Brian Loughrey knows what he’s saying when he talks about beer and the beer industry: before he became the Director of Business Development at TechniBlend, Inc./ ProBrew, Brian served in sales for brands such as Heineken, Goose Island, and Anheuser-Busch. He also worked for The Country Malt Group, where he expanded his knowledge and experience on operations. Today, as the Director of Business Development, Brian has become ProBrew’s go-to dry guy for his expertise and wisdom on all things grain, malt, malting, and beyond.

Passionate about sanitary fluid handling, process systems, and sales leadership, Thom DeLoach serves as the Vice President of Sales for Statco-DSI Process Systems. He values technical competence, process know-how, common sense, and customer-centric superlative service. Prior to joining Statco in 2019, Thom held regional, national, and international sales leadership roles at MURZAN INC. for more than 20 years. As the Vice President of Sales for Statco, Thom believes that customers, clients, and consumers win when capable teams are equipped with leadership and individual accountability.

In this episode, Thom, Brian, and I explore the challenges and struggles small- and medium-sized businesses are experiencing due to the non-alcoholic drink movement. We describe ProBrew’s Alchemator and how it helps craft brewers and beverage producers separate alcohol and water from any fermented beverage. We discuss making ready-to-drink products and the importance of striving toward consistency as a small-sized beverage producer. We also address challenges with dissolved oxygen in wine and packaging.

This week on Consuming the Craft:

●     The Craft Brewers Conference 2023

●     The growth of the non-alcoholic market

●     The best thing about having a malt base

●     Striving toward consistency as a small beverage producer

●     Ready-to-drink products and high-gravity beer

●     Flash pasteurization and sanitation

●     Booze Clues: freshly-pressed mango, pineapple, and guava magic

●     The Food Safety Modernization Act

●     Why beers, spirits, and wine competitions are very subjective

●     What ethanol does to the flavor of drinks

●     Dissolved oxygen in wine and packaging

Connect with Thom DeLoach:

●     Statco

●     Statco on LinkedIn

●     Thom DeLoach on LinkedIn

Connect with Brian Loughrey:

●     ProBrew

●     ProBrew on LinkedIn

●     ProBrew on Instagram

●     ProBrew on Facebook

●     ProBrew on YouTube

●     Brian Loughrey on LinkedIn

Consuming the Craft

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Consuming the Craft Podcast, brought to you by AB Tech’s Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

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