Schools
TU Alum Explains What It's Like To Run A Brewery During A Pandemic
Ever since his college days, it's been full speed ahead in the beer business for Dan Baumiller '06.
July 14, 2020
TU Magazine first sat down with Dan Baumiller ’06 at his Full Tilt Brewing taproom last winter. Given the impact of the pandemic, the staff thought it was important
to check back with him to see how the brewery is doing during the pandemic with a
Q&A.
Find out what's happening in Towsonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Q: How crushing was the shutdown for you from a business standpoint?
A: The shutdown in March was terrifying. It was issued right before several huge events
that we had scheduled, including our “Full Tilt Fest” and “Artworks Uncorked & Untapped
with MPT.” We had no clue how we would stay afloat and pay our bills. Our business
model is predicated on serving customers in the taproom and with that gone, we saw
a serious hit in revenue. Q: What’s the status of the brewery now?
Find out what's happening in Towsonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
A: We have pivoted as best we can by packaging our beers in cans to sell to-go and via
delivery. The beer delivery has seemingly saved our business or, at the very least,
kept a dozen or so people employed. With the delivery option available to us and some
really successful/trendy beers that we have developed during the pandemic, we feel
that we have built up a stronger name for Full Tilt Brewing. We’re entering the reopening
phases in accordance with the governor’s directives and we are hopeful that individuals
feel safe enough to come out to bars and taprooms again. Q: What does the future hold for Full Tilt?
A: We are hopeful that we can continue to be a pillar of the Homeland community through
the taproom. Beyond that, we are hoping to build on the success of our packaged beers
that we produced during the pandemic and deliver beers directly to the consumer for
as long as it is allowed by the government. We hope to get the music program back
up and running. We absolutely love incorporating local artists into our business.
Read more of the Q&A and a story about Baumiller's career journey.
This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel’s priorities for Towson University: TU Matters to Maryland.
This press release was produced by Towson University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.
