Riding the Craft Brewery Roller Coaster | Katie Hill, Upslope Brewing

Speaker: 00:00
Welcome to Shelf Help. Today we're speaking with Katie Hill, who is the director of marketing at Upslope Brewery. Brewing at a boulder-based craft brewery started in 2008 in the depths of the recession that since has become one of Colorado's largest independent breweries. I think between Upslope and her previous journey at Sweetwater Brewing, Katie definitely has uh has been in the craft brewery space for a while, almost two decades or so. So she definitely knows the space really well. So excited to learn more from her. But um yeah, with that, let's jump into it. I think maybe Katie, just for first off, listeners that uh aren't all that familiar with Upslope, maybe just yeah, give us a quick lay of the land in terms of origin story and why behind the brand, maybe some of the core products you guys are offering, and then we'll go from there.

Speaker 1: 00:46
Yeah, so you said it. Um we are a boulder-based brewery through and through. Um Colorado is swarmed with breweries, as most listeners might know. I joined Upslopes Journey in 2013, so they had five years under their belt. They were kind of right there at the right time during that craft brewery boom in the area, but um wrong time, economically speaking, in 2008. And there I think there was a hop shortage at the time when they started. So they definitely um they had no shortage of trials and tribulations ahead of my arrival. Um, and then I had come from Sweetwater Brewing Company in Atlanta, and so yeah, we just sort of we hit it off. Everybody was sort of there for the same reasons, right? Colorado's beautiful active outdoor lifestyle, trying to have a good time in the beautiful backyard that we call home. And so Upslope was started as an all-canned brewery, which was very unique at the time. Oscar Blues, which is known for their Dale's Pale Ale, was really a pioneer in the craft space for that. And Upslope was right there next to him. I want to say we actually had the first, we were one of the first IPAs actually in a can in the craft space. So yeah, I mean, it was sort of started by three guys with a shared adventure for the uh outdoors. And Matt Cutter, the original founder and president, just, you know, he was a home brewer and he was like, I'd like to take really awesome beers out into the backcountry. And so that's where that all can mentality came from. And yeah, so we're now kind of known as this Opre Everything Brewery, which for anyone that doesn't know what the term Opre or Apre, however people want to pronounce it, that just means after. So we're kind of, you know, cap off any adventure with a good beer. So that's really what uh our founders started out to do is make some really good beer to celebrate, you know, whatever adventure they had been doing that day.

Speaker: 02:39
Love that. And then you guys have I think two tap houses or breweries in Colorado Boulder area. And then are you guys sold in a bunch of a bunch of other, you know, off-premise locations in and outside of Colorado too, I assume?

Speaker 1: 02:49
Yeah, quite the distribution footprint these days, actually. I know you asked, like, where can people find us? So Rocky Mountain West is sort of where we're at. We also are randomly in Florida. I happen to be from Florida, but that is not why we all are also distributed there. But yeah, so there's eight states that we are sold in, and then locally we are in all sorts of, you know, your big box stores down to the independent liquor stores and on and off premise is sort of uh that's that's where you can find us.

Speaker: 03:18
Yeah, perfect. That's great. That's a great overview. Seems like from what I know, the craft brewery spaces seems to have been on a bit of a roller coaster ride over the past decade, is maybe a good way to put it, which is a lot of ups and downs. I'm curious, you know, with all your experience in the space of the past almost two decades, if you kinda had to lay out what were the key phases of the category over the past, let's just say 15 years or so and a rough timeline, you can just call out some of the big phases. You don't have to get too specific, but what would that look like?

