In Scottsdale, Arizona, three craft beer enthusiasts host a podcast that supports their local brewing scene. Hoppy Craftsmen is a long-running show about Arizona’s beer culture, featuring brewery backstories, bottle shop picks, and taproom reviews. Their domain, hoppycraftsmen.beer, keeps things simple and unmistakably on-theme.
“We are a craft beer podcast and all the cool kids have a .beer site,” said co-host Chris Sanback. For the Hoppy Craftsmen team, using a domain that matched their focus made it easier to be taken seriously and easier to be remembered.
Building a presence in the beer community
Of course, having a good name is one thing . . . getting people to take you seriously is another. The podcast wasn’t started by brewers or bar owners. Chris and his co-hosts were regulars, not insiders, which initially made it harder to get people on the mic.
“By being just consumers of craft beer, we didn’t really didn’t have an in to get people to interview in the industry,” Chris explained. “We had to build relationships with those in the industry. Create bonds with those that make the beer. And promote ourselves as ambassadors of local craft beer. Once word of mouth spread, we are well known in the community now.”
Over time, they built trust by listening as much as they talked, visiting local taprooms, and showing up week after week. They’ve described their approach as a way to “spread the love about the local Arizona Craft beer community…by reviewing craft beer, breweries, taprooms, friendly local bottle shops, and craft beer centered gear.”
One moment stands out: “My co-hosts and myself were enjoying some beers at a local brewery and someone asked if we were the Hoppy Craftsmen? They said they recognized our voices. They bought us a few beers and we shared some great stories.”
Why .beer works
The domain hoppycraftsmen.beer fit the podcast’s subject from the start. It’s short, direct, and clearly tied to what they talk about. “It’s pretty obvious! We are a craft beer podcast and all the cool kids have a .beer site!” Chris said. He also mentioned the practical side of getting started. “Ease of use and great customer service” made the process simple.
Top-level domains such as .beer, .nyc, .boston, .gay, and .US give people more ways to connect their web presence to what they care about. These domains often have availability that .com can’t offer. But they also convey context for visitors, whether geographic, cultural, or community-based. For Hoppy Craftsmen, .beer helped set the tone and solidify their place in the world of beer podcasts.
But although the domain helped them stand out, it was the steady effort behind the mic that kept listeners coming back to Hoppy Craftsmen.
For other creators exploring turning their hobbies into a podcast or other passion project, Chris’s advice is to keep going.
“All your hard work will pay off. Post episodes more often and keep them shorter,” he said. Over time, their consistency helped them build a podcast people recognize and enjoy.
Hoppy Craftsmen built their presence in Arizona’s beer community through conversations, reviews, and episodes that highlighted the people behind local breweries. While they haven’t published new content recently, their .beer domain still anchors the project online and reflects the focus that made it recognizable to listeners and brewers alike.