Brewery tasting rooms are evolving and some are getting quite technical with it. Breweries traditionally have brought people together by hosting a variety of activities that were easy to achieve like trivia night, yoga classes, comedy nights, open mics or live music. In 2024 though, things are changing.
With beer sales down slightly this year and some tasting rooms looking to make extra income to help with rising costs and sagging sales, a unique feature is popping up at breweries from Connecticut to California: the golf simulator.
Recently AleSmith Brewing Company announced the addition of two golf simulators (that can also be soccer, football and dodgeball simulators as well) that can accommodate up to 15 patrons at a time at its Miramar, California tasting room location. Cost to rent the Pro 2.0 Full Swing Golf Simulators is $65 an hour and reservations can be made online. An online search of the cost of one Pro 2.0 Full Swing is $54,000 which is one of the more expensive simulators at the market. Starting cost for a golf simulator can be as a low as $5000, making this an attractive offering for many breweries who have extra space to use.
“As a brewery that values innovation and creating memorable experiences, we are thrilled to introduce golf simulators to our Miramar location. This addition aligns perfectly with our commitment to providing top-tier entertainment options for our valued patrons,” said Alesmith president Brandon Richards.
AleSmith isn’t the only brewery in Southern California to install simulators; some have made it a defining feature of their identity. Dogleg Brewing Company in Vista, California calls itself a “golf themed brewery” and has a simulator that can be rented for a maximum of one hour a day for $40 an hour on weekdays and $70 an hour during peak weekends. They even have a simulator league you can join.
It’s not just breweries in urban environments that are getting in on this trend. Hubbleton Brewing Company in Waterloo, Wisconsin, which is northeast of Madison and has a population 3300, also has a golf simulator on site. Hubbleton has a Carl’s Place hitting screen and uses GSPro software. So far Hubbleton have invested $8000 in the simulator.
Hubbleton installed their golf simulator in October of 2023 and it has been very popular with its patrons.
“Saturdays and Sundays have been the busiest times; mainly during winter months and rainy days in the summer,” said brewmaster and owner Dan Schaey, who put in the simulator because he wanted to work on his own swing and enjoys the instant feedback numbers that come with the simulators. He finds people use the simulator for many reasons, sometimes just to work on their swing or play a full game. Cost to use the Hubbleton simulator is $25 an hour.
“It has helped with beer sales during winter time,” said Schaey, who is thinking of adding a second screen this fall.
Beer and golf go hand in hand with many people who take to the links bringing a cooler with them or ordering beers as they play a round. But bringing golf directly to the tasting room is the newest idea that seems to be catching on quite quickly around the U.S.