Ep. 53: Brian O’Connell – Founder of Renegade Brewing Company

Brian O'Connell, founder of Renegade Brewing, is the guest on Ep. 53 of the Jon of All Trades Podcast, debuting March 25, 2015. — Brian O’Connell, founder of Renegade Brewing, is the guest on Ep. 53 of the Jon of All Trades Podcast, debuting March 25, 2015.

Brian O’Connell is the founder of Renegade Brewing Company. It’s a return of sorts since Brian was nice enough to let us feature his company in Episode 15 of the podcast, but this time we go even deeper into the craft beer industry with one of its most outspoken voices. When you call your company Renegade Brewing, you’re not afraid to make your voice heard, and that’s exactly what Brian has done. You’ll find Brian opining on a lot of issues pertinent both to the craft beer industry, and to small business in general.

He’s here taking on social media trolls. He’s here reminding sloppy drunks everywhere that St. Patrick’s Day used to mean more than vomiting green beer like a boorish jackass, and inviting you to celebrate responsibly. And, most notably, he’s here taking that absurd Budweiser ad from the Super Bowl to task and weighing in on the trends that come with craft beer’s remarkable growth. Brian O’Connell is speaking his mind, and it’s one of the reasons I was excited to feature him on the show. He weighs in on all of this and more – including the potential ill effects of allowing full strength beer sales in grocery and convenience stores, how to maintain the spirit of collaboration as competition among craft brewers grows, and what styles might be coming out of Renegade next.

It’s a fantastically insightful chat with a hard-working, opinionated, passionate dude. I adore Renegade Brewing, and I feel privileged to feature them on the podcast once again.

Plugs!

* This episode is airing smack in the middle of Colorado Craft Beer Week, so be sure to get thee about town and drink some of Colorado’s finest.

* First among equals, of course, is to frequent Renegade Brewing’s Facebook page and check out what’s going on in their taproom, what events they have coming up, and how you can schedule a tour of their new production facility.

* I’m compelled to acknowledge the work of the Welcome to Denver Podcast, as they also featured Brian O’Connell recently. It’s an entertaining episode, which I made sure to listen to before I sat down with Brian so I could do a different interview. I think I succeeded.

* Like my little old podcast on Facebook, and follow it on Twitter.

* You can download the show on iTunes, or stream it on Stitcher. If you do, please take a few moments and give us a rating and a review. I’ll buy you a beer if you do. Seriously. Just show me that you did, and then meet me at Renegade Brewing. First beer is on me.

Enjoy the show.