Why do breweries close so early?

Because they want to get off work same as the rest of us.

 

Last time I was in Chicago I was at the Goose Island tap house and remember being really surprised when they called last call around 8:45 or so.

That said, it was a good excuse to visit some bars. Most of those fuckers still closed early around 2:00. Probably for the best.

 

Depends on what city you’re in. Some of the ones in Miami are usually open until at least 12/1 on the weekends

 

If a brewery is closing earlier than they have to by law, then it's likely a matter of profitability. Many businesses trim hours depending on demand. They probably tried staying open late, but were losing money at it. Either that or they want to piss off potential customers.

 

Breweries with tap rooms are usually not interested in late night business. They make their $ selling beer, serving is another story. Bar business is not that great after 7-8pm on week days, that’s the riff raff hours. No offense meant to the 2nd shifters out there. 3rd party liquor liability, staffing issues, drunken hooligans; there’s no reason for breweries to cater to the late-night crowd.

 

I'm old so I have more problems, when traveling, with breweries opening late in the afternoon. Shrugs.

 

Many breweries around me open around noon everyday and stay open until 10pm-12am. We have a huge food truck presence so many will serve at breweries until 9ish. That being said, I get so disappointed traveling when breweries don’t open until 4/5 and close before 10 and I try to maximize crossing places off my list.

Even up around NYC I ran in to those problems and missed lots of places on my list. Thankfully some decent beer bars were open until 2-4am.

I’ve always been interested in discussing this topic. Coming from a retail background I do agree with the point of “riff raff” and really not having a huge customer base to cater to during the later hours....BUT....it does suck. I can’t have a truly business minded comment here until I own my own business and have to consider overhead like payroll, etc.

After typing all this and thinking through it I would say I probably have a bigger personal issue with breweries not opening around noon, even though closing anytime between 5-8pm seems entirely too early. Done rambling.

 

If you need to be out later than 11 p.m. Go to a bar, or go to a night club. That's what they are there for.

 

Taproom hours save my wallet. Theyre mostly closed before and after my working hours.

 

On the one hand I can see avoiding riff raff, however in many cases the town drunks won't want to mess with craft beer they'd rather head for Jager shots at a bar/club. I think it is more about a) profitability and b) peace of mind in the case of small operations. If the brewer/owner is putting in long daytime hours, do they really want to get calls from their part-time retail help at midnight over some situation or other.

For larger operations b) doesn't really apply as they can have a bar manager and security take care of the issues that come with staying open late. So I suppose it's all driven by profitability for them.

Personally, after 10 or 11 I'm either staying out to watch a band, dance/people watch at a nightclub or GTFO to home if I want to relax while having another beverage.

 

12-1am here in AZ and that floats depending on who is left lingering and staff, can get another hour at times lol.

 

Night Shift here in Mass has stated that they close earlier than a bar because they would rather you start your night there than end it there.

 

Breweries are not looking for the hassles of bars.

 

Around my parts breweries have 3 beer limits. You never tend to see that at bars or clubs. So yeah, Breweries are definitely more about the tasting experience vs a loud club where drinks flow a bit too open.

 

When was the last time you saw a legit bouncer or doorman at a brewery? Not talking about people policing lines for can releases.

 

if you serve food, you should be open until 10pm IMO. 10pm feels so universal to me for restaurants, that anything much earlier feels wierd. I'd accept 9pm, but certainly earlier is just crazy if you serve food. If you do not serve food, I can see 8, but I still feel like 9-10pm feels more reasonable.

 

My local brewery (Other Half in Brooklyn) has one. But yeah probably the exception.

And re: original question. They’re open every day at 12pm (10am on Saturdays) and close at 10pm (12am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday). I think that’s a decent balance of being open long enough to cater to a variety of people, without attracting the late night crowd, which I think is what brewery hours are generally trying to achieve.

Where did you miss out on? OH are the exception in that they are open every day (most NYC breweries are closed 2-3 days of the week) and they open at noon on weekdays (most open at 5pm), but closing up around 10-12 seems pretty standard. I don’t think that’s crazy early for a brewery - esp seeing some of the early numbers people are throwing out in this thread.