Clearly Tap Takeovers are the new thing in Alberta these days. A couple of years ago, such a thing wasn’t heard of – a single brewery temporarily seizing a portion of an establishment’s tap lines (well except for the corporate brewers – but for them that was just “doing business”). Now, it seems like there is one somewhere almost every week.
As usual, we are well behind our American cousins and other parts of Canada. Tap takeovers are a common thing and have been for a long while in other parts. But around here, they are the new hula hoop/Chia Pet/Xbox/Iphone 5 (pick your favourite “hot trend” based upon age and/or proclivity). That is not to disparage them; I am merely observing.
In fact I hadn’t really given them much thought until recently. I popped into the Dieu Du Ciel takeover at Underground last week and had a couple of lovely DDC beer, including some bourbon barrel-aged offerings. Afterward I started thinking about this whole takeover thing and have been mulling it over on and off all week.
There is no question that in a vague and general way, tap takeovers are clearly a good thing. They are a sign of a maturing beer scene – no doubt. First, a place has to have enough taps to allow a takeover. Second, they have to be serious enough about beer (and have a client base serious enough about beer) to make such a move. That suggests a beer scene that has moved past the crawling stage. Plus one for takeovers.
Takeovers are obviously an effort to make said establishment a destination for beer consumers, even if just for a weekend. Do they work? I haven’t asked any of the proprietors whether their sales get a bump. They might. They might not. But, really, it is not just about sales. It is about building a reputation for having “interesting” beer happenings at their establishment.
They are also an opportunity to drink beer not normally available to consumers – as the breweries like to offer up something new or creative for the event. That is a particular highlight. So another plus for takeovers.
However, I can’t help but contemplate that for the 4, 6, 10 taps taken over by a single brewer, there are 4,6, 10 breweries who have temporarily lost taps. In the name of creating a cool event, we seem to sacrifice diversity. Sure, it is only for a few days, but when I am busy sipping on that creative dry-hopped, smoked porter (or whatever), I am not ordering a pint of something else. In fact I don’t even the choice of having that other said brew, because it has been bumped.
I realize consumers make those choices all the time. When I go to a good beer place, there is no way I am drinking all they have on tap (even if I wanted to). It is one of the reasons I am a big fan of taster trays. But during a takeover, the choice itself is removed.
Don’t read me incorrectly. I like the concept of takeovers. But I feel I want them to me an event, rather than a simple opportunity for one brewer to dominate sales for a few days. What I mean by this is that, to me, it feels different when a takeover is organized around something – the brewer is in town, the launch of a new beer or line of beer, to celebrate some anniversary or milestone for the establishment or the brewery.
When connected to an event or milestone of some kind, it feels like a celebration of beer and beer culture. Something we can all appreciate and revel in. But when six taps suddenly become the property of one brewery, with no other reason or connection, I feel a little more mixed about it.
I still enjoy the beer and love the novelty of trying a couple of never-before-tried pints. But I guess that sense of celebration is missing. It is just another night in the pub, albeit drinking something I might not normally. Maybe I am a sucker for visits from brewer or maybe I need an excuse to party, but connecting the takeover to something feels more organic and natural to me.
Just a thought on a Friday.
March 22, 2013 at 12:27 PM
Craft beer has quickly become dominated by one-offs, one-ups, limited releases, fancy packaging, exotic ingredients, brash/crass marketing etc. Each brewer needs to more agressively market their product than the next one, and the product always needs to be changing. Not much different from the rest of the world in which we live in – everything must be bigger, better, louder and faster than what was considered cutting edge the day before. Blink, and you’ll miss it.
The tap takeover is another extension of this – it’s a short lived, for the moment opportunity to make a big splash. Whether driven by the brewery or the pub (I’ve heard of many pubs purposely stock piling various kegs from a brewery so they can release them all at once or in succession), the goal is to create flash in the pan excitement and awareness. This is exactly what today’s craft beer fan wants, and so these businesses are more than happy to fill that demand.
So enjoy them, or don’t. But I fail to see anything evil, unfair or sinister about them.
March 25, 2013 at 8:39 AM
Perhaps the concept of a tap takeover is more driven as of late due to the nature of the market. With the seemingly never ending onslaught of new and different beers to our market many of the bars are going to need to distinguish themselves against the crowd. Hosting tap takeovers is one way of doing this. Mark is quite right about the manner in which consumers have been trained to expect the new and exciting beers; this gets them into the finer liquor stores, but not necessarily the pubs. Draught offerings in the province are starting to be just as diverse as the bottled products. As such, tap takeovers (and the like) are following the same thread.
Alternatively, tap takeovers are a way to fill a gap in the Edmonton market for brewpubs. Having a large selection of draught from a single brewery can mimic the offerings from a brewpub. We also get the opportunity to try the one-off concoctions and flavour experiments that would occur at a brewpub.
Also, the selection at the Underground across their 72 taps isn’t going to be greatly affected by having alternate product/missing ten or so taps. Some nights it’s possible that many taps could be empty from kegs running dry.
So, when it comes down to it, whether the tap takeover is to increase brand awareness, cater to what the market demands, or just for the heck of it, the outcome is the same – more people enjoying crafted beer.
March 25, 2013 at 12:15 PM
Let’s not forget that local craft brewers have an even better beer-event available to them – cask nights – which are well attended and not available to out of province brewers seeking to create buzz. In a sense, cask nights are the tap takeovers for locals.
March 25, 2013 at 2:32 PM
Three really smart, insightful comments. Mark, you have a very good analysis of the evolving craft beer industry – maybe you should write on this website instead of me :-)! I agree with your sense of what is driving both the takeover trend and the move to splashy one-offs
Shane, I hadn’t thought about the link to brewpubs – how it might fill a gap in the market. Interesting thought. I think, in general, it is more about novelty. Hence Brewsters opening Beer Revolution.
And Owen, you make a good point, especially about it being (almost) exclusive to local breweries, but I am not sure it is the same thing as takeovers. With cask nights, there is one additional, special beer that quickly runs out. Patrons, after having their one or two glasses of the cask, will jump back over to the regular beer list, or – as I commonly see – sip on something else while waiting for the cask to be tapped. In a way no one loses. However, I can see that it is a pint or two not normally sold – so maybe there is somewhat of a parallel.
Anyway, thanks for the insightful comments!