The Business Of Craft Beer

This weeks episode will feature Dr. Heather Darby, an Agronomist for UVM Extension.  Heather has been developing the Northwest Crops and Soils Program since she came to UVM in 2003 and provides leadership to the team.  Heather’s passion for sustainable agriculture and the enthusiasm she receives from Vermont’s farmers and professionals have fueled the expansion of her program, which covers the state of Vermont, and brings her around New England, across the country, and beyond to places like the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Brazil and Washington DC.  Her goal is to provide sound research based agronomic information for the farmers of Vermont. Her varied interests and the enthusiasm lead her to work with a variety of agronomic crops including forages and specialty crops. Hop production was common throughout the Northeast in the 1800s. However, today most hop production occurs in the Pacific Northwest. Renewed interest and demand for local hops is breathing new life into an otherwise “historical” crop. To increase hops production in the Northeast, Dr. Heather Darby and the UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Team conducts a hops outreach and applied research program. The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.

This week's episode of the Business of Craft Beer Blog Talk Radio Show will include Stuart Howe, Head Brewer for 12 years at Sharp's Brewery in Rock, Cornwall, United Kingdom. Sharp’s is the largest Brewery of cask conditioned beer in the South West UK and owner of one of the UK's fastest growing beer brands, Doom Bar. Howe joined Sharp’s in 2002, and helped oversee the expansion from 10,000 bbls to 200,000 bbls; and is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions for his brewing and beers. “My raison d’etre as a brewer,” states Howe, “is to make great beers which appeal to true connoisseurs but at the same time are accessible to the average drinker.” For further details on Stuart, see his blog “Brewing at the Dockside” - http://brewingreality.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.

Please join us this week for a conversation about Craft Beer Co-ops with Andy Martinec, Brewer at Black Star Co-op Pub and Brewery, located in Austin, TX and Shawn Becker, Board President of Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery, located in Seattle, WA. Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery set out “to foster a cooperative craft beer community to learn about, create, and appreciate a diverse selection of quality beers.” Black Star Co-op is the world’s first cooperatively-owned and worker self-managed brewpub. We are owned by a community of more than 3,000 individuals and organizations, and we're democratically managed by our Workers' Assembly. The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.

Please join us this week for a conversation with Jon Reynold, President of BrewPlan, Inc. The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.

Please join us this week for a conversation with Steve Young, Founder of SYNEK. SYNEK (“sin-eck”) is the first ever crowdsourced countertop beer dispenser. With a SYNEK you gain access to virtually any beer in the world, which is then dispensed fresh right from your home countertop. The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.

Please join us this week for a conversation about alternative financing models for Craft Breweries with Janice Shade of Milk Money Vermont, and Travis Benoit of Bevv.co. Milk Money Vermont is where Vermonters discover local investment opportunities, get tips on how to evaluate those opportunities, and then make an investment. Bevv is an online marketplace for craft beer, ciders and spirits from producer direct-to-consumer. Through Bevv's work and their partnerships, they have built a safe and compliant platform within the antiquated alcohol legal framework. The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.  

Please join us this week for a conversation with Nick Petrillo, Industry Analyst at IBIS World, and Chris Farmand, CPA, MBA, of Small Batch Standard. The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.  

Please join us this week for a conversation about alternative financing models for Craft Breweries with Erik Lars Myers, Owner and Head Brewer of Mystery Brewing Company, located in Hillsborough, North Carolina and Chris Meyers, Vice President and Co-Founder of Crane Brewing, located in Raytown, MO. The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.

Please join us this week for a conversation with Paul Leone, Executive Director of the New York State Brewers Association and Paul Dlugokencky of Blind Bat Brewery, located in Centerpoint, NY. The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.

Please join us this week for a conversation with Dan Ukolowicz, Founder of Simple Roots Brewing located in Burlington, Vermont and Jamie Robinson, Co-Owner of Boxcar Brewing Company in West Chester, PA. The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.

Please join us for this week's Business of Craft Beer Podcast featuring Bill Cherry, Co-Founder of Switchback Brewery, located in Burlington, VT, and Christian Amport, Founder of Overshores Brewing Company, located in East Haven, CT. The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.

Please join us this week for a conversation with Lester Jones, Chief Economist of the National Beer Wholesalers Association, and Chris Rice, President and Publisher of "All About Beer." We will continue on our series “Bubble or Sustainable Growth? - Examining Today’s Craft Beer Industry”.  Lester offers a perspective from the wholesaler side of the industry while Chris travels the country speaking with producers and wholesalers to gauge trends and issues within the craft beer industry. The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.

Please join us this week for a conversation with Steve Gagner, Owner and Head Brewer of 14th Star Brewing Company, located in St. Albans, Vermont, and Ryan Chaffin, Director of Marketing for Farrell Distributing. The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.  

UVM’s Business of Craft Beer Blog Talk Radio series, “Bubble or Sustainable Growth? Examining Today’s Craft Beer Industry.” Today's Show features a discussion with Bart Watson, Chief Economist at the Brewers Association.    

Tom Acitelli, author of The Audacity of Hops: The History of America’s Craft Beer Revolution.  Tom has written widely about beer, including as the history columnist for All About Beer magazine and the beer critic for FoodRepublic.com. He has also written about beer for the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Eater.com, and Bloomberg View.  The phone lines will be open and you are welcome to call in at (929) 477-1757 to join the conversation.