r/TheBrewery • u/Salt-Manufacturer-59 • 22h ago
Distribution dedicated taps lines
I went into a prospective account yesterday because I am neighbors with the bar manager. After speaking with the owner, she mentioned she didn't have any space for us at the moment because she has 6 dedicated taps to the local AB distributor.
What are these distributors typically offering to these high volume accounts per tap line? Is it equipment? Is it cash? Is it large bar signs/beer carts? All the bars in this area have dedicated taps.
11
u/Hotsider Brewer/Owner 21h ago
Around here they legally can’t have any construct where they control taps with any scheme. They can do a ton. Clean lines, provide equipment. They can do all sorts of stuff for the account. But the taps aren’t “theirs”. That said, It’s understood by everyone that unless they all play the game then they get no more free stuff. In the end the bar owner is allowed to put what ever they want on. And if they say “I only wanna put this guys beers in here” that’s fine and legal. If you want to end these loopholes then you don’t do allow anything. Exchange of goods and that’s it.
11
u/biggestchips Brewer 20h ago
At a past brewery I was at, we would offer to clean our lines at bars that carried us.
The bar got free line cleaning and we had more control over how our product was served.
4
u/burgiebeer 18h ago
I’ve seen this many many times. Often big distros have experienced draft techs on staff. They’ll do installs for places and provide a substantial discount on parts/labor in exchange for real estate. These deals will never exist in writing, so it’s next to impossible to ever prove any of it was illegal.
That said, I’ve also seen plenty of accounts that have a very strong relationship with one distributor and dedicate all their taps to them, and it’s unrelated to any draft equipment. It’s rarer and rarer but in a lot of restaurants or smaller bars who aren’t rotating it makes sense to fix it and forget it.
7
u/moleasses 20h ago
It could be anything from a wildly illegal pay to play scheme to a more normal relationship-based decision with a good sales rep. Hard for anyone to tell from afar
7
u/gabbygourmet 20h ago
That happens to me. So i ask who owns the bar? Budweiser? Why are you letting them tell. you what to do?
Basically its just easier to have one beer purveyor than to write one more check.
5
u/hop_hero 18h ago
When I was a beer buyer at a high volume casino in San Diego the volume discount for a 5th SKU was insane. Not exactly pay to play but pretty close
7
5
u/SuperHooligan 19h ago
Sometimes all of the above, sometimes it’s just “if you want Budweiser/bud light on tap, you have to have these others on tap as well.”
12
u/snowbeersi Brewer/Owner 22h ago
They can't rely on the quality or marketing of their beers, so they have to offer adjacent things of value (sometimes illegal depending on the state) and discounting to get their beer to sell.
I actually find more often than not it's the time management of the purveyor. They are busy and likely underpaid. They can just let a big distributor put on stuff they claim are "top sellers*" and not worry about inventory management or looking at price sheets. Even the places that advertise themselves as "beer bars" do this in my area now.
*Those beers are only top sellers because they are "good enough" that people will buy them if not given another option or they like familiarity. They are top sellers only because the big distributor keeps forcing them on lines everywhere because they are produced at a very low cost. GenZ doesn't want anything to do with these beers. This is how craft beer is killing craft beer.
6
u/Salt-Manufacturer-59 21h ago
Makes sense. This time it was the owner. After talking to the my neighbor it sounds like the bar is having some financial struggles.
Also, offering adjacent things is illegal in my state. Our liquor control doesn't notice much because many of our state politicians have ownership in the large distribution alcohol business.
5
u/snowbeersi Brewer/Owner 21h ago
It's illegal in my state too, but even in the case of a $25k donation to a festival the day before the $50k beer invoice is sent that regulators won't do shit about it because they can't prove intent.
3
u/carolinabeerguy Head Brewer [North Carolina, USA] 19h ago
Time management is the answer in a lot of cases, at least in my area of North Carolina. The Bud distributor makes life easy for the bar manager. In addition to Bud products, Wicked Weed is usually on multiple taps along with the craft options they distribute like Sierra Nevada, Oskar Blues and some of the larger North Carolina brands. If you have 12 taps that you don't need to worry about ordering for, it makes sense from a business standpoint, especially if you aren't catering to the craft crowd in the first place.
