Would you like to see the beer list?

Hotels are waking up and taking beer more seriously. Glynn Davis reports

The recruitment of a chief beer officer (CBO) by the ‘Four Points by Sheraton’ hotel chain not only gave Scott Kerkmans his dream job (out of 7,800 applicants) but also signalled that beer is increasingly being used as a point of difference by hotels.

Pete Lesser, senior director of food and beverage North America at Sheraton Hotels, who must have the real dream job as he is in charge of the CBO, says the appointment is all part of the company’s beer programme that is being rolled out to all 120 of its hotels around the world. It involves the individual hotel managers creating a unique beer list from a companyrecommended selection of 75 beers.

Pete and the new CBO help them create their lists that generally run to 20 beers – and could include bottled Chimay Red, Lindemans Framboise and Pilsner Urquell plus draught versions of the likes of Paulaner pilsner or lager and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Each hotel manger is also encouraged to source other interesting beers not found on the recommended list.

The programme is aimed at tempting guests to experiment with beer. To help this process Pete says the beers are split into ‘taste’ rather than ‘country’ and ‘style’: “We wanted a more simplistic approach because the United States is all Bud and Miller. So if Bud is listed under ‘Thirst Quencher’ then the bar staff could get a Bud drinker to try another beer in that same category.”

He says the initiative has been very successful in generating extra customer/guest interactions and .....

To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue or subscribe to Beers of the World to have every issue delivered direct to your door.

By Glynn Davis

Section : Beer Trends

Page number : 52