insurance Specialist at CS&A insurance and Owner of Wanderlinger Brewing Company in Chattanooga, TN. Chris knows the brewery business as an owner and operator of Wanderlinger. And now he's using his skills and experience to help other brewery owners properly insure their businesses with the right coverages at the right price. Summary Insurance cost-savings opportunities you might not even know exist "The chiller died...but the brewery didn't." He...
May 30, 2025•42 min
Credit card processing fees can eat away at your brewery's profits, but expert Patrick MacLellan from Merchant Cost Consulting shows how you can save an average of 20% on these costs without changing your current processor or disrupting operations. Summary • 3 main fee components: interchange charges from card brands, processor markups, and miscellaneous fees • Why most businesses are overpaying – processing statements are deliberately confusing and contracts often allow price changes without no...
May 19, 2025•34 min
Today on the podcast we hear from Michael Ly, CEO of Reconciled accounting services. Michael and I talk about why bookkeeping is so important to your brewery business and how to evaluate outsourcing this key function. Key Points Pricing and process for outsourced bookkeeping Common pitfalls with brewery bookkeeping Software tools to keep the financials running smoothly Financial standard operating procedures Resources Learn more about outsourcing your brewery bookkeeping with Reconciled Get the ...
May 12, 2025•35 min
Today on the podcast you'll hear the audio version of our brewery financial round table meeting. Our financial round table is a place to ask questions, get answers, share ideas and best practices. In this episode, we explore tactics, tips and strategies to increase customer traffic, grow average check size , and encourage repeat visitors. Key Points 5 specific action steps taproom staff can take to increase profits (with special Guest Star Andrew Coplon from Secret Hopper ) 5 things you could be...
May 05, 2025•57 min
Jon Reynolds from Brew Plan joins us today to talk strategic planning and keys to marketing success for breweries. At Brew Plan, Jon works with brewery owners on pricing strategy, market analysis, concept development, and sales forecasting. Summary Biggest brewery marketing mistakes...and how to avoid them Customer buying trends and how breweries can position their brands for success Specific marketing tactics that really move the needle for small/mid-size breweries Resources Connect with Jon Re...
Apr 24, 2025•59 min
Today on the podcast you'll hear the audio version of our brewery financial round table meeting. This month we focus on how to how to analyze your financial statements to unlock profitable opportunities. In our monthly workshops, brewery owners and managers share ideas and best practices to improve profits and cash flows. To join our membership or learn more, visit the Beer Business Finance Association . Summary How to use financial trend analysis to spot problems with gross margins Simple break...
Apr 17, 2025•1 hr
Today on the podcast we reveal the Secret Formula to Create a Successful Brewery with Jake Lohse, founder of Presidential Brewing Company. Jake is the author of the book Shifting Gears , and founder of the Legendary Success Academy . Summary The 4 key factors to a successful brewery Creative funding for a start-up brewery Strategies to bring guests back to your taproom again and again Resources Connect with Jake, jake.lohse@presidentialbrewing.com Listen to the first podcast with Jake: Ultimate ...
Apr 11, 2025•56 min
For the first time, in a long time, more breweries are closing than opening. One of the success factors for breweries that survive and thrive vs. those who do not, is a feasibility study. Jon Reynolds from Brew Plan Marketing specializes in feasibility studies, market research, and data gathering. In today's podcast, Jon shares trends, growth areas, and the details of how to build a feasibility study for brewery success. Summary What a feasibility study is and why it's important 7 benefits of ma...
Apr 03, 2025•38 min
Today on the podcast we hear from Bob Higgins of P3 Cost Analysts. Bob and his team specialize in identifying and reducing over-spending in your business. We talk all things expense management, cost reduction strategies, and share ideas on how your brewery can save money. Highlights Bob's process for identifying and eliminating unnecessary expenses Biggest cost-saving opportunities that companies commonly overlook The most surprising savings P3 has been able to secure for clients Trends in busin...
Mar 07, 2025•36 min
This month in our brewery financial round table meeting we take a deep dive into financial standard operating procedures. Financial SOPs help you create complete, timely, and accurate financial statements so that you can make better business decisions. Highlights from our session: Use this hack: Rather than writing out a long SOP, use a screen recorder and show how the process is done Follow a simple SOP template: Define the goal of the SOP, define how success will be measured, identify a respon...
Feb 28, 2025•55 min
In today's podcast we review the Top 12 Financial Challenges facing Craft Breweries. This list was assembled by our network of brewery owners and managers in the Beer Business Finance Association. In the podcast, I review each challenge and provide one thing you can do right now to help overcome the difficulty in your beer business. The Top 12 Challenges: Cost management . How to implement cost controls and identify areas for cost reduction Benchmarking and KPIs . How do we measure up against ou...
Feb 20, 2025•33 min
On today's podcast you'll hear the audio version of our brewery lease negotiation workshop. You'll learn strategies and best practices to tackle a lease negotiation (or re-negotiation) for your brewery. Key Points Lease terms, definitions, what you need to know How to build 'optionality' into your brewery lease Triple net lease watch-outs Negotiation strategies and tactics Resources Join the Beer Business Finance Association and gain instant access to financial training courses, resources, and v...
Feb 13, 2025•57 min
Today on the podcast we hear from Dave Williams, the Analytics Czar from Bump Williams Consulting . Dave provides a recap of 2024 beer industry data, trends, and insights. We also cover “Dave’s Top 7”. These are the hot topics that he's been hearing about recently in the beer business. Key Points Growth in non-alcohol beer and ready-to-drink products On-premise results Health guidelines and the impact of tariffs Trends in cannabis and crossover brands Resources Connect with Dave, dave@bumpwillia...
