Brewers Journal Podcast

“You have to be a manager, a coach and a referee all in one. And there’s probably a little bit of hope involved, too.” Greg Zeschuk knows a thing or two about running a team. Because before working in beer, the company he co-founded grew to employ 1500 at seven locations across the globe. Zeschuk was originally trained as a medical doctor, before starting the videogame company BioWare in 1995 in his hometown of Edmonton. BioWare created a number of successful games (Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect) before being purchased by Electronic Arts (EA) in 2007. While a part of EA BioWare grew to employ over 1500 employees at seven studios across the world. Zeschuk left BioWare in 2012 and after a short hiatus started working in beer.  He went on to start The Beer Diaries, a YouTube channel focused on craft beer, and served as the first Executive Director of the Alberta Small Brewers Association in his home province. This led to Zeschuk starting a brewery in his hometown of Edmonton. To achieve his brewery goals Greg built two buildings – the award-winning Ritchie Market and the Monolith. The Ritchie Market is a multi-use building housing a brewery (Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company), a restaurant (Biera), a butcher, coffee shop, and a bakery. The Monolith was built as a barrel-focused brewery. Out of its Market brewery Blind Enthusiasm focuses on making lagers and runs a barrel-aging program. The Monolith was built to marry scientific method with tradition while making beer largely in wood. At the Monolith Blind Enthusiasm exclusively makes mixed fermentation and spontaneous beer.  And having worked in a variety of different professions across the world, Zeschuk says the key to heading up a team is to ensure you coach people rather than simply manage them, something he discusses in this latest episode. “It’s important that the right people are in the right positions,” he explains. “And as your team grows, you need to remember that it helps for people to have frameworks to work within.” Zeschuk adds: “I’ve let people run with roles because I have full confidence in them making it their own. But at times, people are more comfortable with having clear guidance of what’s expected of them. So it’s key to communicate and discover what works best with that individual.” At its peak, Zeschuk was responsible for managing 600 people at EA BioWare and says having a good team around you is imperative. “When you grow, you need management structure that works for you. But there’s no point it being too bloated because that can be disastrous,” he says. “You all need to work well together and, of course, there’s a little bit of hope that everyone pulls in the same direction.” And while working in beer Zeschuk is now used to working with smaller teams, he says that doesn’t mean there are fewer pressures or challenges. “Making video games was one thing and obviously delays happen. But the idea of telling a customer that we can’t deliver their beer that week? he laughs.That’s a whole different problem!”

In beer, and the wider world, what people love is for you to have the respect to show them what you love. And in doing so, they have an opportunity to walk through a little door and potentially find something they really enjoy. But if you don’t give people the chance, then they can’t respect you. Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, has hosted countless tastings. And he has seen that people can surprise you. With their knowledge, their taste, with their enthusiasm. At our Brewers Congress in London earlier this month, Garrett delivered the closing address which we present here as the latest episode of The Brewers Journal Podcast. He tells us that you should never assume that you know more than the person sitting in front of you. That we all should be more inclusive, and to have the courage to put ourselves in front of people who don’t look like us and maybe haven’t heard about our beer. And also, he says that if you want to have a really good time, get everybody in the room. Not just the people you know, but everybody because, put simply, everybody loves beer. Photo: Nic Crilly-Hargrave

Earlier this week we hosted our annual Brewers Congress and Brewers Choice Awards. During our Brewers Choice Awards, we gave out the inaugural Global Ambassador Award. This accolade is designed to acknowledge a true catalyst of innovation and invention in the wonderful world of beer.  And this inaugural winner is just that. He is a brewmaster at a venerable brewery, a decorated author, and the host of countless beer tastings and dinners across the globe. And more recently, he is the founding board chair of the Michael Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling. He is, of course, Garrett Oliver. So to celebrate the award, we are giving you another opportunity to listen to his excellent keynote talk at our Brewers Congress in 2018 in which Oliver tells us: “If you don’t have a religion, you can’t be a craft brewer.”

The Brewers Journal turned six this autumn. In that time we’ve put out more than 50 editions, run countless live events, hosted awards and also launched this podcast, too.. But did you know we also have a sister publication for the distilling industry? Well now you do…. The Distillers Journal is a quarterly publication in print and also runs as a podcast each fortnight. We are also hosting our inaugural Distillers Lectures alongside The Brewers Congress in London on the 8th December, so make sure to check that out. For more info check out https://distillersjournal.info/ To give you an idea of the types of topics and subjects we cover in The Distillers Journal, here is the latest episode where we delve into the fascinating world of terroir. Depending on where it was grown, you can taste the difference in wines, coffee, tea, chocolate, and olive oil. Cheese and even some beef claim to have the effect of terroir. Winemakers universally accept that where a grape is grown influences its chemistry, which in turn changes the flavour of the wine. A detailed system has codified the idea that place matters to wine. So why don’t we feel the same way about whiskey and the grain used to produce it? However, master distiller Rob Arnold – based on his experience in whiskey distilling in Texas – feels otherwise. Enough so, that he’s written ‘The Terroir of Whiskey’. In this episode, Rob will explain how once local grain was reflected in local whiskies, giving these spirits a unique flavour. But once grains became seen as just a commodity, this was lost. Rob will tell you how you can reclaim terroir in your spirits, giving you a unique marketing tool for not only better taste, but for better sales.

