A craft beer holiday gets skunked.
Over the weekend a drinking establishment in town held and incredible event for fans of craft beer, or at least it should have been. Unfortunately the tapping of Founders CBS, Goose Island's Bourbon County, and Lagunitas Lil' Sumpin Wild went about as wrong as an event could go without it actually being tragic.
Social media has taken up the pitchforks and fire to the doorstep of their facebook brand page even after they offered a $10 gift card to anyone who comes in and shows the post to their server, which is a brilliant start and a great apology.
That said, this brand has a CRM database, (read, email list) perhaps next time this is an offer that those members get access to on a ticketed basis (eventbrite, etc) so that the restaurant is full but comfortable and the narrative those customers tell is about how amazing the event was and that you do NOT want to miss out on it next time.
You see kegs have a very specific number of pints of beer in them so sheer numbers can tell you what is going to happen when you tap 2 of the most sought after beers in the midwest at one place, the day after Christmas. You will run out of beer, glasses, and patience from the customers and staff before the night even gets started, which is exactly what happened.
Have you heard of Rao's in New York? Opened in 1896, it has 10 tables and is at 100% of reservations, it has been for nearly three generations as families pass down the reservations to family making it the hardest restaurant to get into in America, maybe even the world according to Forbes. They recently opened a satellite restaurant in Vegas that has over 250 tables and the sauces line the shelves of grocery stores but all of that demand comes from a lack of supply at ground zero.
Back to Friday night, could this place become THE place that you want your name on their email list so that you get invited to these events? Absolutely. This is the same town that loves craft beer so much we will hang out in brutal conditions in February to try some of the best the nation has to offer at the Winter Beer Fest. We love it so much in fact they added a second day, which isn't sold out yet.
Craft beer fans as any customer look for surprise and delight from brands which is possible now more than ever, it isn't always easy and certainly isn't the quickest way to success. But it just might be the longest form of success which is the game at this point. Besides, easy is so damn boring - be delightful and save me a pint of CBS next time.