Picking the right beers is one of the most important things you can do. Craft beer drinkers are always looking for new releases, seasonal beers, and highly rated beers with cult-like followings (above). Here’s a guide to help you choose beers that will help you attract new customers and gain a reputation for having one of the best beer selections in town.
Learn what beers people are searching for
More and more people are searching online to find places to buy specific beers. Example: "find arrogant bastard ale". These people are actively looking for a new place to buy craft beer. In other words, they’re the perfect people for you to convert to customers.
To connect with these people, stock the beers they’re searching for. We’ve discovered that even with a constant flood of new releases and seasonal beers available, there’s a small number of beers that get searched for the most.
Be the first place in town to get new beer releases
Proactively seeking out popular new releases is a great way to gain a reputation for having the best beer selection in town. Craft beer fans searching for beers will take notice and start checking your online beer menu regularly to plan visits.
To keep tabs on new beer releases check BeerPulse, a site that’s updated multiple times per day with new beer releases and regularly ask your beer distributor sales people what new beers will be available soon.
Curate A Balanced List
Having seven IPAs on tap will make some people very happy, and even more people unhappy. Watch Master Cicerone Pat Fahey discuss curating balanced beer list.
Learn what beers get the best ratings
Ratebeer and BeerAdvocate are popular websites people use to rate and review beers. They’re a great place to see which breweries and beers people like the most. When beers get high ratings, people seek them out to see what all the hype is about. Below are a few categories that should help you choose beers the most people will be looking for.
Popular Seasonals
Beer is a very seasonal product and people prefer to drink certain beer styles during certain seasons. Ratebeer has a list of the most popular seasonal beers. Check this list when the seasons change to make sure you have all the new seasonal beers people will be looking for.
Get feedback from your customers
It’s extremely important to listen to your customers and give them a channel to request beers. Here are some places you can let customers request beers:
Cult Following Beers
The highest rated beers on Ratebeer and BeerAdvocate are often difficult to track down and not available in every part of the country, but stocking one of these beers will result in many beer fans journeying to your business from far and wide.
Ratebeer’s top 50 beers
BeerAdvocate’s top 250 beers
Popular Beers By Style
If your customers tend to prefer certain styles of beer, you can browse the highest rated beers within those style categories on Ratebeer and BeerAdvocate. For example, if your customers love IPAs, you can browse the most popular IPAs and pick some new IPAs to add to your beer menu.
Step 1: Input your business name and address.
Step 2: Add the beers you currently have.
Step 3: Get found!
Will Stephens is the Co-Founder of BeerMenus. He's a Certified Cicerone®, regularly proctors Certified Cicerone® exams, is the co-organizer of the Road to Cicerone Q&A series, is a regular homebrewer whose beers frequently pop up on the BeerMenus HQ page, and a huge proponent of dry-hopping cold-brew coffee.