At the time of this writing, various parts of our country are opening back up, while other regions are still under severe Covid-19 quarantine. A map of the Nation shows a patchwork of states with varying degrees of restrictions and infection trends. It’s a mess and we all want it to end.

We are going to emerge from this, God willing sooner than later.

I wish we didn’t lose 100k lives, millions of jobs and our ability to live freely. For me personally, I miss so many things that I took for granted. Travelling on a plane, shuffling around Home Depot and going to a brewery to relax. I miss talking to friends and meeting strangers at the brewery. At this point, I’d miss screaming kids, flat beer and a pint glass served with lipstick on the side. As a Michigander however I can’t order a beer casually at the brewery. To be totally honest, I wouldn’t if they let me. Listen, I’m not generally the fearful type. I can walk confidentially in the dark and eat fast food from a restaurant attached to a gas station. I do however firmly respect the threat and will do everything I can to protect my family it. For that, I’m reserved to “Curbside Beer”.

Curbside Beer: Alternative methods for brewery customers to purchase beer from a brewery without entering the actual brewery.

For days I researched the breweries in my area (I had some quarantine time on my hands) and was astounded at the different approaches each brewery employed. Some were barely open with outdated websites not reflecting the crisis, as if they had given up. Others were pushing their beer but didn’t seem to have the same worries about the virus that I did. Thankfully, I found a few that really are on board. Not sure about their political views (don’t care) but they have taken every precaution to make me feel comfortable and for that I reward them $$$. My take away from all of this; a brewery that takes every precaution against the virus also demonstrates that it loves its employees. I think that is the greatest lesson for me. When any employer demonstrates they care, the entire culture and hopefully the business rises.

Hoping we no longer need curbside anything and praying this is not needed in the future. The following is my recommendation for any brewery attempting to sell me beer.

The Don’ts

1. Require customers to leave their vehicle.
2. Require customers to enter establishment if #1 is not possible
3. Ask customers to roll down windows (for any reason) when they arrive.
4. Conduct payment transaction when customer is on premises

The Do’s

1. Design entire sales process around the concept of “no contact” between your employees and the customers.
2. Sell only beer that has been purchased on-line or over the phone.
3. Encourage (demand) customers stay in their cars until they have been identified.
4. Bring beer out to the customer and then signal that it is safe to retrieve the beer.
5. If you can bypass all of this and deliver directly to your customers, well…..

Does all of this sound over-the-top crazy? It is. It is absolutely nuts. It’s also the type of mentality that will get us over this crisis. Respect the threat, support your local brewery.

Cheers
David