What's in a taproom

[Hello]

Thanks. You hit on some of the other comments we've had with neutral colors and lighting. Maybe it is a subconscious thing at first, but it seems to be important when people reflect back. And you're right, this area is a pretty competitive market, which is why we are trying to find particular draws and dislikes...we already know that parking will be an issue. What about that particular selection made it not diverse enough?

Two issues have made my list...selection and in the case of this brewery, it is a supposed true english style only. Nothing more. A guest tap here and there, but I tire of the style. The other issue I've faced and found myself looking for another place to go is when all beers are high ABV. I'm driving, that means I nurse two beers over a couple hours or I call Uber...on a Wednesday. I'd like some lower ABV beers mixed with higher ones.

 

[bsperr]

I might have missed it, but is it beer only or a full bar? If it hasn't been mentioned already, I think a large outside area is a must. Somewhere with additional seating that kids and pets can run around would make it appeal more to a non-college set.

 

[ColoHox]

I might have missed it, but is it beer only or a full bar? If it hasn't been mentioned already, I think a large outside area is a must. Somewhere with additional seating that kids and pets can run around would make it appeal more to a non-college set.

We will be serving our beer only. Similar to what McKnuckle described a few posts earlier, we will also have a 1000sqft. beer only retail section.

Yes, a patio is a must. Our patio will be small, proportionally to our space, but we will have one. For the most part, I think people are okay with dogs around, and it may encourage people to come by. Kids on the other hand...

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

One item I always enjoy is a beer that is only available in the taproom. Something a bit exotic or rare, for example a barrel aged version of one of your standard beers, a trial batch that may or may not be released in the future, a commercial version of your last homebrew competition's winning beer. These things appeal to the beer geek in me without being too beer snobbish.

I'm with this. It's going to be hard to do with only ~5 beers, but if a brewery happens to be a packaging brewery and sells at the store, I'm not going to their tap room to drink the same stuff I can buy at the supermarket.

Likewise, if the beer you serve is basically a carbon-copy of the beer styles I find everywhere else, I'm not likely to come by too often, unless your quality is outstanding.

That said, if you too far on the specialty beers, the place will be a "beer geek" joint and not accessible to your target demographic.

Any idea on what core styles you're looking to serve?

 

[Zuljin]

Shoes, money, chickens, dangerous staircases, cameras, food, repurposed sex toys, cast iron, crock pots or slow cookers (we're not sure), power tools, guns, sand, motorcycles, thin glass, unused cleaning supplies, assorted booze and booze like beverages, a chess set, lots of dice, dogs and cats, some fish, a turtle, asshokes, trucks, Pri, fancy wood furniture, leaky backed up pipes, hazardous brew sculptures, stains, blood stains, a lot of computers, ponies, electrical fires, and food in various stages of digestion. That's whut's in the tap room.

 

[ColoHox]

Shoes, money, chickens, dangerous staircases, cameras, food, repurposed sex toys, cast iron, crock pots or slow cookers (we're not sure), power tools, guns, sand, motorcycles, thin glass, unused cleaning supplies, assorted booze and booze like beverages, a chess set, lots of dice, dogs and cats, some fish, a turtle, asshokes, trucks, Pri, fancy wood furniture, leaky backed up pipes, hazardous brew sculptures, stains, blood stains, a lot of computers, ponies, electrical fires, and food in various stages of digestion. That's whut's in the tap room.

I'm hoping for money and blood stains.

 

[ColoHox]

I'm with this. It's going to be hard to do with only ~5 beers, but if a brewery happens to be a packaging brewery and sells at the store, I'm not going to their tap room to drink the same stuff I can buy at the supermarket.

Likewise, if the beer you serve is basically a carbon-copy of the beer styles I find everywhere else, I'm not likely to come by too often, unless your quality is outstanding.

That said, if you too far on the specialty beers, the place will be a "beer geek" joint and not accessible to your target demographic.

Any idea on what core styles you're looking to serve?

Most of the brewers around here also distribute to other bars, and more are starting to package. You can really find everyone's beers pretty much everywhere. There needs to be a reason that you will come to our place and stay for a while...events, atmosphere, quality.

Tentative lineup:
Quad
Kolsch
American Rye
Common
IIPA
Flanders Red
Barrel aged Quad

Seems like everyone else starts with blonde, brown, ipa, stout...etc.

We wanted a similar range of flavors and styles, just without hitting the usuals right away. We will of course make those other common styles as we figure out our fermentation schedule and equipment.

 

[TallDan]

Shoes, money, chickens, dangerous staircases, cameras, food, repurposed sex toys, cast iron, crock pots or slow cookers (we're not sure), power tools, guns, sand, motorcycles, thin glass, unused cleaning supplies, assorted booze and booze like beverages, a chess set, lots of dice, dogs and cats, some fish, a turtle, asshokes, trucks, Pri, fancy wood furniture, leaky backed up pipes, hazardous brew sculptures, stains, blood stains, a lot of computers, ponies, electrical fires, and food in various stages of digestion. That's whut's in the tap room.

You only said sand once. You also didn't mention foot races. There should be so much sand that you can recreate all of world's major deserts and run marathons across them all.

I don't think I've ever seen a taproom with sand volleyball courts...

 

[Sailingeric]

My local brew store opened up a taproom with food last summer. It has over 30 beers on tap as well as cider and some wine, and it is always different every time I go there. You can sit and have beer, full up a growler to go and also pay for your grains and yeast at the table too. Here is their current tap list http://www.abvpub.com/

 

[ColoHox]

My local brew store opened up a taproom with food last summer. It has over 30 beers on tap as well as cider and some wine, and it is always different every time I go there. You can sit and have beer, full up a growler to go and also pay for your grains and yeast at the table too. Here is their current tap list http://www.abvpub.com/

We are looking at something like this. It depends on licensing though, CO has weird Alcohol laws. We would like to sell basic home-brewing ingredients in the beer retail portion of our store.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

If the beer and/or food isn't above average or better, why would I go back? I'll admit a nice atmosphere will help any establishment & nobody wants to hang out in crappy looking/feeling place, even if the beer is really awesome. It's a balance, but tipped in favor of the beer & food.
Regards, GF.

