The Making of the Sheetz vs. Wawa Documentary

The Breaking Brews Podcast is gearing up for Season III and it's time to get excited! But, before we do, let's you and me sit down and catch up...in between seasons.

On this In Between Session, I drop some teasers on what you'll be hearing in Season III of the show. Also, I encourage you to pick up a new Breaking Brews hoodie or t-shirt, courtesy of our friends at Drunk Swag Source! And, I share with you the best ways to communicate with me via social media going forward.

Also part of this In Between Session are recent podcast appearances I've made.

First, I joined my friends at WordWrite Communications on the P100 Podcast to discuss the beer industry. You can check out the full episode, as well as the other episodes in their archives wherever you download your podcasts and by visiting p100podcast.com.

Next, check out the full episode of Behind The Hops with Ryan Galiotto. We talked about, you guessed it, the beer industry - podcasts, current trends (good and bad), the story behind Breaking Brews, and much more.

You can check out the Fueled by Hops Community on Facebook AND, last but certainly not least - check out the first-ever 412FueledFest on Saturday, March 14th! Info and tickets can be found by clicking here.


MUSIC CREDIT: Theme music and music clips for the Breaking Brews Podcast - Hellfire by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins, licensed via www.audionetwork.com

SESSION SUMMARY: We live in a world where the beer supply is seemingly endless. Over 8,000 breweries in the United States alone are producing good beer for us to enjoy...with plenty more in planning who will be joining the fray soon. This abundance of beer selection has made many people ask if beer has reached a saturation point. Is the bubble going to burst? Is there too much beer out there?

The answer is no. And on this session, we are going to discuss why.

On Session 44 of the Breaking Brews Podcast, host Jason Cercone is joined by David Sheets, partner at Sixty Four West Brewery Consultants. David has years of experience in the beer industry and has built AND sold five different successful operations. Through Sixty Four West, he and his partners help breweries plan smarter, execute their plans, and operate a more efficient, profitable business.

David's expertise regarding the beer bubble goes well beneath the surface of what many feel is too much liquid in the market. There is a lot to consider: How tightly are you running your operation? Are you producing quality product? What sort of experience are you delivering consumers? Is education a major part of your operations? How do you market your product? Have you exhausted your outside sales efforts?

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Throughout this session, David will be dropping a series of knowledge bombs that all brewery personnel, from ownership to servers to brewers to sales staff, need to hear.

If you'd like to learn more about how David and his company can help your brand, you can connect with him here:

Website | Facebook | Email


MUSIC CREDIT: Theme music and music clips for the Breaking Brews Podcast - Hellfire by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins, licensed via www.audionetwork.com

SEASON II SPONSOR: Season II of the Breaking Brews Podcast is brought to you by Drunk Swag Source. You can get all your merch needs covered by visiting www.drunkswagsource.com. Use promo code BREAKINGBREWS at checkout and save 10% on any order of $200 or more!

SESSION SUMMARY: Beer and cheese. On their own, they're both awesome. Paired together? They're even more awesome. Cheese has gained worldwide acceptance as one of the best items to pair with adult beverages. Beer, wine, whiskey...it all works and it's all spectacular.

And because of that fact, it made perfect sense to keep the beer and food pairing sessions of the Breaking Brews Podcast rolling with a deep dive into the world of beer and cheese pairings!

If you listened to Season I, you most likely stumbled across Session 9 where Jason Cercone and Master Cicerone Brian Reed provided a broad commentary on food and beer pairings. Brian shared some exceptional insight on how beer enhances certain flavor profiles (and vice versa), why contrasts in flavor between the beer and food items makes for a better experience than having two flavor profiles that matchup, and much more. You can jump back in the archives and take in Session 9 at your leisure.

In Session 39, Jason and Brian are joined by Anais Saint-Andre Loughran, Co-Founder of Chantal's Cheese Shop in Pittsburgh's Bloomfield neighborhood. Anais is a cheese monger extraordinaire and knows cheese front to back, top to bottom, inside and out. She and Brian put their heads together to pair seven beer styles with seven cheese styles and all were consumed and discussed in great detail on this wildly informative, incredibly fun podcast that originated from Chantal's.

For all of our Pittsburgh listeners, Chantal's gets a 16/10, 102% on Rotten Tomatoes, would highly recommend score from the Breaking Brews Podcast. If your occasion calls for specialty cheeses, check out Chantal's. And, pro tip: DO NOT leave without some of the Saint Angel cheese. It's covered on the show. You can thank me later.

