Businesses Could Accidentally Overserve Alcohol in Craft Brew Craze

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By: Richard E. Welch, Jr.

President & CEO, Hospitality Insurance Group

It wasn’t long ago when traditional, mass-produced beers were the only options patrons had when it came to ordering beer. Nowadays, craft brews can be found in nearly every restaurant and bar across Massachusetts. People have increasingly turned to craft beer for a variety of reasons, but these types of drinks could have damaging implications for business owners. In this blog, Hospitality Insurance Group addresses the higher alcohol content typically found in craft brews and shares strategies to help prevent overserving alcohol.

Craft brews can be appealing to guests for their taste, ingredients, variety of flavors, and alcohol content. While mass produced beer can contain between 4 and 5.5 percent of alcohol content, craft brews can be as high as 12 percent. Therefore, guests may end up drinking more alcohol than they had originally planned.

“The safety of someone’s customers should always be the top priority for any bar or restaurant,” said Richard E. Welch, President & CEO of Hospitality Insurance Group. He says there are several strategies that can help businesses keep their guests safe.

Since craft brews can contain as much as 2-3 times more alcohol than mass-produced beers, business owners should remain conscious of not overserving alcohol. One way businesses can prevent overserving alcohol is by varying the size of glasses when serving craft brews, so it is equivalent to traditional beers in terms of alcohol content.

Another strategy to prevent the overserving of alcohol, Welch says, involves having the right policies in place. Many businesses do not have procedures outlined when having to deal with an intoxicated guest. Restaurant and bar owners can mitigate potential losses if they understand how they will handle a scenario where someone who has had too much to drink.

Alcohol awareness training could be another solution to help prevent an incident of overserving alcohol, Welch added. Bartenders could learn useful information from these programs that can help keep guests safe. As an added measure, businesses could encourage bartenders to take a refresher course on a regular basis.

Restaurant and bar owners must remain vigilant to prevent overserving alcohol. As a specialist in liquor liability coverage, Hospitality Insurance Group understands the risks of overserving alcohol, and what that could mean to your business. Make sure your coverage is coming from Hospitality Insurance Group to make sure you have the right amount of coverage.

The opinions expressed are the views of the author alone and should not be attributed to any other individual or entity and shall not constitute a legal opinion.

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