Harry Schuhmacher from Beer Business Daily will keynote the 11th annual Beer Now Conference, to be held November 10 – 14 in Austin, Texas.
Harry is Editor & Publisher of Beer Business Daily, Craft Business Daily, and Wine & Spirits Daily. He has worked in the beer business for over 30 years in a variety of positions and has published Beer Business Daily for over twenty years. In addition, he is the producer of the Beer Industry Summit and the Wine & Spirits Summit. Harry is often quoted as a beer industry expert in national publications such as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg.
We snagged a few precious minutes of Harry’s time to have him answer these questions:
Is Beer Business Daily primarily for large brewers or does it also affect smaller craft brewers?
We cover the entire U.S. beer business, large and smaller brewers alike, although I would say we skew our coverage more toward the larger brewers, importers, and distributors compared to other trade pubs.
Famous people in the beer world have you interviewed or had a beer with?
So many …. Michael Jackson, Harry Jersig, August Busch III & IV, Bill Coors, Jim Koch, Ken Grossman, Carlos Brito, Michel de Carvalho, the viscount Philippe de Spoelberch, and of course, Phil Rosse. As far as famous people beyond beer, I never let my sons forget I met Jon Bon Jovi once for a beer (who gave me great writing advice, “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus”), and I once drove a beer truck onto a beach in Australia for a party put on by Sean Penn and Nick Nolte. (Yes, of course it got stuck).
What is your take on the current state of beer media?
Beer media has never been more robust than it is now. So many free and paid publications to choose from, excellent engaged writers, and opinions from every angle. I’d say beer media is in it’s golden age.
Are beer bloggers relevant to the industry?
They always have been, and I would submit they’re even more relevant now as craft beer demand softens and people are actively looking for opinions to separate the grains from the mash. Beer has always been a very social beverage that people don’t just consume, but talk about and read about, and beer bloggers open the door to new experiences for novice and experienced beer drinkers alike.
Why do you want to speak at the Beer Now conference?
I most often speak at distributor conferences or at brewery sales meetings and the like, so I think it’d be cool to hang out and break bread with fellow beer writers, creative folks, and influencers for a change.
