“What are your hopes and dreams for the American Craft Beer Industry as a whole?”  This impossibly hard-to-answer question was asked of three beer industry veterans during a live show, in the rain, during their first hour of the Snallygaster Beer Festival. 

Beer Me Radio returned to our “recorded live” roots for one special show during Snallygaster beer festival in Washington, DC, in a podcast tent, in the rain. It was incredibly fun. 

Host, Sarah Jane Curran, had the opportunity to interview Josh Schlesinger (Head of Sales and distribution for Bissell Brothers Brewing Company), Matt Monahan (Founder/CEO of Other Half Brewing Co), and Blake Tyers (Senior Director of Curiosity Creature Comforts). What do these three have in common? All of their respective breweries will be celebrating ten years opened throughout 2024. And with that significant anniversary coming up, why not reflect on the future? In the middle of a beer festival. 

All of these breweries have been massive contributors to the industry, in their products, and how they engage with the industry and their communities, and they will continue to grow. 

“It’s exciting to be rounding out ten years,” says Tyers. At the time of recording (10/14/23) Creature Comforts was a mere two weeks away from opening its newest location in LA

Monahan shared the news that Other Half is planning the opening of their 8th location in Chicago

As they all reflected on the collective decade of success Schlesinger added: 

“I think everyone on this panel has had a pretty sweet ride for the past 10 years.”  

The conversation ranged from what changes they wanted to see in the industry as a whole (more diversity being the main theme), to what styles would be compelling. There was also a discussion about responding to trends, specifically non-alcoholic beer. Monahan explained, “Don’t want to ignore growth opportunities, but also (you) need to make sure that what you’re doing already is working.” 

Was this topic overly ambitious for a live recording at a festival? For sure. But was it worth the ask? 100 percent.

Listen HERE for an exciting conversation with these three LIVE! 

Sarah Jane Curran
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Sarah Jane (SJ) Curran kicked off her love of beer while studying at The Culinary Institute of America. She continued her education with a Masters from NYU, where she focused her research on beer history and education. She was the beer director at Eleven Madison Park in NYC and General Manager at Churchkey in DC. She taught beer classes for Cornell University and AGMU systems. Currently, she is the Sr. Beverage Manager for Global, US, and Canada for Marriott International. Beer Me! makes her very happy, almost as happy as she is drinking rauchbier.