Speaker 1: 03:50
Yeah, so you say roller coaster, which is very accurate. We often say strapped to a rocket ship because it's been really, really crazy um and fast. But roller coaster is more uh appropriate these days because it really has been up and down. So I would say when Upso first started, and when I first started, it was just an incredible boom. Pretty much everybody you knew knew somebody who had a brewery, you know? And so that was really cool. That was when everyone was getting involved. The Great American Beer Fest was like the coolest thing to attend and still is a really awesome event. And just pretty much, yeah, everybody was getting into it. Then I would say you started to see, I wouldn't know how to tell you how many years ago it was because it's it's one big blur and a fun ride that it's been. But yeah, then there was some consolidation. Some of the big boys were starting to get like a little bit, you know, the toes were being stepped on. So they were like, well, how can we get in on this on the craft scene? So then I think you saw all these independents springing up, and then you saw the big guys trying to come in and kind of do some consolidation and pick them up and and do that to diversify their portfolios. So you had a lot of that. And then you saw some trickling out. I think, you know, the independent craft brewers seal was kind of created by the Brewers Association not long after that stuff was happening so that the consumer could be educated on like who really was craft, you know? And then before you knew it, here comes the the pandemic. And that was just like totally crazy in every sense of the word. We were actually fortunate that it was a busy time for us. And you know, I think you can remember everyone was sort of drinking at any given time in the day during COVID, right, wrong or otherwise, that was sort of going on, and then people were having to sort of lean on comfort brands, as we called it. So, like there was less experimentation on the customer side and more of like, you know, this is a scary time, so let me go with what I know. And then you weren't like out there shopping and all that, and you certainly weren't on the on-premise. So, yeah, so that now we're back in the time of post-COVID, right? Where everyone's sort of putting more and more of an emphasis on their health and well-being and mental health is coming to the forefront, which is a great thing. But that has uh changed people's drinking patterns and that's very much affected our business and our industry. Um, so that would be the roller coaster. And right now, I think because everyone's sort of not drinking as much, you're gonna start to see some more consolidation, I think, in beverage houses for strength of brand because um it's just getting tough out there.

Speaker: 06:15
Yeah. Based on all that you've learned and patterns you've seen over the past decade and a half or so, if you had a crystal ball, what what do you think the space will look like 10 years from now, let's say?

Speaker 1: 06:26
Oh my God. First of all, I would love a crystal ball. If anyone in selling them um knows where they're located, that would be awesome. I think that's a million-dollar question. If I had to guess, I actually feel I feel pretty confident that we're gonna see some like cyclical activity. I think ultimately, like, yeah, you know, I do, I do love that people are focusing on their health, the well-being, and certainly the mental health aspect that I mentioned. But I do think that things are gonna come back. People are gonna get back into patterns. I think when there's like economic recessions, you know, a lot of a lot of industries have to brace for impact. And so does craft a little bit, but ultimately people like to celebrate with alcohol for certain occasions. And um, I don't know. I just think we're gonna see I think we're gonna see a resurgence of people wanting to have that like bespoke and handcrafted feeling come back to things that they're purchasing. But for for now, I'm seeing like bigger brands making, making more headway and like you gotta kind of get in where you fit in and hunker down to get through what's happening right now. It's getting a little homogenized, maybe. Um, but I do think we're gonna see it swing back to where people are excited for handcrafted, really cool, unique flavors and and cool concepts. And honestly, maybe uh a healthier way to imbibe. And you've seen the NA situation just booming. So the non-alk is is kind of where it's at right now and functional beverages. So I think it's gonna be all over the map like it has been, but I do think we're gonna kind of swing back.

Speaker: 07:52
On that front, I think in those more recent years, you guys have put a bit more of a focus on. I think you put it when we chatted a few weeks ago in terms of like widening the aperture, is how you put it, and becoming more of a general beverage house. What does this look like? And you know, what what kind of new products are you guys focusing on these days?

