Brewery Tip: Safe Alcohol Service In the Taproom

With festival season upon us, we can all look forward to the upcoming festivities and increased patronage to our breweries. With this increase in fests and fun, we may also expect an increase in hiccupy, wobbly customers who have over imbibed, and inversely decrease our fun (it’s science). Read my advice below, as both a brewery owner and brewery insurance and risk management consultant, on how to handle conflict resolution with intoxicated patrons. And I hope to see you at your brewery or mine soon!

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I’ve had the pleasure to work with 20+ breweries across Colorado and surrounding states over the past five years or so. Usually a pleasure, anyway… some of you guys smell weird. Anyway, most of my start-up clients have leaned on my experience as a brewer for advice when it comes to operations, licensing, beer quality (best part of the job), and, of course, risk management.

It’s always been fun to share what I’ve learned as an operator within the industry and a consultant to the industry. I’ve never really considered myself a very good teacher, but I’ve really come to enjoy this role.

One of the topics that has never come up in any of the conversations with the folks that brew the finest beverage on the planet has been that of conflict resolution. Specifically, resolving conflicts with intoxicated customers. The fact that this conversation has never come up didn’t occur to me until I started getting ready to interview taproom servers for our new brewery, Goldspot.

Obviously, the best way to resolve this situation is to have well-trained servers that can identify your friends that may have reached their limit. But that’s not always possible. Sometimes things are out of your control. You can have the best trained staff in the world, but if someone comes in having been over-served somewhere else, or they have a penchant for looking all cool on the outside while on the inside they’re a wobbly mess, you need to know how to take care of that person.

So, as I’ve been interviewing the awesome candidates that will hope to be presenting our liquid art to your flavor hole, the most important and telling question that I’ve asked these folks is this: How do you resolve conflicts?

I’ve compiled a short list of some of the answers that I’ve received, along with some stuff that I’ve compiled over the past few months as I build my own server training program.

    1.  If possible, don’t work alone/schedule a single staff person for late-night/closing    

         shifts. That stupid adage that your parents used to throw at you when you were 

         begging to stay out ‘til the wee small hours of the morning is pretty accurate. Not 

         everyone who’s out enjoying a drink after 10:00 PM is looking to get crunk. But when I 

         look at loss reports for my clients or prospective clients, most of the liability issues 

         involving intoxicated customers will happen after 10:00.

         Some of us are better at resolving conflict than others. Logic holds that if you’ve got  

         more than one person working, you’ve got a better chance of having someone there 

         who can successfully make the situation go away. Also, if one person is handling up 

         on an unwanted situation you still have another person to make sure that everyone 

         else is being taken care of properly.

         I also had an interviewee tell me that the bar he works at has been robbed three times 

         since he has been there. All three times is was when there was a lone worker closing 

         down the shop. Depending on where you’re located this might be a concern.

    2.  Address the person you’re concerned about directly. If they’re with a group of  

         folks that are otherwise being respectful, directly tell that individual that you won’t be 

         serving them any more alcohol that night and that you’d be happy to get them some 

         water or coffee (or Italian soda if you’re slinging suds at one of those fancy breweries).

         If they’re with a group, that group will usually take the initiative to make sure that their  

         friend stays cool and doesn’t cause any problems. From what I’ve seen, that party 

         usually settles up and leaves pretty quickly.

    3.  Be friendly when you approach them. Another old adage that came from Grandma 

         (so therefore not near as dumb as the stuff my dad told me) is that you catch more 

         flies with honey than vinegar. If you try to end a confrontation by being confrontational, 

         there’s a better chance that someone’s going to end up in a headlock than if you’re 

         nice.

         Don’t confuse being nice with being a pushover, however. You need to be confident 

         when you address them. Know that you are completely within your rights to make sure 

         that you, your clients, employees, and business are protected.

    4.  When in doubt, ask for help. If your beer is good, you’ve probably got several people 

         in your taproom. If your beer is good, some of those folks are probably regulars. If your 

         beer is good, those regulars probably love you and want you to continue serving them 

         your goodness in a glass. Those people are your allies and are usually more than 

         happy to lend a hand.

