Sharon Vanorny
Nick Zabel of Dexter's: 'Our regulars have gotten used to weird things happening to our taps.'
When it comes to the tap takeover, there are really only two kinds of beer-drinker responses. There's "Aw, man, now all the beer geeks are going to be clogging up my watering hole of choice all night, and my favorite beer is going to be replaced by some brandy barrel-aged vanilla kumquat Belgian strong ale."
And the other: "Hell yeah, brandy barrel-aged vanilla kumquat Belgian strong ale!"
In truth, tap takeovers aren't always a cavalcade of bizarro beer variants and limited-time offerings. Think of them as one part brewery advertising, one part fan service, and one part reward to the hosting bar or restaurant. Or just one big opportunity to try something new.
For the unfamiliar, a tap takeover is more or less what it sounds like. A restaurant or bar organizes an event with a brewer, during which most or all beer tap lines are replaced with beers from that brewer. Often, these takeovers coincide with larger beer-universe events like Madison Craft Beer Week or the days preceding Great Taste of the Midwest. Sometimes they announce the arrival of a new beer in the market. Other times, they're put on just for the heck of it.
"I would say that we do some kind of tap takeover at least once per month," says Nick Zabel, owner of Dexter's Pub on Madison's east side. "Our regulars have gotten used to weird things happening to our taps. I think it actually gets some of our regulars to try beers they normally would not have tried."
Dexter's, and places like the Coopers Tavern, the Old Fashioned and Brickhouse BBQ, have the benefit of a lot of tap lines. This allows the venue to run a very large single-brewer takeover, or a multi-brewer takeover, or just a partial takeover that leaves some of the existing taps alone.
One of my favorite aspects of the tap takeover is the unexpected or out-of-the-way venue that puts on a great event. Maybe it's Craftsman Table & Tap out in Middleton, or State Street's Roast, deep in student territory. Blue Moon on Old University is a known commodity for a great burger, but has really established itself recently as a beer destination for those willing to venture out its way.
"We definitely see new faces when we put an event on," says Jim Schmock, beer program manager at the Blue Moon, "and that is great because we get a chance to introduce ourselves to people who may not ever go down Old University."
Until recently, that included yours truly. But stand-alone taps like Goose Island's Bourbon County Barleywine and Dave's Brewfarm Funk III got me in the door. Schmock has been branching out from Great Taste and Craft Beer Week takeovers, with events like an Epic Brewing tap takeover scheduled during Epic Systems' (no relation, but coincidence definitely intentional) User Group Meeting in mid-September.
"In general we try to do an event at least every other month, and try to run a theme when the opportunity presents itself," Schmock says. "People are excited about beer more than two weeks of the year, after all."
As brewers get more prolific, the job of beer venues becomes both easier and harder in terms of running tap takeovers. What's the strategy for picking among the many options?
"Number one, it does not matter how many beers a brewery may pop out, it must be something that we think our customers will like," says Zabel. "There must be varied taps that are of great quality. I love getting all 24 taps filled, but I would rather have 12 fantastic taps than 24 okay taps."
Schmock, too, knows it's a complicated dance. "There is a lot of beer out there. Almost too much. Almost," he jokes. "In the end, though, it comes down to the question of 'Is this something I would want to drink with my friends?'"
The brewers have basically the same priority, so you're not likely to encounter one prized tap and a bunch of junk. It's the brewer's reputation on the line as well as the venue's.
"I always like to include some rare or special-release beers, as well as flagship brews," says Anello Mollica, co-owner and head brewer at Central Waters in Amherst, Wis. "So the total number of taplines matters quite a bit. Also, we take into account the type of account it is, what kind of customer base it has, and what the event is for.
"We always try to get a beer that is the draw. So a beer like '16' -- our anniversary beer -- or a beer from our experimental programs tends to draw a crowd."
One such experimental beer that has reeled in the beer geeks (again, like yours truly) is Plums Were on Sale, a caramel-colored, red wine barrel-aged sour beer made with Italian plums. Sour beers are often the hook to tap takeovers these days, as the style's popularity grows. Also, you have to love the dryly humorous name.
And if that kind of rare beer access isn't enough to tempt your taste buds, consider the food-pairing possibilities. Tap takeovers provide what Schmock calls a "moving target" for chefs to work with. They can flex culinary muscle to match the food menu with the drinks.
Other restaurants organize beer dinners -- the Coopers Tavern, Merchant and Graze, among others -- when the tap lines are flush with one brewer's product. Dexter's will restart its food pairing and brewer-history-centric Heritage Series of tap takeovers in January.
Tap takeovers are a risk, sure, but a calculated one. The venue is betting that the deep dive into a brewer's catalog will appeal to dedicated beer fans. The brewer is betting that, if nothing else, the exposure will pay off. And you, the drinker, are betting that you'll be impressed enough with one brewer's library of beers to not miss the other stuff you might have been drinking otherwise.
When it results in the venue getting a boost in new-customer traffic, the brewer earning some increased market visibility, and the beer fans' horizons expanding, the tap takeover is a win-win-win proposition, and worth a try pretty much every time.