Kate Bernot

Two years of pandemic have altered hospitality and the beer industry in meaningful ways. Here’s a look at how COVID has—and hasn’t—shifted taproom architecture and design.

• Taproom
• Architecture
• Design

You see them on TikTok and Instagram, posing or even lip-syncing while proudly showing off a can of another brewery’s beer. Who are these people? Should you engage or avoid? And what’s the ROI?

• Marketing
• Social Media
• Influencers

In demand and on trend, hop water is proving to be a low-effort, high-reward offering for many small breweries.

• Hop Water
• Trends
• Beyond Beer

Online alcohol marketplaces such as Drizly and Instacart aren’t just for big beer. Here’s how craft suppliers can work with retailers to boost sales on these platforms.

• Online
• E-Commerce
• Apps

North Carolina’s Fonta Flora Brewery now operates three taprooms and a farm, as the company learns how to bridge the gap not just between urban and rural, but also between idealism and reality.

• Case Study
• Fonta Flora
• Farmhouse

Expensive equipment and a steep technical learning curve make contract brewing nonalcoholic beers an attractive option for smaller breweries.

• Non-Alcoholic Beer
• NA Beer
• Contract Brewing

Sales of imperial IPAs are outpacing their standard-strength counterparts. Yet breweries need to find the right packaging mix, price point, recipe, and marketing to keep margins in line.

• ABV
• Sales
• High-ABV

Given the ongoing uncertainty in on-premise hospitality, there are fewer taps flowing than there were two years ago. Yet those open draft lines represent opportunities for breweries willing to adjust and build relationships.

• Draft Beer
• Taps
• Kegs

Like it or not, social and political issues are becoming impossible for breweries and other businesses to avoid. Here is concrete advice on knowing when and how to get involved, and on how to choose your battles.

• Politics
• Issues
• Causes

Recurring payments, exclusive memberships, loyalty rewards, and games are among the ways that breweries of all sizes can keep customers engaged in e-commerce.

• Direct-to-Consumer
• DTC
• Membership

While some brewery owners seek a way out while keeping the brands they’ve built alive, others see opportunities to grow, diversify, and gain efficiencies.

• Acquisitions
• Growth
• Expansion

Here’s how breweries are building in flexibility amid ongoing shortages, supply-chain headaches, labor crunches, and the rising costs that obfuscate next year’s forecasts.

• Forecasting
• Materials
• Planning