Ep. 57 Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head

Harry is joined by Sam Caligione of Dogfish Head and editors Jenn Litz-Kirk and Jordan Driggers.   ---Time-Stamped Contents ---  00:00 Intro - hilarious banter and the usual technical difficulties.  00:25 a celebrity appears: sam calagione of dogfish head / boston beer.   01:25 more banter, jenn joins the call. 02:25 sam has a new book: dogfish head after 25/26 years. 04:25 recounting recent eastcoast road trip with mariah: nature conservancy and meeting distribs.   06:10 sam on getting over 2020-21 "friction points": cycling pantry loading, getting distrib footprints in place from maine to miami, pushing through logistics challenges during transition to BBC network.   06:25 brand dogfish is healthy when including canned cocktails:  09:10 are distrib footprint issues mostly done?  goal to be 100% aligned in all 50 states.   09:50 ongoing for 2022,   10:20 jenn and sam start to geek out on the flavor profile of their gin canned cocktail before harry ruins their black panther pizza party.   11:00 how are canned cocktails doing?  how big? ranking the dfh cc lineup.   12:10 bar cart mixed 8 pack variety pack launching now, getting foundation for national presence.  "firing on the right cylinders" as far as which skus to lean into.  12:40 ain't their first rodeo:  dfh been making james beard nominated spirits - cocktails for over 20 years.   13:00 harry puts forth his theory that 8pk canned cocktail and 12pk malt seltzer pricing are equiv (due to tax differential).  sam not convinced it's quite there, plus dfh cc are 7% abv when most of competitors are 5%. 13.35 can craft cocktails scale to big boy status?   14:00 sam: "reason to believe" in dfh canned cocktail line, and best ranked salesforce in country.  14:35 working with bevy team.  15:00 90 minute in a 19.2 oz can: will it open up c-stores for dfh?  uh yes.  16:25 taking singles into venues. 18:00 harry has standard rant about jordan's headphones as he never lets a joke sit idle for long, (even if it's old). harry gets no respect like rodney dangerfield. 18:40 pan vs post-pan differences since last pod.  what's different? 19:30 sea quench first national sour of consequence, but covid slowed down its momentum. draft coming back. 21:00 how does the trade look compared to 2019?  Singles are hot. 22:15 harry things fruit sours will cut into hard seltzers in 2022. sam is taking notes. 22:30 what's going to happen to seltzer?  blurring of lines. 25:00 boston fast follower, bevy. long drink origin. 28:20 the flavors that weren't a hit. 29:30 jenn brings up the book again, how to find the time? 31:00 harry recalls sam standing him up at eately.  32:25 jordan: more about canned cocktails, focus away from spirits.  "I have a lot of non-oak wood projects I'm working on," whatever that means.  stretch cc to national, spirits east coast.  35:20 so important to be differentiated, for dfh: james beard nominated, 2 shots per can, quality.  36:30 how to maximize distribution in markets with restrictions on channels being spirit-based and 7% abv?  be yourself.  38:05 harry explains why he's so rude to sam. 39:20  39:30 what would sam be doing if not in the beer biz?  all of us. 43:35 sam and jenn may brew with crickets. 45:35 jenn compares harry to shiv on succession. 50:00 pod goes off rails i'm out.   ---About--- Beer Business Daily publisher Harry Schuhmacher joins his editors and other guests 2 times a week as they grok the industry issues of the day.    -Podcast Hotline: Text or call Harry in confidence at:‪ (262) 345-2501‬ -Audio/Video feeds at HarrysPod.com -Articles referenced at beernet.com -Twitter / IG / TikTok:  @beerbizdaily