Taproom drinking habits of Gen X and Baby Boomers

We have been profiling drinking habits by generations the last few weeks. In this piece we’ll look at Gen Xers and Boomers. 

Like the older Millennials, Gen Xers favor Saturday visits, with Saturdays at 6 p.m. being their most likely arrival hour, followed by 1 p.m. This 1 p.m. arrival time contrasts with the frequent Millennial arrival time of 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

Maybe Gen Xers like to get their day going a little earlier?

However, those age 41 to 45 years old are likely to arrive at a taproom at 7 p.m. on a Friday, which is also a popular time for 26 to 30-year-olds. We see Millennials arrive a tad earlier on Fridays. We’ve discussed the role children may play in arrival time, and perhaps Gen Xers are going out later on Fridays because their children are older and not tagging along, vs the Millennials with younger children (and earlier bedtimes). 

An odd callout: we see Wednesdays at 4 p.m. as a top 5 arrival time for those 41 to 45 years old. No clear reasoning on our end; however, I encourage you to look at your programming to see if Wednesday afternoon campaigns are driving visits. 

As we look beyond 45-year-olds, from 46 to 50, we see a common arrival times are Fridays at 5 p.m. and Saturdays 7pm. But we have less data on them overall from ages 46 to 50.

Looking at the complete data from 41-50-year-olds though, we still see Fridays at 7 p.m. as a popular arrival time. With the combined set of this age range, 6 p.m. on Saturdays is the most common time for Gen Xers to arrive at a taproom. This is followed by 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Gen Xers aren’t likely to arrive after 8 p.m. on any night.

Now, we’ll layer in data from all of those 41 to 55 years old. Before looking at this aggregated set, I want to mention that a notable number of 51-to-55-year-olds visit taprooms at 5 p.m. on Thursdays. Overall, 6 p.m. on Saturdays remains the most likely time for Gen Xers to visit. Rounding out the top 3 for Gen Xers are Thursdays at 5 p.m. and Fridays at 7 p.m.

For all generations thus far, except Gen Zers (55.6%), over 60% of taproom visits take place Friday to Sunday.

Baby Boomer taproom visits

Now we take a look at those 56 years and older, representing primarily Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964).

While the youngest in this data set are 58 years old, we are going to refer to all as Boomers for ease in classification. Boomers like Fridays, with 5 p.m. being their most common taproom arrival time, followed by 6 p.m. on the same day.

Boomers also like to visit on the weekdays, with 43% of visits taking place Monday to Thursday. They join the Gen Z club of generations with less than 60% of visits occurring Friday to Sunday.  Boomers are also the only generation where Saturdays don’t solely wear the crown for the most popular day to visit. Fridays and Saturdays tie for boomers most likely day to visit, both at 23.2% of total visits.

What does all of this mean and how can you use it?

It comes down to customized experiences. Over our generations study, we learned that both Gen Zers and Boomers are likely to visit Fridays 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Are they visiting for the same reasons? Doubtful. While beer and beverages may be the common thread of their experiences, the drivers behind the visit may be different.

Michael Varda of Craft Beer Advisory Services, had this insight to share:

While the taproom might be filled with different generations at any given moment, the motivations of those individuals are likely very different. Among Gen Zers, beer variety, environment, and price are the three most motivating and three most memorable factors from their visit. When they get off from work, they want to hang with their friends, enjoy a drink from a list of choices, and do so at a reasonable price point.

When looking at older generations, Baby Boomers and Gen X value more than just variety at a fair price point. While they also want to enjoy time away from work on Friday, it is likely for something more specific. Specific beers that is. Beyond price, older generations rate specific beers and food as two additional highly motivating and highly memorable factors for their visits.

Gen Z and older generations also have meaningful service interaction preferences. For older generations, staff interactions and service efficiency are top pre-visit motivational factors. They’re considering the level of hospitality they’ll receive before stepping into the tasting room. However, for Gen Z, they’re much more product-focused and show less inclination to visiting based on hospitality alone.

A final difference, while perhaps not most relevant to Friday night, older generations are much more motivated by family friendliness than Gen Z. Family friendliness can take many forms at the brewery: accessible seating, space for kids to play, a band playing, or a number of other possibilities. Entertaining the kids so parents can equally enjoy their beverages is a critical piece for 28 and older.

[Thanks, Michael!]

The above data and insight can help, but it comes down to you successfully building relationships with both current and potential guests. This can be achieved through understanding their needs, asking questions, and creating the ideal experience for each. No business is exactly the same and it is unlikely all taprooms will display the trends we have studied.

Your taproom is a space designed to be welcoming to all (no argument on kids here!). Simply throwing out a fishing line won’t magically bring in an audience. It takes intention. You must use the data and your experiences to best fulfill each guest’s needs. And no guest is the same. It’s going to take work. However, by dedicating the time and effort into understanding your audience, you will be able to better create, better market, and better retain a captive audience.

Recap:

• Gen Xers are most likely to visit taprooms at 6 p.m. on a Saturday, followed by 1pm earlier that same day of the week.
• Boomers, like Gen Zers, spend almost half their time visiting taprooms Monday to Thursday, but Fridays at 5 and 6 p.m. are the times they are most likely to arrive.
• It’s all about understanding your audience and creating customized experiences.

Andrew Coplon is the Founder of Secret Hopper, a mystery shopping company for craft beer businesses, and Craft Beer Professionals, a community dedicated to the growth and betterment of the craft beer industry. Check out all of his CBB articles here.