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“Basement” Beer: Aged Beer Gains Popularity

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Wine isn’t the only drink that gets better when aged. Restaurants and bars are beginning to cellar specialty and hard-to-find beers in temperature-controlled vaults to enhance the aromas and taste. Americans have been flocking to craft beer for years and now beer-aging programs are giving customers a chance to try something new. Beer fanatics can now celebrate with beers that they wouldn’t find on tap. Storing beer takes skill and a lot of patience. Here’s what you need to know to start your aging program today.

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Why Gluten-Free Beer Should be on Your Menu

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According to market research agency Mintel, the gluten-free market has grown 63% from 2012 to 2014. People have begun to give up gluten, the proteins found in cereal grains, because of both medical reasons and perceived health benefits. It is because of the increasing popularity of the gluten-free lifestyle that restaurants have decided to widen their menu to offer gluten-free options beyond food to beverage selections.

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How Will You Deal with Increasing Beer Prices?

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Have you heard? The price of craft beer is expected to rise quite a bit over the next year—and for the restaurants and bars that base a lot of their business on craft beers, a price hike can be devastating. Here are the main facts you need to know about the impending beer shortage your establishment may have to deal with in 2015. 

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Lager Loving Ladies and You

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Last week, an event took place here in Chicago named “She’s Crafty: Women in Craft Beer” and while I couldn’t attend, the existence of such an event again points to the ongoing and increasing trend of women drinking and enjoying craft beer in the US. Any number of polls will show that beer-drinking is up across the board in the US, but what is less well-reported is how many of those drinkers are women.

So, what can restaurateurs and brewers do to take advantage of this trend? Read more

3 Springtime Drinks That Bring Crowds

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Springtime is here, and that means that your guests’ drinking tastes have changed to reflect the warmer weather. In the springtime, your customers are clamoring for lighter, fruitier drinks that they can sip while lounging on your newly opened patio. These warm-weather drinks are the kind that inspire your customers to sit for hours in small, informal gatherings and laugh at the college students who walk by in flip-flops, shorts, mini-skirts… and goose bumps. To help you select your new featured drinks for your digital wine menu, I’ve compiled a list of what springtime drinks your customers are wanting right now. Read more

Session Beers: We’ll Drink to Another Round!

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The old tradition of friends gathering together for a few rounds is certainly a time-honored one. Speaking of “time,” however, how long can the average patron order one round after another (or painstakingly nurse just one or two drinks) before everyone calls it a night (or a day)? Well, with “session beers” – defined as highly “drinkable” brews that have an alcohol by volume (ABV) content of 5% or lower (or 4.5% and below, depending on who’s talking) – customers can stick around longer and order more drinks without feeling the ill effects of overindulging. Patrons are therefore not only drawn to establishments that offer a great selection of “sessionable” beers, but they’re also happy to pay a good price for each drink and, when all is said and done, to order more of them.

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“Beer Cocktail”: Oxymoron? Or Overlooked Classic with Crossover Potential?

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Say the two words together, consecutively – “beer cocktail” – and some people might look at you like you have two heads. However, certain beer cocktails, whether explicitly labeled as such or not, have been popular for years. What’s more, the trend for developing new types of beer cocktails – increasingly popular everywhere from the United States to as far away as Australia – may be a profitable opportunity that bar owners and managers would be remiss to ignore in 2014.

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Discover the Next Mexican Beer Star for Your Restaurant

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Mexicans have been fermenting grains to make beer since at least the time of the Aztecs, and since Europeans first ventured to the New World, Mexican beer brewing has only expanded. Today, Mexico’s beer market is dominated by the “Big Two” corporations that supply over 90% of the beer in Mexico, so if you’re considering adding Mexican beer to your restaurant menu (or just adding more variety), you’ll need to know what beers they sell.

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This bartender could be your Cicerone

Why a Cicerone Will Increase Your Profits Now

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Your bar rocks. You’ve spent all the time and money to get it perfect, it’s exactly the bar you’ve always wanted to hang out in, and your friends love it… even the beer menu is legendary. So, why is it that your customers gaze at your menu of 763 beers, glaze over like deers in the headlights and then order a Budweiser? Yes, I know, you think they are uncultured and cheapskate Philistines, but maybe the problem lies with your bar. If you employed a Cicerone, they’d have bought that Abita beer at $9 a bottle.

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A selection of craft beers

The Best Craft Beer to Add to Your Menu

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There are a lot of beers out there these days, and you have decided that it is finally time to add craft beers to your menu. But what craft beer or beers should you add? This week’s most popular searches were about Chimay beer, so we know that beer enthusiasts want Trappist ales today. But what about tomorrow? What craft beer will your customers want to see on their beer menu?

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