2 Beers and a Podcast

Kelli Shevlin started Craft Beverage Expo (CBE) six years ago to provide greater industry education to the craft beverage category. Fun fact: Kelli coined the term “craft beverage” when she was trying to describe CBE’s appeal across alcohol categories. Shevlin had a background as a corporate events organizer, and she describes the process of developing […]

ProBrew began with a simple idea: Take the highest quality engineering and create small-scale brewing equipment. The ProBrew team cut their teeth designing brewing, cellaring, and packaging equipment for huge companies like AB InBev and Coca-Cola. Then they decided to turn their attention to smaller-scale machines that would suit the craft brewer. We met with […]

Community and influence. Those are the two factors Melani Domingues credits with the Green Lady’s success over its eight years. Melani found her way into the Chicago beer scene via running bars in New York City. It turns out the second city has it’s own beer culture, and she believes she would not have been […]

Is Illuminated Brew Works co-founder Brian Buckman really as chill as he seems on first blush? We spoke with him for an hour and still aren’t sure. Buckman and his founding partners Matt Shirley and Jason Monk never wanted to get stuck in a typical job, so they started Illuminated Brew Works (IBW) to create […]

Chris Quinn created The Beer Temple to present beer with the same care and expertise as wine traditionally gets. “This is a romantic product,” he says. “I wanted to give it what it deserves.” We had a great time talking to Chris about finding his way into the beer industry, getting his Cicerone, and creating […]

When Goose Island sold to AB InBev in 2011, it rocked beer drinkers in Chicago and beyond. In Chicago, it’s still a sensitive subject for many. Chicago Tribune reporter Josh Noel has been on something of a transparency campaign for several years. Even beer writer Jeff Alworth has recently written about how Goose Island still […]

Old Irving Brewing (OIB) emerged from a friendship and mentorship that ended tragically. But one thing founding partner Trevor Rose-Hamblin learned from that relationship is that “there’s always a ‘yes,'” even to the question, “Can we really go on?” In the few years since then, Trevor and his founding partners Jeff Linnemeyer and Mathias Merges […]

Brand confusion happens when either you or your audience is confused. Positioned between two cultures, it’s a real danger for 5 Rabbit. 5 Rabbit embraces its Latin heritage in a way that’s fits right into the American craft tradition of looking back to earlier styles and looking forward to innovations. Their 5 series represents their […]

Josh Gilbert makes Temperance Beer accessible by removing obstacles to “getting” his beer. When customers feel more comfortable taking risks, he gets to make more of the beers he wants to make. Back in their early days, Temperance listed all sorts of stats about each of their beers. Brad remembers the huge chalkboard with a […]

Temperance Beer Co. came “late” to craft but was still the first brewery in Evanston, Ill. — home of influential temperance movement reformer Francis Willard. However late nationally, Temperance Beer Co. is Evanston’s oldest brewery and is a familiar sight at area stores. It began when founder Josh Gilbert was an architect and homebrewer who […]

Matt Tanaka helps breweries tell their story visually through eye-catching labels and websites. You may have heard us drop Matt Tanaka’s name in our 3 Sheeps episode because his agency led their recent rebranding. In this episode, we sit down with Matt in the West Town studio of his newly christened Stout Collective to talk […]

Audience is the starting point of good marketing, and 3 Sheeps Brewing in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is working hard to connect their passion to their local community. For this episode, Brad had the opportunity to interview his friend and colleague Matt Tanaka, whose visual branding agency was contracted by 3 Sheeps’ for their latest rebranding. Matt provided […]

Hop Butcher for the World's rebrand from South Loop Brewing Co. was surely a success, so why are Brad and Mike complaining?

In this episode we sample some big pale ales from breweries who are looking beyond the beer itself to build their brands. Brand Extension: Craft Spirits Maplewood Brewery and Distillery can claim to be the first brewery and distillery in Chicago. While we can see the appeal, it’s certainly ambitious to branch out into spirits while you’re […]

We love a good saison (a.k.a. farmhouse), and in this episode we look at how two very different breweries present their very good saisons to the world. It’s a Complicated Legacy In effect, you have a “heritage” brewery in Goose Island, except that their legacy is complicated by the fact they sold to AB-InBev in 2011. This […]

Locals know that Pipeworks and Half Acre do big beers in the big 16 oz. cans. Half Acre, in fact, was one of the first, if not the first, Chicago breweries to switch to cans. We discuss the different ways these quirky breweries built up their local reputations, quickly becoming go-to favorites for Chicago craft drinkers. […]

 Doubling Down on Flagships Due to flagging sales, both Sierra Nevada and Boston Beer Co. have recently taken steps to reposition their flagship brands, Pale Ale and Samuel Adams Boston Lager. These are obviously iconic brands, and they both played a huge role in the craft revolution—and in our own craft journeys. We certainly […]