Here is how you can connect with Brian and Anais on the World Wide Web:

BRIAN: Instagram | Twitter

CHANTAL'S CHEESE SHOP: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter


MUSIC CREDIT: Theme music and music clips for the Breaking Brews Podcast - Hellfire by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins, licensed via www.audionetwork.com

SEASON II SPONSOR: Season II of the Breaking Brews Podcast is brought to you by Drunk Swag Source. You can get all your merch needs covered by visiting www.drunkswagsource.com. Use promo code BREAKINGBREWS at checkout and save 10% on any order of $200 or more!

SESSION SUMMARY: Cask ale or cask-conditioned beer is unfiltered and unpasteurized beer which is conditioned and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure. In the United States, it is most commonly seen sitting on a bar top in a gravity rack with brewers adding additional ingredients to a base beer to give it some extra flavor. Some bars and breweries have hand pump engines that pour cask ale the way it was meant to be served, just like they do in the English-style pubs you'd encounter on the other side of the pond.

Sadly, cask ale (also known as real ale) is labeled as "warm" and "flat" by many beer consumers. However, it's important to understand that a beer's true flavors and aromas can stand out even more prevalent fashion in a well-done cask beer. In this session, we are going to put to rest many of the misconceptions surrounding cask ales in today's beer world.

In Session 42 of the Breaking Brews Podcast, host Jason Cercone is joined by Josh and Stephanie Lepke, Founders of The Leaning Cask Brewing Company in Springdale, PA - about 15 minutes outside of the city of Pittsburgh. Josh and Stephanie bring all of the nuances of an English pub to their destination and brew beer with plenty of old world inspiration. Josh has also dialed in his skill set for modern brews, delivering strong in the American IPA category and beyond.

Their taproom features a hand pump engine that allows customers to experience cask ale the way God intended. At the same time, Josh, Stephanie, and their staff provide as much information and education as they can to help consumers understand why cask ales deliver a different drinking experience and help enthusiasts gain a new appreciation for the liquid in their glass.

This session features some great conversation about what inspired Josh and Stephanie to take the direction they have with their brand, how they've grown The Leaning Cask throughout the Pittsburgh market, some ins and outs of cask ale and cask conditioning you may not be aware of, where they see cask ales going as the beer world continues to evolve, and much more.

You can catch up with The Leaning Cask Brewing Company on your favorite World Wide Web destination of choice:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram


MUSIC CREDIT: Theme music and music clips for the Breaking Brews Podcast - Hellfire by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins, licensed via www.audionetwork.com

SEASON II SPONSOR: Season II of the Breaking Brews Podcast is brought to you by Drunk Swag Source. You can get all your merch needs covered by visiting www.drunkswagsource.com. Use promo code BREAKINGBREWS at checkout and save 10% on any order of $200 or more!

SESSION SUMMARY: On many sessions of the Breaking Brews Podcast, we've discussed creating the ultimate customer experience - something that's going to make someone's visit memorable, noteworthy, and have them leaving wanting to shout from the rooftops how much they can't wait to come back and bring 10 friends with them.

This is where the power lays these days. Great beer and food are simply table stakes because people have so many options to choose from. In order to captivate consumers, you need to build a destination. A locale that offers so much, people will travel great distances to experience what you're offering without thinking twice.

In Session 41, host Jason Cercone is joined by Jim Stutzman, Co-Founder of Lazy Horse Brewery and Winery in Ohiowa, Nebraska. Lazy Horse is a destination that is 45 minutes removed from the nearest restaurant...and neighboring town, for that matter. People travel 2-3 hours to experience Lazy Horse because they've built themselves into the type of place that not only serve quality beer, great wine, and wood-fired oven pizzas, but also has friendly, knowledgeable staff, an ambiance that makes customers feel welcome, and an overall positive vibe throughout the entire venue, inside and out.

Your brewery, restaurant, bar, etc. doesn't need to sit by itself 45 minutes away from your nearest competitor to be a destination. Chances are, there's about 100 yards between you and a consumers' alternative choice. What are you going to do to ensure they choose you first? Your mindset needs to be thinking customer experience and treating your venue like a true destination at all times.

This session covers how you can make your staff feel valued so they continue to produce the best experiences possible, how everyone on your team can learn from their own experiences, simple ways to market your brand throughout you region that will help you stand out, and much more.

Here are the best ways to connect with Lazy Horse Brewing:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter


MUSIC CREDIT: Theme music and music clips for the Breaking Brews Podcast - Hellfire by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins, licensed via www.audionetwork.com

SEASON II SPONSOR: Season II of the Breaking Brews Podcast is brought to you by Drunk Swag Source. You can get all your merch needs covered by visiting www.drunkswagsource.com. Use promo code BREAKINGBREWS at checkout and save 10% on any order of $200 or more!

