Service

Most people who operate small breweries don’t want to go into the restaurant business—yet food is an increasingly important way to attract customers and increase beer sales. For small breweries considering what kind of food program might be the best fit, here are some lessons learned.

Simply having great beer is no longer enough, and on-site pie is a hit any way you slice it. Using pizza as a prism, here are three operational approaches to drawing more customers with food.

It may be one of the lowest-selling styles in American craft beer, but some breweries are packing their taprooms by cutting down the menu and serving stange after stange of nothing but Kölsch.

There are signs that brewers and drinkers are emerging from a relatively monotonous haze phase to re-embrace more choices via lagers, traditional styles—and even cask ales. From Behind the Bar, here is specific advice on adding cask to your bar or taproom.

It’s not all four-packs and boss pours. Glassware chosen to elevate particular kinds of beer—and to help you sell more of it—still has a valued place at the bar and taproom.

Whether in your taproom, brewpub, restaurant, bar, or shop, there’s never been a more important time to double down on improving guest experiences. Here are concrete suggestions for training and developing a team that can rise to that challenge.

With draft beer poised for its comeback, Greg Engert of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group makes the case for foam and its importance to the kinds of drinking experiences that keep customers coming back for more.

After years of research, brewer-led efforts to develop more exotic, expressive hop varieties that anyone can plant are beginning to sprout.

From flavor fundamentals that anyone can follow to specific matchups of beer styles and dishes, the Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s Greg Engert leads a master course on pairing great food with great beer.

Q: How do you increase sales despite stringent regulations for health and safety? A: Don’t think of your customers as monolithic. Instead, consider their different comfort levels, and what you can do to create compelling experiences for each.

Winterizing our outdoor spaces is critical for our businesses—and for our mental well-being. Greg Engert, beer director and partner in the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, offers practical tips and important perspective.

Thousands of small, taproom-focused breweries are keeping afloat during the pandemic by leaning into to-go sales. How can we encourage those customers to keep coming back? One small brewery in Vermont has developed tactics that are working already.

From breaking down flavor profiles to proper pouring, glassware, and caring for draft lines, Greg Engert of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group lays out his approach to world-class beer service in this full-length video for All Access subscribers.

Greg Engert, beer director of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, shares his insights into how beer sales and service—in bars, restaurants, and taprooms—may continue to look in the months to come.

Brewing marches onward—but presentation sadly lags behind, failing to do the product justice. Greg Engert, beer director of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, offers the latest tools of the trade to help bars and taprooms rise to the challenge.

Narratives count. Greg Engert, beer director of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group and the man behind ChurchKey, talks about the details that can help bars sell more of your beer.

Breweries that are open to the pubic are more than just beer. There’s a customer relationship that develops, and making sure that public-facing employees are in sync with those in the brewhouse or kitchen is vitally important to success.