Rich Mak is a member of CBP and owner of BC Brewery in Hunt Valley, MD. He has been a Table Tap customer since 2018. When BC Brewery originally opened, they had 24 self-pour taps and 24 taps behind a traditional bar. Six months after opening, they converted all 24 taps behind the traditional bar to a second self-pour wall. Table Tap sat down with Rich to get feedback on his experience with operating a self-pour model for his brewery. Here are highlights from that discussion:

Table Tap: Why did you convert your traditional bar to a self-pour tap wall?

Rich: Customers were only using the self-pour wall, they weren’t ordering from the traditional bar. 99.5% of our sales were through self-pour. People naturally gravitated towards the tap wall.

Table Tap: How did this conversion affect operations and the customer experience?

Rich: Speed of service was the biggest thing. People don’t want to wait in line behind the bar. They can serve themselves way quicker. An entire party bus can come in at one time and all pour themselves a beer instantly. They can also get a refill on their beer much quicker too.

Table Tap: How about the impact on labor?

Rich: If all 48 taps were behind a traditional bar, we’d need 2-4 bartenders working depending on how busy we are. With the self-pour setup, we just need one staff member creating cards and opening tabs for customers.

Table Tap: Why do you think people gravitate towards the tap wall?

Rich: Self-pour is cool and new to a lot of people. A lot of people haven’t tried it before. It allows people to be in control of their own experience. Some people have a lot of questions about what’s on tap and they’ll ask one of our staff members, but it seems like most people like being able to quickly pour their own beer and just get back to their table or group of friends.

Table Tap: Do you find that self-pour enhances or takes away from the customer-staff relationship?

Rich: It really depends on the customer. Even with our self-pour model, we still encourage our staff to interact with the customers and ask if they need help with anything. However, we are seeing that a lot of customers actually prefer less interaction with the staff. They like the ability to explore the tap wall at their own pace as they can try different beers at their leisure.

Table Tap: Do you think people try a wider variety of your beers on tap through self-pour than they would with a traditional bar?

Rich: Absolutely. Some people build their own flights. I see a lot of people who will pour an ounce off one tap, taste it, and then immediately pour a full pint. It’s a great way to sample beers.

Table Tap: If you were to open another location today, would you use a self-pour model?

Rich: 100%