SESSION SUMMARY: When it comes to the social media triumvirate (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram), Twitter has fallen to #3 on most people's priority lists these days. That's not a blanket statement, of course, but many people and brands prefer Facebook and Instagram over Twitter. That's OK...build your brand the way you like. That said, there's still a lot of value in Twitter and today we are going to dive into how you can get the most from this platform.

In Session 40 of the Breaking Brews Podcast, host Jason Cercone goes one on one with you in an effort to bring Twitter back to prominence. While it may not be as popular as Facebook and Instagram or have as many users, there are still enough people on the network to make it valuable. Like all social media, the best returns come when you develop a strategy that helps you attack with excellence. This session of the podcast provides some tips and strategies to help you do just that.

Throughout this session, Jason covers:

• How many daily users are on Twitter
• How Twitter has evolved over the years
• Common mistakes brands make with Twitter
• Should you tag multiple accounts on your posts?
• How to not use hashtags obnoxiously
• The biggest Twitter no-no you should adhere to always
• Where does the power lay in Twitter?
• And more

You can connect with Breaking Brews on Twitter @breakingbrewsco and with Jason directly @jasoncercone.

PAID TWITTER RESOURCES

How to Use Twitter Ads: A Complete Guide For Marketers
Twitter Ads Campaigns: A Simple Setup Guide

MUSIC CREDIT: Theme music and music clips for the Breaking Brews Podcast - Hellfire by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins, licensed via www.audionetwork.com

SEASON II SPONSOR: Season II of the Breaking Brews Podcast is brought to you by Drunk Swag Source. You can get all your merch needs covered by visiting www.drunkswagsource.com. Use promo code BREAKINGBREWS at checkout and save 10% on any order of $200 or more!

SESSION SUMMARY: Building a craft beer destination has many facets. Clearly, good beer is at the top of the list. But not just good beer...a wide selection of good beer to ensure there's something for everyone.

What's the food strategy? Statistics have shown that people who order food tend to order 1-2 more drinks, thus increasing their length of stay and driving their tab higher. So giving some options for grub is always a good play.

What kind of experience is your staff delivering? Are they friendly and knowledgeable? Are they making consumers feel welcome? Are they offering every guest beer to go in the form of a crowler, growler, 4-pack, and/or 6-pack? They should be...because customers are more prone to take something to go when prompted.

Across the world, many people have built craft beer destinations. All have their own unique dynamics, all seek to deliver a great experience. For this session of the Breaking Brews Podcast, we are going to the birthplace of Breaking Brews to take a deep dive into what it takes to build a kick-ass craft beer bar!

In Session 43 of the Breaking Brews Podcast, host Jason Cercone is joined by Mike Sukitch and Cassie Cormack of Mike's Beer Bar in the North Shore of Pittsburgh. Mike's is located right across the street from PNC Park and is in the heart of the highly-visited area of town that features sports (PNC and Heinz Field), concerts (Stage AE), hotels, dining, and more. Mike purchased the bar formerly known as Beerhead...and formerly known as The Beer Market before that...at the close of 2018 and has transformed the bar from a hot pre-event destination to a 7-days-a-week destination that everyone needs to check out.

Mike's upped their tap count from 50 to 80. Those beers + what's in the cooler = over 500 beers in the house at any given time! They've added pre-mixed cocktails to their menu. Local ciders and meads are also available. They recently installed a kitchen (up until September of 2019, they did not serve food) that allows them to provide grub for their patrons. They have live music on the weekends.

In brief, they've taken major strides to create a killer destination that emphasizes great beer, great people, and great times.

Throughout this session, you'll learn how Mike and Cassie train their staff to deliver exceptional experiences, how they manage the large volume of beer under their roof, how they've established great relationships with local breweries and brewery representatives, and much, much more.

Check out Mike's online and, of course, in person whenever a trip to the North Shore is in your plans.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

MUSIC CREDIT: Theme music and music clips for the Breaking Brews Podcast - Hellfire by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins, licensed via www.audionetwork.com

SEASON II SPONSOR: Season II of the Breaking Brews Podcast is brought to you by Drunk Swag Source. You can get all your merch needs covered by visiting www.drunkswagsource.com. Use promo code BREAKINGBREWS at checkout and save 10% on any order of $200 or more!

SESSION SUMMARY: Education is something that's been instilled in us from the earliest of ages. From elementary school right up through high school and beyond, the importance of education in one's particular field, or fields, of interest is never something to take lightly. It's what gives us a more well-rounded perspective, helps us create and participate in meaningful conversations on various topics, and drives home the appreciate we have for the things we love.

