An AI operations system for your beverage brand. Running in three weeks.
It knows your distributors, your depletions, and your voice. Follow-ups, CRM logging, content and meeting prep: drafted for you to review and send. No code, nothing to learn beyond a conversation.
Book Your AI Ops Audit, $500See it draft a distributor follow-up, 90 secYou're not behind on selling. You're behind on the follow-ups, the logging and the prep.
You have a call in twenty minutes with a rep whose last email you can't find. It's Thursday. Two distributors are still waiting on answers you meant to send Monday, and last month's depletion report is sitting unopened.
- The account that promised a reorder and went quiet.
- The great call you never logged, so it's gone.
- The content calendar that still says January.
- The chain meeting you prepped for at eleven the night before.
Another slide deck won't give those hours back. None of this is hard, which is what makes it maddening. It's low-skill, high-consequence work, and it isn't work you can hand to a new hire, because the judgment about which distributor matters this month is yours. In three weeks you get a morning brief that already knows which two distributors are waiting on you, and a draft of what to send them.
Ninety seconds of what that looks like: watch the demo.
Three commands. 90 seconds. The Monday morning scramble, on screen.
This is a screen recording, not a mockup. Three plain-English commands typed live on Foxglen, a sample brand made up for this demo. These are the same three workflows I build on your business in three weeks.
Foxglen is a sample brand. Every name, number and email on screen is invented. Edited for length. No narration, just the screen.
No case numbers yet. Barrel & Beacon is in pilot intake. What there is: a working system you can watch run before you pay a dollar.
What just happened, in order
- "Morning brief." The distributor deadline that moved in an email at 9 the night before, surfaced before your first coffee, next to the calendar, the inbox and the CRM in one summary.
- "Prep me for Priya." Every past conversation, the open promise nobody remembered making, three talking points, up on screen before you dial.
- "Who's gone quiet?" Every distributor contact untouched in 30 days, flagged, with a check-in email drafted in the brand's voice and waiting on your review. The system never sends anything itself.
Foxglen's data is clean because it was built clean. Yours will not be. Your contacts are in three inboxes and a spreadsheet, and half your history is in your head. Finding out what you actually have, before anyone builds anything, is the whole job of the $500 audit.
Find out what you actually have ($500 audit) (opens in a new tab)Still want more before you book?
Three weeks from kickoff to "morning brief."
Your side is a 60-minute kickoff, about an hour a week during the build for access and feedback, and one training session at the end. Everything else is mine. You write no code, memorize no prompts, and learn nothing that looks like software.
We map your week
One 60-minute kickoff call. You walk me through a normal week and I find the things you repeat and the things you drop. You talk, I take the notes.
I build your ops brain
Your brand voice, distributor landscape, account list, priorities and contacts, wired into a system that starts out knowing the business. It knows a supplier, a distributor and an account are three different relationships. It knows a depletion is not a shipment.
If your contacts live in a spreadsheet and your history lives in your inbox, that is the normal starting point. Building the record is part of the work.
Your hour this week is a walkthrough. I show you your own system running on your own data, so you watch it work before the second half of the invoice is due.
You run it
A 90-minute training session, recorded so you can rewatch it. Then you ask for what you want in plain English, typed or spoken, and the work comes back drafted in your voice, ready for you to send.
It will get things wrong. It drafts from what is in your records, so early on it will miss the context that only lives in your head. Every output shows you what it pulled from, so you can check the source before it goes anywhere.
That is the Brand Ops Brain: $2,500, three weeks. The Full AI Operations Build is $5,000 and runs 4 to 5 weeks. The $500 AI Ops Audit is a separate call that comes before either one, and its $500 comes off whichever build you pick.
You say it. The system does it.
Nothing to install and no interface to learn. The one thing you buy is a Claude subscription, about $20 a month, in your name and not billed through me. It plugs into the email and calendar you already use. Your CRM and content calendar sit in your workspace and you barely open them, because you ask and the system reads and writes them for you.
Here is how you drive it, in the words you would already use to ask a person.
| You say | The system does |
|---|---|
| "Morning brief" | Calendar, inbox, stale follow-ups and today's priorities, in one summary waiting when you open your laptop |
| "Who's gone quiet?" | Names every distributor and account that has gone cold, then drafts the check-in emails in your voice for you to review |
| "Prep me for Priya" | Every past conversation, open commitment and talking point, pulled up in the two minutes before you dial |
| "Log my call with Marcus" | CRM updated and the follow-up task created, from you talking it through in the car |
| "Draft the posts for the tasting Saturday" | On-brand content for the week, checked against what is already on your promo calendar |
You do not have to build all five at once. Start one step earlier: the $500 audit ranks your workflows by time saved against setup effort, so you build the top two first and decide on the rest after you have seen them work.
Paid up front, delivered as a written roadmap within 5 business days, and the $500 comes off the price of any build you start within 30 days.
Any AI consultant can wire your tools together. None of them know which distributor you should be calling this week.
That call is the job. Which follow up goes out first, which account is worth the drive, what a rep needs to hear the month a bigger supplier lands on their book. You cannot install that. It is what those years bought.
