Downstream effects of Covid trauma bonding

Covid sucked for Alicia Rogers, bar manager at Jeremiah’s Tavern. Obviously.

It’s not like she and her staff woke up every morning and thought “god, I can’t wait to police people today. I love telling them where they can sit, how close they can be to other guests, and when they can go to the bathroom.”

But they had to do stuff like that, and a lot of customers didn’t take it very well. That sucked too.

But something interesting also happened—the Jeremiah’s team trauma bonded over the experience, and it led to even better camaraderie on the part of Alicia’s staff.

Check out the interview clip for more about Covid trauma bonding, staffing in general, and how having a great staff leads to loyal regulars.

Why worry about menu design?

Imagine this: you've done the significant work to have an always-up-to-date beer menu. Every single time a keg kicks or a new can arrives you update the menu accordingly. And that happens multiple times a month/week.

But you're not seeing an uptick in sales. Why? The up-to-date menu should be helping. You're starting to wonder if maybe it's not worth maintaining the menu.

If this is the case, your issue might be with the design of your menu rather than the content. A poorly designed beer menu can flatline your beer sales. But a well-designed menu can:

• Make your customers want to spend time with your menu.
• Help customers figure out what to order more easily.
• This puts customers at ease: coming back to the menu to order another beer isn't a daunting task. It's a pleasant one.

How can I get a well-designed beer menu?

You could do it manually. How you'd implement it depends on what works for your budget/team, but it could involve tracking down a graphic designer, working with them on a menu design that works for you, training team members on manually updating it, and making sure the fragile, one-off design doesn't break if a beer name is long, etc.

It certainly takes some effort, but doing it manually like this could be worth it if it's your only option.

• Sam Adams for sale? Last week it was reported that Boston Beer, maker of Sam Adams, might sell to Japanese whiskey maker Suntory. In general it's of course unsurprising that a brewery would sell to a bigger beverage company. It happens all the time. But *Boston Beer* selling? That's surprising.
• He conquered yogurt. Beer's next. After Asahi shuttered Anchor Brewing last year, there were a lot of takes on what would happen to the country's oldest craft brewery. There was talk of an employee purchase, former owners were chirping around, and so on. I coudl have seen those coming. But the king of Chobani making the purchase? That caught me by surprise.
• Free beer on Air Canada. Earlier this year the Biden administration made some great, meaningful passenger-friendly changes to US flights. Now the good year for North American air travel continues, as Air Canada is offering free beer and wine to economy passengers. You'll still be cramped if you're 6 foot or above, but at least you can catch a buzz.
• Get your 180-pack of PBR. To celebrate their 180th birthday, PBR is releasing a 180-pack. It amounts to about 17 gallons of beer. Happy bday!