Donna’s Pickle Beer is a crisp 4.4% golden lager brewed with real pickle juice. We launched in 2023 with one SKU and grew from 120 barrels a month to 4,000+ barrels in two years. We’re now in 2,100+ active accounts across 19 states, with almost 600 retail placements across 95 chains. Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Total Wine, Kroger, and Disneyland are among them.

We did that with little to no advertising. Growth has come from taste, brand, and word of mouth. Our constraint isn’t demand; it’s working capital, and that’s why we’re raising.

Who is Donna?

Donna is Josh’s mom and the coolest person we know. She’s always herself, never worried about what anyone thinks, and welcoming to everyone. Josh set out to make a beer that makes people smile, and he named it after her before anything else existed. The name was the first decision, not the last.

Scott, a co-founder, developed the brine. The can borrows from the golden age of American beer branding. It was built to look like it’s been around forever, and to stand out on a crowded shelf.

The beer

Donna’s is a lager first. It’s light, cold, and easy to drink, with a clean dill finish that makes you want another sip. It works three ways:

Pair it. Delis, seafood boils, cookouts, ballparks. The brine cuts through rich, salty food.

Mix it. The Donna’s Pickle Back is on bar menus around the country. Bartenders were some of our first fans.

Crush it. On its own, ice cold.

People who say they don’t like beer tell us this is the one they drink. People who love beer tell us it’s the one they bring to share.

Traction

1. 2,101 active accounts in 19 states, plus upcoming direct-to-consumer shipping
2. 66% of accounts have reordered
3. 559 retail placements across 95 chains, including 7 national chains
4. Sales velocity up 46% year over year, with cases per account up from 7.9 to 9.4
5. 120 → 4,000+ monthly barrels from 2023 to 2026
6. Top-100 craft beer product in Southern California six weeks after launch (IRI)

Recent wins:

1. Disneyland: live since August 2026
2. Trader Joe’s: live in North Carolina, South Carolina, and New York
3. Kroger: cleared for 108 new placements across California and Michigan

Press: The Today Show, Forbes (twice), How I Built This, HBO’s Love LA, the San Francisco Chronicle, Imbibe, and Shark Tank.

How we make money

We’re a capital-light beer company. A contract brewer brews, packages, and ships our beer, so we don’t carry the cost of a brewery, equipment, or brewing licenses. We own what matters: the recipe, the brand, the trademark, our distributor relationships, and our customers.

Beer moves through the standard three-tier system. Our contract brewing partner sells to distributors, distributors sell to bars and stores, and we earn the margin between what it costs to make a case and what distributors pay for it.

We hold a hard line on that margin. We built our own freight model, and we found a few markets where small orders meant shipping costs were eating the profit. We told those distributors to order a minimum volume or we wouldn’t ship. Every one of them agreed. We don’t chase revenue that doesn’t make money.

Why we’re raising

Retail wants more Donna’s than we can currently fund. Beer is cash-hungry in a way most people don’t see: we pay for each batch about 60 days before it’s brewed, and we collect about 90 days after it ships. Every batch ties up cash for roughly five months. The faster we grow, the bigger that gap gets.

Today we ration supply to keep live accounts stocked, and new accounts wait. This raise closes that gap. It lets us significantly increase production and launch the chain placements already in hand.

The market and competition

Pickles have gone from a deli staple to a cultural moment. Pickle-flavored products are everywhere, from chips to cocktails, and online searches for pickle flavor have surged. Flavored malt beverages have been one of the fastest-growing segments in beer.

Donna’s sits where those two trends meet. And we got there first with a beer people reorder.

The big brewers have noticed. PBR has released a limited pickle beer with Grillo’s, and Busch Light has launched one too. We take that as validation. We’re the independent brand that’s already on shelf in 95 chains, born behind the bar, with a story and a look the majors can’t copy. They’re launching a flavor. We built a brand.

The team

Josh Jancewicz, Co-founder and CEO. Josh comes from the bar world: Trick Dog, Grey Goose, and James Beard recognition. Josh is the reason people know this brand.

Scott Baird, Co-founder. Scott worked at Trick Dog, The Bon Vivants, and Jumbo’s Win Win, and has James Beard recognition. Scott created the Donna’s brine.

Holly Danko, Advisor. Holly’s background is in finance, with experience in private equity, startups, and Morgan Stanley, and an MBA. Holly and Josh are cousins who grew up together in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Caitie Connolly, Operations. Caitie comes from Trick Dog and The Bon Vivants and keeps orders, accounts, and the field team running.

We’re a lean team of two full-time employees, and we’ve run every dollar like it’s our own.

Where we’re going

1. 2026: Scale our key markets, land New York City, and convert chain approvals into orders.
2. 2027: Build out national distribution, deepen chain placement, and add new SKUs.
3. Long term: Our plan has always been to build a brand a major beverage company wants to buy. Big beverage companies often grow through acquisitions of brands that have already proven the flavor and the demand. That’s the path we’re building toward. There’s no guarantee of an acquisition or of any return on investment.

We are “testing the waters” to gauge investor interest in an offering under Regulation Crowdfunding. No money or other consideration is being solicited. If sent, it will not be accepted. No offer to buy securities will be accepted. No part of the purchase price will be received until a Form C is filed, and then only through Wefunder’s platform. Any indication of interest involves no obligation or commitment of any kind.