Coronavirus Diaries (5/23): Notes on the Reopening
In this ongoing series, I have been posting the reflections of brewers and cidermakers as they deal with the unfolding COVID-19 coronavirus. In today’s post, we hear what breweries plan to do now that their counties are open.
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Oregon enters its second weekend of partial opening this Saturday, and I have reports from the two series regulars located in now-open counties. Lisa Allen is head brewer at Heater Allen, located in McMinnville, a small town in wine country an hour west of Portland. The brewery cans its German-style beers, but does have a small taproom. Matt Van Wyk is one of three founder/owners of Alesong, a brewery specializing in bottled, barrel-aged ales. Alesong is located outside Eugene, two hours south of Portland. Below are their updates as we enter this holiday weekend.
Lisa Allen, Heater Allen
While Yamhill county (where McMinnville is located) decided to allow businesses to begin Phase 1 of reopening we at Heater Allen decided to wait. We made this decision for several different reasons, the first simply because of our space constraints. Those that have been to our taproom know that the indoor space is pretty small; we really rely on the dry, warmer weather to take advantage of our outdoor area. Because Oregon in May/early June can be a little dicey weather-wise, we decided to remain closed until we can fully utilize all of our outdoor space and the space requirements suggested by the state. The second reason we decided to stay closed is that we feel like this reopening may cause a resurgence in our small county especially if those in closed counties decide to “go for a drive.” We kind of want to wait and see what happens. If the numbers stay flat or relatively so we will be more comfortable with opening our doors to patrons. I do know that both the local brewpubs, Grain Station and Golden Valley, reopened last weekend and were pretty busy. And when I drove down Third Street, McMinnville's main drag, it was significantly busier yesterday (Friday) than it has been in weeks.
I’m good friends with the owner of Allegory Brewing and The Bitter Monk, David Sanguinetti, and he has also decided to remain closed for on-premise consumption for the time being. The Bitter Monk is open Wednesdays for to-go sales and Allegory is open Friday and Saturday for to-go sales (and at Allegory they are also selling Heater Allen cans). He mentioned last weekend and via text today that there are a lot of people immediately turning their cars around when they realize the brewery is open for “to-go” only. I get it: people want to have a pint out, but I still worry that the crowds will just lead to more cases. I suppose only time can tell. For me, I have a large supply of beer and wine at home and I'm still perfecting my sourdough, so for now, aside from going to work, I'm going to stay home as much as possible.
Matt Van Wyk, Alesong
Throughout the shutdown in our state, I have personally been relatively calm with no major catastrophes to our business. We had some good timing on a few things and received some of the government assistance with help from our bankers. And our customers have been a great support even though they can't come to our tasting room. But now that states are opening up and we’re in the middle of Phase 1 in Oregon, I think I am freaking out about what that means to Alesong. We just completed some training with our tasting room staff so that we can comply with the new regs and keep guests safe, and I had the realization that this is going to be hard.
When it was announced that Phase 1 would begin in the state of Oregon, we decided that we could not open up right away as there was only 24 hours between the announcement and when we could open. In fact, we still are not open for on-site consumption (but are open regular hours for bottles to go) and have planned Thursday, May 28th as the first day that we will be open.
The main reason we had to wait through the holiday weekend was because we had scheduled our new beer release for the Blenders Circle to be held during Memorial Day weekend. We didn't want our first weekend of reopening to be a sunny holiday weekend with nearly 300 club release guests to serve as well. That would have been a recipe for disaster. So, to meet the regulations (which seemingly continue to change!) and to be able to serve our club members best, we are offering beer pickup for them in six 2.5-hour windows Saturday through Memorial Day. The maximum number of people for each session will be 25 members plus their +1 for a total of 50 people onsite at once. We think this is manageable and will essentially be a private tasting party for our club members.
However, our May 28th opening is just around the corner and and it hit me that bar, restaurant, and tasting room business is going to be difficult. As humans, most of us touch a lot of things and don’t really keep our distance. But when Covid-19 settles on our world, you suddenly realize how much of those things happen. In the service industry, it sure is nice to smile at people as you thank them for supporting your business. They can’t see your mouth now! As a business owner, I’m apt to chat and shake hands with our regulars. Now I can’t. I’m asking my staff to give a friendly, high-end experience from behind a mask. It’s both frustrating and sad. I certainly see why some restaurants and breweries have chosen to remain takeout-only. Our saving grace is we have 4+ acres of property to utilize, and keeping a safe distance will be easy. We are now doing full table service and we are only doing outdoor seating as our inside space is small. Inside will only be used for the bathrooms and closing a tab. I’m not looking forward to the first summer rainstorm that forces folks to their cars when our staff says they can't rush inside.
Another thing that scares the crap out of me is keeping our small staff safe as we welcome the public back. We only have six full-time and two part-time employees, and that includes the three founders. So we can’t spread this virus among our staff or we’re closed down, and then the effort is all for naught.
The mask-wearing by staff, the increased sanitization of surfaces, the new table service (with an added host to welcome and seat people) and disposable menus are all measures to protect our staff as well as the guests. We’re hoping, as hard (and costly) as changing from counter service to table service is, that it will help keep everyone more physically distant. I’ve heard stories from people who have opened [reporting] that people aren’t really being respectful of distancing, so we’ll hope our signs, words, and actions help with that. But I’m still nervous that it won’t work as well as we planned. I know some folks who aren’t willing to wear masks have the cavalier attitude: “well, I’m not worried about getting sick.” And that’s fine, but I’m worried about me and my staff, so I’ll keep this mask on and sanitize your picnic table when you leave!
Those measures, along with keeping tables spread out and eliminating indoor seating will also help protect our people. Let’s be honest, we are putting ourself at a risk of contracting this by opening, just as people carry that risk when they leave their house. It’s up to us to minimize the risk while operating our business to the best of our ability. And we will do that by keeping our staff as safe and healthy as we can.
Do I wish we could close up shop and still not risk losing the business I started? Hell yes, but that’s not an option. So, we’ll operate a little differently, and we will expect to make less revenue this year—but we’ll do it all smiling behind a stupid mask and saving a few lives. Make beer, save lives! Hmmm, I think we’re on to something there.
PHOTOS: HEATER ALLEN, ALESONG