Beth Demmon

Monthly column in Good Beer Hunting: Commentary, musings, and hot takes from San Diego-based contributor Beth Demmon.

“It’s very American to have our identities completely driven by our professions,” says Julia Herz.
Herz is both familiar with the concept as well as representative of it. For over 16 years, she was an integral part of the Brewers Association, and for 13 of those years, she served as the face of its craft beer programming. Her responsibilities included writing and publishing content for CraftBeer.com, helping update bylaws and codes like the 2017 Marketing and Advertising Code, presenting at n...

Every time I walk into a public bathroom with my autistic, preschool-aged son, I instinctively do a visual sweep. Are there paper towel dispensers, or do they have air dryers? Does the toilet flush automatically or manually? Is there anyone in a stall who might flush unexpectedly, which may trigger him to have an unpleasant sensory reaction?
If there are any air dryers or automatic flush mechanisms, I know what comes next. My son will reflexively cover his ears, prompting me to help him use t...

“I feel like our society is conditioned to know that women get abused, and we’re all just kind of okay with it because we’re expecting it.” A deep dive into the mental, emotional, financial, and physical toll many women pay to simply participate in the craft beer industry.

Brienne Allan became a household name in the beer industry last year, when she inadvertently sparked a reckoning against sexism in beer that quickly went global. Her face and words were featured everywhere from Imbibe to the Boston Globe, Eater, right here at Good Beer Hunting, and her Brave Noise initiative with Ash Eliot was named Brewbound’s Cause of the Year for 2021.
But now that nearly a year has gone by, what’s changed? For starters, Brienne left her home at Notch Brewing in Salem, Mas...

At the end of every year, it’s common for publications to put together roundups of notable people who’ve made their mark: who you should read, who you should listen to, who you should follow on social media, and so on. And every year, while those mentioned absolutely merit recognition for their work, some people also deserving of attention inevitably get missed. Any list covering the craft beer industry that doesn’t i...

A secret weapon that nearly all writers keep in their back pocket is the knowledge that if you stay quiet and let another person speak, they’ll almost always fill the silence—often with more information than originally sought or would otherwise have been offered.
After nearly eight years as a freelance writer, I’ve gotten used to people opening up to me about their projects, ambitions, backgrounds, and goals. In fact, the vast majority of what people tell me ends up being extraneous i...

How many times have you heard some version of the phrase “beer brings people together?” We get it: eating and drinking with others is an ancient and deeply human way to connect with our communities, and beer plays a huge role in that. It’s such a foundational idea that gets thrown around so much that honestly, I’ve sort of forgotten it means anything.
But after talking with Trevor Nearburg, owner and brewer at Beerburg Brewing in Austin, Texas, it’s the first time in a long time that the conc...

The latest beer news, product developments, and what constitutes a “five-alarm fire” for distributors—at least, according to distributors.
It’s all here in The Gist, a new Good Beer Hunting podcast with Kate Bernot and Beth Demmon, where you’ll get a breakdown of why the latest happenings in beer matter and the context around it all.
This bite-sized show gives listeners quick, quippy, and expert insight into the big stories happening in the U.S. beer scene and beyond. Join Beth and Kate every...

Ready to hear about why the Federal Trade Commission is not happy with Total Wine, what’s selling and what’s stalling at convenience stores right now, and whether we’re headed for an NA beer bubble? Keep listening—it’s time for The Gist with Kate Bernot and me, Beth Demmon.

It’s a new week and that means new drama, news, and more on this episode of The Gist, with Kate Bernot and me, Beth Demmon. We bring you the latest beer world news with all the context—and the tea—you need to know on what’s happening right now. This is the Gist.

2023 is drawing to a close, so it’s time to take a look back at the year to see what happened, what’s happening, and what might happen in the coming months. This is the Gist with Kate Bernot and me, Beth Demmon, where we examine the biggest stories happening in beer and beyond so you know everything you need to know. It’s time for The Gist.
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The GBH podcast is devoted to using craft beer as a bridge between other types of b...

It’s a new year and things are already shaking up in the beer world, first with Asahi’s entry into brewing in the United States, plus Coca-Cola subsidiary Red Tree’s big plans for 2024. Looking outside of beer, Kate and I preview what Sightlines has planned for CiderCon, the annual cider industry conference kicking off January 16, 2024 in Portland, Oregon. Keep listening for all that and more, right here on The Gist.
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The G...