Craft Beer Restaurant Times

Helping restaurants profit from craft beer sales

Selling Craft Beer — Microbrews energize craft beer sales, improve beer lists

Craft Beer Restaurant Times

Beer release calendars boost seasonals

An incredibly useful tool in improving your Seasonal beer sales strategy are the beer release calendars found on craft brewery websites.

Seasonals are limited-production beers that are released in a specific calendar period during the year. A craft brewery typically offers between four and six Seasonals. Taken as a group, Seasonals are the most popular craft beer style today. Seasonals spice up any restaurant beer list. MORE...

Take care when selecting craft beer glassware

For the casual- or fine-dining restaurant the selection of craft beer glassware is very important, but it need not be difficult. Craft beer glassware simply needs some of the same consideration that you give
to your wine glassware. Our glassware guide helps you make the best selection. Beautiful glassware for beautiful beers. MORE...

Where there’s smoke, there must be beer

Beechwood burns in the old firebox and smokes the malt used in Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier. Smoked beers are a German tradition that is also embraced by brewers in America. Smoked beer provides another taste dimension for pairing with food.

Smoked beer? It may seem a bit odd to the uninitiated, but making beer with smoked malt is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. As in foods, smoking adds another layer of complexity that can create a very appealing taste sensation.

For the restaurant, smoked beers offer a perfect pairing with smoked foods or fire-grilled steak, ham, salmon, and bacon-enhanced dishes. For your customers, smoked beers can be an unexpected but welcomed culinary discovery. MORE...

A fresh look at craft brewed Bavarian beer from the Ayinger Bräuerei Inselkammer

The food-friendly Bavarian beers from Ayinger are considered some of the best.

Bavarian beers have long been known for their clean, food-friendly styes. In recent years however, with the great resurgence in American craft brewing, fine German beers have too often been overlooked in US restaurants.

We take a fresh look at superbly likable beers of Ayinger, which we find to be among the best from Bavaria. These beer styles are time tested and time honored. For restaurant use this means beer you can match with your cuisine to create combinations so easy to love.

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Small breweries present energizing opportunities for your craft beer sales

Cigar City Brewing Company is building a great portfolio of specialty beers that are attractive for restaurant use.

Picking up a new high-end beer from a hot new brewery can help energize your beer list. It offers a new story to tell. It increases customer interest and causes conversation. People tell their friends what they had and where they had it.

Like the excitement a creative chef/restaurateur brings to the market when opening a new restaurant, a new craft brewery can also make a big splash even when it is small. One perfect example of this is Cigar City Brewing Company located in Tampa, Florida.

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Popular Articles

Jim Koch talks beer freshness

Freshness is a big key to long-term success in restaurant beer sales and Sam Adams has its sights set squarely on that says Jim Koch, founder and chairman of The Boston Beer Co., maker of Samuel Adams beers.

Q & A with Matt Brynildson

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. brewmaster talks about his take on selling craft beer.

See the future with brewery beer-release calendars

Planning your 2011 seasonal beer list specials is a cinch when using breweries’ beer release calendars. Don’t wait.

Designing a Seasonal Beer LIst

Seasonal beers can be considered the most popular craft beer style. They can also be an effective beer list strategy.

Drink Lagers While Fresh

Pay attention to the freshness dates on your pale lagers and your customers will be all the happier for it.

Craft Beer Serving Temperature

Making warmer the new cool. Most craft beers are served too cold.

Blinded by the Light

How the light beer overload hurts fine-dining restaurant credibility.

Beer Sales Tips

Craft beer’s growth
great for restaurateurs

The Brewer’s Association reports that nationally American craft beer dollar sales grew 15% in the first six months of 2011 over the same period of the previous year. This follows strong craft performance in 2010 over 2009.

It is notable that American craft beer, which is the most expensive segment of the beer category, is out-performing the overall market, including imports. This is good news for restaurants looking for ways to increase sales during this national economic slowdown. Doesn’t it make sense to offer more craft beer.

No wonder the National Restaurant Association’s Chefs Survey pegged locally-produced beers as among its top food and beverage trends for 2011.