Pop-Up Theater Tips & Tricks!

Hosting events at your brewery is hands down the best way to keep your beer supply in demand. If you own or manage a brewery, you have the perfect event venue at your fingertips, and taking advantage of that space and fun atmosphere to host an event can elevate your brewery to the next level. Breweries that host events are fan favorites because they create a sense of community. Brewery events are powerful ways to increase your customer base without breaking the bank, but coming up with event ideas can be challenging!

1) Food & Beer Pairing

A food and beer pairing event has a ton of fl

exibility. You can choose to pair your beers with whatever food you think goes best, or you may want to consider teaming up with a local restaurant or food truck. You can change the food pairing weekly or keep it the same if you think you’ve found the perfect pair.

Who found the perfect pairing:

Lamplighter Brewing Co. teamed up with a local gourmet grocery store Formaggio Kitchen on their weekly Wednesday Beer & Cheese nights!

2) Charity & Fundraiser Events

Hosting events for local charities and fundraisers shows you care about your community, and it will attract like minded individuals and groups to your brewery. Have a good time and support a good cause!

Who has used their brewery to do good:

Nightshift Brewery dedicates every Tuesday evening to Paws + Pints, a weekly pet-centric fundraising event. They have a different pet rescue organizations and non-profits every week, and attendees are welcome to bring along their pets!

3) Movie Night

This is another brewery event idea with barrels of flexibility! Your team can set this up themselves if you have access to the right equipment and licensing, or you can hire someone else to do the heavy lifting on your behalf. Outdoor movies are great in the warmer months, but don’t count this option out for the winter either! Get your customers involved by having them vote for the film selection on social media prior to the event.

Who made this event a star:

Stone Brewing hosts a movie night every Tuesday in the Summer. They invite folks to bring blankets and lawn chairs and enjoy a night of great beer and great cinema!

Honorable Mention:

Brooklyn Brewery held an event at UK’s oldest working cinema, The Electric, which they dubbed “Cans Film Festival”. Although they didn’t host this event at their home in Brooklyn, NY, they did provide a can of their Scorcher IPA with every ticket.

4) Fitness Events

Who says beer isn’t healthy? Hosting a yoga class on a Saturday morning will get people to the brewery early and will make your customers feel like they’re kicking-off their weekend right! Some breweries also serve as starting/ending points for local run clubs. The possibilities are endless!

Who nailed this:

Aeronaut Brewery invites customers to “brew up [their] own energy,” with a local yogi on Saturday mornings. The $30 class fee includes one beer!

5) PaintNite

PaintNite will provide the supplies, a professional artist, and a party host! These no-experience-necessary guided painting classes get the creative juices flowing and usually last for 2 hours, giving customers ample time to taste your beers.

Who did this well:

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery has hosted several events with PaintNite, and they even have a PlantNite on the calendar for August. Props to this brewery for trying new events all the time!

These are just handful of brewery event ideas, but the possibilities are endless! As you can see above, there are events you can host with a partner, DIY events, or events that you can hire companies to plan on your behalf. My most important piece of advice is: don't give up. Hosting events at your brewery will put you on another level; so, if you're brewery event doesn't work the first time, find out why and make adjustments! As long as your customers have a good time and the opportunity to enjoy your beer, the event will be a success! Hopefully your team will have fun with this too!

Want to learn more about hosting a movie event? Click below for your free guide!