The Best Brewery Guides and Tips

Brew success for your brewery with the best guides on hop varieties, brewery equipment, brewing guides, and more!
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10 Most Popular Beers in Asheville, NC, for the Last 90 Days

Posted by Grace Lee-Weitz, August 15, 2022

With Untappd’s analytics, you have a vast wealth of data on craft beer drinkers on the world’s largest social networking platform literally at your fingertips.

We can show you what beers Untappd drinkers are consuming the most in your area along with what styles are trending and which are taking a turn downwards.

With over 9 million registered users, Untappd can easily tap into the trends and insights of drinkers in your city, state, region, and beyond.

Analyzing these behaviors and purchasing habits will help you make crucial business decisions including, but not limited to, what beers to brew next, what styles to stock on your shelves, or what beers to put on tap.

Learn what craft beer consumers are drinking in your area. Give Untappd for Business a try without talking to anyone—no credit card required.

To show you the power of Untappd’s analytics, we’re breaking down the most checked-in beers in Asheville, NC, over the last ninety days.

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Understanding the Difference Between Service Charges and Tips

Posted by Sarah Buckholtz, August 11, 2022

Service industry employees like bartenders, wait staff, food runners, and bussers are the backbone of the service industry and your business. Your servers work hard every day to bring customers’ food and drinks to the right table (not to mention ensuring special birthday dinners go off without a hitch). And your bartenders work tirelessly to keep the drinks flowing for your patrons.

When it comes to taking care of your bartenders and servers, there are specific laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Internal Revenue Code that employers in the hospitality industry must follow. Accordingly, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides a Fact Sheet to help business owners understand the differences between tips and service charges, especially for tax reporting purposes.

In this article, we’ll use that Fact Sheet to help navigate the tricky territory between tips and service charges while showing you how to stay in compliance with reporting each to the IRS.

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How to Make Money by Hosting Trivia Night At Your Brewery or Bar

Posted by Sarah Buckholtz, August 5, 2022

If you own a bar or brewery, you know that profit margins are razor thin. With that in mind, attracting folks into your space every night becomes very important. While you may not need a plan for increasing foot traffic on your busy days of the week (probably Friday and Saturday), strategizing for those slow weeknights is crucial.

So here’s a question for you: What is one tried and true event to get butts in seats during the week? Answer: trivia night.

King Trivia, a trivia company in operation since 2004, reports that during their trivia nights 98% of tables are filled on average at each venue.

Now, these are just one company’s statistics, but if you haven’t already it seems valuable to at least test out a trivia night at your venue to see if it increases foot traffic and your weeknight profits. But what exactly goes into running a profitable trivia night?

You need to consider everything from buying the right equipment to potentially hiring a host and marketing. Let’s consider all the economics behind hosting a trivia night to see how you can maximize your event.

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Should Your Bar or Restaurant Be Open on Labor Day?

Posted by Sarah Buckholtz, August 3, 2022

If you’re a restaurant or bar owner, your livelihood depends on customers year round.

Which is why, when it comes to federal holidays such as July Fourth or Labor Day, as a business owner you have an important decision to make: Stay open or close your doors for the day.

On the first Monday in September, restaurants and bars are often greeted by an influx of patrons ready to spend money on some well-deserved fun during a long weekend.

Staying open on that Monday could provide potential opportunities to boost your bottom line.

On the other hand, consider your employees. Should restaurant owners and staff also have the day off? Will that help with your team morale?

When it comes to Labor Day, a restaurant, bar, or brewery owner should weigh the pros to both staying open and closing for the day.

Luckily, we’ve started a list for you. And if you do choose to welcome guests, we’ve laid out a few ideas to set you apart from the pack.

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Everything You Need to Know About Pint Glasses

Posted by Grace Lee-Weitz, July 20, 2022

When it comes to serving beer, glassware is important. Just like when a bartender makes an Old Fashioned or Margarita, they pour each respective drink into the right cocktail glass.

And while people in the industry debate the pros and cons of pint glasses, there is no denying that pint glasses are commonly used.

Plus, a pint is a ubiquitous industry measurement, meaning as a brewery, bar, or restaurant owner you should be familiar with this metric. But exactly how much is a pint? And why does the size differ depending on where you are?

Plus, what are the pros and cons of pint glasses? And what might be a good solution to the traditional pint glass?

We’ll break everything down in our guide to pints.

