A/C in the Brewery

I wish we had AC at my brewery! It was 105F on the brewdeck today haha we were going outside to the 93F day to cool off!

 

Not many issues with breweries around here, but I have avoided restaurants/bars or left quicker due to that issue.

 

Literally every place here has A/C. Pretty sure some people would die without it. Occasionally its even on during the winter.

But seriously, no. I'm more inclined to sit on the patio if the place has one. Even when it's hot, misters and fans do wonders. I like it outside.

 

We only get a few weeks of actual hot weather up here in the top left corner, so it's not much of an issue. Stores with a lot of coolers running though, is another story.

 

Suspect largely cost. Most upstarts (excepting those with big money behind them) are in older industrial spaces that can be $$$$ to install AC --no bones for it--and quite $$$ to keep it going. That being said, more and more in CLT are air-conditioned now--even when they didn't start that way.

However, I never check when visiting out of town. Some in Asheville don’t have AC but even in the mountains in July it can get HOT. High Wire didn’t have it last time I was there in July of 2017 and on a 90 degree day which is unusual for them- one was a plenty.

 

I'd personally avoid in hotter weather, and there's a nice Pub very close to here, but in spite of nice taps the AC sucks. He's too cheap to fix it right, so I'll see him and n Sept or Oct. I refuse to be uncomfortable when the price of doing business means doing things right and things that are convienent for your customers.

 

Could be electrical load. Breweries are probably maxing out keeping their tanks set at thermostat temp. Some may not have the amperage to run AC on top of production needs.

 

Could just be idiots working there. Where I work we have a restaurant/bar attached to the establishment with a brand new AC system and a thermostat. The ***** that work there keep it 90 degrees for their comfort. I walked up there last night to say hello to my buddies when they were drinking and had to leave within minutes because it was too hot to chill.

 

ding ding ding we have a winner

 

There is a place by me that is very similar. What concerns me is if they are too damn cheap to fix the A/C what else are they too cheap to do right. I'm sure that they cut financial corners elsewhere and I won't go back even in cooler weather.

 

Agree it's cost - especially for startups or for places where the taproom is more of an afterthought. Also can see it being locale specific, though most places here is somewhat swampy DC/NoVa have AC.

Ocelot was actually a little slow to adopt (remember, @CanConPhilly?) but they did - and Adroit I think is still fan-cooling of our favorites. The latter is the only we can think of that isn't around here.

 

It's a significant cost outlay, and there are already enough issues where it concerns drawing enough amperage as a production brewery; regardless of being on hot or cold side.

 

Depending on region and temps they may feel its not necessary. As a business owner I would still have it especially for customer comfort, etc. I know in AZ it is a must, people would get sick from the heat here. Like other posts above I actually prefer sitting outside when I drink, just my thing so the heat is not an issue for me but everyone is different.
Cheers

 

Jeebus it's 2018, not 1957. If someone doesn't have A/C, I'm on my merry way. Not just breweries. I don't visit my father in the summer b/c he doesn't use his A/C. See you in October, Dad.

 

That's true . Most of the breweries here are in rented space that was never intended for retail sales.

 

Come to Houston, there are still some breweries with no A/C. 100 degrees, near 100% humidity, and Brash imperial stouts in the summer in their un A/Ced warehouse...yeah I don't get it. But hey they are "metal" whatever that means, so I guess thats cool right? Luckily there are more breweries around here with actual sense and A/C taprooms now.

 

Part of drinking at a brewery is the experience. If that experience is miserably hot, then I don't stick around. I'll buy beer from the retail store on the way home and enjoy it in the comfort of my home. Or hop to a brewery that does have A/C.


It gets blisteringly hot here in the Midwest as well. We get some triple digit stretches with humidity at or above 80%. That's something I'll avoid when it comes to my leisure time.

 

It's routinely 95-100+ from mid-June through the end of August around here (although the last week or so has been cooler thanks to the rain). If there is no A/C, or the A/C is broken, at a brewery I'm not going. The last thing I want is to sit inside a steel/brick box when it's hot outside, and everyone (including myself) is inside and sweating from the heat.

 

Too hot in here? How about a nice, cool, refreshing beer?