Independent breweries / taproomsNew
Owner-led independent breweries and taproom operators — channel mix between taproom and distribution, taproom economics, tap-rotation cadence, and tied-house regulatory compliance.
Channel mix · taproom economics · tap-rotation cadence · tied-house compliance
What gets pre-loaded
preferenceimportance 8/10 Channel-mix discipline — taproom vs distribution margin tracked separately every week
Taproom revenue (direct on-premise pours, growler fills, merch) and distribution revenue (kegs to bars, cans to bottle shops, festivals) carry very different fully-loaded margins. Every weekly P&L tracks them separately, with a named target ratio for the rolling quarter. Surface a watch item on any month where one channel quietly drifts more than 10 percentage points from the rolling-quarter target without an explicit operator decision.
preferenceimportance 7/10 Taproom economics — staffing-to-cover ratio + per-pour margin floor
Taproom hours run on staffing-to-cover ratio (one bartender per N expected covers per hour, scaled for trivia / live-music / event nights) and a per-pour margin floor that holds across the menu. Skipping the floor on a new beer release because it's a hype pour erodes the year-round economics. Surface a watch item on any release menu where any pour is below the floor without an explicit single-week marketing exception logged.
lessonimportance 7/10 Tap-rotation cadence — every brand on tap rotates within 90 days unless explicitly an anchor
Independent breweries live on rotation — beer drinkers come back to see what's new, not to drink the same flagship every month. Every brand on tap carries a rotation date 90 days out unless explicitly designated as a year-round anchor (typically 2-3 anchors max). A taproom whose menu hasn't rotated in 90 days reads as stale to regulars and the regulars-pipeline dries. Surface a watch item on any tap past 90 days without a logged rotation or anchor designation.
lessonimportance 7/10 Tied-house compliance — every retailer relationship logs cash + non-cash value transferred
TTB / state ABC tied-house rules prohibit value transfer from breweries to retailers (free goods, branded equipment, paid placement) outside narrow named exceptions. Every retailer relationship logs cash + non-cash value transferred each quarter so the totals stay defensible during a routine audit. Surface a watch item on any retailer relationship where value transferred crosses the safe-harbour threshold without a named compliance review.
Sample signal seeded on day 1
Sample stale-tap signal on the longest-running rotating brand
The longest-running non-anchor tap (live since 95 days ago, no rotation logged, no anchor designation) is past its 90-day rotation window. Worth flagging and surfacing a watch item: the right move is a scoped rotation decision — pour out (one-week farewell push), promote to anchor (if regulars have made it one), or queue the next brew in line. Letting it sit untouched another month is the silent regulars-pipeline drain.
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