Bottoms up!

4/2/2014

Bottoms Up!

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Steve Dunkelberger Pony Up to an Event at One of Our Fine Northwest Microbreweries.

If the Northwest were compared to a frosty cold mug, it would be overflowing with internationally acclaimed, award-winning microbrews. Patrons of this region's many boutique beers have long known that tossing back a few pints of their favorite ale makes for a fine conversation starter.

Planners have discovered that breweries make fun event spaces, as well as comfortable venues for serious-albeit informal-business meetings. Corporate retreats, appreciation events and group celebrations, as well as energetic planning sessions, often include locally brewed beer and the casual atmosphere those suds create.

"We are always busy," says Dan Poss, event coordinator at Red Hook Brewery in Woodinville, Wash. "People just want something different. They want something more laid back, and we offer that." The brewery's popular 3,800-square-foot meeting space upstairs, called the Weatherman's Room, hosts between 10 and 25 events a month, ranging from receptions and birthday bashes to after-hours parties. Groups from The Boeing Co., Microsoft, nearby hospitals and Puget Sound marketing and advertising firms often hold events in the brewery's facilities.

The Weatherman's Room at Red Hook holds about 200 and the smaller Tour Gallery holds up to 50. Catering services and a full stock of audio-visual equipment is available in a room that can be configured to fit any size group or presentation.

"It really is a blank slate," Poss says. "It has sort of a raw, industrial feel that looks out over the brewing operation. It is kind of a cool novelty idea to get out and just hang at the brewery."

Red Hook, as well as the Bridgeport Brewing Co. in Portland; Full Sail Brewing Co. in Hood River, Ore.; and Pyramid Brewery (which has alehouses with meeting spaces in Portland and Seattle) have developed meeting facilities. Many other breweries have dedicated meeting spaces that can accommodate upward of 75 people in their brewpubs, restaurants or tasting rooms, often overlooking the brewing operations.

Fish Brewing Company, brewer of Fish Tale Organic Ales as well as Leavenworth German Beers and Spire Mountain Ciders, has an eating area upstairs from its Fish Tale Brew Pub in http://nw.meetingsmags.com/print/2871

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Olympia, Wash., that can be reserved for meetings of up to 50. The raised loft space is visible to the rest of the tavern, but isolated enough for groups to pull tables together and talk. Fish Tale's owners are considering adding more formal meeting spaces soon, since gathering spots for business people and legislators are limited in Washington's capital city.

"Anyone who wants to have fun and doesn't need absolute quiet will fit right in," says Fish Brewing president Lyle Morris.

Idaho's Sun Valley Brewing Co. falls into this category, too. The restaurant is one of the popular business lunch places in town, as well as one of the few places larger groups can gather to talk, says co-owner Sean Flynn.

After a business meeting in a tucked-away part of the facility, attendees can often tour the brewery for an hour or so, capping the afternoon off with a tray of sample glasses of beer, mixed with chatter and team bonding.

A sobering subject Perhaps a bit more than other events where liquor is served, planners must think strategically when organizing a meeting or event at a brewery. The pertinent question: Should beer be served during the meeting, or held off until the end to allow for clearer heads during the discussions?

That might depend on the purpose of the meeting or event and the sensibilities of the guests.

Brewers generally side with tapping the kegs sooner rather than later, since the location already dictates a more casual atmosphere. Beer and business can coexist, they argue.

"There is definitely a lot of business going on here," Poss says of Red Hook's clientele. "It's not just about sipping beers. It gets the creative juices flowing, so people can come up with great ideas." He added that he doesn't see much drinking during business meetings, but companies often hold social hours after their meetings.

He has seen top managers and company presidents tip back a frosty mug during everything from quarterly retreats and managertraining events to goal-setting meetings and brainstorming sessions. Holding off the beer until the end of the day may only force the attendees to daydream about it, rather than attend to the discussion at hand.

But Mac Lee, Full Sail's operations manager, falls on the other side of the question. He says event planners should think about waiting to serve the beer until the end of the business meeting, in order to control consumption and keep everyone focused on the task at hand. "If it were me," he says, "I would hold out the carrotuntil the end."

While conservative event planners and corporate managers might at first frown on the idea of drinking on the corporate clock, brewers say the more relaxed people are, the more they will participate and retain what is discussed. "You learn better and pay more attention when you are relaxed," says Sun Valley's Flynn.

A few beers may help to set a casual mood, but also fuel the brainstorming process by helping people get over their fears of talking in groups-let alone speaking up when their bosses are around.

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"I can't think of any meeting I've been to that wouldn't have been made better with a beer or two," Morris said.

Not restricting the brewskies means trusting that people know their limits. But drinkingduring work hours-even during a business retreat-brings up the issue of the legal ramifications of having a guest drink alcohol and then drive home. Breweries have that covered in a couple of ways.

Tour guides and bartenders in the tasting rooms are required to be licensed by theirrespective state or provincial governments and, therefore, trained to safeguard against over-serving people. They further guard against over-serving by limiting the beer to "samples." Those samples generally amount to about three or four ounces of beer each. That means that, during a tasting, a patron might only drink the equivalent of about a beer and a half. Serving foodNorthwest pub fare is typically available-decreases the likelihood that patrons will become intoxicated.

Barbara Storrs, events manager at bridgeport brewpub + bakeryin Portland, says, "By law, [servers] cannot allow a guest to become a VIP (visibly intoxicated person). We want each and every guest to enjoy their experience with us, and that means creating a safe, comfortable and enjoyable environment for everyone involved in the event. We expect our guests to drink responsibly, and we do all that we can to make sure that we are supporting this expectation every step of the way."

Taxi vouchers are another way planners can safeguard against trouble if a guest becomes too intoxicated to drive, suggests Caroline Roussy, marketing coordinator for British Columbia's Granville Island Brewing Co. If your meeting or event calls for a casual atmosphere and congenial discussions, nothing helps that go down like a pint or two of fine beer from one of the Northwest's many microbreweries.

File Notes (In Touch): BRIDGEPORT BREWPUB + BAKERY // 503.241.7179 / www.bridgeportbrew.com FISH BREWING COMPANY // 360.943.6480 / www.fishbrewing.com FULL SAIL BREWING // 541.386.2239 / www.fullsailbrewing.com GRANVILLE ISLAND BREWING // 604.269.3128 / www.gib.ca PYRAMID ALEHOUSE // 206.682.3377 / www.pyramidbrew.com RED HOOK BREWERY // 425.483.3232 / www.redhook.com SUN VALLEY BREWING COMPANY // 208.788.5777

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