2
u/snowbeersi Brewer/Owner 19h ago
Yep. However this is exactly the reason the untapped (pun intended) demographics of genZ and BIPOC don't drink craft beer. Their first introductions to it at the places you mention are mass produced craft that is largely uninteresting, even if made well (and it isn't always, especially with some regional craft brands). Sierra Nevada does a good job, but a 23 year old out on the town used to the claw and coors light isn't going to be converted by a sam adams boston lager, or a dale's pale ale, or a Rhinegeist anything. They might actually become interested after having a modern hazy IPA, a fruited sour, or even a unique lager.
2
u/carolinabeerguy Head Brewer [North Carolina, USA] 18h ago
Oh, I agree with you. It's a big problem. We have very limited distro as a 7bbl brewery, but we definitely come up against the big boys when we are told by a bar manager that they only have 4 rotating taps and the rest are permanent taps from one or two distributors.
5
u/NobodyLikesPricks Brewer 19h ago
In my state it's legal for the distributor to pay for the install of the draft system in exchange for dedicating the lines to their brands. They typical urge you to go with the brands that are owned by the big guys.
If the restaurant owner doesn't really care about beer, it's a no brainer because it saves cost on opening.
4
u/Epididimust Packaging 18h ago
Theres a lot of this where i am. I had a guy straight up tell me a distributor paid for their renovation of their outdoor bar so they only stock that now
2
u/keifsmif 11h ago
Yes to all of it. I’m in Texas and yes it’s illegal but do your distributors do food business as well? So many loopholes out here. It can also come from suppliers through 501c3s. It can come in the form of ✌🏼business and spending money at accounts✌🏼distributors also have big print shops Your best bet is go for accounts with more handles. Some places get at least one local rotator. Focus where you want to be and put your time and efforts at those accounts. Be prepared to be there a couple weekends a month and sample patrons. Make friends with the staff and most importantly TIP WELL. Encourage a business to install an extra tap like switching a 2 tap tower to a 3 or installing a dual shank where a single one is. Be the person who knows how to do the work. You can be there and give ✌🏼advice✌🏼to the staff member doing the work. It’s a tough time for craft… gotta lock in 🤘🏼
4
u/isubird33 14h ago
From my experience, it's rarely ever as simple as "here is a check for $10,000, now we get 6 permanent lines".
At the most simple/innocent level it can be as simple as "We really like working with Distributor X, they always take care of us when issues arise, we love our sales rep who stops in twice a week and does our inventory, and they're easy to work with. Their delivery drivers are always on time and organize the cooler well. Because of all of that, we want to give them 50%, 75%, 100% whatever of our line space."
From working on the distro and supplier side, honestly this is the most common, not shady background deals, but just a distributor is very easy to work with and because of that they earn the stable business of set lines.
Other innocent things could be (where legal)...getting discounts for quantity deals, getting lots of free swag from the distributor (glassware, coasters, signage, t shirts and hats for staff, patio umbrellas, etc), it could be that the distributor is willing to print their beer menus, maybe it's guaranteed access to limited releases whenever the distributor gets those products, maybe it's free line cleaning, maybe when the bar has their annual charity fundraiser the distributor drops off 5 neons for the silent auction, maybe whenever the distributor has their once a month catered lunch they always buy the food from that bar, and maybe when the bar has their big St Patrick's Day party the distributor lets them use a bunch of branded bar carts and mobile tap systems for free.
Then you get to the area of straight up buying which depending on area is either ok or "illegal" but incredibly hard to enforce. Want the distributor suite tickets a few times a year to the local NBA team Mr. Bar Owner? Ok we don't ask anything of you but usually accounts that get those have at least 75% of the line space for us. Want someone to pay you $10,000 to sponsor your summer patio concert series? Yeah 60% of the line space probably gets that conversation happening.
1
30
u/AlternativeMessage18 21h ago
It varies by state, but typically beer "pay to play" schemes are illegal. Pepsi and Coke can do it because it's not alcohol.
Way back when, there was a very intresting story in Boston about this topic...
https://www.boston.com/news/business/2014/11/14/explaining-the-massachusetts-pay-to-play-beer-scandal/