Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1292368
NORTHSHOREMAG.COM 22 OCTOBER 2020 PHOTOGRAPHS BY TONY SCARPETTA by speaking to the server, because there isn't a server taking orders at all. "Even the customer and employee interactions, where we have a chance to chat you up and figure out what you like or what you don't like and help you figure out what to order, that's all gone." Losing that dynamic is tough on breweries, which are essentially community meeting houses for the towns they call home. But things aren't all bleak. Olive notes that 95 percent of customer interactions remain positive, with the remaining 5 percent comprising people who take issue with wearing masks or other COVID-19 mandates. Encounters like that are few and far between, not only for Notch, but also for Ipswich's True North Ale Company and Andover's Oak & Iron Brewing Company. "We were concerned about that at first," says Gary Rogers, True North's founder and chief of business operations. The Tuesday after the most recent law went into effect, Rogers explains, "We did have someone who came up, and we told them what the new rule was, and they said, 'Well, the heck with that,' and they If there's one thing brewers on the North Shore can agree on during a pandemic, it's this: Nothing goes better with a beer than a soft, warm pretzel. But the region's brewers actually happen to agree on more than just what bar snacks pair best with beer, especially now that the COVID-19 outbreak has them all caught in the same impossible circumstances. Back in March, breweries across Massachusetts shuttered for the good of public safety and their employees. Then, in April, Governor Charlie Baker signed a bill permitting bars, breweries, and restaurants to sell beer and wine via pick-up or delivery, provided that food was included as part of the order; in June, he allowed establishments to reopen for outdoor service but required that food be prepared on site. As government guidance has evolved, breweries have scrambled to keep up, to stay properly staffed, and to preserve the integrity of their service. "We take the pandemic seriously," says Liz Olive, tap room general manager at Salem's Notch Brewing. "We want to keep our staff safe, and we also want to keep the public safe. So I'm between a rock and a hard place." The government, she says, has everybody's best interests at heart, but their response to the ongoing crisis is imperfect all the same. Olive appreciates the conflict between wanting to do what's right—following the guidance— and being frustrated by the difficulties and adjustments the guidance imposes. In this situation, doing what's right means making a sacrifice. "There's such a huge disconnect between service right now," says Olive. "Notch has always really prided ourselves, not just on the product that we serve, but how we serve it, and customer interaction." Instead of drinking from proper glassware, customers drink out of plastic cups. They order food and beer on their phones, and not With new COV ID-19 protocols, breweries pivot to serving gourmet bar snacks along with frothy brews. ANDREW CRUMP FOOD ON TAP left." And that was that. Rogers can't recall an interaction like that one since. On the other hand, Jim Cass, Oak & Iron's co-founder and head brewer, can't recall a single interaction like that. "This has not been an issue at all with our customers, which I must admit, it's a bit of a surprise to me," Cass admits. He credits that to the brewery's decision to, as he puts it, "pre-communicate" the new ordinances and the effect they would have on brewery operations to their patrons. A notice was immediately posted to Oak & Iron's website, they sent notifications out across their various social media feeds, and they put a sign outside of the brewery, as well as at tables, letting people know what to expect and how to conduct themselves. "When everybody comes here, we always tell them what the rules are," says Cass. "You wear a mask, table service, and then the last thing we always say is that because of the new state law effective August 11, everybody must purchase food along with their first beer." If the client interaction side of running a brewery during the pandemic has been E AT + D R I N K Oak & Iron Brewing Company in Andover serves a sampling of snacks along with great brews.