There’s a version of the beverage industry most people see from the outside… and then there’s the version that actually built it.

In this special episode of Thirsty Business Podcast, Jen Hauke sit down with his dad, Chuck Thomas, a veteran of the beverage dispensing industry whose career spans over five decades across Hudson Industries, Michigan Carbonic, Leonard Syrups, Berg Liquor Control Systems, and the early foundations of modern draft beer infrastructure.

From basements and syrup rooms in Detroit to stadium-scale installs at Comerica Park and Ford Field, this is the untold history of how beer, soda, and liquor systems actually evolved in America.

Before dashboards, apps, and analytics… this industry ran on instinct, relationships, field experience, and pure problem-solving in real time. Th ...