Hey, I’m Sam J Cruz, one of the co-owners at Against The Grain. I am the Chief Marketer (fancy for top level management of marketing and sales), as well as point man for our business development. I spend most of my time vetting new business concepts and pursuing those that make sense. I am also a regular customer at all of our places, so I’m the “not-so-secret” shopper.

Against The Grain is a multifaceted company. We are a restaurant group. We currently operate two brewpub locations that are different food concepts, and are in the process of conceptualizing the next brewpub location. In addition to that, we also operate a couple of bar/ venue concepts, while also having a partnership and licensing agreement for an Against The Grain brewpub location in Ishigaki, Okinawa, Japan.  

As for our history, we were established on October 2, 2011; our average bbl production over the last 5 years has been in the range of 7,500–10k bbls. We currently have distribution in 26 states, with the majority of that being sold in Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee. We also do semi-annual exports to a variety of international locations around the world. We are most known for our flagship double IPA called Citra Ass Down. It’s a full flavored DIPA with big citrus flavors and aromas, but balanced out with a strong malt profile. That being said, we have been well regarded as a quality producer since the outset of our company. So there are many brands that stand out, not only for the quality of the liquid, but also our unique and irreverent branding. (re: the Brown Note! lol)

I do… we all do in our company. We are doing a lot these days. A typical day for me starts with a strong cup of coffee and a deep dive into my email. I think the most important part of my job (and likely all of our leadership team) is to be clear, concise and communicative. I personally get an onslaught of emails daily ranging in the 100’s. So I tackle those and then head into the city to check in at each location. Since each space has its own vibe and brand elements, it’s my job to guard the sanctity of the ATG mission and core values, while also helping guide the company to profitability with sound strategy and operations. The most important daily activity I share with my partners would be the daily check-ins with each location’s management, and our marketing and sales team. I’m interfacing with each leader within those departments to make sure they have the necessary tools to execute their responsibilities to the fullest. Lastly, and likely the least glamorous, sometimes things are broken or need built/installed, etc… this is where you may find me on any given day. I’m definitely not above fixing a broken toilet!

We have a pretty robust creative team actually. While I sit at the head of the table, I would attribute the management of our creative to my newly-hired marketing director Jesse Valenciana. Jesse has extensive experience in the industry and is a very analytical, yet creative thinker. We have also recently added a social media and content coordinator, Nick Tehrani. I call him Nickaroni. Nick is just getting started, but if his past work speaks for expectations… we have great things in store for the digital world. Couple these great guys’ work and ability with our partnerships in all things digital with Craft Peak and Louder Than Digital and we have quite a pointed, and loud voice out there. I would also be remiss not to mention this point—our company has an ethos that we will appreciate each and every one of our team members’ ideas. Because of this, we have been fortunate to have some really creative people bring concepts to us to execute.

To me the most important thing is intention. With every brand, there is intention in the product and story. This has been instrumental in a seamless workflow with graphic production and storytelling. Typically we start with a name for the product. Once that is established the product is defined by my partners and I as a set of characteristics for the beer. Once we hit that point, I have a questionnaire that we fill out. This questionnaire was developed over time by myself and the primary designer we use for the illustration on the cans. In addition to the questionnaire, we created a brand standard that structures the label architecture, as well as a system that dictates the design direction. 

Without spending hours explaining each nuance, it comes down to the type of beer being made will dictate the character and characteristics of each of the designs on the label. Once we have all those directions established, our designer has freedom within the parameters to create. It works well. Then the come to market strategy is built out of our brand identity, cultural events affecting the market and the place we want the brand to live within the portfolio. 

I can only echo the intention of the product again. We have spent a lot of time navigating the market to make sure we are speaking to those that hear what we say. I think knowing your audience is the absolute most important thing our team does. We look at it as the bread and butter for all that we do. Certainly it makes sense that those who drink craft beer will be the broad audience for us. But with an industry that has exploded from 2k brewers in the US when we opened, to now around 10k brewers—it’s exceedingly important that we do not waste our resources trying to reach folks who would not identify with our brand or products. So we work diligently to know our audience and if necessary evolve with them or to include others. 

I once got a late night email from a disgruntled person about the Brown Note. In a nutshell he sent a death threat, but also mentioned he would like to piss on my grave. I didn’t take it all that seriously, it seemed like an inebriated message and I thought it was kinda funny that my company had moved this guy so emotionally. We have an apartment in his drunk brain.

We entered the Louisville market at the right time for the growth of our industry. There were a handful of breweries making some decent beer. But not a lot of experimentation. We brought that to the table, as well as a modernized approach to marketing. We utilized social media out of the gate, we put on events out of the gate, and most importantly we align ourselves with a myriad of different industries to show that craft beer is more than aficionado’s drinking weird beer… but also that it aligned with the food industry, philanthropy, and community.  

This was our internal innovation guide. We are artists at some level and the desire to create really drives the joy we get in this project. So we created the categories as a way to allow us the space to create/innovate, but also as a guide for our customers to safely choose what they want, but also it forced them to expand on their understanding of beer and all its beautiful nuance. In addition to that, when we began packaging, it allowed us to use the categories to characterize the beers and create visual representations of the brands that while different, still shared cohesion and similarity to keep our customers engaged, while also fulfilling the need for consistency for them. 

Like many other businesses, we suffered a significant loss in revenue that was crippling. I would say the first 3 months of the crisis, we were pretty concerned that the world was gonna end… read that the economy would tank. But as time went on, we wrapped our minds around the stark reality that we might need to rebuild the company in a different way to accommodate the new world. In all of it, we had 99% complete corporate turnover as well. With all that happening and the realization that the status quo was gone, we began to reshape our company in every way. We really are a different organization now. We have new leaders, new processes, new policies and we have diversified our brand to include the operation of small and mid-sized music venues. All in all, we put our head together and decided we would come out of this extremely challenging time looking for opportunities and ways to expand our company, while securing it from other uncertainties. I’m proud to say that I have never been so excited about the direction we are headed. I think we are leaner, stronger in every way and positioned to grow rapidly, but intelligently. These are great times!

I like anecdotal stuff. But I’m read up on some technical books about beer. For the guy who is interested in production of beer in layman’s terms, I recommend Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. It’s a fantastic guide to understanding the nuts and bolts of beer production without the need to be a scientist. 

But the most fun book I’ve read would be Brewing Up a Business by Sam Calgione. It’s pretty anecdotal and fun.  I’ve met Sam a few times and the book seems so genuine with regards to who he is—I like that.

Aside from that, I am a subscriber to Beer Business Daily. It’s a daily newsletter that highlights high level happenings in the industry that I find can be distilled down for my business. I think it’s fun to know what’s going on up on Mount Olympus and see how it affects us mortals. Lol. 

We are highly committed to supporting our local economy and ensuring that businesses and products that highlight the beauty and grace of our city remain. So we have been expanding our business to include sandwich shops that occupy key real estate in Louisville, which will drive business into the once vibrant and now returning vibrance of our downtown area. We are committed to our expansion into the music event space in our city. We feel like music is a natural extension of our brand and identifies with our audience as much as beer. Also, we are putting more energy and resources into our philanthropic activities to be more pointed and effective. Again, our community matters and we want to ensure it is healthy and whole. 

Thank you! Cheers!