Speaker 1: 08:12
Yeah, that that has been something that we've had to work on, to be honest. I mean, um a few even right before COVID hit, actually, it's when we were developing our hard seltzer, that was sort of when Whiteclaw, White Claw was seeing like this huge boom and it was it was new on the scene. And everyone was kind of familiar with like a LaCroix or uh, you know, a seltzer water, but to add that alcohol and flavored component was cool for people to see. And so we sort of jumped on that, um, reverse engineered some stuff and came out with a hell of a spiked snowmelt, craft hard seltzer, as we call it, and it's still thriving to this day. And then just kind of looking around and seeing like the trends in beer and in and out in the Bev Alc space, we were like, all right, well, what else are people doing? And you kind of can't be one trick pony anymore, um, or else people are gonna move on to the next thing. And as a smaller, independent, scrappy or brewery, uh, we don't have a ton of the money that, you know, we can can continue to get eyeballs on the brand. So we have to just figure out ways to get people pumped on us and kind of go where the fish are. So that was where spiked snowmelt was born. And then when we talk about just wanting to kind of be a one-stop shop for people and then all beverage, beverage house, we've introduced some uh non-alcoholic to our line. Um, we like I said, we have the craft hard seltzer spiked snowmelt, which is gluten-free. Um, we also just it kind of came out with this awesome thing called hard your ba mate, which is really fun and has been exciting for the brand. And we also had at one blip in time a ready-to-drink cocktail that was based on our because licensing is what it is, we can't have spirits, or we could, we just don't have the licensing, I suppose. But um we had a beverage that was doing that for us. So yeah, we really have something for everybody. We actually did a campaign around it this summer, and we continue to have that campaign going right now called Trail Mix. So we kind of say, like, this is our trail mix, and whatever your adventure, there's an upslope for that. So, you know, you might not be a big beer drinker, but we've got these other offerings for you. And then on top of it, in our beer lineup, I would, I would argue we really do have something for everybody. At any given time, our beer calendar is pretty stacked. And so, you know, if you like light lagers, we got that. If you like a fruited sour, we've got that. Um, if you want a pumpkin ale or an oatmeal stout in the colder winter months, we've got that. So, yeah, I mean, that was something we had to do just to stay as relevant as possible and give people what they want. You know, we could have just said, you know what? No, we're a craft brewery. And our guys don't and gals don't want to be manufacturing anything like that sugar water, right? That, that, that seltzer. And like, you know what? That that sugar water, that seltzer has done really, really well for us. So I think everyone's pretty pumped that we chose that path to just sort of give people what they wanted.

Speaker: 10:56
That's great. That's awesome. You mentioned the um the Urba Mate product line. Tell me about a bit about this category, what the formulation and kind of production process looks like. And did it take some iteration and tweaking and a fair amount of RD, or is it pretty easy? And yeah, curious what the response from the consumers has been as well.

Speaker 1: 11:16
It's probably easy for me to say it was pretty easy, but our our brewers and RD team um might might disagree. But cool enough, when we made our spiked snowmelt craft hard seltzer, that a lot of times we get asked, like, what's the alcohol? Is it vodka? Is it, you know, and it's like, no, it's actually fermented cane sugar. And that is where that alcohol is coming from. So the fact that we already have that as a base is kind of what led to that RTD that I mentioned a moment ago that we no longer really, really pedal. But now that is what opened the door to like, what else could you do with that base? You know, it's a very clean base from an alcohol perspective, and it it lends itself to a nice note of sweetness, and then flavor profiles do really well with it. So Danny Page is one of our founders, and he's originally from Argentina. So there's where that Yerba mate comes into play. He's always walking around the brewery with his little gourd and the silver straw and pouring his hot water over the pure leaf mate. And anyone who's had the tall yellow can that everyone knows about knows that gets you where you want to go from a caffeine perspective. And it's just a really big part of Danny's culture. Um, and so he was just like, why shouldn't we make one of these as a hard version? And then, of course, everyone's probably familiar with twisted tea. Um, you know, and this is that awesome opportunity to make a craft version that's that's a bit better for you. The ingredients are much more hand-selected and we're discerning with that. It's a unique flavor profile. Ours is made with a lemon as the main flavor. So it's a bit of our like Argentine Arnold Palmer, as we call it.

Speaker: 12:48
Nice.

Speaker 1: 12:49
You can't call it that because that's a brand and a person, but that's our like internal thing that we like to say. But really the the drive behind it was to really put our to put our money where our mouth was about that widening the aperture and being a beverage house. Like, let's try fun stuff. Let's see what people are liking and give people a trade up opportunity from things like twisted tea. You know, just give like if that's already winning, there's gotta be room for a few more people to play in that space.

Speaker: 13:17
Totally.

Speaker 1: 13:18
And the reception's been pretty darn great. We kind of do these pop-up adult like lemonade stands, um, but they're hard Yurba mate, and people get quite a kick out of that. A lot of people don't know how to pronounce it or what the heck we're even talking about. Um, but yourba mate is just the name of that uh South American tea, which has naturally occurring caffeine. Um, so we steep that pure leaf mate and then real lemons and the little sweetener uh back sweetened with sugar. Um, so yeah, I mean it's it's it's doing what we want it to do. It's making people want more in the hot dog days of summer at the beer festivals, and lots of people come into the tap room mid-afternoon for their uh, you know, their pick me up because we work in an our tap room is in an office park, so we have a lot of people like stop by and they're like, I'm just gonna grab a quick hard year mate. There you go. So it's it's been uh it's been well received, and it's a bit of a slow burn because we're a smaller brand and you know, twisted tea is on every commercial during gang days and all that, but this is sort of our answer to that. So people have an opportunity for a craft version.

