hogwash
Well-Known Member
Don't take this the wrong way, but if I had my own place, I wouldn't want someone like you as a customer. Being a good tipper helps out his waitstaff, however, it doesn't do anything for the owners. You might buy a lot of beers, but if you're taking the space of someone willing to pay more, you're actually costing them money. Obviously, if the place is empty, it's a different story and he needs to adjust the prices accordingly.
Also, it helps to keep in mind how a lot of places get financed. No bank will give a loan for a restaurant, so you're looking at getting investors. The standard deal is that your investors get 100% of the profit until their initial investment is paid back and then they revert to a smaller equity share. So, right now this guy might need to charge 7 bucks a glass, but that may change once he pays back the nut.
Okay, I lied about not saying anymore. I see your points but I look at it like this: he will sell more at a lower (fair) price. While his profit may be lower per pint, I bet he would still make more money in the long run. More people would be inclined to try the beer and if it's good, they would tell others and they would go and they would tell others, etc. Blue Mountain in Afton, VA started small, charged and still charge fair prices and they now have 2 breweries, expanded the original one quite a bit, and are distributed in several states on the east coast. Quite the success story and they started at a time when you couldn't have just a tasting room in VA, you had to serve food too. I have been a customer since day one and will gladly tell anyone how great they are.
It will be interesting to see how it will pan out with this place. There's another brewery opening soon that's right around the corner from this one. I'm interested to see what he'll charge. And honestly, I probably will go to Redbeard sometime just to see what his beers are like. He offers 4, 8, & 16 oz. sizes which is kind of cool. I often want to sample several of a brewery's beers without drinking an entire pint of each but don't want to be one of those nerds with the tasting flight either.