What’s it like when the world’s second largest brewer calls you saying they’d like to chat as they want to support your brewery’s growth? Jez Galaun, co-founder of Brixton Brewery, figured it was a hoax. But one year later, the company Galaun and his co-founders started back in 2013, had partnered with Heineken. And five years on, Brixton Brewery is now fully-owned by the international business. So at our recent Brewers Lectures in Bristol, we invited Jez to deliver a little bit of insight into how the initial partnership came about, what it meant for them as a brewery and a business, and also share some helpful experiences that will apply to any brewery as it scales up production and distribution.

We have all seen the stats More than 8.5 million Brits are actively moderating their drinking while over 20 percent of the UK adult population doesn’t drink at all. Then when you look at those aged 18 to 25, this number hits around a quarter. Women over 50 – are even higher. Like others, you’ve tried a few of the alcohol-free beers out there or are even making one or two of you own. But what you’ll admit only to yourself late at night when no one else is around, they just don’t taste as good as real beer.  Which leaves you wondering: Is there a law out there requiring an alcohol-free alternative to beer to try and copy the taste of beer because that is what everyone is doing. Surely there has to be a better way. In this episode we’ll hear from Jerry Goldberg who thinks he’s created the perfect solution with Zag. But even he’s the first to admit, it’s quite tricky to be something completely different.  Resources ZAG

From clothing sizes to airline destinations, as much as we pretend not to, with all of us thinking we’re mavericks, the truth is we like consistency. If your ticket says Rome and you arrive in Moscow, you’re not going to be happy. Consistency, quality and reliability are the key words in the success of any business, including craft beer. While this trio can be hard to hit, there are steps you can take – no matter what your brewery’s size – to achieve this and keep your customers returning to your brand.  In this episode we’ll be talking with Rob Smith of Brewing Services. Started by his father David in 1988, the father and son team have worked with over 200 breweries both here in the UK and abroad.

Depending on who you ask, beer and whisky is a perfect partnership.  Whether you’re following one with the other, or enjoying a complex, nuanced barrel-aged beer, the two beverages just go hand-in-hand. Some of the most revered and sought-after releases in modern beer have been intricate and masterful stouts and barleywines that have then been aged in former spirit barrels. But that relationship isn’t simply one-way.  We have also seen distilleries team up with breweries to age their spirits in barrels that previously housed beers like stouts, or even IPAs. And today’s guests have been involved in both.  London-based distillery Bimber has worked with Brew By Numbers to excellent effect. Not only providing Whisky barrels for the Greenwich brewery to age their stouts but also using those stout barrels to impart flavours to their spirits, too. In this podcast, we speak to Mat McKay, the head of marketing and communications at London’s Bimber Distillery. We discuss the distillery’s journey, one that started in Poland, how the business has embraced its London home and the ways it works with names synonymous with the England’s capital. We also look at the production processes that are integral to Bimber’s identity, ones often eschewed by other businesses, the ways its working with partners like Brew By Numbers and how the distillery is refusing to rest on its laurels following a whirlwind first five years.

Are you Omnibibulous or otherwise?  I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of being a little Omnibibulous from time to time… Because, as Lotte Peplow tells us, to be Omnibibulous is to drink across a wide spectrum of alcohol beverages.  Lotte is the Brewers Association’s American craft beer ambassador for Europe. And each year, the Brewers Association carries out a survey looking at trends within the American craft beer industry. The latest results reveal 94% of weekly American craft beer drinkers indicate they’re drinking at least one other alcoholic beverage category weekly, such as wine, sprits, liquors, seltzer, cider, and flavoured malt beverages.  And with the increase in popularity of such beverages comes increased competition for beer, too. In this podcast, we hear from Lotte about the trends and challenges facing US breweries, and how we can all adapt as a result.

There’s a very strong chance that anyone listening to this episode has enjoyed a Fuller’s beer in the past.  That might be London Pride, ESB or Vintage Ale. Or maybe it was Chiswick Bitter, Honey Dew or Bengal Lancer. The list goes on… For many years, these beers were produced at Fuller’s in West London under the watch of John Keeling. Having spent more than four decades in brewing, John has seen how the beer landscape has changed across the UK. In this podcast John explains how the balance of power between cask and keg has long shifted, why flavour should always be at the forefront of your beers and why smaller independent breweries need a philosophy to aid their growth.