Judgment goes in before a single tool gets connected, so the system arrives already knowing what a depletion report means instead of waiting for you to teach it. See what it builds: the Foxglen system, 90 seconds →
Every price below buys the same thing: a system that already knows your brand. The tier only decides how much of your week it runs.
You see the price before you see me. No discovery-call ambush.
Four ways in, from a $500 roadmap to a $5,000 full build. Fixed scope, fixed price, fixed timeline. I would start you at the $500 audit and build from the roadmap it produces.
Not ready to commit $500 yet? Grab a free 10-minute call first. No pitch, just a straight read on whether any of this is worth your time.
AI Ops Audit
Know exactly what to automate in your business, and in what order, before you spend a dollar building anything.
- A 60-minute working call, recorded so you keep it
- Your top 10 workflows ranked by payoff: distributor follow-ups, sample tracking, depletion reporting, account calls
- A read on your CRM, spreadsheet, and email stack, and what can be wired together
- A 4 to 6 page PDF in your inbox within 5 business days, yours to act on with me or without me
- The $500 is credited in full toward any build you start within 30 days.
Brand Ops Brain
The system that runs your week. No terminal, no code, nothing to learn beyond having a conversation. This is the one to pick if it is you and maybe one other person running the brand.
- Claude set up on your machine and wired to your email, calendar, and Drive
- Loaded with your brand voice, distributor landscape, accounts, priorities, and team
- Workspace backbone: distributor CRM, engagement tracker, content calendar, task board
- 5 core workflows tested on your real data: morning brief, meeting prep, follow-up drafts, content, call logging
- A 90-minute training session, recorded, plus 30 days of email support
- Half the fee is due at handoff, not up front. I carry that half until the system is in your hands.
Full AI Operations Build
Everything in Brand Ops Brain, plus a system that reports to you instead of waiting to be asked. Pick this if you have a team, distributor data landing every month, and reports you keep rebuilding by hand.
- Claude Code installed and configured, so the system works on your files, not just in a chat window
- 8 to 10 custom skills built around how your team actually works
- Memory and context architecture, so the system retains what it learns
- Automated reporting: weekly recaps and depletion summaries from your own data
- A second training session, plus 60 days of email support
- Half the fee is due at handoff, not up front. I carry that half until the system is in your hands.
AI Ops Partner
One concrete deliverable every month, and a system that keeps up as the business changes. Only worth buying once a system is already running.
- Monthly Depletion Intelligence memo: your numbers in, 3 to 5 specific actions out by the 10th
- A 45-minute tune-up call every month
- New or adjusted workflows as priorities shift
- Priority support with 48-hour response, plus a quarterly written health report
- The memo needs distributor depletion reporting. No data yet? You get the rest until you do.
Before you decide
Your $500 comes back. The audit fee is credited in full toward any build you start within 30 days, so the roadmap costs you nothing if you move forward. And if the honest answer is that the payoff is not there yet, the roadmap says that. You keep it either way.
Straight answer on where this is: Barrel & Beacon is taking its first builds now. You can see the whole system working on the Foxglen sample before you decide, and the audit is the cheapest way to find out whether I am worth $2,500 without risking $2,500.
What you bring: your own Claude subscription and Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. During a build, one 60 to 90 minute block a week for access and feedback. That is the whole ask. I do the wiring.
What happens after handoff: the system is yours, running on your accounts, with nothing locked behind me. The retainer is optional and pitched once, at handoff. If the system is running and nothing is changing, you do not need it.
Who this is not for: brands with no distributor relationships yet, or anyone who wants me to run their operations for them. This makes your team faster. It does not replace them.
Questions worth asking before you pay anything, starting with the one that should stop you.
You have no client case studies yet. Why would I go first?
Straight answer: Barrel & Beacon is in pilot intake, so there are no client results to show you, and I'm not going to invent any. What I can put in front of you is 30+ years in spirits sales and distribution, and a system you can watch run end to end on Foxglen, a sample brand built for the demo. Then a $500 audit that leaves you a written roadmap you keep whether or not you ever hire me. Going first costs you $500 and an hour, not a leap of faith.
What if the audit doesn't lead to a build?
You keep the written roadmap either way, your top 10 automatable workflows, ranked by payoff, plus what you already pay for that can be wired together. If you move forward, the $500 is credited toward a build within 30 days. If you don't, there's no further ask and no drip campaign.
What if the build doesn't work for us?
The build isn't finished until the five workflows run on your real data, in front of you, in the training session. If one of them isn't earning its keep after that, tell me inside your support window and I'll rework it. What I won't do is promise your money back. That's not a promise I can keep at this price, and I'd rather say so now than write it and weasel out of it later.
How much of my time does this take?
One 60-minute call to start, then about 60 to 90 minutes a week during the build for access and feedback. That's it. I do the wiring, the context loading, and the testing. Week three is a 90-minute training session, recorded, so you can rewatch it instead of taking notes. If you can't find 90 minutes a week for three weeks, the audit is the better starting point.
