The Release
$450per release · 5 business days
- One AP-style release, 450–600 words
- Headline + two subject-line options
- Brewer or distiller quotes that sound like them
- Two revision rounds, email + wire versions
Craft beverage PR · Staten Island, NY
It’s launch week and the writers already have your cans.
We write the release, pitch beer, spirits and cider writers one at a time, and hand over a launch-day media kit — for independent breweries, distilleries and cideries. Billed per campaign, $450 to $1,400.
- Beats
- Beer · Spirits · Cider
- First draft
- 5 business days
- Billing
- Per campaign, never monthly
- Press release writing
- Journalist pitching campaigns
- Launch-day media kits
- Embargo management
- Sample logistics
- Hand-built media lists
- Coverage logs
- Breweries · Distilleries · Cideries
The campaigns · priced once, per launch
We write the release. We pitch the writers by name. We hand over the kit. You get back to the brewhouse.
Three campaigns, built around the three things a drinks writer actually needs: a story worth running, a person who sends it to the right inbox, and the assets to file it without chasing you for a hi-res photo at 11pm.
The Pitch Run
$865per campaign · 3-week pitch window
- Everything in The Release
- Hand-built list of 40–60 writers on your beat
- Every pitch written to one named person
- Two follow-up rounds + sample-request tracking
- Coverage log at close
The Launch Kit
$1,400per launch · book 6 weeks out
- Everything in The Pitch Run
- Launch-day digital media kit + tech sheet
- Embargo set, timed and managed
- Founder interview prep sheet
- 30-day post-launch follow-up push
- We taste it before we pitch it. If we can’t describe it, we can’t sell it to a writer.
- You sign off on every word — release, pitch angle, quotes — before anything leaves our outbox.
- No blast lists, no wire-spam. One drinks category, worked writer by writer.
The campaign rail
Brief on Monday. Bylines by week five.
A Launch Kit runs on a fixed rail so your release date never sneaks up on anyone. Shorter campaigns ride the same track and simply step off earlier.
- Week 0
Tasting brief
Thirty minutes with whoever made it, plus your tech sheet — ABV, grain or mash bill, fruit, barrel history. We dig for the angle a writer can’t get off the label.
- Week 1
Release drafted
One AP-style release, 450–600 words, with quotes that sound like your head brewer, not a brochure. Two revision rounds.
- Week 2
List built
Named writers matched to the beat: lager people, barrel people, cider people, regional food desks, trade titles, newsletters, podcasts.
- Weeks 3–4
Pitch run
Every pitch written to one person. Two follow-up rounds, sample requests tracked, writer replies routed to you the same day.
- Week 5
Launch day
Embargo lifts, media kit goes live, the coverage log opens. Thirty days later, every link and mention lands in one sheet.
The drinks-press calendar runs months ahead of you
Seasonal roundups get assigned long before the beer hits shelves. It’s October right now — gift guides locked in September, and Dry January and no-and-low stories are being assigned this month.
- JanPitch spring seasonals
- FebSpring releases land
- MarPitch summer + cider season
- AprPatio & crushable roundups
- MayPitch Oktoberfest + fall
- JunSummer coverage peaks
- JulGift guides start assigning
- AugGift-guide samples ship
- SepGift guides lock
- OctDry January + NA pitchingYou are here
- NovBarrel-aged & holiday drops
- DecYear-end lists; pitch Q1
Releasing something in Q1 2027? The pitch window is opening now.
Hold a launch slotInside a campaign
What lands in a writer’s inbox
Drinks writers are buried in pitches. Ours are built to be the easy yes: one clear angle, the facts they’ll fact-check, the photos they’ll run, and nothing they’ll have to chase you for on deadline.
Subject line, the way we’d write it
“Embargo Tue 6am ET: a 14-month rye-barrel stout — and the brewer will walk you through the barrel log.”
Specific, embargoed, with a person attached.
Who’s on the list
Built per beat
- Beer columnistsstyle + scene
- Spirits newsletterscask + mash bill
- Cider & wine-adjacentorchard + vintage
- Regional food deskswhere you pour
- Trade titlesdistributors + buyers
- Podcastsfounder stories
Embargo sheet
Launch-day spec
- LiftRelease day, 6:00am ET
- AssetsImages, tech sheet, quotes
- SamplesOut 10 days ahead
- ContactOne named person
Before you sign
The questions brewers actually ask
Kettle & Lantern is a small media-relations desk on Staten Island, NY that only takes craft beverage clients. Pitching one category means the list itself is the asset: we know which writer covers lagers and which only wants barrel programs, who’ll take a cold-packed sample and who’d rather a call with the head distiller.
Not sure which campaign fits? Call the desk — it’s a ten-minute conversation.
Can you guarantee we’ll get covered?
No one honest can — earned media is earned, and writers decide what runs. What we guarantee is the work: a release you’ve approved, a named list sized to your campaign, every pitch written to one person, and a coverage log at close with every link, mention and reply.
We’re a seven-barrel brewhouse. Is this overkill?
The Release ($450) was built for exactly that size of operation: one sharp release you can send to local press, your distributor and your own mailing list. Plenty of small producers start there and add a Pitch Run for the one big launch of the year.
How far ahead should we book?
Six weeks before release for a standard launch. For seasonal roundups and gift guides, three to four months — those stories get assigned early (the calendar above shows when).
Do you only pitch New York press?
No. We’re based in Staten Island, NY, but the list follows your distribution: national beer and spirits outlets, trade titles, regional food desks, newsletters and podcasts in the markets where your cans and bottles actually sit.
Who handles samples?
You ship them; we run the logistics — who requested, where it goes, cold-pack notes for cans, and alcohol-shipping rules flagged before anything leaves your dock.
What do you need from us to start?
Your tech sheet, the release date, a few photos (or a photo budget), and thirty minutes with whoever made the thing. We’ll handle the rest of the questions on the brief call.
Your next release
Got a release date? Put us on it.
Tell us what’s in the glass and when it drops. We’ll reply within one business day with the campaign that fits and a start date.
Tell us what’s in the glass
10825 72Nd Ave
Staten Island, NY 10305 Route me to the desk
Staten Island, NY 10305 Route me to the desk
Desk hours
| Monday – Friday | 8:30am–6pm |
|---|---|
| Saturday – Sunday | Closed |
Invoiced per campaign · we accept