Hey Reader,
If I had a dollar for every beverage brand founder who’s asked me about AI in the last 90 days…I probably wouldn't be emailing you today.
AI has officially entered the beverage industry group chat.
I recently taught a full session on how to use AI as a craft beverage owner/operator inside the Barrel 2 Business Collective (its worth the replay, click here to join) and I'm tackling this at an upcoming panel discussion at the NY State Craft Brewers Conference. And my inbox? Flooded with AI questions.
Some of you are excited.
Some of you are skeptical.
Most of you are equal parts fascinated and terrified.
Which is fair.
The shortest version I can give you is this:
AI is going to make your brain explode over the next 6–12 months - in a multitude of ways, including the beverage space. If you think it’s not applicable to beer, cider, spirits, THC bevs, kombucha, mead or N/A… I need you to lovingly step out of denial.
This isn’t a Silicon Valley tech bro situation. This is a societal evolution situation.
And yeah — it scares people. It's scary because it feels big and fast and slightly dystopian. It scares me because I’m already on the struggle bus...
Last year I did 87 discovery calls with beverage brands. Eight became clients. The rest? “Don’t have the money.” Or… ghosted me completely. (Not cool, by the way. You reached out to me. At least send a girl a breakup text.) Is it just the state of the industry or are beverage brands using AI more instead of human experts? Cue anxiety.
So yes. As a consultant, I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought:
“Well… what happens when founders just ask AI instead of hiring me?”
But here’s the truth:
AI can give you information and it can help you optimize things.
It cannot give you experience, judgment, emotion, empathy or industry nuance.
Yay! I'm still in the game. And if you use AI correctly? It can actually make you sharper. But you still need some level of human influence. So while it can't fix consumer drinking preferences or industry dips, it can help you optimize your business (and mine).
Remember how we all thought Y2K was going to end civilization? (Gen Z - ask your parents)
We survived. We adapted. We learned how to use the internet instead of fear it. Same energy.
So let’s make this practical.
Here are some ways craft beverage brands can use AI at a starter level:
- Analyze a list customer reviews to discover ways to improve or new sales opportunities
- Quickly assist with measurement conversions or scaling up recipes (just double check the math folks)
- Brainstorm event activation ideas
- Create SOPs for training or onboarding - organize your thoughts into checklists
- Help write that diplomatic email response to someone who has pissed you off, but you don't want to ruin the relationship
- Organize marketing ideas into a punch list of content that you need to create
- Build brand training cards or cheat sheets for distributor reps or retail staff
AI is a tool. Not a replacement for thinking. AI is like a filter you use back of house. It can clarify and refine the product, but you still have to make the liquid that goes into it.
Now— red flags. Because with great power comes great responsibility. 🕷️
🚩 Don’t paste confidential financials or contracts into random AI tools.
Understand privacy settings. Protect your numbers like your life depends on it. Because it does.
🚩 Don’t copy/paste AI output blindly.
It hallucinates. Yes, that’s the real term. Always fact-check and edit.
🚩 Don’t let it replace your brand voice.
Generic in = generic out. Your brand already risks blending in. BTW customers know.
🚩 Don’t assume it understands three-tier, compliance, franchise law, or sales strategy.
It doesn’t live in your market. You do. And our industry is fairly nuanced.
🚩 Don’t use it to avoid learning your numbers.
If you’re outsourcing thinking, you’re outsourcing control.
🚩 And do not use it to generate media content and claim it as your own.
We’re talking label art, packaging design, brand illustrations, videos, social graphics, etc.
A lot of open AI tools scrape from working artists without consent. That’s not innovation — that’s theft. If you’re going to use AI in creative production, stick to paid platforms that use licensed content or transparent creative libraries. Protect your industry karma.
And here’s the quote you’ve probably already seen floating around the internet already and is oh so relevant to this conversation:
AI is not going to take your job.
The people who know how to use AI will.
That applies to everyone in the beverage industry, but also to folks like myself (service providers).
You can ignore it. You can fear it. Or you can learn how to leverage it and get ahead while everyone else is still arguing in Facebook groups about whether the em dashes in your social media caption is Chat GPT or a human (that's a fallacy BTW, #JusticeForEmDashes).
Your call. For me, I think it makes me an even better consultant, so I'm in.
Hang in there—you’ve got this (see? human using em dashes),
Julie
P.S. If you want to talk shop in person (or watch me go full beverage-nerd on stage), here’s where I’ll be speaking soon:
P.P.S. I also teach AI extensively inside my consulting work because this isn’t optional anymore. If you want to move forward in this new market landscape instead of getting left behind, book a call with me. My pricing is transparent. My advice is direct. And I will absolutely tell you what you actually need to hear.
Are you tuned in yet? I have a podcast!
If you enjoy tough love for your business and you actually read these emails, then you'll love the podcast. Bite sized episodes that pack a big punch. You can catch up on all episodes here or click those cute buttons below. You can also search for This Is Not Your Hobby wherever you get your podcasts. Have a Bottleneck for me to tackle on an upcoming episode? Submit your anonymous gripes and beverage business issues here.
