Craft Beer Restaurant Blog

Can craft beer grow its way into better restaurants

Charles Bockway — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 01:55:47 +0000

American craft beer retail sales grew by 15% in 2011 over 2010 and now for the first time has over a 5% share of the total U.S. beer market. (That’s over a 9% share if you subtract the truly non-beer, flavored malt beverages from the total.) Wow!

What is even more impressive about the above [...]

Florida-style Berliner Weisse pleasantly tart

Charles Bockway — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 03:35:27 +0000

While sampling beers recently during Tampa Bay Beer Week, I came across one brew that made me reassess my whole understanding of a particular northern German wheat beer style. In the past I had too often found the traditional Berliner Weisse beer, when drunk straight, to be a bit too sour for my liking. To me, its sharp sourness overpowered the more subtle, yeast- and grain-derived wheat beer character of the base brew. Some Berliner Weisse even seemed to have a funky aroma that made me think of sauerkraut. [...]

Supercharged beer pairing dinners

Charles Bockway — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:04:25 +0000

Beer-food pairing dinners are a popular feature in better restaurants today. You know the type — flavorful craft beers paired with four or five food courses and pre-sold as a packaged event. They’re fun, easy to do, and profitable.

But there are beer dinners and then there are BEER dinners. The supercharged BEER dinner is [...]

Authoritative beer style reference updated

Charles Bockway — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:41:58 +0000

When you can’t quite remember the technical differences among Old, Strong, and Heavy Ales, you need the Beer Style Guidelines published by the Brewers Association.

The recently updated guidelines describe 140 styles of beer and are used in prestigious beer competitions, such as the Great American Beer Festival® and the World Beer Cup®. It is the most [...]

Could you use more of this customer?

Charles Bockway — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:07:00 +0000

What do you think of this customer profile:

adventurous in dining habits, concerned more with quality than convenience, willing to pay more to get a superior product, like to try new things, drink all major types of beverage alcohol, 30 years of or a little older, better educated, employed as professionals, earning higher-than-average salaries, most [...]

Craft beer growth means opportunities for restaurants

Charles Bockway — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:28:18 +0000

The Brewers Association reports that at the end of 2011 there were 1,949 breweries operating in the United States. Additionally, they state there were 915 more breweries in planning. These are astounding numbers compared to a few years ago. While they are preliminary numbers, they clearly tell the story that craft beer is THE hot [...]

Use beer release calendars to boost your seasonals

Charles Bockway — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:06:04 +0000

The beer release calendars found on craft brewery websites are an incredibly useful tool for improving your Seasonal beer sales strategy.

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 [...]

Get Fresh Hop Ales while they’re fresh

Charles Bockway — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 23:21:18 +0000

Sierra Nevada's Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale is a good example of the fragrant fresh hop ales that tell you fall has arrived.

American fresh-hop craft beers will make a dynamic seasonal statement on your restaurant’s beer list this autumn. They are truly the premier harvest ales.

Like the story of nouveau wines, the story of fresh hop beer [...]

Best of Show: National Restaurant Show 2011

Charles Bockway — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:01:50 +0000

NRA Show 2011

Craft Beer Restaurant did the show and now we’re home full of excitement and new ideas. Here’s our take on some of the highlights we found at the National Restaurant Association Show and its International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event in relation to craft beer and restaurants.

Read the Best of Show [...]

Koch entertains, informs restaurant show audience

Charles Bockway — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:05:46 +0000

As he was introduced for his presentation, Samuel Adams founder Jim Koch dumped the water from his glass, cracked open a bottle of Sam Adams beer, filled a glass and took a sip. Things just got better from there as Koch related a series of interesting facts and restaurant-useful information at the International Wine, Spirits [...]