About this episode
Allagash Brewing will celebrate its 30th anniversary this summer, and founder Rob Tod knows where he'll be and what he'll be drinking on the brewery's birthday, July 1 – an Allagash White at the Great Lost Bear, the taphouse that served the first pint of White in Portland, Maine. "I remember it like it was yesterday. That was our very first draftline," Tod tells Brewbound managing editor Jess Infante on the latest episode of the Brewbound Podcast. "I shipped eight kegs of Allagash White to Nappi Distributors on June 29, and July 1 I worked at the brewery all day and my plan was to head down to the Bear where I knew it was going on tap at 5 o'clock, and just hang out for a few hours and having a bunch of beers. "I thought, my work's going to be done. I've spent a year building the brewery. I've written this recipe, I've brewed the beer. I'm kind of all done," he continued. Tod had a pint with the Bear's owners and was happy with it. He had a second pint and a realization hit him: "I've got to get back to work." "I got in my car and I drove right back to the brewery and kept working on whatever I was working on at the time just continuing to build and piece the brewery together," Tod said. "I've always felt like the work isn't done." In the conversation, Tod Tod discusses growing Allagash into the 15th largest Brewers Association-defined craft brewery by volume. He also explains what Allagash is looking for in distributor partners, how much capacity his brewery has left for expansion and why the brewery pulled back in the early 2000s. "We've really optimized how we can support a market, whether it's a really close local market like Boston or Minnesota, Colorado or even Los Angeles," Tod explained. "We really do feel like we've got a strong, competitive go-to-market plan and that we can do a really solid, optimized job supporting our distributor partners." Tod taps into Allagash's innovation approach that checks the boxes of "balanced, drinkability, complexity and authenticity" and how the launches of a lager, hazy IPA and variety pack feed into those pillars. Plus, the Brewbound team recaps the latest headlines and plays Another Round or Tabbing Out on Minute Maid Spiked's foray into lemonade, pink and otherwise.