Brewpubs Are Gaining Popularity, But Their Patrons Don’t Always Drink The Beer

Source: Forbes

Tara Nurin

January 31st

The United States boasts a record-breaking number of brewpubs, but more than half of their consumers aren’t necessarily drinking beer. The Brewers Association, a craft beer lobbying organization, tallied 1,916 brewpubs in the middle of last year (up from 982 in 2007), but according to Nielsen, a full 50% of patrons sometimes order wine while 43% have ordered a cocktail at least once. Just two-thirds have exclusively ordered beer.

” I always appreciate when brewpubs have other things on their menu so I can enjoy my night with friends,” says Nadine Connell, a professor in Dallas who’s allergic to beer. “I think brewpubs are great places, my friends enjoy them, and I enjoy my friends. Win-win when there’s something other than beer on the menu!”

But it’s not just drinkers with allergies who sample from various parts of the menu. Some die-hard beer drinkers order cocktails if they’ve already tried all of the beers or if the pub has an adventurous cocktail program. Usually, they caution, it’s best to avoid the wine, which is too often old or an afterthought.

This can’t be good news to beer evangelists, who watch with trepidation as beer slowly but steadily loses market share to wine and spirits, along with beer’s new competitor, legalized marijuana.

“We must all be pro-beer first and try to differentiate our category from wine and spirits, and we must do that together,” MillerCoors CEO Gavin Hattersley told an industry convention last year, as reported by Brewbound.

The rest of the brewpub findings taken from the Nielsen CGA On Premise User Survey, which surveyed 15,000 people who’d visited an on-premise site in the previous quarter, are beer positive. One in seven poll respondents had been to a brewpub over the previous three months , with almost half visiting one more often in the past year than the year before. A majority said they go to experience “something different,” followed by people who go to “explore a more interesting selection of beers.”

That more interesting selection comprises seasonals, IPAs, pale ales, stouts and pilsners, in that order. Not much surprise there. What may be more surprising is the breakdown in age. Most patrons (39%) fall between the ages of 35 and 54, with 21 to 34 year-olds comprising exactly one-third and those aged 55+ coming in at 28%. What this says to me is that brewpubs might have a bit of a Millennial problem.

My problem with brewpubs (other than the fact that a significant percentage of the ones in my home state of New Jersey are outdated and make terrible beer), is that the lines between brewpubs and brewery restaurants and taprooms that serve food are blurring so much that it’s gotten confusing. So here’s the official definition of a brewpub, as written by the BA: “A restaurant-brewery that sells 25 percent or more of its beer on site. The beer is brewed primarily for sale in the restaurant and bar. The beer is often dispensed directly from the brewery’s storage tanks. Where allowed by law, brewpubs often sell beer “to go” and /or distribute to off-site accounts.”

Here’s a final thought for brewpub owners on how to keep their venue from going stale: “While I like the atmosphere and ambiance of brewpubs, I’m generally not a big beer drinker. If the brewpub doesn’t have a good selection of ciders or sours (which I do enjoy) I’ll opt for a glass of wine or an easy cocktail instead,” says Philadelphia public relations professional Esha Dev.