More Monkey Business! The Incremental Moves Brownell Sees Victory Making

This is a part of a continuing series of Q&As with members of the brewing community from across the US.
Brewer Magazine will share business and personal insights from Brewmasters, Head Brewers, Brewing Managers, Sales Directors, QCQA Managers and others each weekend to help you get to know each other better in the industry and learn more to better develop your own brand.

Karen Brownell, Vice President of Operations, Victory Brewing — Downingtown, Pennsylvania

BREWER: What do you feel have been new challenges in your position that have helped push you and make you better at your job?
BROWNELL: Focusing in on employee engagement, while being more strategic about training and succession planning. The foundation of an operations team is the people who come to work every day.  To have them truly take pride in our product and produce the best we can while improving on their personal goals is something I am passionate about. It takes effort, but the reward is worth it.

BREWER: Why did you enter the craft beer industry and what makes you love being a part of it and staying in it?
BROWNELL: I learned to be a brewer when I worked for Anheuser-Busch. I’ve had a passion for brewing since I worked as an intern there when I was 19. I moved to craft to have the opportunity to be more creative, work with various ingredients, and improve my craft.

​BREWER: What are some recent trends in brewing that you’ve tried or are excited about trying?
BROWNELL: I love Cold IPA, and think we have done an excellent job on those. I also love our new IPA small batch line, which features some new and experimental hops to keep bringing that creativity.

​BREWER: ​What was your business’s greatest accomplishment during the past year?
BROWNELL: Berry Monkey was launched in market at the start of 2022. We exceeded our budget, extended the shelf life and it was met with extremely positive consumer demand. Our innovation team worked month over month, iteration over iteration, to accomplish this new entrant into our powerful Victory Monkey franchise as we continue to reach new drinkers. As we move through 2023, we’ll continue our focus on creative innovation to bring incrementality to Victory Brewing Co. Onward!