Pizza Today - March 2016 - 76

beers on tap, happy hour discounts and
opportunities to win dynamic perks like
VIP brewery tours.
"We look for any way to further engage customers with our brand, and our
beer club is a key way we accomplish
that," Parry's Director of Marketing
Keniey Sonley says.
At the Village Inn Pizzeria in Skokie,
Illinois, a suburb on Chicago's northern
edge, General Manager Diana Rumsley began using Meetup.com in early
2015 to publicize her eatery's upstart
beer club. One year later, more than
200 members receive news of special
events, such as free beer tastings and tap
takeover events, which have succeeded
in spotlighting the pizzeria's ambitious,
evolving beer menu and heightened its
cachet with local beer enthusiasts.
"Now, more than ever, people know
they can come to us for a wide range of
options," Rumsley says, adding that the
club's special tasting events even inform
Village Inn's purchasing decisions,
especially regarding more avant-garde
concoctions.
Similarly, Fernands cites the Monday
Night Beer Club at Pizzeria Paradiso
for driving the restaurant's influence in
D.C.'s beer scene.
"Our beer club has gotten people passionate about beer in touch with what
we're doing at Pizzeria Paradiso, and
these people have become our ambassadors in the community," Fernands says.
And perhaps best of all, the Monday
Night Beer Club turns Pizzeria Paradiso's typically shuttered downstairs bar
into a revenue generator.
"That certainly can't be overlooked,"
Fernands acknowledges.
Hosting a great beer club, however, is
about more than serving cold beers. It
requires planning, purpose and partnerships.
Rule No. 1: Throw an event that's
worth throwing. Fernands says it's

critically important operators build beer
club events around compelling themes.
"A generic beer special just doesn't
resonate," he says.
Pizzeria Paradiso's December's

7 6 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / M A R C H 2 0 1 6

club event, for instance, featured ugly
holiday sweaters, a spirited selection
of holiday brews and tips donated to a
local nonprofit.
"Do it right and create an event that's
worth your customers time as well as
yours," says Fernands, who overstaffs
events to help ensure smooth operations.
Rule No. 2: Develop relationships
with breweries and distributors.

Sonley's earnest relations with breweries and distributors have helped Parry's
present unique events and share one-ofa-kind offerings.
On Black Friday 2015, for example,
Parry's hosted an event with Goose
Island highlighted by the Chicagobased brewery's famed Bourbon County
Rare. Ale Yeah Club members received
exclusive admittance starting at 10 a.m.,
one hour before the general public, to
trial the revered barrel-aged stout.
"And we had about 35 people lined
up at 9:30 a.m. on Black Friday all
because we were able to offer something unique and different," Sonley says.
Rule No. 3: Insist a brewery representative attends.

At Village Inn, Rumsley insists
someone from the brewery, preferably
the brewmaster, attends any special
event. Having an in-the-know individual present, Rumsley says, allows guests
to gain intimate, first-hand knowledge.
"If you can get people from the
frontlines, they know better than anyone how the beer was brewed, pairing
options and so forth, and people love
hearing about that," she says.
Rule No. 4: Leverage the reach of
breweries.

With craft beer's continued marketplace surge, a number of producers
enjoy significant hype and cult followings; whenever possible, Rumsley
leverages that to boost the profile of
Village Inn.
For example, when Village Inn
hosted an event featuring Founders
Brewing, the Michigan-based brewery

publicized the gathering throughout its
network, which increased attendance.
A similar story played out with both
Revolution Brewing and Half Acre,
Rumsley says.
Rule No. 5: Promote the club.

To capture the advantageous benefits
of a beer club, promotion is necessary.
Each Parry's restaurant has targets
to hit each month for new Ale Yeah
Club sign-ups, a move to grow its tribe,
Sonley calls it. Meanwhile, Fernands
and Pizzeria Paradiso staff champion
their Monday Night Beer Club to any
obvious beer-loving customers.
"People are excited about light-hearted gatherings with like-minded people,
so why not have it be at your place?"
Fernands says. n
Chicago-based writer DANIEL P. SMITH has
covered business issues and best practices for
a variety of trade publications, newspapers,
and magazines.

Craft beer
consumption
continues to climb
While some industry insiders expect the
ballooning craft beer bubble to burst -
and sooner rather than later, according to
some prognosticators - craft beer sales
continue to surge.
In the first half of 2015, American craft
beer production volume increased 16 percent, according to the Brewers Association,
with 12.2 million barrels of American craft
beer sold January to June.
In 2016, U.S. brewers guild leaders
expect a few craft beer trends to accelerate and further propel craft beer's popularity, including: sour beers; consistently fresh
beer, a reality that sometimes plagues
small brewers; and hyper-local brews,
particularly those concocted using local
ingredients, such as grains and fruits
sourced from nearby purveyors.

http://www.Meetup.com http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM

Pizza Today - March 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pizza Today - March 2016