         I had an interviewee tell me that one of his favorite moves is to tell the offender that 

         he’s surrounded by people that like him (the bartender) more, and that if the offender   

         continues to be belligerent and hiccuppy, then he won’t be able to pay them any 

         attention. The guy that told me this is also 6’3” and weighs in at about 250 lbs, so he 

         can get away with talking this way. He also said that is his second to last move before 

         calling a cab and sending them on their way.

    5.  Make sure they have a safe ride home. Empower your employees to pay for cabs. 

         My employees will totally have the power to pull a $20 out of the drawer and hand to a 

         cabby to get home. One brewery owner that I spoke to has Über loaded on the    

         brewery iPad, and will arrange rides for customers that way.

         If they’ve got a sober friend who’s going to take them home, get that person’s contact 

         info and make sure that you document what happened. If anything happens after they 

         leave your establishment, you want documentation that you took the proper steps to 

         help them get home safely.

As a server of alcohol, it’s your responsibility to intervene if someone is getting out of hand. Luckily, this kind of situation is the exception and not the rule. Just remember to keep your calm, be confident, and be respectful. And, if you’re not 6’3” and 250 lbs and the situation is beyond your control, ask for help!

~Matt

Matt Hughes

Pure Risk Solutions

Office: 303-834-1001 | Mobile: 303.350.0287 | 

www.purerisksolutions.com 

500 Briggs St., Ste. 200, P.O. Box 1274, Erie, CO 80516

About Matt

Matt is the owner of Gold Spot brewery and an insurance and risk management consultant who has been a part of Colorado's craft brewing industry for close to a decade. He uses his unique expertise in both the craft brewing industry and commercial insurance world to help breweries across the country understand the risks they face, while running his own production brewery and taproom.

Protecting your craft beverage equipment

Equipment breakdown coverage can protect your business
from the financial impact of an equipment loss.

While means and methods will vary, one item that all craft beverage manufacturers share is dependence on their equipment. That’s why it’s important to make sure you include equipment breakdown coverage as part of your insurance portfolio if you’re a craft brewer, distiller or winery
owner. Read more of this post

Whether a piece of metal gets into your grain and badly damages the rollers in your mill, a gear in your bottling line suddenly breaks, shutting down production, or something as simple as routine breakdown of a water heater or air conditioner occurs, Equipment Breakdown coverage protects your finances against breakdowns that are sudden and accidental.

The Craft Brewer Insurance Essentials

With the exponential growth of the industry, there’s never been a better time to be a brewer in Colorado. However, there are some things you should be prepared for. Protecting your investment is one of the most important strategies for your success. From grower to glass, there are key ways to manage risk during every step of your business to ensure that the inevitable hiccups breweries are likely to run into at some point (a delayed shipment, contaminated batch, equipment breakdown, employee injury) don’t compromise your business or your profits.

Selecting the appropriate insurance is essential for protecting your brewery. From liquor liability coverage to loss control, to data compromise, product recall, property insurance, and equipment breakdown.

To highlight the importance of craft-specific insurance (vs. standard commercial insurance) to your brewery, let’s use a metaphor. 

The Craft Brewer Insurance Essentials:

• The “Domestics”: Here’s a helpful list of The 7 Essential Business Insurance Policies (that you should already have).
• The “Crafts”: Brewer-specific insurance essentials that best protect your brewery’s unique risks from an unexpected hiccup or loss are highlighted in the four P’s, below.

 You went into brewing craft beer because you value quality, plain and simple. You don’t care that it costs more than the other stuff, and neither do your consumers. Why? Because the superior product is worth it. From the raw materials to the packaging, quality is your focus. Insuring your business is no different. You have two options when choosing coverage for your brewery: Commercial (“Domestic”) and brewery-specific (“Craft”). “Domestic” gets the job done, but not with the quality and satisfaction you really want. “Craft” provides the best quality of coverage, customized to your industry: superior protection for a superior product.

