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Unique Beer Business Marketing

  • Brewing
  • March 30, 2020
  • 3 Minute Read

Introduction

Regarding a business model and brand for your brewery, the sky is the limit for creativity. You can stand out from the pack by choosing a unique personality and living it out with your products, staff, and structure. Plus, according to industry insiders, brand and culture are two of the most important aspects they consider when taking on a new craft partner.

Here are five breweries doing marketing differently:  

Town Hall Lanes Brewery

Location

South Minneapolis, Minnesota

Unique Aspects

Full bar restaurant with a bowling alley with 10 lanes and serves beer straight from their sister brewery just a few miles away. The remodeled bowling alley had been in the neighborhood for over 60 years, which means the brewery is filled with stories and memories from past generations.  With nods to its storied history, Town Hall also plays to the current generation of craft beer drinkers with events such as "yoga and bowling" on Saturdays and chili cookoffs at the lanes.

Ballast Point Brewery

Location

San Diego, California

Unique Aspects

In 2016, Ballast Point Brewery celebrated its 20th anniversary. The brewery maintains its original home brew mentality, with brewers continually experimenting with new flavors, techniques, and ingredients in their R&D brewery. Each employee has the chance to brew their own beer. The founders named many of their beers after fish or fishing terms as a reminder to "do what you love." Ballast Point has won the World Beer Cup Gold Medal and distributes their beer in over 40 states and internationally.

Church Brew Works

Location

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Unique Aspects

The church turned brewery is a fascinating example of attention to detail and the reuse of existing pieces, connecting the past to the present. Originally built in the early 1900s, the church was renovated in 1996 to become the Church Brew Works Brewery. The original pews were shortened to fit the dining tables, and the oak from the pews was used to create the bar. A confessional was removed to create a link to the kitchen. The most remarkable feature of the brewery is the brew house, which now sits in place of what was once the altar, becoming the centerpiece of the building.

New Belgium Brewing

Location

Fort Collins, Colorado

Unique Aspects

New Belgium Brewing prides itself on sustainability. That’s pretty remarkable considering that, as of 2015, it is the fourth largest craft brewery in the United States and produces well-known labels such as Flat Tire and Citradelic. New Belgium recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and is one of only a handful of American Craft Beers to make it to the quarter-century mark.

New Belgium has a philanthropy mission, and that is witnessed in the commitment to donate $1 for every barrel of beer sold to non-profit organizations (so far, they have donated more than $7 million) and the fact that over 99% of their waste is diverted from the landfill. They are a Platinum-certified zero-waste business. Another special feature of the brewery is the Tour de Fat event, which celebrates the bicycle as a sustainable source of transportation. The brewery has a program to get kids of all socio-economic classes riding bikes. 

Brewery Ommegang

Location

Cooperstown, New York

Unique Aspects

Sitting on 136 acres, Ommegang is known for its grand entrance and is often used for special events such as weddings. In the summertime, the brewery hosts Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, a large beer-tasting event with four hours of unlimited beer sampling of more than 200 Belgian-style beers. The brewery is also celebrated for its Game of Thrones-themed beers based on the vastly popular HBO series. The special collection includes beers such as Three-Eyed Raven and Seven Kingdoms.