AT THE BAR
Yard House Restaurants
DRAFT
Time
Are you ready to pour a pint or two of draft,
a beer that’s rapidly gaining fans?
By Suzanne Hall
NEVER MIND viticulture, let’s think
about beer culture. While wine may be
the most talked-about dinner beverage,
40% of people prefer beer when they
dine, according to Albert Schmid, CEC,
CCE, CCA, chef/instructor at Sullivan
University’s National Center for Hospitality
Studies, Louisville, Ky., and director of the
university’s on-line associate of science
degree in beverage management program.
And with the ever-increasing number of
microbreweries and excellent craft beers,
that percentage will likely grow.
You don’t have to convince Kip Snider,
corporate beverage director for Irvine,
Calif.-based Yard House Restaurants.
He oversees the pouring of 482 brands
from 3,500 handles in the 29 Yard
House locations in 10 states from Florida
to California. Yard House’s draft beer
program sets those venues apart.
“It’s a hook to get people to come in,” Snider
says. “Draft beer is almost like having the
brewery at your back door. It’s a fresher,
higher-quality product with a more true taste
than bottled beer.”
And, it sells. Many beer drinkers will opt for a
draft over a bottle. And don’t think those beer
drinkers are just men. Women drink beer, too.
“They recognize beer has many flavor profiles,
and enjoy trying them,” Snider says.