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There are four specific areas of your brewery that have unique coverage needs ("Craft"), above and beyond the standard commercial ("Domestic") policy. We’ll call these the four P’s (because it’s catchy), and the things that you most need to protect:

1.     Passion – We’re all in the brewery business for a reason. For most of us, it’s because making great beer is our passion. We are entrepreneurs and enjoy both the freedoms and challenges that come with it. Protecting that passion and its inherent risks is vital to our growth and success. Third party lawsuits and claims against your brewery can put an end to that opportunity in a hurry. 

·      General Liability coverage protects you against third party premise claims.

·      Liquor Liability provides protection against third party claims involving the sale either on or off premise of your product – beer. 

2.     Property – We all know we need to protect our breweries from risks like fire, wind, hail, falling objects, etc. Breweries need several brewer-specific add-ons to their commercial property policy, without which damage to (expensive) equipment may not be fully covered. 

·      Equipment Breakdown extends your property policy to cover loss to property from the sudden and accidental breakdown of machinery and equipment used in your business.

·      Tank Collapse provides financial protection up to policy limits for a loss caused by collapse of a tank due to failure of a pressure relief device. 

·      Tank Leakage provides coverage for a loss due to a leak of finished or in process beer from a tank, vessel, or barrel.

3.     Profits – Most breweries start out making a profit because of our onsite sales or taprooms. Some of us also have distributing risks and orders to fill. In the event of a property loss, your business will be shut down until the property is repaired or replaced. The question is for how long, and how do you recover from that.    

·      Business Income provides coverage for your lost net income and continuing operating expenses. One important point is that the continuing operating expenses includes payroll for your key employees or brewers.  

·      Extra Expense coverage provides funds to ensure you reopen again as soon as possible. For breweries, that might include expenses like renting another location or contracting out some of the production. Since water is such an important ingredient, some insurance carriers provide specific coverage for a loss of processing water if the quality is not there after a loss. 

·      Dependent Properties is property insurance that pays for the loss of income or increase in expenses resulting from damage to the premises of another organization on which your business depends, such as a key supplier or customer.

·      Utility Service Interruption protects your brewery against losses caused by utility outages, ensuring that if lights go out for an extended period of time, or you’re without water, phone, natural gas, or Internet, for an extended period of time, your business won’t suffer.

·      Crime protection covers employee theft, forgery and alteration, theft of money and securities, computer fraud, funds transfer fraud, and loss from accepting in good faith money orders and counterfeit money, in your taproom and beyond. 

4.     People – More than most industries, the brewery industry is about people. We make great beer for people to enjoy, and also try our best to provide a great environment for our own people to work in. We’re required to provide some protection for them (like Workers Comp), and depending on the size of the business, you may wish to provide additional benefits to your team.

·      Workers Compensation

·      Medical

·      Disability

·      Life Insurance   

Other optional coverages to consider, based on your brewery’s unique needs:

• Federal and State Brewery Bonds
• Product Recall or Contamination
• Special Events/Tasting Room
• Supply Chain Insurance
• Data Compromise and Identity Theft Expense

Why choose a brewer-specific insurance agent?

Here’s the thing. I love your beer. Why? It’s delicious, it’s quality, it’s local, and I’m friends with so many of the people creating it. I’m proud to live in the State of Craft Beer, and I want to help it continue to grow at the impressive rate that it has been. So I asked myself, how can I help keep Colorado craft beer so great? By protecting it. That’s my area of expertise, and the way that I can contribute best (other than continuing to drink a lot of it).

I specialize in brewery insurance, customizing coverage to protect your unique business so that you can focus on what really matters: making and selling great beer. My goal is to help protect your exposures at an affordable price, whether you are in the startup phase or an industry veteran who wants to review your existing policies to make sure your thriving business is protected the way it should be.

For a free quote or coverage review, or to learn more about brewer-specific policies that best protect the business you’ve worked so hard for, reach out to me, John Jacquat, at (303) 834-1001 or at john@purerisksolutions.com.