From Brewhouse to Beverage House: Scaling into New Product Categories

In today’s competitive market, simply producing high-quality beer is often no longer enough to secure sustained growth. Many forward-thinking breweries are strategically diversifying their product portfolios, expanding into high-growth categories such as hard cider, spirits, wine, RTDs, can cannabevs.

While this expansion opens up exciting new revenue streams, it simultaneously introduces a new set of operational, financial, and regulatory challenges. The question for many producers is: where do we even begin?

Industry experts Alex and Aaron with lead a discussion focused on demystifying the diversification process and will guide attendees through the critical considerations required when integrating an entirely new product line into an established brewery operation.

The session with specifically focus on how production software, like Ollie and Ekos, can act as the cornerstone for a successful transition. We’ll focus on key areas such as streamlining procurement for new ingredients and packaging, adapting the production process, ensuring financial accuracy, and managing sales efficiency.

Don’t let complexity slow your growth. Learn how to successfully expand your portfolio while maintaining efficiency and compliance.

Alex was born & raised in North Carolina. He is an alumni of Grimsley High School and UNC-Wilmington, and currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is a former swimmer and grilling enthusiast. His first craft beer was Natty Green’s Freedom IPA, and North Carolina beer holds a special place in his heart. Alex has spent 9 years with Next Glass, and currently is a Solutions Consultant supporting the Producer Solutions team. While coming from outside of industry initially, Alex brings valuable experience after thousands of conversations with brewery owners around the world.

Aaron Keefner is happily approaching his 14th year in the craft beer industry, having started out in marketing with Goose Island in early 2012. He eventually moved to an operations role in wholesale support in order to gain experience on both the production/operations side, as well as the knowledge already obtained via marketing/sales. After 5.5 years he found himself at Revolution Brewing running their specialty beer program, including their celebrated Deep Wood barrel-aged program, as well as spearheading the rollout of their small batch program. In 2019 he assumed the role of Executive Director of Brewery Operations with More Brewing Company helping them expand and open their production facility in Huntley, IL and planning of a 3rd facility in Bartlett, IL. With his leadership, More was able to weather the storm of the pandemic and grow 600% in a span of just under 3 years. At the end of 2022, Aaron assumed his current role as a Solutions Consultant with Next Glass, serving as a product expert on Ollie & Ekos, ERP/CRM softwares for beverage production.

Join us in person for CBP Connects Chicago

June 15-17, 2026

Come get inspired, leave with actionable strategies: https://cbpconnects.com/