Video interview: Fat Heads Brewery’s lead cellarman takes us behind the scenes

We traveled to Fat Heads Brewery in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, to kick off our CBB on the Scene video series. The goal of the series is to understand how a variety of breweries of different shapes and sizes are approaching business in one saturated market. You can check out that first interview with Bill Wetmore, director of sales and marketing, for Fat Heads, right here for some great insight into Fat Heads sales, marketing and branding strategies.

But hey, the beers were flowing, we had those great chairs set up in the barrel room, so why not record another interview? This time we wanted to chat with Fat Heads lead cellarman Joe Sherwood about what’s specifically going on behind the scenes with Fat Heads beer. In the video above you’ll get some insight into the Fat Heads brewing philosophy. Sherwood also addressed our main question of how an established regional like Fat Heads can keep growing in this competitive market.

“Fat Heads has been around for a while, and it helped bring the whole West Coast IPA thing to Ohio,” he said. “I think our goal now is to stay out in front of that. What can we bring next or ride the next wave on? Trying to be innovative and see what people want to drink and what do they not know they want to drink?”

I like the way he phrased that last question — basically, they’re not just chasing trends, but brewing the beer they want their brand to stand behind and if anything starting their own trends.