As the calendar changes to the winter months, many breweries in snow belt areas have to think of how to keep consumers coming to the taproom.
Of course, many have already established new online ordering and curbside pickup has been popular as well. But as some states have loosened restrictions, the ability to have consumers back in the taproom has meant a lot of breweries opening up more space outside to accommodate those that go out. Cold weather could hamper these gains, but breweries are fighting back with ideas to keep consumers interesting in heading to a taproom.
Virginia’s Stable Craft is considering outdoor dining options that are seasonally promoted by capturing the weather as a positive and building a theme around the season with Igloo dining, adding additional fire pits, and more covered areas that are mostly sheltered from the weather to make it a unique outside dining option explained owner Craig Nargi.
He explained that Stable Craft’s ‘Party Igloos’ are reserved online 24 hours in advance and seat no more than eight people and come with a dedicated server so guests can remain in their Igloo.
Igloos will be disinfected between each rental to ensure guests’ safety while Stable Craft has looked into adding more patio heaters outside the Igloos as well.
One of our top priorities when building Colorado’s Great Divide Brewery & Roadhouse was to have an expansive, all-season patio that can be comfortable during Colorado’s dry, sunny summers and winter snowstorms.
To do this, Director of Operations, Justin Adrian said they installed flexible patio enclosure walls, six huge natural gas heaters, and a misting system.
“It stayed nice and toasty even up against the plastic drapes last week when it snows,” Adrian said. “We will continue to seat what our governor allows — normally, we’d be able to seat 130 people on the patio.
“The expansive patio is a big selling point for our community as it allows for social distancing — all while being able to watch games and have views of surrounding trails.”
Creating additional touchpoints with consumers is on the mind as well and finding promotions that keep the brewery’s name at the front of people’s minds will be key as well.
And Great Divide is considering running a contest where homebrewers submit their favorite homebrewed beers, and the winner will have the opportunity to brew it on the Roadhouse system.
”We hope that this will drive traction in PR, social media, foot traffic, and brand awareness,” Adrian said.
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