May COVID-19 Update

Staas Brewing COVID-19 Update
May 11, 2020

We want to sincerely thank you all for the support and understanding throughout these last couple of months. It has been invaluable to our mental health and overall well-being. All of you really had our back and made us feel at ease with the difficult decisions and the future of our business. We continue to be grateful and will never forget it.

As most of you are aware Ohio bars and restaurants have been given approval to resume business for outside dining on May 15th and inside dining on May 21st (both in a limited capacity). Whether you feel as if Ohio’s decision to reopen the economy came too soon or was long overdue, don’t lose sight of the fact we’re all in this together and each individuals’ situations are uniquely different from the next.
With that being said, we have made the decision to remain closed to the public for on premise beer consumption indefinitely. Our primary concern remains steadfast - keeping ourselves, our staff, our friends, our family and anyone who has ever stepped foot inside the pub healthy. Our decision to close the pub on March 13th wasn’t mandated by an outside entity, but based on what we felt best for ourselves and the community. Our decision to postpone the reopening of the pub is no different. Of course we’d prefer to reopen the brewery and return to normal—but normal is still a ways off. Drinking and socializing at the pub offers an experience which is the exact opposite of social distancing--- we’ve strived for years to create an atmosphere conducive to bringing people together, not keeping them apart. We take great pride in the fact that so many friendships have been made in our tiny tap room over the years.

We hope you take comfort in knowing we have plans and protocols in place for an eventual reopening that will address some concerns, which are outlined at the end of this statement. For now, our timeline on reopening is dependent on how things continue to play out. We’ll be playing the role of “backup quarterback” over the next few weeks, our plan is to observe, learn and analyze. We will closely monitor the case counts and hospitalizations as retail, personal care services, manufacturing, restaurants and bars begin to open. When we do reopen we want to ensure that it’s at a time when the pandemic is within reasonable control. We are entering into unknown territory in just coming out of a two-month lockdown.

To be candid, our main concerns regarding reopening at this time include the following:
1. It is impossible to wear a mask and drink beer simultaneously. Mandating that customers wear masks is therefore not possible within our business model. This is very concerning to us, as studies are increasingly showing the effectiveness of facial coverings in preventing the spread of the virus.
2. Our taproom is very small, and further reducing capacity to meet safe social distancing guidelines is proving very difficult, especially as we assess safe traffic patterns.
3. As some of you may already know we are expecting another baby girl in early October. Considering the two of us operate the majority of business (including bartending) we are in contact with the public a great deal. During these uncertain times the only certainty is that limiting your exposure to the public will limit your chances of contracting the virus. We just want to get Liz to the “finish line” of this pregnancy without contracting any illnesses.
4. We are concerned that there could be a spike in cases, increasing everyone’s risk of infection inside the pub. Ohio’s economy has been given approval to reopen (albeit on a limited basis) all within a two and half week span, at the contradiction of many public health experts. This makes us somewhat uneasy, so we feel the safest plan is to not rush our reopening. Hopefully, the experts are wrong and we will not experience and spike in new cases and hospitalizations. We realize this is very possible, as there are a lot of new operating mandates in place that could slow the spread. In summary, there are just a lot of unknowns with this pandemic. It is hard to make decisions when there are not concrete facts in front of you to base decisions off of.
5. Despite the efforts of the public sector to ramp up production on testing, the lack of accessibility to these tests remains problematic. Ideas such as convalescent plasma transfusion and herd immunity revolve around testing and without an aggressive nationwide approach to increase testing this virus will continue to linger. Not only that, but testing would allow individuals to make informed decisions about their risk of infection and potential spread. If you can get tested, do it. Testing may be the most important piece of the puzzle if we ever plan on figuring this out and eradicating the virus.

In the meantime we will continue to operate online sales for curbside pickup. We received a new shipment of growlers that arrived on Monday (hooray!) and we are hoping to beef up online growler sales so that we may accommodate more orders per week. Our next scheduled online growler sales dates are May 13th and May 20th. Thank you for sticking with us throughout this process, your support has meant a great deal to us.

Current Proposed Protocols upon Re-opening:
1. Increased Air Filtration and Sterilization. We are in the process of addressing the HVAC system that services the pub to allow for heightened filtration and sterilization of the air that is recirculated throughout the pub. We are holding ourselves to this standard: increased air filtration and sterilization features must be in place before we open the doors to the pub. We are hoping to have all of the needed equipment in hand and professionally installed by the end of May. Certain filtration systems are on back-order, and this is a constraint right now.
2. Mask Policy: All employees will abide by the state mandate to wear a mask while working. We strongly support the idea of patrons wearing masks, however common sense dictates this one---patrons cannot wear a mask and drink beer simultaneously. This is a factor that is unique to bars and restaurants and makes it riskier for us to resume operations. This is why we feel as though increasing the air filtration and air sterilization at the pub are especially important and essential before reopening. We strongly support wearing masks, and if you can get creative and find a way to wear a mask and still enjoy some beers, have at it.
3. Reduction in Capacity: Tables and bar stools will be removed to allow for appropriate social distancing guidelines. Our maximum capacity inside of the pub is yet to be determined—but it will be at least cut in half. The maximum capacity of the patio will be 10.
4. Reservation Only Seating: Upon reopening we will operate on a reservation-only status in order to control the amount of people in the pub at all times. We will have two, two-hour seatings per night, exact times are to be determined. For now, gone are the days of walking in and seating yourself casually. If demand is high and reservations are booking quickly, we will likely open additional days. We will evaluate demand over time. We want to be accommodating, as we value our customers very much. We are still developing this concept so more details to follow at a later date.
5. Increased Sanitation and Cleaning: In-between the two nightly seatings, once all patrons have left the building -- employees will conduct a full cleaning of all tables, chairs, door handles, bathrooms, buttholes, light switches, etc. before the next designated seating. We are also in the process of evaluating high-temperature commercial-grade dishwashers, as this will reduce the bartenders contact with dirty glassware and ensure all germs on glassware are annihilated.
6. Growler Sales: Walk-in growler sales will be welcome and encouraged during business hours, and there will be a designated growler waiting/ordering area. Upon reopening, you may continue to place growler orders online for pickup during business hours. Pickup time and day will be designated online. This may cut back on wait times at the pub if you wish to have a quick interaction inside the pub. If there is high demand for continued curbside service, we may add a weekly curbside pickup day.

Whether you are chomping at the bit to get out and socialize or are still planning to mostly stay at home, please know that we respect your decision. Liz is pregnant and we will have a newborn come October--in the middle of a pandemic. So we are completely understanding of everyone’s unique situations. Everyone has been so overwhelmingly supportive thus far, and we are so thankful for that.

Love,

Donald and Liz