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Why Cryo Hops® Are the Coolest Hop Trend

Posted by Grace Lee-Weitz, July 15, 2022

In the craft beer world, hops have become the equivalent of brewers’ gold. And if regular hops are like gold, then Cryo Hops® are like platinum, even more coveted.

Heavily hopped New England-style or hazy IPAs have exploded in popularity over the past few years. Just take a look at a roundup of yearly Untappd data in 2021. According to Untappd’s Top Ten Styles of 2021, “IPA – New England” ranked as the second-highest checked-in style on the app with over 6.1M check-ins.

Simultaneously American hop varieties such as Amarillo, Cascade, and Citra have been on the rise. But regardless of type, one thing remains the same—it’s the goodies inside the hop, called lupulin, that create these expressive hop flavors and aromas that we’ve all come to love.

Cryo Hops® separate that lupulin from a hop cone and pelletize it to create an enriched hop pellet that brews brighter, more expressive, juicier beers.

And they’ve become a new tool in a brewer’s arsenal. These days hop trends are constantly evolving, but keeping up on what consumers find hot (and cool) could be the key to creating your next big beer. Cryo Hops® just may be the coldest new hop evolution you should try.

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How to Take Mouthwatering Food Instagram Photos for Your Restaurant

Posted by Sarah Buckholtz, July 8, 2022

As a restaurateur, it takes considerable and thoughtful effort to build not just an appetizing menu, but also one that’s profitable.

With the cost of ingredients continuing to rise, business owners are seeking out more creative and strategic approaches to market their menu to patrons in high volume. But how to lure them in?

Like the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

While it’s common for menus to exclude pictures of the food, Instagram is a perfect platform to show off all the tantalizing dishes you prepare.

Taking attractive photos of food and posting them on social media is a low-cost, effective way to drive more traffic to your business—while also demonstrating your restaurant’s culinary skills and style.

If you’re a restaurateur looking to utilize the tools of food photography and technique to engineer your menu on social media, you’ve arrived at the right place.

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Everything You Need To Know About Barbacks

Posted by Grace Lee-Weitz, July 1, 2022

A bartender is essential to any drinking operation. Of course you need someone behind the bar slinging cocktails, stirring glasses, and pouring beers. But a role that is just as important in a bar is a barback. Someone who might not necessarily stand front and center in the eye of the customers, but rather scurries around washing glasses, refilling garnishes, stockpiling napkins, and pretty much doing all the other little tasks that make sure a bartender can perform their best.

Similar to bussers in restaurants, barbacks fill in behind the scenes, performing necessary duties that keep your establishment running smoothly everyday.

For that reason, barbacks are one of the most important pieces of a bar team.

If you’re becoming a new bar owner or looking to improve your current bar staff, hiring a knowledgeable, hard-working barback is key.

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The Ultimate Guide to Cocktail Glasses

Posted by Sarah Buckholtz, June 28, 2022

Certain cocktails benefit from a wide range of glasses that enhance both their appearance and taste. Picking the right drinkware boosts a beverage’s aroma and temperature. All this means that using the right cocktail glass is incredibly important.

But what type of glass does your bartender need for some of the most common cocktails on your bar’s menu?

Read on to learn about the most common types of cocktail glasses and how their design brings out different aspects of each beverage.

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Should Your Business Be Open on a Holiday Weekend?

Posted by Sarah Buckholtz, June 24, 2022

As consumers, we love federal holidays because it means an extra day for relaxing, hanging with friends, and drinking. For brewery, bar, and restaurant owners, however, the prospect of a federal holiday poses an interesting question: Should you stay open?

More often than not, for those who work in the hospitality industry, restaurants, bars, and brewery owners often decide to swing the doors open on traditional federal holidays to maximize a potential increase in traffic and sales.

But keeping a restaurant or similar establishment open during a federal holiday means understanding a few considerations. For example, recognizing that overtime requirements can mean you might need to pay your employees more than the average weekday. Consequently, staying open might only be profitable if you can ensure that you’ll experience increased traffic that day.

Overall, what are the advantages of keeping your bar, brewery, or restaurant open on a holiday? Alternatively, should you even stay open on these days. What are the potential benefits of choosing to give your staff the day off? And if you do decide to light up that open sign, how can you prepare?

We weighed both sides of the equation and offer a few tips and tricks on how to navigate those three- or four-day weekends.

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