We are trying something different in this episode! Our conversation will be between 3 of us. Today we have with us Mike Malone and Alan Dritenbas the founders of Walking Tree Brewery in Vero Beach, Florida.

Their Florida roots are important to them, which is one of the reasons for the name “Walking Tree Brewery”. Mangrove trees live with one foot on land and one in the sea, constantly expanding their boundaries. 

I have spent significant time at the Walking Tree tasting room the past 2 months. They combine creativity with science to produce unique and delicious beers. In addition, they continually strive to develop a culture that is uniting their community. 

Isaac Arthur is a cofounder of CODO Design, branding firm out of Indianapolis.

CODO was founded on the belief that they can create better work by directly including clients in the creative process. Currently Isaac spends most of his time traveling around the country helping to bring startup craft breweries to market through foundational positioning and brand strategy: naming, package design, responsive web design, and environmental design.

This episode’s guest hails from the state of Maine where he lives with his wife, his six year-old daughter, and a hundred-pound chocolate lab. During the final  semester of his MBA in the spring of 2014, Jim O’Brien and fellow Vacationland Distributors co-founders hatched the idea for a brewer-focused craft beer distributor. After graduation, Jim left his career in higher education to work full-time at the startup he helped create. In addition to his MBA, Jim has a B.A. in Psychology.

Jeremiah Zimmer is an experienced homebrewer. He has over 10 years of work history in branding, marketing and sales. About two years ago, Jeremiah and his partners Jude La Rose and Jason Maxwell launched Hop Butcher For The World. For those in Chicago - Hop Butcher is the former South Loop Brewing Company. Jeremiah resides with his wife Melissa, their two daughters (Delaney and Evelyn) and their dog (Bear) in the western suburbs of Chicago when he’s not out and about (self) distributing cans and kegs of Hop Butcher For The World’s various brews.

Nate Seiberling is a proud member of the Rhinegeist family in Cincinnati (the Big Apple of the Midwest), valuing friendship and positivity in life and work. While he started off slinging flavor grenades for Rhinegeist, Nate now works as the Strategic Operations Manager thanks to his liberal arts education from Colby College (Go Mules!) in International Studies and Education. Cheers to the first of the day and always be Geistin'.

Barley John’s Brew Pub was founded by John Moore and his wife, Laura Subak in 2000. In addition to the brewpub, there is an on-site vegetable garden providing seasonal produce and hops for use in their cooking and brewing. Previously, John was a brewer for James Page Brewing Co.

This episode’s guest is Brian Corbett. Brian has 20 + years experience at Bokland, a company that specializes in large format Point Of Sale for the Beer Industry. You will know them as Beer Sign Specialists. They create products that will help you, the craft brewer, compete against larger competitors.

Tanner Brethorst, Brewery Chief of the Port Huron Brewing Company. Tanner has a degree in Agricultural Business Management at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. While in school he landed a summer intern position at Tyranena Brewing Company in Lake Mills, WI.  After finishing his degree, Tanner furthered his brewing education at the Siebel Institute in Chicago.  He studied in both Chicago and in Munich, Germany. Tanner has worked with Lake Louie Brewing in Arena, WI, and Capital Brewery in Middleton, WI.

On January 2nd, 2011, at the behest of his family, Port Huron Brewing Company began renovation in Wisconsin Dells. Beer for sale in kegs went out the door in mid-April 2012.

Shawn Decker and Cesar Marron are the principal owners of Sketchbook and their wives, Alice George and Amy Wilkinson, are active business partners. Today we will be talking to Alice George. Alice is a writer, consultant & teacher. She published her first book of poetry titled “This Must Be The Place” in fall of 2008. As a visual artist, Alice creates, exhibits and sells her work out of her Evanston studio. She is active in service to Chicago-area nonprofits including the Main- Dempster Mile. Alice handles a lot of the marketing activities for Sketchbook.

In Episode 003 we discussed with Trent Yackzan, owner of Sudwerk Brewing Company, his marketing strategy of opening multiple tasting room locations. We’re going to drill down on this idea with our guest, Kyle Wilson, Senior Designer with HDA Architects. Kyle has a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Kansas and an MBA from Webster University. He is a Registered Architect in several states including Missouri and California. As Senior Designer, he creates solutions for clients and coordinates with the HDA project team.

This episode’s guest is Eric McNeil, founder of Aquanaut Brewing Company. Aquanaut is in the Bowmanville neighborhood of Chicago. Eric started his professional career in graphic design and has been making Aquanaut's labels himself. After getting bit by the homebrewing bug, Eric took the Siebel Institute's "concise" course in brewing technology and he's spent a significant amount of time shadowing professional brewers on the job to learn his craft.

Before she wandering into the vast wilderness that is craft brewing… and Portland, Alisha Durgin got her Bachelor's Degree in Public Relations from Champlain College in Burlington, VT. Then, in 2014, she moved to Portland and became the Social Media & Marketing Coordinator for the Laurelwood Brewing Company. Alisha handles are variety of marketing activities for Laurelwood including managing and generating content for each of their social media outlets.

I first met Trent in January of 2016 at a San Francisco Beer Week event called SourFest. Of the 38 sours, my favorite beer was Trent’s sour doppelbock called Uncle Fester. Sudwerk was founded in 1989 by Trent’s grandfather Dean and a partner. After graduating from Cal Poly in 2008, Trent and his friend Ryan Fry returned to Davis and started working at the brewery. They treated it like a start-up and since taking over ownership, Trent and Ryan have infused Sudwerk with energy and innovation.

I first met Trent in January of 2016 at a San Francisco Beer Week event called SourFest. Of the 38 sours, my favorite beer was Trent’s sour doppelbock called Uncle Fester. Sudwerk was founded in 1989 by Trent’s grandfather Dean and a partner. After graduating from Cal Poly in 2008, Trent and his friend Ryan Fry returned to Davis and started working at the brewery. They treated it like a start-up and since taking over ownership, Trent and Ryan have infused Sudwerk with energy and innovation.

I first met, Brandon Proff, at the Craft Brewers Convention in 2016. Brandon is the Managing Partner of Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company, a brewery he started with friends Bryan Leavelle and Andrew Strasburg in March of 2012. One of the things Brandon loves about the Denver scene is that it requires you to prove yourself by brewing great beer. He loves this challenge. Along with having fun, building a community, and being relevant.

Zac Triemert of Brickway Brewery: Zac has a Bachelor’s in Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin. A master’s degree in Brewing and Distilling from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. And, he’s the creator of, what Craft Brewing Business has dubbed, “The best promo we’ve ever seen”.