Customers like the variety, but bar owners say the pour-your-own concept isn’t right for every business.
The latest trend in DIY service is self-pour taprooms. Consumers are used to doing their own shopping and placing fast food orders via apps and kiosks, and there are now several bars where you can also serve your own beer, cider or seltzer.
In the summer of 2022, Michigan passed a law allowing these types of businesses, where customers check in, get a high-tech wristband or some other doohickey, and are allowed to pour themselves an alcoholic drink straight from the tap. By the summer of 2023, Royal Oak had two businesses using self-serve faucets, and today there are at least four more concepts in southeast Michigan.
Using software and digital screens linked to traditional tap systems, bars can offer guests autonomy and variety while streamlining service. Beverages are sold by the ounce, allowing consumers to pour small samples and try products they might not otherwise order.
“I like that you can try different types of drinks. I’m not a big beer drinker so I don’t know what’s safe for me… so I like to take a sip of everything and then make a commitment,” said Kailyn Delonis of Novi, who stopped by EMBC’s Royal Oak bar, Elephant & Co., for guava sour beer from Eastern Market Brewing Co. on a recent visit. chose. “I think there were four that caught my attention because they were fruitier.”
Delonis compared the flavor notes to Royal Oak’s Matt Bergdolt, who considers himself “a big beer guy.”
“I think it’s really cool. Like Kailyn said, you can try all the different beers and find out what you like,” he said.
“I think you’ll continue to see these places popping up,” said Jon Stoia, who opened North End Taproom in downtown Royal Oak with his wife, Kathryn Stoia, in 2023. They were part of a small group of business owners who spoke to lawmakers to help push legislation allowing self-service points of sale. “We’ve actually had a lot of people come by and ask us for advice and consultation. We’ve talked to a lot of places that have opened.”
Stoia said that while he doesn’t see this concept replacing traditional bars, it could be a good idea under the right circumstances.
“Generally speaking, I think it depends on where you’re doing it and what you’re trying to use the self-casting as a tool for,” he said. “If you just put it in there to make someone pour their own beer without thinking about why, it might not really work. What we find really useful is that it’s more of a social environment. You get up and walk around. “
While North End strives to keep things social among customers, other craft beer companies want to keep things social between staff and customers.
“I don’t think our owner would ever consider going to a model where we don’t have reps at the front,” said Ryan Rager, taproom manager of Farmington Brewing Co., which celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. He says he thinks the self-service model is cool, but it just doesn’t fit their way of doing business. “We are very proud of the way our staff engages the community.”
North End Tap Room has one of the largest numbers of self-taps with 40. Stoia said this allows them to offer “funkier” products that a bar might not want to have a whole tap behind the bar, such as pickle beer. However, their customers can try an ounce or two, which is much easier and more likely than someone ordering a full 16 ounces at a traditional bar.
There is a misconception with self-service taps that this is a kind of beer buffet. Being able to pour it yourself doesn’t mean you can slurp as much as you want.
With technology tracking how many ounces are poured, it may even be a more accurate system for determining when someone has had too much alcohol than the traditional method of being cut off by a human bartender.
Customers can keep track of how many ounces of which type of drinks they’ve consumed and at what price per ounce, and the bar can see those numbers too. Some self-pour taprooms require the customer to check in with an employee for every 32 ounces he or she pours to reactivate the wristband.
“It’s a flow meter that records how much is poured, a solenoid that stops or starts the beer remotely and the rest is all software,” says Stoia, adding that it’s kind of like a gas station pump for beer. “The basic technology isn’t overly crazy.”
The costs for the operator vary depending on the distance between the vessels and the taps. You have the base cost it would be to hook up taps like any traditional bar, but the added technology could cost a business in the ballpark of $1,000-$1,500 per tap for the self-serve model.
“It would depend on how many screens they need, but it would also depend on how far the cooler is from where they pour the taps. If it takes a long time, it will be more,” Ron Moore said. Last month, he, his wife Michelle and son Mitchell opened the area’s largest taproom, the 76-tap Corktown Taphouse. They went the extra mile and opted for a glycol bath to keep the pipes cold as they run from the cooler to the tap.
“We want the customer experience to be the best it can be,” Moore said. “If you have 6 to 8 centimeters between the cooler and where the tap comes out, those 6 to 8 centimeters are exposed to a higher temperature, which makes the beer a bit frothy. We have done our utmost to prevent that.”
The cost of having the variety and technology also comes at a slightly higher price for the customer. At Elephant & Co. in Royal Oak, for example, the beers are all made by Eastern Market Brewing Co. and cost about 50 to 70 cents per ounce, while wines are closer to $1 per ounce.
