Beer and Banking
When I saw this tweet from Umpqua Bank about a beer tasting to be held at one of the bank's branches, I did a double take. Beer at a bank? I know that Umpqua Bank highlights local small businesses with events like this in the bank's branches, and was happy (and surprised) to see that one of these small businesses was Belmont Station. I was intrigued, so I went to check it out yesterday.
Carl from Belmont Station set up a table in the Beaumont Village Umpqua Bank branch, and had four thoughtfully selected Oregon beers to sample:
- Beer Valley Gone Fishin Mild Ale
- Heater AllenPils
- 10 Barrel S1NISTOR Black Ale
- Oakshire Wastershed IPA
I was happy to see that, as a small business, Carl's selections featured brews from other small businesses based in Oregon. He took the time to talk about the beers and encouraged people to drink them in order, starting with the mild ale and finishing with the IPA. It was obvious that some people, most of which were bank customers in the branch to conduct a transaction, had never heard of these breweries or these beers, but after talking to Carl, it was great to see them enjoying these selections.
The event gave Belmont Station some great exposure to a crowd of people that may not have been familiar with the store or the beers offered. It was a cool event, and reminded me that there are a lot of people out there who don't give much thought to beer - or to the small businesses and people that work really hard to sell it.
