What We Do

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We help brewers, restaurants and bars differentiate themselves and increase sales and profitability by elevating their beers and beer service program. 

It starts with creating and/or serving the right beers for your market. Who are they and what do they want? What part of the country you're in plays a big role. As does seasonality. Are you in a beer-savvy town or area where you can push envelopes or would an assortment of approachable beers for a wider customer base be a better option?

And don't forget about trends. Had you even heard of sour beers a few years ago? Is it appropriate for your market? A quality beer program needs the right amount and type of diversity in its tap selection to attract and keep today's discerning customers. 

Let us help you determine the perfect styles for your customers.

Let's call this tough love:

Odds are, you got into this business because you found out that you can make really good beer. Beer that makes you proud to serve it and watch others enjoy it. Now please ask yourself: Is that still happening? Are you consistently brewing to style? With zero faults? Do you have strict brewing (and of course sanitizing) procedures - that every employee adheres to 100% of the time? Do you have at least one if not multiple Cicerones or Certified Beer Judges monitoring your offerings? And do you listen to them and make necessary changes? Be brutally honest. If you said yes to all, please skip to the next section.

However, if you aren't doing even one of these, there is a good chance you may be losing customers and/or wondering why you're not busier than you thought you'd be. The answer is that there are too many really good breweries who stick to these golden rules that will pull your customers away in a heartbeat. Your customers most likely won't tell you that they had a less-than-stellar experience. They will just not come back. Or if they did tell you, did you listen and vow to fix whatever it was? Don't be too proud. Do whatever it takes to remove any obstacles between what's happening now and the success you set out to achieve. 

We can help.

How clean are your glasses? Are they "beer clean"? How can you tell? Is the glass shape and size optimal for the type of beer you're serving, or are you selling all beers the same way?

Do your servers know how to achieve a proper pour? Are they serving it with too much head? Not enough? Does it really make a difference?

The devil is in the details.  The right glass, properly cleaned and a beer properly poured not only enhance the drinker's experience, but also translate into higher profit potential from higher margins generated on different serving sizes, fewer returns for smears and odors, and in beer volume saved when allowing for the proper head size. 

We'll show you how it's done.

This is where the rubber meets the road. Your servers are your front lines - interacting with customers and impacting your sales. If they don't know how to discern and discuss the different flavors, colors and styles of the beers you carry, how can they ensure that customers are being well-served? Properly trained staff is key to selling more beer as well as giving customers a truly great experience. One they will want to come back for.

We provide two levels of training:

Beer 101 orients your team to the different beer styles and ingredients, helping them direct customers around the various styles.

Beer 201 includes guided tastings designed to develop vocabularies around the various aromas and flavors that are the hallmark of the styles, and helping staff further delineate not only styles, but even between beers within styles, such as West Coast IPAs from New England/Hazy IPAs.

At each level, we also cover techniques designed to help customers find just the right beer for them.

This is the backbone of your beer service. From the cooler to the faucets - proper maintenance and cleaning are paramount to a successful program. Not everyone is clear on how and when to clean their systems. Some may know, but don't follow the guidelines. By not doing so, establishments jeopardize their entire program. Many serious issues, such as bacterial infections can ruin not only the flavor and experience of the beer, but permanently taint the entire run from keg to faucet, requiring expensive remedies such as the replacement of entire lines and hardware.

Proper storage is also paramount to a high quality program. Beer differs from wine and spirits in that it is meant to be served as fresh as possible (with a few notable exceptions). It is greatly affected by temperature and time, and needs to be properly stored and maintained at all times.

Establishments lose precious dollars when beer is poured down the drain or when systems are compromised. We can help by reviewing and instilling Best Practices for your systems.

GIVE US A CALL

Beer is a competitive business. Whether you've got some or most of this in hand and just need to be sure there's nothing you're missing, or if things are moving so rapidly you're just not sure if you're positioned to take advantage of them - we're here to help. To learn how to capitalize on the revolution in beer culture, please call us and we'll set up an appointment: (206) 228-9450.  Cheers!