Reopening Part 2; Brewery Taproom & Bar Owners Discuss New Challenges

What happens when Paycheck Protection Program loans run out, the weather shifts to make outdoor seating untenable, a staff member tests positive for COVID-19, or Oregon shuts down bars again?

Earlier in the pandemic the New School caught up with brewery and taproom owners from across Oregon about how they were grappling with the shutdown and reopening of their establishments. Months after reopening their taprooms, bars and restaurants are finding out what works and what didn't work about the slow reopening of the state and that felt like a good time to reconvene the group for a New School Beer Fireside Chat.

Old service models have went out the window with any sense of normalcy, new and constantly shifting procedures have taken their place. Hosts, private seating, touchless payment methods and outdoor seating arrangements are at top of mind.

As business owners, the number one worry the group expressed was the possibility of being shut down again. Outside of getting sick, the strongest danger to taprooms would be a forced closure by the local government. Rumors of a new wave of forced closures have already kept business owners on edge, and while Eugene, Portland, Hood River and Bend have not been rolled back, last week Umatilla County was degraded from Phase 2 to a Baseline Stay Home status, while Morrow County was moved down from Phase 2 to Phase 1.

So how has the last month+ been for businesses since reopening?

pFriem Family Brewers

For pFriem Family Brewers, their popular taproom took a big hit along with draft sales. The impact of COVID also forced them to pause construction on their Cascade Locks expansion project. The City of Hood River stepped in to let pFriem build a new outdoor seating area next to their existing small patio, the pub was able to reopen for outdoor seating only on July 6th. Like others, pFriem shifted to packaging more beers and can sales were doing well until a national shortage on aluminum made it difficult to source more.

"We could put more beer in package if we had more aluminum, but it's nice to have a little draft back," says Josh Pfriem.

Beergarden & PublicHouse

Colby Phillips owns popular Lane County beer bars Beergarden and Public House as well as the Porter app that many breweries and taprooms are beginning to use for touchless ordering and payment.

Phillips opened his PublicHouse taproom, whiskey bar and food hall in Springfield, Oregon when the county was allowed to enter Oregon's Phase 1 reopening on May 15th. A week later Phillips opened his Eugene, OR taproom and food cart pod Beergarden.

According to Phillips, things had remained mostly calm and steady since reopening until Oregon Governor Kate Brown ordered customers to wear masks even outdoors and anytime not seated.

"Our business took a hit because of that," says Phillips, who believes in the mask policy but is forced to grapple with customers who do not.

Fortunately the spacious outdoor areas at PublicHouse and Beergarden provide ample space to distance and eat and drink safely.

"We are doing reasonably well right now, as long as we can stay open," says Phillips.

Prost!, Stammtisch, Bantam Tavern

Dan Hart owns the bars Prost!, Stammtisch, Bloodbuzz, Interurban and Bantam Tavern in Portland with an interest in Prost! pubs outside of the region as well. Being located in Portland, Hart was the last among the group that was allowed to reopen his bars.

"The response has been really great," says Hart. "We expanded patio seating and it's been popular. There are few complaints, people are just happy to be able to come back in and enjoy themselves."

But as soon as they reopened, Interurban tavern's water heater broke down and forced them to shut down again for 2 days. And even more concerning, Stammtisch had a sewer main go down shortly after they reopened, that's put the bar and reastaurant down for the count for more than two weeks now. soon as it reopened, Interurban's water heater went down and made them shut down for 2 days. After it's first two weeks open, the sewer main outside Stammtisch went out and has caused them to close again for dine-in.

Boneyard Beer

Bend was able to reopen earlier then most, which sent Boneyard Beer owner Tony Lawrence and his team scrambling to adapt to new protocols. They quickly pivoted to only outdoor service, and luckily already had a touchless online purchasing system ready to-go.

"We were able to cross that intersection with our own psychological warfare, with the team or myself, what the pathway would look like to be open and operate from a safe standpoint," says Lawrence, who is clearly still struggling with their decisions.

"We all wrestle a little bit if we are part of the solution or if we are part of the problem," says Lawrence.

Boneyard Pub is only 2 years old, and has shifted to taking over 33% of the on-site parking to accommodate outdoor service only. The pub is already preparing for a turn into less hospitable weather that makes business difficult even before the pandemic arose. In preparation for harder times, Lawrence and team have just purchased a 20' x 40' tent and picked up wooden spools from the local electrical supply, sanded them down and polyurethaned them to create new tables for the beer garden.

"A lot of counts are rising in Deschutes [County], we are still one foot in and one foot out. It feels like anything could happen at any minute," says Lawrence.

Watch or listen to our discussion for more on how each business is adapting to the crisis and plan to tackle future issues including weather, staffing and financial challenges.