Brewing (again) in Northport
By Chris Loud
Sun contributor
Many places are struggling to stay open these days, and some of our small towns and businesses are having to adjust to make things work. At the tip of the peninsula, Northport has a strong local community, and has been able to stay thriving during these difficult times.
In Northport, a great example of “making it work” is the Mitten Brewing Company. They’ve been able to open safely, and provide for the local community. We caught up with taproom manager, Dan Frank, to get an update on what they’re doing to keep the taps open in Northport.
Glen Arbor Sun: What did Mitten Brewing do to adjust to new rules and regulations for the COVID-19 pandemic, to be able to continue to operate safely?
Dan Frank: Well, there’s some of the obvious things, like employees are all masked, we’ve gone to outdoor seating only for the meantime, and we have limited our patio capacity to 50 people. We require people to wear a mask from the entrance to their table, and then anytime they leave their table. Ordering drinks, using the restroom, etc. We are cleaning and sanitizing tables and chairs between customers, as well as cleaning and sanitizing the restrooms regularly throughout the day. We have opted to go to using single serve, plastic cups to help avoid any risk of cross contamination. Along with switching to plastic, we are not currently doing flights or filling growlers, which I know isn’t ideal, but we do have a good selection of our top sellers available in cans.
We’ve recently gone back to being open every day, but, our hours aren’t quite what they would normally be. We’re wrapping up the night at 8pm, 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Between traffic being lighter as a whole, and the way that people get more “laxed” with rules as the night goes on, especially when you add alcohol into the equation, we decided to keep a little bit of a tighter ship on hours this summer.
Glen Arbor Sun: How are the changes working out?
Dan Frank: So far, so good, and no major issues, thankfully. Most people are just so glad to be able to go out and enjoy a little bit of “normal.”
Glen Arbor Sun: Are there any more changes in the works?
Dan Frank: Recently, between the MLCC (Michigan Liquor Control Commission) and the Village of Northport, we were granted use of the two parking spaces in front of our taproom for additional seating, so we now have that area roped off and have four picnic tables set up out there. As far as any additional changes beyond that, well…we’re tackling things as they come up.
Glen Arbor Sun: Tell us about how you’re supporting local school districts?
Dan Frank: We’ve been able to make a couple of donations to Suttons Bay school, one that was to pay off their existing lunch debt, in last August, and then made another donation in April to help cover the costs of continuing to make sure that students had food at home during the covid shut down.
Glen Arbor Sun: Being part of the Northport Community, have you felt there is local support for Mitten during this time?
Dan Frank: Definitely. Like I mentioned earlier, the Village has helped us out with some space for additional seating. Lots of our regulars have been stopping in, sometimes daily, for a pint, or buying gift cards. We’ve also had a lot of regulars who aren’t quite ready to go out and sit on the patio calling ahead for curbside pick-up of cans.
Glen Arbor Sun: Any additional thoughts in relation to how you’re operating right now? The outlook for the future of your business, etc.?
Dan Frank: It’s sure been a strange year, but we’re doing what we can to be open, to be safe, and to be able to continue helping with the needs in our community where we can. In the end, I guess what it boils down to is, as long as everyone does their part, wearing their masks in public, being aware of and maintaining social distances, washing their hands, etc, we’re all going to make it through this together.
