Red Tape Brewery is a family-run enterprise that provides a bespoke service for people who want to create their own beer.
The idea spilled over into a fully fledged business after founders Sean and Sarabeth Holden brewed a celebratory batch, to be shared with family far away, in honour of the birth of their son.
The brewery's ethos is centred around celebration and end-to-end service, so it's no surprise that a lot of effort goes into achieving the perfect personalized beer.
"We have a couple of meetings with the client to discuss beer and their beer preferences, and really get to know them and the celebration that they're planning. We develop a beer that we then propose," says Sarabeth. "Once it's approved, we move forward to create the beer and package it up for the celebration. We have standard Red Tape labels where we include the description, we also offer custom labels for an additional cost."
Initially, Sarabeth and Sean had planned for weddings to be their target market. But during the pandemic, their specially-formulated beers ended up providing a unique opportunity for friends and families, unable to meet in person, to add some excitement to increasingly monotonous online parties.
"People are looking for unique ways to celebrate birthdays virtually with friends and family, [so] we package the beer and then deliver it... prior to the virtual celebration," says Sarabeth.
Bespoke beer is a great way to add some personal touches and fun to a virtual meet-up and serves as an effective supplement for in-person shared experiences rendered obsolete by the pandemic.
"It's an opportunity to tell a story, [and] creates excitement about the celebration," says Sarabeth.
When they aren't busy supplying online get-togethers with made-to-order beers, Sean and Sarabeth are hard at work brewing their own brand of beer to sell in-store and online––including the one that started it all, "Celebration Saison", which just so happens to be a bestseller.
