The Great Outdoors? Taprooms Try Different Ways to Keep ’Em Coming

Branded hats and scarves. BYO blankets. Firepits. Special reservations. Warm beer and hot chili. Beer advent calendars. And themed chalets?

As we’ve seen before in the beer industry’s more creative corners, necessity can be the mother of invention. Winter approaches, bringing with it the potential of more pandemic lockdowns and inhospitable weather. Independent breweries that pivoted with surprising agility in the spring are looking for ways to do it again.

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Even in normal years, winters are lean for brewery taprooms, especially after the holidays. This winter presents a far bigger challenge, as the pandemic makes people understandably leery about eating and drinking indoors. With draft-beer sales scarce and many people staying home, some breweries already are on the edge.

We’re still in mid-autumn—early days—but cooler weather already is an issue for breweries in the northern climes. Here are some of the ideas we’ve spotted so far.

Space heaters and firepits: This is one of the more visible and common ways that bars, restaurants, and taprooms are winterizing their outdoor spaces—by simply providing a heat source to make things cozier. Challenges include making sure that you have enough fuel on hand (propane, usually) and that customers don’t start fiddling with them too much. Broken ones may be difficult or impossible to replace. Some businesses are already finding heaters hard to obtain.

Blankets: We’ve noticed several breweries inviting patrons to BYOB—bring your own blanket. A few others are doing like Dovetail in Chicago and selling their own branded blankets to those who want another layer. (Given the pandemic, shared blankets may be taboo bordering on unwise.)

Layer up: Brewery-branded winter hats (aka beanies), scarves, hoodies, and gaiters (which can double as face masks) are all viable options for patrons who arrive with too few layers or have yet to hear the Scandinavian wisdom that “there is no bad weather, only bad clothes.”

Other warm tricks: Wind breaks, since the wind can be the biggest contributor to chill (maybe don’t unload those spent barrels just yet?). Some kind of layer on the ground, between ice-cold pavement and people’s feet. Koozies, which provide a layer of insulation between warm hands and cold beer. Odorless, disposable hand warmers, such as those sold by HotHands.

Make it look fun: It’s hard to understate the role that social media can have here. Many Americans are not used to this kind of thing, but consider European Christmas markets: There are no space heaters. It’s just people layered up, going out into the cold to drink hot spiced wine and feel wintery. Not everybody will go for this—but some will. “Basically, lean into the cold,” says Joe Mastrangelo, a Boston-area beer enthusiast whose consulting firm does health-related consumer engagement. “Make it a tailgating-esque experience. You’re going to lose customers who can’t take the cold; they’ll do take-home. Lean into the people who want this weird experience.”

Mulled ales/warm drinks: Ever had glühwein? How about glühkriek—warmed, mulled, sour cherry beer? Or maybe it’s time for the beer version of feuerzangenbowle, a German tradition that involves setting a rum-soaked hunk of sugar on fire before it glops down into your mug of wine? How about flip cocktails prepared in the traditional way, with ale, rum, sugar, and a red-hot poker? Even at the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Dublin, amid the snugs with wind breaks, they were serving mulled Guinness upon arrival before the most recent pandemic lockdown.

Outdoor-drinking club/loyalty program: The Draught Works Brewery in Missoula, Montana, is offering a Polar Pint Pass for hardy drinkers. Drink nine beers outdoors when it’s 45°F (7°C) or below, get your card stamped each time, and you get the 10th for free.

Chili Night (or other events): It might not be like the crowded festivals of normal years, but there are ways to host events via reservations for small groups, including payments in advance that include food and drink. At Urban Chestnut in St. Louis, for example, there are nights in November when groups of four to eight people can pay in advance via Square to reserve a table, chili, bread, and beer (for roughly $22 per person).

Snugs or cabins: In Chicago, Open Outcry has added cozy cabins or “domes” to its rooftop beer garden. Each cabin has a theme—such as “Your Parent’s Basement 1985” or “Hogwarts Library”—and can only be reserved in advance (via Tock) by private parties of one to 10 people. The reservation fee is $169–175 and includes some drinks.

Winter glasses or mugs: “Glassware has been where we’ve seen the most movement,” says Kim Jones of 88 Design Group, a division of Grandstand that specializes in branded merch. “Many breweries are looking to provide special holiday or winter glassware to their customers for purchase.” For example, 8th Wonder in Houston, Texas, will release a set of special glasses inspired by ugly sweaters, while LUKI Brewery in Arvada, Colorado, has a winter design planned for its locally popular barrel-shaped glass.

Advent calendar boxes: To give customers more seasonal options for takeaway, Jones of 88 Design also suggests Advent calendar boxes that breweries can fill on their own. “Both pre-designed templates and custom options are available,” she says, “placing them in reach for any brewery.”

Go indoors—but scatter the seating: Besides making the outdoors more attractive, there may be ways to help people feel more comfortable—and distant—once they get inside the taproom doors. In Minneapolis, Indeed Brewing created new, spaced-apart seating areas for small groups inside its brewery, dubbing the renovations “Beerland.” It includes isolated, ostensibly temporary drinking areas in places such as the brewery’s milling room and on the loading dock.