We talk a lot about the culture of collaboration and commradery in craft beer, and that’s a real thing. But it might not exist it all if there weren't people like Wes Phillips and his crew in the dogfight every day trying to win over bar owners, beer buyers, and increasingly buyers at big box retailers like Costco and Walmart. Craft beer is playing at a very high level right now, and that puts pressure on the entire system, but nowhere is that pressure felt more than on a sales force that’s in the street everyday trying to sell another tap handle or six pack. For them, all the collaboration in the world can’t offset the hustle and competition that’s got the system in a vice right now.