Beverly Brewery To Require Shots To Drink Pints In Taproom

BEVERLY, MA — One Beverly brewery is requiring customers to get their shots before they can drink their pints in the taproom.

Paul and Christen Gentile, who own Gentile Brewing Company, informed staff and mug club members over the weekend that starting on Thursday all visitors will be required to show proof of coronavirus vaccination to drink beer in the taproom.

Their decision comes ahead of a Beverly Board of Health discussion and possible vote on a business-entry vaccination requirement and indoor mask mandate at Tuesday's meeting.

"We have always been a place that is welcoming to families," Christen Gentile told Patch on Monday. "Fortunately, we are in a position where our three children are old enough to be vaccinated. But that was definitely a factor for us."

Gentile said another factor was to protect her staff — which she said is 100 percent vaccinated — at a time when she's seen several bars and restaurants have to close or reduce hours because employees have gotten sick.

"Our staff is small — but mighty," she said. "We would be nothing without them."

She said the staff response was a "resounding vote of confidence" when she told her employees of the vaccination policy and that she hopes most of her customers will react positively as well.

"What's made the pandemic so hard is that we've always viewed our space as a community space where people can gather and feel safe," she said. "If we can't have that here then we don't feel like we're doing our job."

Notch Brewing of Salem owners said last week that vaccinations would be required to drink at its taprooms in Salem and Brighton as well. Salem's citywide vaccine entry order for bars, restaurants and other personal services and entertainment venues begins on Jan. 15.

She said customers will be required — ahead of any possible city mandates — to show proof of one shot of a vaccine through presenting a vaccination card or a photo of their card. At first, at least, customers will be asked to bring the card with them each visit.

Customers who are unvaccinated — or don't have proof of vaccination — can still enter the taproom with a mask to buy beer to go, but cannot consume it in the brewery.

"We're not stopping anyone from enjoying our product," she said.

Kevin Grant, who co-owns The Castle: A Board Game Cafe in Beverly, also decided in the past week to require vaccination proof for entry.

"Masks are incredibly helpful but not as effective as we would like them to be in a setting like a restaurant, where people are constantly having to remove their masks to eat," he told Patch, "so this was the best way to ensure people are being as safe as possible to themselves and those around them when coming out in a public setting like our spot.

"Overall, the response has been incredibly positive. Our patrons have gone out of their way to comment, email and talk to us in person, thanking us for putting the requirement in place. A few have mentioned that they haven't felt comfortable going anywhere for months, but with our new requirements, they now feel as if they could come to our place safely with their family."

How long will the policies be in place?

Gentile said that's as difficult to predict as almost anything during the past two years of the pandemic.

"Honestly, we don't know," she said. "It seems like this whole time we've been going week to week, and sometimes day to day."

"We thank you, in advance, for your compliance with this new policy," the Gentiles said in their message to customers, "and we look forward to the days when all of this is behind us."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

More Patch Coverage: Beverly Vaccine Order, Mask Mandate On Board Of Health Slate