EP-248 Sam Victory of Wise Man Brewing

One of my favorite aspects of hosting the chats you hear on the Good Beer Hunting podcast is the real-time accumulation of stories and insight from industry professionals. On a very basic level, many of these conversations become a time capsule: we're capturing the thoughts, ideas, and experiences of those living in and changing the beer industry. It's the personal side of what makes beer special. In this episode, we're traveling to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to visit Sam Victory, brewer and co-founder of Wise Man Brewing. His company has filled a unique space in the Tar Heel State, first making waves with hazy, juicy, New England IPAs while also being recognized on a national stage for barrel-aged beers, traditional German styles, and Wise Man's Irish Red Ale, which won gold in its category at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival. When I sat down with Sam, he was in the midst of R&D for a hard seltzer, and we spoke about what it takes to bring that kind of drink to consumers, as well as what it means to build a market for modern IPA. Like many of his peers, Sam came from outside the industry—a homebrewer gone pro—and we discuss the dramatic shift in moving from a lab job at a pharmaceutical company to the daily grind of a brewery. Our conversation touches on the challenging realities of starting a brewery, let alone keeping it new and interesting to anyone who may be sitting down in the taproom—including, in this case, a roving reporter interested in learning more about how these things come to life. This is Sam Victory of Wise Man Brewing. Listen in.