Today’s craft breweries have many different personalities and business models. As a business owner, you’ll make many decisions about your business that will cement its personality in the community. You’ll make packaging decisions like whether to use bottles or cans, and whether or not to offer kegs.
One important decision is whether or not your brewery will offer a taproom. A taproom allows visitors to come in and sample your brews, and order beers by the glass.
Adding a taproom to your brewery changes your business model considerably. You’ll need additional space, additional staff and you’ll be required to tap beer by the glass instead of simply using a beer filler for bottles and cans. Opening a tap room turns your brewery into a public gathering place, which is a very different kind of business from a brewery that simply fills cans, bottles, and kegs with a beer filler and sends these out for distribution in stores.
It’s a bit more complicated to run a brewery that offers a taproom. However, it’s also a great way to increase your brewery’s chance of success. Breweries that offer taprooms sell significantly more beer in their community than those that don’t, and the increase in sales is greater than the sales of the taproom.
This means that offering a taproom increases your sales overall. Your taproom increases exposure to your beer, so you sell more. People are much more likely to try a new beer when they can sample it before committing to buying an entire six pack. This means that allowing people to taste your beer in your taproom means more people are likely to buy your beer in the store later.
Determining whether or not a taproom should be part of your business model is an important decision. Be sure to consider how a taproom might benefit your brewery before you open.
