Beer Education at a Cost
Although it’s counter-intuitive, the popularity of beer festivals is actually making some of them less profitable. Executives from Bear Creek Mountain Resort & Conference Center in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains ended a six-year tradition after their 2010 festival netted less than $5,000. They sold plenty of tickets, but for the first time, brewers were unwilling to donate their beer.
“I can understand that in this economy, and with so many charities doing beer festivals, it’s tough on brewers to accommodate so many requests for donations,” says marketing manager Megan Weir.
Last spring, Bear Creek hosted a wine festival instead. “What makes it worse for brewers is that they don’t even have the same ability as wineries to sell bottles right from their tables,” Weir says.
Bear Creek’s festival was arranged in the same way as most others in the Mid-Atlantic: Attendees paid a flat rate for entry and a tasting glass and then consumed limitless samples during a multi-hour session. Though the event was civilized and sedate (trust me, I was there), this format is controversial and possibly the speediest route for an otherwise thoughtful human being to become the shot-pounding yahoo we met earlier.
“I don’t want people to go into a drinking binge, pounding all the beers they can to take advantage of the limited time,” says Larrance, who sells tokens for pints at his free fest. “I think if we allowed unlimited samples, people would be lying under the taps.”
“You get that fraternity-type atmosphere,” agrees Sysak, who caps the number of drink tickets per individual.
But producers of bottomless-glass festivals insist they have it covered. They sell food. They schedule their sessions early enough for people to make social plans for later. They program nondrinking distractions such as vendors, speakers, juried competitions and cooking and pairing demos. And between their staff, paid security officers and the ever-present—and sometimes undercover—enforcement officers, they swear they’re excruciatingly vigilant in flagging drunkards and warning brewers who are pouring more than the 1 to 4 approved ounces.
“People get mad at us for refusing to pour them a bigger sample,” says Gary Rosen, a former sales manager for Blue Point Brewing, NY. “But what they don’t realize is their extra ounce could shut down the whole festival. And I’m not going to be THAT guy.”
