Are craft beer customers the worst?

Debate time!

Well, not directly. But we do have two separate interview clips from two bar owners with two different points of view on craft beer customers.

On one hand there's Gerard Leary, owner of Sweet Avenue in Sunnyside, Queens. His thesis: craft beer, in general, brings a really nice crowd.

• Most are excited and grateful to be in his place. They're interested in his product, and he feels they care about his business succeeding.
• That's different from a lot of places in NYC: "You're not getting orders for vodka soda, vodka soda, vodka soda, followed by a key bump in the bathroom and then come back out. You're not dealing with that crowd."

On the other hand, there are of course some annoying craft beer customers too, and Zach Mack, owner of Alphabet City Beer Co. (among other places) talks about this specific bunch, known as "whale hunters."

For the unfamiliar, "whale hunters" are people who go after fancy, hard to find beers. These beers are the "whales" being "hunted." To continue the analogy, I guess the harpoons these people use are their credit cards.

Here's why this Untappd-addicted customer is a challenge:

• They're way more likely to complain if something isn't perfect. Likely because they're trading them with other "whale hunters" from around the country.
• These folks often don't care at all about his business success. They never become regulars, they just come in once a year to buy something fancy.

The guys get into these perspectives in way more detail in the interview clips, so check them out:

Why it works

Customers can order more quickly, meaning your bartenders can serve more customers, faster.

How it works

• On their own, without the help of the bartender, your customers can read your full-info Print Menu (includes beer descriptions, ABV, etc.) to hone in on what to order.
• Then they can step up, look at the TV Menu, and just say “I”ll have a number 4” to the bartender.

The interaction is finished and significant time saved—no asking what's on tap, no samples, no back-and-forth about what to order.

This time savings can add up quickly on a busy night, and the more time saved means the more folks served per hour. And that means more sales.

David Hayden of multi-state chain Up-Down says this phenomenon "works out to thousands of additional dollars on a Friday or Saturday night."

How can I do it at my business?

You could do this manually. Google the beers you have, copy the info you need, drop the info into your Print Menu doc and your editable TV Menu, then adjust the design as necessary.

• Retail sales in the US fell in January, but bar & restaurant sales rose 0.7%, totaling a 9.3% rise in the last year. It's a good trend, and indicates folks are feeling good about their personal economy, since they tend to avoid eating out when things are feeling tight.
• In Tennessee it might soon be illegal to sell cold beer. The effort is aimed at reducing drunk driving. While they're in there, it'd probably make sense to take a look at another Tennessee law—the one that allows car passengers to imbibe.
• Here's a crazy video from a brewery in MN, where an employee got firehosed to the ground by beer bursting from a tank. According to the article the beer, a NE IPA, is available at the taproom, but there isn't a ton left.
• And for your obligatory Taylor Swift content, here's a clip of the Kelce brothers talking about Taylor's Super Bowl beer chug.