Feb 06, 2025•53 min
In today's podcast you'll hear the audio version of our workshop on brewery expense management and cost cutting tactics. We hold these workshops monthly for our Beer Business Finance Association members. If you'd like to join 150+ other breweries in financial success, learn more about membership packages here. Key Takeaways 2 cost analysis models to identify and reduce unnecessary spending 5 cost cutting tactics to reduce expenses 5 initiatives to implement right away to quickly lower costs Reso...
Dec 30, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Today on the podcast Chris Overlay from Get Hoptimized delivers a master class in brewery marketing. You'll learn how to build your brewery sales forecast and super charge results with a best-in-class marketing plan. Key Points Sales forecasting best practices Brewery revenue drivers and key metrics to simplify planning Tools and models to build a comprehensive marketing plan Tactics to align sales and marketing to achieve revenue goals Resources Connect with Chris to super charge your brewery m...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr
In today's episode you'll hear the audio version of our 2025 Brewery Budgeting Workshop. We cover questions ranging from how to build your payroll plan to what key metrics to track to the best way to forecast beer margins. Key Points 3 steps to supercharge your 2025 financial plan Best practices for building your financial key metrics dashboard 6 questions to ask before building your budget to ensure success Resources Join the network of brewery owners and managers focused on driving financial r...
Dec 14, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Today on the podcast we hear from Jake Lohse from Presidential Brewing in Portage, Michigan. Jake has written a new book which serves as a road map for folks looking to open up a new brewery: In Shifting Gears: The Ultimate Roadmap To Crafting Your Legendary Brewery Or Restaurant, I will show you step by step how to pull it all together. Leveraging experience from having built a legendary brewery myself, I will share practical next steps, lessons learned along the way, and tips and tricks to hel...
Nov 29, 2024•52 min
In today's podcast I share the 5-step process that I use to assess our financial position, create our goals, and build a road map to success. This process is designed to help you create timely, accurate, and complete financial statements so that you can make data-driven decisions in your beer business. Key Topics How to create a process for predictable financial results How to build a plan that allows you to work ON your business not IN it One book you must read to build a better business plan, ...
Nov 22, 2024•49 min
Key metrics measure the most important things in the brewery. Things like sales growth, margins, profits, and cash flow. When identifying key metrics, the first step is to measure what matters. Start with one problem you need to solve or one opportunity to take advantage of. The next step is to build a dashboard of key metrics. Identify one company goal, one KPI that is critical to watch, like cash flow. Then build up the KPIs for each department that support the company goal. Key Topics How to ...
Nov 15, 2024•28 min
The average health insurance premium for families and individuals has increased more than 24% in the last five years, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. And there's no sign of this slowing down. For breweries who want to provide good, affordable healthcare for employees these cost increases are a real problem. One option to lower costs and provide better benefits comes in the form of self-funded health insurance. Speaking from my own experience, self-funded health plans saved our company...
Nov 01, 2024•55 min
In today's podcast we break down the key steps to build (and implement) a successful brewery financial plan. The financial plan is the road map. Where are you now? Where do you want to go? What does financial success look like? Listen to the podcast. Download the resources. Build your best plan EVER today! Key Takeaways Use the 6 building blocks to organize the planning process The X Factor to financial planning success How to crowd source the best ways to grow sales and cut costs Simple and com...
Oct 25, 2024•37 min
Tom DeMayo is a partner with PKF O'Connor Davies, specializes in cybersecurity, and is a self-described 'ethical hacker'. Cybercrime is a $10 trillion problem globally, and breweries are target. In today's podcast, Tom shares how these crimes occur, how to find out if your brewery is vulnerable, and what steps you can take right now to prevent a ransomware attack. Key Points Terms defined: Dark web, deep web, surface web, ransomware How hackers break in to your systems and what you can do to pre...
Oct 18, 2024•48 min
Today we welcome back Tim Near from Agrowgate, a company that works to save you money on cost of goods sold. Think cans, cardboard, malt, freight and so much more. Key Points State of the industry: Trends in costs and commodity pricing Brewery purchasing 101: Best practices How to properly source key ingredients Keys to benchmark your costs against industry averages Resources Connect with Tim Near and learn more about how to save money Listen to the Brewery Supply Chain Management podcast Join t...
Aug 29, 2024•42 min
In today's podcast we hear the audio version of a recent Brewery Financial Round Table meeting where we tackle brewery cost management and expense reduction. Summary of key points: Use this 1-2-3-4 step process to put a laser focus on cost cutting and reduction Share the Brewery Financial Training Program with your managers and staff – train them in the ways of identifying and reducing (or eliminating) bloated costs Key challenges we discussed : Controlling costs related to production and mate...
Aug 22, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Today on the podcast we hear from Scott Birkner, VP and Business Lending Specialist at Dogwood State Bank. Scott shares insights on how to use SBA loans to purchase an existing brewery or make a partial acquisition of a brewery. Key Topics How to finance a start-up brewery, buy an existing brewery, or make a partial acquisition using SBA loans State of the lending industry: Credit availability, interest rates, trends What does the future of lending look like? Scott looks into his crystal ball an...
Aug 15, 2024•36 min
Today on the podcast we talk non-alcohol beer with Dave Williams from Bump Williams Consulting . Dave shares data, insights, and analysis on the non-alcohol beer category. Key Topics Major players in non-alcohol beer, sales volume, and growth trends NA beer sales by market channel: Chain and grocery, liquor, convenience, and on-premise accounts Retailer response to NA beer: More shelf space, more willingness to take on these brands Crystal ball time. What does the future hold for NA beer? Listen...
Aug 09, 2024•38 min
