Wrapping up the NFL season, the Super Bowl is one of the most anticipated events of the season. Local breweries are making an effort to join in the fun, however, they are hoping turnout isn’t too super.
Boulder County on Saturday moved to the yellow level of the state’s COVID-19 dial dashboard, which limits breweries and restaurants to hosting 50% of their indoor capacity, which can be supplemented by outdoor seating as long as tables are 6 feet apart.
For local spots such as Collision Brewing and Großen Bart Brewery that means restricting the number of guests who hang out to watch the big game.
Taylor Wise, owner of Großen Bart Brewery has hosted a Super Bowl watch party each of the last six years. This year is no different.
The brewery plans to project the game on the jumbo screen inside the tap room and accompany it with a nacho and wing bar, organized by event planner and Festival Chef owner Justin Resech, beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday.
“It’s basically just eating, watching the game and having a couple of beers,” Wise said.
In past years, Wise said the watch parties have been really successful. However, this year he has approached all of the brewery’s events with lower expectations.
“They haven’t been like they used to be,” Wise said.
Although Großen Bart Brewery has two outside beer gardens, allowing for more patrons to visit, neither have the ability to show the game, Wise said. He is brainstorming ways to show the game outside, however, didn’t have a plan as of Tuesday.
Collision Brewery, too, has hosted Super Bowl watch parties over the last few years, although it has never drawn much business for the brewery, said owner and brewmaster Jason Blythe. Blythe also owns Nicolo’s Pizza at 1631 Pace St.
“Honestly, the Super Bowl is not really a great day for either of our restaurants,” Blythe said. “We, for a long time, thought the contrary, especially on the pizza side with delivery. We would expect a really busy shift but we would get a small surge. It was comparable to typical Sunday sales.”
Through networks with other local restaurants, Blythe said he hears most local restaurants don’t see a large uptick in business for the Super Bowl, with the exception of fast-food pizza places.
While not expecting much business, Collision Brewery will offer several in-house and online order deals for the big game, with a focus on wing platters.
“The best thing to focus on for any business is the takeout aspect, unless they have a large outdoor area with TVs outside, which we don’t have,” Blythe said.
Collision Brewery saw an uptick in customers last weekend, with people being turned away and wait times over an hour.
Although the limited capacity has hurt everybody, Wise said he believes the bigger limiting component is that fewer people are comfortable going out right now.
“It’s probably a combo of not having enough (people in the tap room) and people not really willing to go out and risk things in larger areas or with people they are not around all the time,” he said.
A recent survey by statista found only 3% of respondents plan to go to a bar or restaurant to watch the game. That is a 2% decrease from previous years. The same survey found 72% of people will not attend any kind of celebration this year.
On Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared on national television morning shows advising that Super Bowl parties typical of past years could be “super spreader” events and urged people to limit their game-watching crowd to members of their households. A warning he reiterated at a White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing, according to NPR. Quoting his statement from an appearance on “Good Morning America,” NPR reported that Fauci urged people to “just lay low and cool it.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 28 issued similar guidance, stating “the safest way to celebrate events is at home with the people who live with you.”
The CDC also advised that outdoors is safer for those who do plan to attend a Super Bowl party or event and that social distancing, mask wearing and frequent and thorough hand washing all should be practiced. It also urged people to avoid crowded, poorly ventilated indoor spaces.
