How NOT To Start A Damn Brewery: the podcast

In the early days of Australia’s craft beer explosion there was a brewery that out cooled all the others. I remember seeing their tight branding, the confidence that exuded from their marketing and their insane growth trajectory and just being immediately jealous of Black Hops Brewery. When I sat down to write my book in 2019 I even found out these guys had already written one about their start-up process. And they did a podcast. They looked successful. People were raving about them. They were beating the odds. Then a few years ago I heard that the brewery had fallen on hard times and that one of the owners, Dan Norris, had even left the brewery he had co-founded with his 2 friends. So I reached out. Didn’t get a yes. But I’m not the give up type of guy. I really wanted to hear this story and needed to share it with you so I kept pinging Dan over the next few years. Finally Dan reached a point that he wanted to share the story, set the record straight and vent out some of his experience. My guests and I, and many of you, know exactly what that feels like. I truly had no idea what I was about to hear. The story of Dan’s brewery had many of the same struggles we’ve covered before. But his brewery was selling millions of dollars of beer every year, expanding exponentially and raising so much money that Black Hops was valued right into the stratosphere. The brewery was killing it, right up until it wasn’t. And what you’re about to hear will inspire you, concern you, make you question and give you pause. I doubt it will convince you to start a mid-sized brewery on the Gold Coast, but it will teach you a lot about How NOT To Start A Damn Brewery. They have a website

Ralph Rapa wanted to open a small craft brewery on his terms. He wanted it to reflect his life in the American railroad industry. He wanted it to be comfortable, unpretentious and fun. So he enlisted his longtime friend Lisa Henrie to handle marketing, HR and PR, raised some capital and shoveled coal in the engine of Rule G Brewing Company in South Florida. After a solid start, the brewery was plagued by catastrophe after calamity. Anyone who doesn’t listen to this show would be shocked to hear what they went through. But you’ll hear many of the same tragic tribulations that other guests have shared. Of the things that make their story unique, Ralph and Lisa faced down their troubles inside of their first year, eventually shutting down just in time to enjoy Easter with a little peace. Ralph and Lisa both have a full bucket of emotions around their experience fighting to open, run and eventually attempting to save a craft brewery in 2024/2025. And thanks to them sharing THAT story we’re all about to know a little more about how NOT to start a DAMN brewery.

Doug Martin is a guy who has just about done it all. From working in beer in Germany to opening a brewery in California to pivoting to non-alcohol products, he’s followed many of the playbooks that the craft beer talking heads are claiming will save your business. But he’s on this show because the many beer-related businesses and non-beer production businesses he had his hands in have all closed down. Doug has a wealth of experience to share with us about what he tried, why it didn’t work and what he thinks that says about the future of craft beer. And he was generous enough to share all of what he’s seen and what he knows with us so we’ll know, How NOT To Start a Damn Brewery.

Sam and Sara Kazmer brought great craft beer to a market they felt was underserved - Atlanta, Georgia when they flipped on the lights at Elsewhere Brewing in 2020. They wanted to produce award-winning beer in a unique, community-event driven taproom. They wanted to create space, community and memories for themselves and every customer that shared in their dream. And, as we’ll hear in the 4th segment, they were successful. The whole project was an amalgamation of the experiences they had researching craft beer while traveling the world. Drinking, tasting, connecting and experiencing beer when it’s more than beer in other countries and continents. In the 3rd segment we’re joined by 6 month-old Sofie as she woke up from her nap. And that’s about the time we really get into the struggles they faced at elsewhere Brewing. As their fan starts to really fill up with shit, Sam and Sara knew that they needed to throw a Hail Mary pass quickly. So in the Spring of 2024 they hired a new ops manager, built a team and a strategy around her and did everything they could to rally the ATL community around the beer and the vision of Elsewhere Brewing. They set a July deadline for profitability and as you may have guessed, they are a guest on this podcast because it didn’t work. We learn a couple of handfuls of lessons in this episode, including whether you can change the culture of your community/city/region around how, why and how often they enjoy craft beer as part of a healthy lifestyle. To do or do not to do in regards to having a restaurant in your brewery. The management of multiple tasting rooms. And why you can’t find someone to do the owner’s job for 20K/year. This was a moving episode and a special one for me. So open up your hearts and ears and maybe you’ll learn something about How NOT To Start A Damn Brewery. You can reach the Kazmers at [email protected] [email protected]

Kiernan May is a cool guy. He transitioned from a corporate career to open a brewery in New York with big dreams and a bigger bag of passion. His brewery was built on Kiernan’s analytic and logical understanding of the world that surrounded him. He put the pieces and plans together in a way that was structured and strategic. He grew sensibly, understanding his limitations and how to operate within them. He leveraged his contact brewing model and the flexibility that it gave him to utilize other sales channels and distribution options. And he did it before the last huge swell in craft breweries. Opening in 2004 should have (and to an extent it did) given him an advantage compared to the brewery business landscape of 2025. But, as you’ll hear, even operating in a climate of just over 1000 breweries didn’t protect his business from escaping a fate fans of this show know happens all too often these days. So listen in to the story of Kiernan May and the Landmark Brewery’s 8-year run and you might just learn How NOT To Start A Damn Brewery. 5th Anniversary Announcement