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some really intense styles like India Pale Ale that are heavily hopped, therefore quite bitter and ‘Bold’ is a good descriptor for them.
From here, moving into really ‘Complex’ styles include Trappist and Abbey beers or the ever- growing Barrel Aged Beers. Lastly, not as popular as the other categories, but can still create a unique offering, are your ‘Fruit’ beers. Belgium refers to them as Lambic, but more and more craft breweries are making similar replica beers as many beer makers look to Belgium for inspiration.
Step #2: CHANgE Up YoUR BEVERAgE MENU
Now that you understand your distribution of beer choices, consider the following guidelines to make changes to your beer selection to include some craft beer selections. Look for repetitive styles and competitive brands that are almost identical in taste, keep one and replace the other. Craft beers have a plethora of styles they make and or experiment with so reach out to one near you!
Run a report from your POS over your different seasons that comprise your entire year; the goal is to determine the preferences of your current customer base and monitor changes with weather conditions.
Look for your stars and under- performers, don’t carry inventory that doesn’t move. That beer that has been in the fridge long past its due date will taste awful and translate into a bad beer experience. Look to have something ‘new’ to offer to make your list dynamic!
Unless your business can handle more inventory or space for more draught lines, you are probably better to replace your under-performers or your replica styled beers.
“A good business practice,” says Richard Arnold, Club House Manager at Rosedale Golf Club in Toronto, ON, “is to have a guest tap. You can feature different beers at different times during the season which means you offer choice and are always evolving.” This is a great way to offer a spectrum of choice and gets you in on the Craft beer movement!
Make adaptations to your tap selections or bottles for different seasons. Don’t carry a huge inventory on products that don’t move regularly all season long, i.e. the ‘Bolder’ or ‘Robust’ beers might see a spike in sales when the cool fall and winter seasons are around.
And finally, make some noise about your offerings! “Most guests are supportive of local business and want to be a part of something that is current,” according to Marcel Bregstein Assistant General Manager
“If there is an opportunity for team training offsite, bring your staff to the Craft brewery. Your staff will appreciate the outing and remember more details and stories, which translates into passion! ”
of The Toronto Hunt Club. Craft beer supports these customer choices and it also shows that you are a dynamic business that is in the game!
STEp 3: TRAIN AND SUppoRT YoUR STAFF
Training, training, training! Never underestimate the needs of your customer base. The golf business is so incredibly competitive that you need to make the day a complete experience. Well-trained, warm, and knowledgeable staff makes the sting from that triple bogey on 18 less painful! By using the categories listed above you are providing your staff with headings that describe the beer in general terms. It is then easier for the trainer to apply some specific beer vocabulary to those headings – buzz words like citrusy, malty, bitter or hoppy, fruity, coffee, and chocolate can all be used to the heading with limited training.
With the majority of staff being seasonal, a major curse to the golf food and beverage industry is that you need to treat each season like the first one. Arnold adds “we want everyone to know the basics such as taste and flavour, but we also train on where it is from and
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Golf Business Canada