Speaker: 14:25
Sounds much uh more interesting than twisted tea, I'll say. You t you touched on the uh the hard seltzer a bit too. I think you guys have become like one of the only independent craft seltzer producers in Colorado that's really secured a secured foothold. I imagine that's probably potentially setting the stage and continue to expanding out outside of Colorado with with that product line and you know competing with White Claw and Pineon and whatnot. What have you guys found like has been key to succeeding as an independent operator in the space where others have failed or at least have not seen as much success as Upsplow?

Speaker 1: 14:58
Yeah, to be honest, we are really thrilled to say that we still have our seltzer and it's still going strong. It's sort of the little engine that could. I mean, everyone came out with one and then really like the shakeout was there, and we we maintained our foothold there, and we've got several different offerings of it. We've got one that's got an electrolyte blend in it, which I think was a nice competitive advantage from anything that had been seen at the time. Personally, I think the the secret sauce for us was the liquid. It was a superior product, in my opinion, and obviously the consumers, in that it was lightly carbonated, lightly flavored, real ingredients, unique flavor combinations. And it wasn't leaving you with this gut bomb or like too cloying and sweet. I think the name was really spot on too, calling it spiked snowmelt. I think people were really like, okay, that sounds cool. I know what that might taste like. It gives you a feeling. I think the packaging we nailed right out of the gate, and we did that all in-house. So that was that was fun to take on that project. Yeah, I think ultimately though, the liquid's really doing the talking. It's certainly a David and Goliath story. Anytime you bring up little olub soap and a white claw, right? But the fact that we're hanging tough with our distributors and we are really getting a foothold still in some out-of-state markets, too, is really cool.

Speaker: 16:16
That's great.

Speaker 1: 16:16
So yeah, I think the liquid's been doing the talking for us.

Speaker: 16:19
That's awesome. That's great. Other project I was gonna ask you about, you mentioned it a bit when he shouted a few weeks ago, this hot boosted IPA that you guys launched. Like, yeah, give me the lowdown here, how this idea came about, and yeah, what's the RD formulation process look like on this front?

Speaker 1: 16:34
So that one's super exciting. Honestly, I can't even believe we launched it. Um, I've been at the company for 12 years, and for at least six of those 12 years, our owner would be in our new product development meetings, and he would he would be like, what if we could have like a widget inside of a can that released hops? And everyone's like, Yeah, yeah. Anyway, let's talk about stuff we can do. You know what I mean? Like he was sort of it was sort of a pipe dream of his. Yeah. I mean, he had it on his whiteboard, hop widget, for like six years. And I'll be damned if he didn't figure it out. And we're so excited to be the first brewery and brand in the beverage space to be able to use this technology. So basically, the thought came about when, like, you know, when you open a Guinness out of a can, that's got a little like ping pong ball style widget that when you change the pressure by opening the can releases nitrogen, which gives it that draft pour that on nitrogen you're used to with Guinness. So taking that idea, BevBoost, our owner Matt Cutter, founded Bev Boost also, hence why we get to be the lucky guinea pig to use it first, because we have the same founder. He created with Boulder Engineering Studios a prototype and it's like a little, a little plastic bobber thing, basically. And when you it when you open that can, there's a pinhole that allows it to notice that the pressure has changed and it flings open the top. And so in that chamber, and it's a dual chamber, the inner chamber is holding hop oil extracts in this case. And so as soon as you change that pressure by opening the can, it releases that hop oil, and you're basically getting the freshest IPA possible in a can ever to date. I'm sure people from the Pacific Northwest are very familiar with like a wet hop or a fresh hop. This goes goes above and beyond in delivering the freshest hop experience possible. It also has some neat beyond the freshness and flavor and aroma that it can impart, it actually has a neat uh upside of, you know, extending shelf life, maybe. And that's helpful to retailers and distributors for sure. And it's great for the customer too, because you never, you know, most people aren't checking dates on the bottom of cans like they should. And in the case of this, hops do degrade in like two weeks' time. A really fresh hop is going to be doled over time just by being in that liquid. So it's a pretty cool concept. And we get to be the first to try it. And really, the sky's the limit on that technology. So we're just pumped to be next to it. I mean, anything that you can put in that widget can be expelled into the product as long as it's in like an aqueous based, you know, solution or has uh has a way of infusing. So yeah, you know, you think about like lime in a corona. You think about mint oil in a mojito or THC, CBD, um adaptogens, all sorts of things. So our first foray was like, let's, we're we're a brewery first and foremost, let's do the let's do the beer thing. But I I think the sweet spot has yet to be seen. I think there's all sorts of cool applications for this. So yeah, we're pumped. It just launched in like June, and it's blown our expectations out of the water. I think people are just excited to see something innovative and cool. You know, everyone's seen the Guinness widget, and so this is like a new opportunity, and it's our own proprietary situation for now. And um yeah, people are pumped on that innovative item. I don't think anything this cool has happened since, you know, you've seen like the the mountains turn blue on a course can or the twisted kind of vortex pour, but those aren't changing the experience the way that this one does. So yeah, we are really excited to have something this cool.