 

[cmoewes]

My favorite taprooms are the ones that make me feel like I am having a beer in my house. Casual, comfortable and inviting. For me it's important to be fairly kid-friendly, with my wife working evenings it's nice to stop bring the kids and stop for a beer while they do their homework.

5 taps is pretty limited but not too bad. One of my favorites only has 4 beers on tap but is all plumbed for 8 so consider that as an option, easier to run 8 or 12 lines to start then trying to go back and add them. Just leave the empty spots.

Good luck

 

[ColoHox]

If the beer and/or food isn't above average or better, why would I go back? I'll admit a nice atmosphere will help any establishment & nobody wants to hang out in crappy looking/feeling place, even if the beer is really awesome. It's a balance, but tipped in favor of the beer & food.
Regards, GF.

Very true. Around here, you can go 15 minutes in any direction and find award-winning, world-renown beer. That means we have to be at least as good as our competition (which is daunting). It would be really unappealing to have a very nice place to hang out while drinking mediocre beer. The beer quality has to be the primary driver. If the beer quality is as good as what you will find down the street, why stop by our place over the other?

My favorite taprooms are the ones that make me feel like I am having a beer in my house. Casual, comfortable and inviting. For me it's important to be fairly kid-friendly, with my wife working evenings it's nice to stop bring the kids and stop for a beer while they do their homework.

5 taps is pretty limited but not too bad. One of my favorites only has 4 beers on tap but is all plumbed for 8 so consider that as an option, easier to run 8 or 12 lines to start then trying to go back and add them. Just leave the empty spots.

Good luck

Thank you! We are thinking ahead to the inevitable expansion. Our demand forecast (which is based on seating, peak times, and consumption per seat/per hour) indicates that at our production volume, we (I) will be brewing 3x per week. That, combined with our number of fermenters makes 5 beers basically the current maximum that we can produce. If demand is higher than we expect, it will require an additional fermenter. Which, at $5,000, might be possible after 3-6 months of operation.

 

[Cyclman]

I think a taproom also has to fit the craft culture- local food, game nights, homebrewer nights, charitable events...all matter to me!

 

[eatmorefrogs]

When I go to a tap room at a brewery, what I look forward to the most is sitting amongst the equipment. I've been on a considerable number of brewery tours. When the tap room is off in it's own area, all the manufactured atmosphere in world doesn't make up for if they had just let me sit next to the actual fermenter. I don't know, maybe that's just my inner brewer. The closest I can recall sitting is Oak Creek in Sedona, Arizona. You can literally reach out and drain the fermenter if you want. That's probably too close for liability reasons, but that's flippin' sweet. I could drain that guy's fermenter!

My second thought that may be helpful is that I'll visit any taproom once. If you brew on-premises, you've earned my visit. I think a lot of people are like that. The real question you should be asking is how to earn the second, third, and fiftieth visits. I'm not entirely sure how to articulate this nuance, but here goes. A brewery taproom is a ron-dez-vous point. I don't know many people who show up alone. Couples go to hang out with other couples. Friends go to meet up with other friends. Anyways, the main point is that bar seating makes sense on paper, but in reality people go to see other people and bars don't facilitate that. In my inexperienced and humble opinion, you should consider seating that facilitates groups of 2-8 people. Too many tap rooms are just bar seating.

Anyways, none of that matters, all you need is yelp and beer advocate reviews!

 

[ColoHox]

When I go to a tap room at a brewery, what I look forward to the most is sitting amongst the equipment. I've been on a considerable number of brewery tours. When the tap room is off in it's own area, all the manufactured atmosphere in world doesn't make up for if they had just let me sit next to the actual fermenter. I don't know, maybe that's just my inner brewer. The closest I can recall sitting is Oak Creek in Sedona, Arizona. You can literally reach out and drain the fermenter if you want. That's probably too close for liability reasons, but that's flippin' sweet. I could drain that guy's fermenter!

My second thought that may be helpful is that I'll visit any taproom once. If you brew on-premises, you've earned my visit. I think a lot of people are like that. The real question you should be asking is how to earn the second, third, and fiftieth visits. I'm not entirely sure how to articulate this nuance, but here goes. A brewery taproom is a ron-dez-vous point. I don't know many people who show up alone. Couples go to hang out with other couples. Friends go to meet up with other friends. Anyways, the main point is that bar seating makes sense on paper, but in reality people go to see other people and bars don't facilitate that. In my inexperienced and humble opinion, you should consider seating that facilitates groups of 2-8 people. Too many tap rooms are just bar seating.

Anyways, none of that matters, all you need is yelp and beer advocate reviews!

Very good points, thanks for chiming in. I will post a picture of our bar/seating design once it comes back from the architect. We have an interesting idea in our heads, kind of amphitheater-ish.

Funny you bring up access to the equipment. As a group, we have been debating the importance of that. Some of the group thinks that everyone is so used to seeing it, that it doesn't really have to stand out, or that maybe people don't really care. Others think that people really like to see the equipment, see it in operation, etc. I am in that camp (of course, as a brewer). We are planning a half wall with very large windows into the brewhouse, which will be positioned to the side of the bar area. Our initial plans let you see into the brewhouse from anywhere in the bar. I think people enjoy seeing it in action, especially other brewers.