Beer Tap Handles Become Big Business

(26 Jul 2016) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus060046

THE ANSWER TO WHAT'S ON TAP THESE DAYS.... MIGHT BE LIGHTHOUSES. BEARDS. EVEN BIRDS.
TAP HANDLES HAVE BECOME AN ART FORM.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ryan Spannagle, beer drinker.
"When you are at the bar you know looking around and you see a crazy one sometimes you just gotta go for it."
WITH COMPETITION TOUGHER THAN EVER....
BEER MAKERS ARE PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS....TO STAND OUT.
THE BREWERS ASSOCIATION SAYS SINCE 2011 THE NUMBER OF CRAFT BREWERIES HAS MORE THAN DOUBLED_ THERE WERE 4,100 LAST YEAR.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Steinhardt, general manager at AJS Tap Handles. "Years ago you'd see three or four tap handles offering beer, now when you go into a bar there is quite a variety and certainly far more than three or four tap handles even in the smaller bars."
THE THIRST FOR GOOD BEER HAS MEANT BUSINESS HAS BEEN FLOWING FOR AJS TAP HANDLES.
THE WISCONSIN BASED COMPANY IS ONE OF THE LARGEST TAP HANDLE MAKER IN THE US.
SOME ARE MADE OF WOOD, RESIN, OR METAL. OTHERS LIGHT UP.
YOU CAN ALSO FIND THEIR SIGNATURE TOPS ON LIQUOR AND WINE.
SOUNDBITE (English) Cole Krueger, lead designer at AJS Tap Handles: "Sometimes the best ones are the simplest ones, that have a really memorable shape and really bold branding."
DESIGNER COLE KRUEGER WORKS CLOSELY WITH BEER MAKERS TO REFLECT THEIR PERSONALITIES.
HE ADVISES THEM TO GO NO WIDER THAN THREE INCHES.
OVER AT SUGAR MAPLE IN MILWAUKEE, THEY HAVE 60 BEERS ON DRAFT – SO SIZE MATTERS.
SOUNDBITE (English) Adrienne Pierluissi, Owner of Sugar Maple:
"If it's too big on top to spin it on you have to remove either handle on the side and when you are busy it becomes 'Aargh, I wish they would just think more about their tap handles'."
AND HANDLES ARE BEST UNDER A POUND, OR THEY COULD CAUSE PROBLEMS.
SOUNDBITE (English) Rob Zellermayer, beer buyer and bartender at Sugar Maple.
"I need very little reason not to buy beer sometimes and if it's the idea it might break a faucet unfortunately there are thousands of other breweries I can pick from."
OVER AT THE BRASS TAP TYLER PENROD PICKED HIS PINT AMONG THE 80 CHOICES BASED ON THE TAP HANDLE.
SOUNDBITE (English) Tyler Penrod, beer drinker.
"I liked the industrial look of it. The name was appealing beyond the name of the brewery, which I'm familiar with, being "Overrated" made me curious."
TURNS OUT, IT'S NOT OVERRATED.
SOUNDBITE (English) Tyler Penrod, beer drinker.
"I like it a lot, I would definitely probably get it again."
SOMETHING ALL BREWERIES HOPE WILL PLAY OUT IN BARS ALL OVER.
CARRIE ANTLFINGER, ASSOCIATION PRESS


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