Speaker: 20:13
Is anyone else doing this in the in the market in this way?

Speaker 1: 20:16
No, so we're the only brand doing it right now. Um, and BevBoost owns the technology and is now starting to because you basically need the inline filler and dropper to go into your can, it's a two-prong approach. Like you don't just buy this and drop it in your can. You know, it's it's got some um production implications in a big way. So BevBoost is now gonna kind of farm this out to other brands who want to experiment experiment with this. I think they've got the attention of some pretty big brands globally too. So it's just really exciting that we get a chance to to put it to test first.

Speaker: 20:47
Totally.

Speaker 1: 20:48
So hopefully one day, yeah, and hopefully one day you'll see like a boosted cooler door or something, and then that way everything in that door will be, you know, having this technology, but for now it's just us.

Speaker: 21:01
Seemed like it's definitely a trend that could catch on and it could be become like the standard. Shifting gears a bit, um I think like a lot of craft breweries, like upslope, have a few tap houses that customers can visit. Are there any tactics strategies you focus on that help maximize that flywheel to a certain extent? Like customers experiencing the brand at upslope tap houses, then they find themselves buying the brand's product at some other off-premise location and and and vice versa.

Speaker 1: 21:28
Like, yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's no better place to kind of immerse yourself in the brand and understand who we are than at our house, right? At our tap room. So, and it's also pretty common in the biz that on premise drives off, right? Like you're gonna spend six bucks on your beer before you're gonna buy a 12 pack, right? So I think very much so that is the number one most important part of the marketing arm that we have control over a hundred percent. Um, it's where you can really understand a feeling and a And a culture and a vibe. So we don't, for example, for the longest time, we didn't even have access to a television in our tap room because we are that active outdoor lifestyle brand. And we want people to kind of come in and unplug and talk to your neighbor. Talk to the dude that you hear talking about your favorite football team over there and the gal over there talking about whatever, right? So we want people to engage with each other in there and tell their stories of whatever they've done that day. So for the longest time we didn't have that. Now we have like an opportunity to show, you know, a CU football game or a Broncos game or something, just because people finally beat it out of us. But ultimately, it's just, it's the way we leverage that space is just making sure that it tells our story the best way possible and that we're always delivering the best customer service. And the beer is always the freshest that you can possibly find. And just creating that sense of community. That's a big deal for us. Um, we're also a certified B Corp. So getting to know our community is really paramount, being a good steward of the community too. And so hosting bike riding events or river cleanup post parties or even us donating to those if they can't come to us, working with our local mountain, Eldora Mountain Resort up in Ned and making sure that their pre-pass party is happening down at our location. So really just leveraging that the space is there, and you don't need much more than the people and a little bit of the social lubricant to make the magic happen. And I think again, customer service is just paramount down there. And then, you know, when you then go into the on-premise, we have all sorts of uh partners obviously in the accounts when we're sold on tap. And just that's then hopefully another experiential touch point for the customer. The beer should be just as good. Their time should be just as awesome. So yeah, we're just all about that social gathering moment. And then, you know, we have tap room events all the time, right? From a bingo night to an upcoming dogapalooza, and we've got a backcountry tap room that we do that's not actually on site, but then gets to be put up on a mountaintop in the winter park area. So we really just try to expand the touch points for that experiential feeling.

Speaker: 24:10
Yeah, totally. On that front, especially focusing on the experiential stuff, which I know is a big focus of yours. What have been the cool core tools in your tool belt over the past two years as being a more you know scrappy craft brewery? And and what have you found can be the lowest lift, but potentially have the highest impact?

