Restaurant

When done correctly, producing exclusive beers for bars and restaurants can be a sales and marketing win. However, they also come with production challenges and regulatory hurdles.

On behalf of independent breweries, Brewers Association lobbyists are prioritizing issues such as direct-to-consumer shipping, support for hospitality businesses, and tax changes that could put breweries at a disadvantage on retail shelves.

The pandemic streamlined the process of selling beer to accounts—and some of those changes are here to stay. While many embrace a return to in-person meetings, others prefer texts or online. To succeed today, sales reps need a more customized approach.

From diversity at CBC to a brewery-led market hall with pet groomers, here are some happenings and announcements from around the industry.

Given the ongoing uncertainty in on-premise hospitality, there are fewer taps flowing than there were two years ago. Yet those open draft lines represent opportunities for breweries willing to adjust and build relationships.

Greg Engert, beer director of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, explains how their business—with 16 bars and restaurants plus a brewery in the D.C. area—is adapting to weather uncertain times.

In this era of stripped-down industrial taprooms and food trucks, Moody Tongue’s classy new Dining Room in Chicago offers $155 pairing menus. Behind the scenes: a brewer who thinks like a chef, and a chef who drinks like a brewer.

Grown from an alleyway spot in a developing neighborhood to a regional powerhouse with satellite taprooms, restaurant, farm, and retail, this Boston-based brewery has matured through growing pains and taken some calculated risks.

The cofounder of the Austin, Texas, mixed-culture brewery shares thoughts on how Jester King is growing and diversifying, balancing hospitality with production, and adjusting to shifting market demands.

A brewery could open its own kitchen. However, when you factor in the costs—hiring a chef, obtaining the right licenses, rent, ingredients, equipment, construction, and so much more—it’s a big hassle.