Green Bench opened in 2013, Bruz Beers in 2016, and Noble Beast in 2017. Back then, it wasn’t uncommon to see more than 500 new breweries open in the United States every year.
Yet as more local breweries opened and flourished, specialty beer bars—important outlets for those breweries’ products—struggled. Margins grew tighter, costs went up, and a pandemic played havoc on hospitality businesses. Meanwhile, the sheer number of local taprooms and brewpubs offering events and family-friendly atmosphere meant that those bars often were competing for the same customers.
Of course, there are still great beer bars offering the kind of education, adventure, and service that helped to grow the industry—but they are fewer. The market shifts, and successful businesses tend to evolve. That’s something that brewery operators know well.
Today, some breweries are incorporating elements that made those bars great, working them into their existing breweries and taprooms to draw new customers. Here are a few examples of how.