Speaker 1: 24:32
Oh man, I would say partners, community and partners, that has been huge. I mean, right when I started, that was already something Upslope was doing really well, which I thought was really cool. So, you know, outdoor partners, again, if you're saying that you're into skiing and climbing and all of the outdoor things that people and music also, we wanted to get next to that stuff, you know, in an authentic way. And pretty much everyone that we work with is similar to us. We all live in Colorado and we have a lot of the same interests and hobbies. And so it was just so authentic and natural to amplify the brand and the message for both people. The fit was there. You know, we don't just work with anybody, but luckily we you can just find someone that's like you in this state with just turning around. You know, everyone's really kind of here for the same reasons. And so I would say partners just hands down has been helpful to amplify the message and get people aware. And we're all about liquid delipes, right? Half the breweries in the state would claim that they're the active outdoor lifestyle brewery, right? So, I mean, how do you maintain authenticity in that? And it's not that hard because you you don't have to fake it in our case, you know, you just sort of you get with the right people, and that that's just the magic happens there. Um, and then you've got all those word of mouth kind of brand ambassadors that are that are there to be like, oh, you guys should work with upslope. They're awesome. They they gave a bunch of uh beard of my climbing competition, or I did a river cleanup with Leave No Trace, and and I I got a bunch of craft logger at the end, and it was what you know what I looked forward to the most. And we also used to work with um Trout Unlimited. Um, we've worked with Protect Our Winters, Leave No Trace. We've worked with super, super small local nonprofits with kids programming and done all sorts of like cleanups, trail building, all of that. So I would say that's been a huge deal for us. Other just like low, low lift, high reward things would be engaging with the partners that we have that aren't necessarily the like the community side, but like the real business side of it. Like I work on sponsorships all the time. So you're talking about mountain resorts. I mean, they're partners too, but they're they're kind of that's not a low lift, you know. That takes money and energy and and lots of marketing coordination with the teams. But I think then you're once you've established it, you're plug and play. So you're talking music fests or mountain resorts or venues are very are very impactful for us. And once you've got that turned on, it doesn't take a whole lot to turn up the volume usually. So I would say that's really impactful too. What else? Yeah, I mean, the tap rooms again, super awesome.

Speaker: 27:11
Yeah, totally.

Speaker 1: 27:12
And brand ambassadors too. I think you and I talked like our packaging is pretty darn simple. And in fact, it has not changed from a can perspective since I've been there, which is not a normal thing for somebody to say in 12 years, especially in a competitive industry like I'm in. But I think that that's actually worked to our advantage, that it stayed so simple and true to what it who we are and what it ever was, is we're just not trying to be someone we're not, you know? I think customers kind of sniff that out. And there's something to be said about the simplicity and the approachability. Because man, you talk about the roller coaster ride that craft has been on. There was a time where it could be a little off-putting or pretentious for people because they didn't know, like it was getting kind of like wine, you know, and and it's super nuanced, not saying it's not, but I think ultimately that can be scary for people if they're like, well, I don't taste those notes that you're talking about, or I don't know what the yeast is doing to this particular one or the hops. And so I think for us it's always been no pretense, kind of check your ego at the door, come as you are, and we've got something for everybody. And also not to be too aspirational either with the outdoorsiness. So that can be off-putting too, I think. And no, we're not expecting you to climb a 14er, which is, you know, the mountains at 14,000 feet for anyone listening who who wouldn't know that. But yeah, we don't expect you to be like the craziest rock climber on earth. I mean, whatever your small victories and adventures are, like we we have an a beer for you and um think that it should be celebrated. So I think that's yeah, that's we've been true to ourselves and making sure people feel welcome. And then when they have that positive experience, that they can they can replicate it in their own setting when they then go get into the off-prim, which I think is that's what's kept me there for so long. It's just it's what you see is what you get, and it's always really, really good beer. So and a great experience.

Speaker: 29:06
No, it makes a lot of sense. If you were starting a new brand in this, let's just say broader craft brewery space, and this could be my first question is like what category would you focus on? You know, whether it'd be beer, cider, seltzer, maybe you'd start a craft brewery, just focus on hard gear bremate. Yeah, like what category would you would you focus on? And maybe and maybe it'd be a kind of what you guys are doing now, which is a general beverage house.

