'The ultimate barrel broker': MWBC interviewed on WGN Radio
Tim Weideman
Midwest Barrel Co. founders and co-owners Ben and Jess Loseke had the awesome opportunity to be featured in a segment on WGN Radio in Chicago in July.
With some of our top brewery partners located in and around Chicagoland, Ben and Jess jumped at the chance to share more with host Phil Manicki about the history of MWBC, what exactly a barrel broker does and the inside story of how Barrel Ben’s love for selling anything and everything – combined with his Ph.D. in viticulture (science of growing grapes) – turned into a business that sells used wine and whiskey/bourbon barrels for both barrel-aging and decor or furniture.
“It all started with wine barrels. Since I knew all the winery owners and winemakers in the state and even in the adjacent states like Missouri and Iowa, wine barrels made sense to me. I understood the process. I thought that wineries would be buying barrels from me rather than buying new barrels, but that’s not really how it turned out. Rather, craft breweries started buying the barrels.” - Barrel Ben
Listen to the full interview.