Is my brand too small for this?
If you're a founder or GM personally chasing distributor follow-ups, prepping your own meetings, and writing your own content, you're exactly who this is built for. Small is the point: there's no ops person to hand it to. Brands with a full sales ops team usually don't need it. If you're not sure, take the free 10 minutes and I'll tell you straight if it isn't a fit.
How long until it's actually running?
Three weeks from the first call to "morning brief": one 60-minute call to map your week, the build wired to your real tools, then you're running it yourself with training included. The audit is faster, the written roadmap lands within 5 business days.
What if I'm not technical?
You don't need to be. You talk to your system like a person, "morning brief," "who's gone quiet," "log my call with Marcus." No terminal, no code, no prompts to learn. The whole interface is typing a sentence into a chat window, and week three of the build is me watching you do it.
What if it tells me something wrong?
It can, and pretending otherwise would be a lie. Nothing goes outside your company without you approving it: every distributor email, memo, and post arrives as a draft. Internal logging and reports it will do on its own, because the worst case there is a note you delete.
The workflows are built to pull from your own documents and to show you which file a figure came from, so you can check it. It can still read a number wrong. That is exactly why it hands you a draft instead of sending one.
What do you need access to, and where does my data end up?
Send an NDA before the first call if you want one, I'll sign yours. To build it I need enough real material to test the five workflows: a slice of your distributor contacts, some recent email threads, your account list, your priorities. You decide what you hand over, and we can work off a screen share instead of standing access.
The finished system runs inside your accounts, your Claude subscription, your workspace, your email, so your data stays where it already lives. I don't reuse one brand's context to build another's.
Do I own it, and what does it cost to run after you're gone?
You own all of it. It lives in your Claude account, your workspace, your drive. There is no Barrel & Beacon license, no platform to renew, no seat I control. If we never speak again after handoff, it keeps working.
Ongoing cost is your own Claude subscription, Pro at $20 a month, or Max if you want the power-user layer, plus whatever you already pay for your workspace tools and email. AI Ops Partner at $400 a month is optional and month to month. Cancel it and the system you own keeps running.
How is this different from hiring an AI consultant or agency?
The tool wiring is the easy half. The hard half is knowing that a Q3 depletion dip in a franchise law state is a phone call and not a panic, and that a check-in opening with a number gets answered while one opening with pleasantries doesn't. That judgment is loaded into the system, not bolted on after. You also get a system, not a deck.
What happens when Claude changes?
Models change every few months. Your system is written as context and instructions in plain language in your own files, not code welded to one model version, so it carries forward when a new model ships. That's the main reason it's built this way. If something does break later and you'd rather not touch it yourself, that's what the $400 monthly partner tier is for, and you can pick it up at any point.
Is this just a chatbot with a clever prompt?
No. The system holds your brand's distributor landscape, priorities, team, voice, and rules. Ask a chatbot to draft a check-in to your New Jersey rep and it asks you who that is. Ask yours and it already knows what you shipped him last quarter, what he committed to, and how you talk to him.
Objections handled? The $500 audit is the smallest way to find out if I understand your business.
Book the audit ($500) Free 10-min call, no pitch Email hello@barrelandbeacon.comI'm not an AI consultant who picked up beverage. I'm a beverage guy who picked up AI.
- 26 years with the Brown-Forman portfolio: Jack Daniel's, Woodford Reserve, Southern Comfort. 30+ years in spirits sales and marketing all in.
Nothing happens on the date a distributor says yes. Getting in is the starting line, and most brands find that out the hard way. Cases move because someone stays in front of that sales team every week, market after market: constant communication, staying top of mind, keeping execution on the calendar.
So I build the system I wanted back then. The follow-ups, the CRM, the content, the meeting prep, loaded with your distributor list, your account history, your priorities and your voice. Barrel & Beacon is that system, built for your brand in 3 weeks.
You don't have to take the AI half on faith. The demo further up this page is not a mockup. That is the system running on Foxglen, a fictional sample brand I built it for. Watch it run.
Barrel & Beacon is in pilot intake. I run every build myself.
Darren Kohlenberger. Fishers, Indiana.
Book the $500 AI Ops AuditCredited toward a build within 30 days. Rather ask a question first? Grab 10 free minutes or write to me at hello@barrelandbeacon.com.
In one week, know exactly what to automate and in what order.
One 60-minute call. Five business days later you get a 4 to 6 page PDF: your top 10 automatable workflows, ranked by time saved against setup effort, with what each one takes to build. No deck, no discovery phase.
Get my automation roadmap ($500)
Take a second pass at the sample dashboard.
Same one you saw above. Foxglen is a fictional brand, the wiring is real: 29 months of depletions across Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana, filterable by brand, line, item, and market. Go in with a question this time. Pick one state and watch what the trend does when a single market is carrying the number. Yours would add a distributor cut, because that is how your reports arrive. No form, no email, no wait.
Open the sample dashboard →Ready when you are. One call, a 4 to 6 page roadmap in five business days, and the $500 comes off any build you start within 30 days.
Book the AI Ops Audit ($500)