Speaker 1: 29:31
But that's a tough one, honestly. Like, I could take that a few different ways. Like, if it's if you're talking about personally, but if I wanted to be the most successful in my business and in my craft, I would probably try to keep a diversified lineup because again, I personally love that about upslope and I myself, like I just I want to be as inclusive as possible. Like, you know, come as you are, like I said. And so whatever you're coming to the table with in terms of your interests, I would like to be able to kind of satisfy that. So yeah, I mean, in a perfect world, you would you would hone in on a craft and just be the best at that one thing. But I do think there's something to be said about keeping your keeping the variety as the spice of life vibe. So I think I would probably stay a little bit how upslope has. Like some do some do a few styles of beer, fantastic. We haven't done a cider, so that's kind of a cool idea. And ciders are kind of seeing a little pop right now. So yeah, I think I would keep it open.

Speaker: 30:28
I think that makes sense. Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, you definitely know the space, the space very well. Just taking a bit of a step back, you know, outside of this craft brewery space. I know you just know CPG pretty well. Like any brands or just trends in the CPG space in general that you've been tracking or particularly excited about lately.

Speaker 1: 30:47
Man, that that's a super tough one. I am just fascinated anytime I go into a grocery store and just see what new stuff is hitting a shelf and what new tactics people are trying. And I think it's a fun space ultimately in general. Nothing's like hitting me on the top of the head right now. I will say one thing that was the craziest thing I had seen recently, which is pretty perfect because it's in line with the hot boosted IPA, is this uh beverage called Karma Water. I don't know if you're familiar with that, but effectively it looks like a regular bottle of water. And it's this is not a bottle of water. This is my water bottle, but it's got like a plastic chunk at the top that's got powder in it. So it'll have like a vitamin blend or electrolyte or whatever that's good for you, right? It's a functional beverage. And this little piece at the top, you just push down on it and it integrates into your water bottle, which is really wild to me because it was coming, it was brought to my attention as we were coming online pretty soon with the hop boosted. And I was like, wow, that's a really similar concept in that you're at the time of consumption is when you're getting the freshest benefit, right? So I thought that was really cool. I had not seen that. And, you know, how do you reinvent the wheel with water, right? And someone just did. So I think that's really cool. I think mostly I, as someone in marketing, I mean, I find myself wearing a ton of different hats at the brewery, but I'm technically our marketing director. So I obviously do pay attention to packaging formats and design. So being that we haven't had a lot of crazy times experimenting with our art, I think that catches my eye quite a bit, not just in the beer space. I just think it's fun to see what people do. Um, I mean, even like Lay's potato chips, they do such cool things with flavor profiles, like weird combinations that you wouldn't think of. And, you know, they're finding ways to reinvent themselves and and have me talking about them, you know, and they have like a sriracha something or other, but then they have weird stuff that's like dill pickle, but it gets even weirder than that. And then they have contests that involve their their fan base, and then you get to vote and all that. So I think stuff like that's really fun to like look at an entire CPG scenario and then try to take what you see working in some some other area for yourself is is fun. But yeah, there's some crazy stuff. I'm sort of blanking on what they've been, but like it's just insane. Oh, I mean, you know, there was like a mustard beer at one point with Heinz, and there's been like a hot dog thing with Oscar Meyer. I mean, it's just some of it's just funny and silly, and just to get your attention to talk about it. But yeah, we we did one that was I think our packaging crew did like a spaghetti western kind of name of the beer, but there was like actual notes from like the Italian, you know, fair, and I was like, that's an that's an odd one, but sometimes the craziest things work.

Speaker: 33:46
Yeah, I agree. I totally agree. Well, yeah, Kate, this has been awesome. What's the um what's the best place for people to to follow along with you and all your expertise in the space, and best place for people to follow along with Upslope as well?

Speaker 1: 34:01
I would say LinkedIn for me, but you should just follow Upslope because it's a lot more interesting. So yeah, so Upslope on Instagram uh and Facebook are really where we're primarily active. But yeah, that's where we'll keep you informed on new beer releases, fun stuff at the tap room, or backcountry tap room that's coming up in September. And then, you know, we'll geo target to some of those the eight states that I was talking about. So yeah, following us on social is a great way to keep up with the brew news.

Speaker: 34:29
Awesome. Well, Kate, this has been great. Really appreciate the time.

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