When it comes to craft beer, education is critical to the growth and evolution of our culture. Why? You're about to find out on Session 38 of the Breaking Brews Podcast.

Host Jason Cercone is joined by Certified Cicerone David Nilsen to discuss beer education from top to bottom. David is a cicerone, beer writer, and presenter and brings a wealth of knowledge to the podcast. Jason and David dive into David's favorite beer presentation, why education often times gets labeled as snobbery, why it is up to industry professionals to continue driving education forward, and much more.

Also, Jason and David talk about one of his favorite published features. You can click here to check out that feature for yourself. 

David is very active on social media and you are encouraged to follow him and join him in his beer-fueled plight. A link to his website where all his published works, as well as his social media platforms, can be found below:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram


MUSIC CREDIT: Theme music and music clips for the Breaking Brews Podcast - Hellfire by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins, licensed via www.audionetwork.com

SEASON II SPONSOR: Season II of the Breaking Brews Podcast is brought to you by Drunk Swag Source. You can get all your merch needs covered by visiting www.drunkswagsource.com. Use promo code BREAKINGBREWS at checkout and save 10% on any order of $200 or more!

SESSION SUMMARY: While beer traveling all over the world isn't always a possibility, t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, and other pieces of merch adorning your logo certainly is. Many times, I've seen someone on vacation halfway around the world from home proudly donning the t-shirt of their favorite brewery, thus taking their brand recognition from their own little corner of the world to parts never thought imagined.

Solid merchandise can be a big coup for your brand and having the right items with a quality aesthetic appeal will make fans of your company happy to wear them when they're out and about, giving you a piece of advertising that costs little and speaks volumes.

In Session 37 of the Breaking Brews Podcast, host Jason Cercone is joined by Leslie Tate, Co-Founder of Drunk Swag Source - a company she and her husband Stephen, the Head Brewer at Crosstown Brewing Company, run to help all businesses in the libations industry get set up with proper swag for their customers.

In this session, Leslie shares why having a sound merchandise strategy is so important to your brand. In addition, she talks about effective logo design and ensuring the logo you land on (or secondary logo in some cases) looks good when shrunken down for print on a piece of merchandise. Leslie also shares why it's beneficial to have giveaways with your logo at events and festivals.

If you've listened to any of the other sessions in Season II of the Breaking Brews Podcast, you've learned that Drunk Swag Source is this season's sponsor. In this episode, Leslie tells you how she can help you and your company get set up with anything you need from a merchandise perspective - hats, t-shirts, scarves, socks, keg rings, tents - pretty much anything you can think of!

Everything can be found at www.drunkswagsource.com. AND, use promo code BREAKINGBREWS at checkout and save 10% on any order of $200 or more! If you have any questions or need further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to Leslie and Stephen at info@drunkswagsource.com.


MUSIC CREDIT: Theme music and music clips for the Breaking Brews Podcast - Hellfire by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins, licensed via www.audionetwork.com

SESSION SUMMARY: When is the right time to grow your brand? Can ego get in the way of smart decision-making when it comes to expanding your operations? When is the right time to take your brand "on a world tour?"

All this and MUCH more unfold in the Season II finale of the Breaking Brews Podcast.

Session 45 features some very candid conversation between host Jason Cercone and Erik Budrakey, a beer industry veteran whose years of experience have helped him establish True Brew Magazine, a publication with readership across the globe. Erik has helped many brands increase their distribution footprint by wisely focusing on all aspects that will impact their plans. He has also helped breweries project adequate sales forecasts and execute those plans to precision.

True Brew Magazine is a beer lifestyle publication that covers a wide variety of topics in the beer universe. You can click here to check it out for yourself!

Erik's passion for the beer industry spills into the conversation that unfolds in this podcast. His years of experience will help you get a better grasp on what you need to focus on within your business: growing your distribution footprint methodically and not overextending yourself, emphasizing quality product at every juncture, accurately planning and forecasting sales and not settling for "almost" getting there, the importance of self-awareness and getting help when needed, and much more.

As we wind down Season II of the Breaking Brews Podcast, THANK YOU for listening to the show! Please let me know what you think of the podcast by dropping a rating and review on your podcast platform of choice. I'll see you for some smaller episodes in the upcoming weeks and stay tuned for news and updates about Season III of the Breaking Brews Podcast coming soon.


MUSIC CREDIT: Theme music and music clips for the Breaking Brews Podcast - Hellfire by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins, licensed via www.audionetwork.com

SEASON II SPONSOR: Season II of the Breaking Brews Podcast is brought to you by Drunk Swag Source. You can get all your merch needs covered by visiting www.drunkswagsource.com. Use promo code BREAKINGBREWS at checkout and save 10% on any order of $200 or more!