🎙️Welcome to episode twenty-three of Liquid Liner Notes! On this episode I chat with Ray Stout, the executive director of the Illinois Craft Brewer’s Guild.

The Guild is a non-profit trade union representing Illinois’ craft brewers since 1997. Ray (@JustRayIV) has been the executive director since November 2021.

First we get to know Ray’s professional background before his time at the Guild. Then we talk about the Guild’s structure, including the different memberships.

The Guild’s main focuses are Promotion, Advocacy, and Education. Ray and I discuss each in detail.

Some things we discuss for Promotion are the different events held, including Illinois Craft Beer Week (@ILCraftBeerWeek) and the upcoming Festival of Barrel Aged Beers (@FoBAB) that is November 7th & 8th this year. We also discuss their partnership with the @IllinoisBrewing Magazine that is released quarterly - physically and digitally.

Advocacy may be my favorite thing we discussed. We discuss the Guild’s legislative work at the local, state, and Federal levels. These initiative include increasing self-distro abilities and modernizing beer laws in Illinois. We also discuss the increasing prevalence of canibus and Hemp derived beverages in the industry, and some of the legal hurdles that exist.

The Guild also does a lot of work to increase diversity in the industry via the workforce and consumer. This includes their Diversity in Brewing Scholarship in partnership with the @SiebelInstitute.

Finally we discuss some of the concerns facing the industry, and end on what excites Ray for the future of Illinois beer, and what the Guild has coming up.

You can find the Illinois Craft Brewer’s Guild on Instagram at @ILCraftBeer and online at https://www.illinoisbeer.org.