Most often, I simply report what’s happening, but sometimes my obsession with beer-related news and information spawns an observation that evolves into an opinion. I want my beloved craft breweries to succeed, and I share my thoughts in the sincere hope they’ll help.
What Your Not-Beer Says About Your Brewery
The Brewers Association (BA) recently conducted its annual Harris Poll Consumer Survey and published the accompanying report. The report provides insight into the general population’s relationship with alcohol and, within that, a more focused look at folks’ relationship with craft beer. Buried in the mountain of data is one finding that every brewery taproom should take note of.
As a preface, recognize that the nature of a brewery taproom has evolved. If yours does not offer something beyond beer, you are losing customers. Long gone are the days of saying, “If they don’t want to drink my beer, they should go somewhere else.” Survey says, that’s exactly what happens, and they take their beer-drinking friends with them.
Their Friends are Weirdos, but…
The Harris Poll Consumer Survey addressed an interesting and important question: why some craft drinkers don’t drink it more often. There were some predictable answers, but the BA’s Chief Economist, Matt Gacioch, zeroed in on something less expected and more actionable: young adults say one of the main reasons they don’t drink more craft beer is that their friends don’t drink craft beer.
Gacioch noted, “Compared with the overall population, 21-34 year old respondents were more likely to say they don’t drink more craft beer because their drinking companions do not drink craft beer…”
Read that again. It’s not that they hate your IPA. It’s that they’re going wherever their group wants to go — and if your taproom is beer-only, their group might not choose you. If you’ve got nothing to offer the beer-avoiding weirdo in the group, you’ve lost them all. Perhaps, like me, you sometimes find yourself part of such a group. It’s not some imaginary scenario. It’s real.
The fix isn’t complicated. Offer good non-beer options — and mean it. Not an afterthought cider that fell off the back of a distributor’s truck, but something you’ve actually chosen with care. Kombucha, wine, craft soda, or whatever. Your taproom should select and serve every beverage with intention.
What have we always told people about craft beer? It’s a quality product, made with pride and intention by people who practically consider it an art form. It is a superior product compared to corporate, mass-produced beer. It follows that anything on your taproom’s menu should rise to the same standards.
As a beer lover, how do you feel when your friends drag you into a trendy new cocktail bar where the beer options include Bud Light or Corona? You’d have a higher opinion of that cocktail bar if it offered a couple of well-selected craft options. It would show that they care about quality and hospitality, not just cocktails.
NOTE: Do not exclude the teetotalers from the party. They like tasty beverages too. Everything I’m saying holds true for non-alcoholic beverages, and especially NA beer. Recognize that Best Day and Athletic are on the verge of becoming the Bud Light and Coors Light of the NA beer world. Here in the Northwest, there are locally produced options.
Lean In
Don’t be afraid to tell people you have it. Put it on the menu. Post about it. Let the non-beer drinkers in your community know they’re welcome. Empower the beer drinkers in that group of friends to advocate for your taproom. Upholding a certain standard that extends beyond your beer speaks volumes about your brewery as a business. It’s more hospitable and shows that you authentically care about the things you say you care about.
Now more than ever, your taproom is in the hospitality business, not just the beer business. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you’ll convert someone by forcing them to drink your beer. Craft beer is no longer unexplored territory. As much as we love it, others do not. And that is not because they’ve never tried it.
Be Hospitable, Unless You can be a Unicorn. Then, be a Unicorn
I recognize that every business is different. Your business is unique. Maybe you are that rare kind of brewery taproom that can flourish while locking out everyone who is not a craft beer fanatic. That’s great. The world needs unicorns.
The rest of us live in a world where the modern taproom isn’t really just a place to drink beer — it’s a community gathering space, a dog-friendly living room, a post-bike-ride hangout, a safe and comfortable place for a first date, or an impromptu event venue. Admittedly, recognizing this sometimes makes me a little sad and nostalgic, but for a lot of your customers, the beer is almost beside the point. The experience, the hospitality, and the community are the point.
The data backs this up. The question is whether you act on it. But, if you can be a unicorn, by all means be a unicorn.