If you poured yourself some of EMBC’s hazy IPA Elephant Juice, it will cost you 69 cents per ounce or $11.04 for a 16-ounce pint. Go to the HopCat beer bar and restaurant down the street and a bartender will pour you a pint for $8. You’ll also see a tip line when you cash out at both places, even where you poured your own beer.
However, tipping is not included in every self-service tap area. At North End in Royal Oak, the Stoias pay their employees a living wage and don’t tip customers.
“I doubt we have better labor costs… ultimately instead of five servers we might have two, but they get paid more,” Stoia said. “It’s probably about the same in terms of labor costs, but the staffing at the front (of the house) is a little less. But our kitchen is the same as anywhere you go.”
Rager of Farmington Brewing Co., a traditional taphouse with bartenders, said his gut reaction when he heard about the expansion of the self-serve model was that it could ease the struggle to find staff.
“There are still not many people applying for jobs. It’s been difficult to retain staff,” he said, adding that FBC is doing well because they are located downtown, but other bars and restaurants are having problems . “The recruiting struggle hasn’t really recovered since 2020.”
At the new Corktown Taphouse, which opened in October, customers can take advantage of the express checkout by placing their wristband in one of three containers marked for a 15%, 20% or 25% tip upon departure. Moore says the staff is paid higher wages than tipped workers, plus they all share tips.
“People enjoy learning how to do it,” Moore says of the self-pour tap model. “We’re seeing customers expand their palates and drink beers they would never want to drink before, and even expand their palates to different types of wine. They’re having a lot of fun with it. The technology is pretty simple.”
Melody Baetens is a restaurant critic for The Detroit News.
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Olifant & Co.
456 Charlotte, Detroit. (313) 989-4454. elephantand.com
The drinks: Beer, hard seltzer, wine, cider and non-alcoholic beer from Eastern Market Brewing Co.
Food: Detroit-style pizza, wings and soft pretzels
Opening hours: 10:30am – 10:30pm Mon-Sat and 10:30 AM – 9:00 PM Sun.
Corktown Taphouse
1611 Michigan, Detroit. (313) 362-8184. corktowntaphouse.com
The drinks: More than 70 self-serve taps offering beer, wine, seltzer, cider and more, plus a full bar with a bartender for cocktails
Food: Comfort bar food from 1834 Cuisine or Mexican cuisine from Agave Lime
Other: Has duckpin bowling, AR dart boards, trivia nights and children’s play area
Opening hours: 11am-10pm Sun-Wed, 11am-11pm Thursday. and 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Fri-Sat.
Olifant & Co. – Royal Oak
330 E. Lincoln, Royal Oak. (313) 989-4454. elephantand.com
The drinks: Beer, hard seltzer, wine, cider and non-alcoholic beer from Eastern Market Brewing Co.
Food: Detroit-style pizza, wings and soft pretzels
Opening hours: 4:30 PM – 10:30 PM Mon.-Fri., 10:30 AM – 10:30 PM Sat. and 10:30 AM – 9:00 PM Sun.
North End Taphouse
111 S. Main, Royal Oak. (248) 221-1925. northendtaproom.com
The drinks: 40 taps offering craft beer, wine, cider, seltzer, coffee and more
Food: In-house menu of family-friendly bar food such as burgers, wings and appetizers
Other: This is a service model without tips
Opening hours: 4pm-11pm Mon-Wed, 11:30am-11pm Thurs, 11:30am-midnight Fri-Sat. and 11:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. Sun.
Glutton Pickleball
235 Metty, Ann Arbor. (734) 489-1723. wolverinepickleball.com
The drinks: Craft beer, wine, cider and kombucha
Food: A changing line-up of food trucks
Other: Pickleball courts, curling, bocce and other attractions
Opening hours: Daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m
Brighton Pickleball Club
8125 Film, Brighton. (810) 206-8004. brightonpickleballclub.com
The drinks: The players’ lounge has about ten self-tapping taps
Food: Some snacks and other refreshments
Other: This is a new, state-of-the-art pickleball facility with nine courts
Opening hours: See game schedule
The Social Brews (coming soon)
211 W. Fort, Detroit. thesocialbrews.com
Drinks: 45 self-service beer taps, plus coffee service, tea and fruit juices
Food: Pastries and breakfast items early in the day and a rotating lineup of chefs for dinner
Other: Social Brews plans to host live events such as stand-up comedy, live music and more
Opening hours: Opens November 22