Many brewery membership programs begin with a familiar formula: charge an annual fee and give members a mug, larger pours, or a standing discount.
ISM Brewing & Kitchen has taken a more deliberate approach. Its monthly membership program is designed to create recurring revenue, bring regulars back during slower periods, and give members enough tangible value to make a visit feel inevitable.
The result is not simply a discount program. It is a structured relationship between the brewery and its most loyal guests.
Start With Value Guests Can Understand
ISM owner Ian McCall organizes the program around the brewery’s “Friends, Family, Fresh Beer” identity. Its two primary membership tiers are Friends and Family.
The Friends membership costs $49 per month and includes:
- Two four-packs of the member’s choice during the month.
- 10% off purchases.
- An additional 25% off house beer Monday through Thursday.
- Access to member merchandise.
- Quarterly member events with beer, food, and interaction with the brewing team.
The Family membership costs $99 per month and includes:
- Four four-packs per month.
- The same ongoing and weekday discounts.
- Four kids’ meals or two appetizers.
- The additional merchandise, event, and community benefits.
Because the membership is associated with the guest’s phone number, GoTab can recognize the member, redeem included items, and apply the appropriate benefit automatically when a tab is opened.
Use Memberships to Shape Visit Frequency
ISM’s program is not designed solely to reward visits that would have happened anyway. Its most generous benefit is available Monday through Thursday—the brewery’s slower period.
Members receive a total of 35% off house beer on those days. McCall intentionally limits that additional benefit to house beer because it is one of the brewery’s highest-margin products. The offer gives members a compelling reason to visit during the week while keeping the underlying economics manageable.
That is an important lesson for other operators: the best membership benefit is not necessarily the largest discount. It is the benefit that encourages a valuable behavior at a cost the business can support.
A brewery POS with integrated memberships and subscriptions can help operators connect recurring benefits to the same guest identity used for ordering and payment, making the program easier for both members and employees to use.
Make the Included Product a Reason to Visit
Packaged beer gives ISM members something concrete for their monthly fee. It also creates a recurring reason to return.
A member may initially visit to collect their four-packs, but that visit can lead to dinner, a round of beer, or time with friends. The included product gets the guest through the door; the broader experience creates the incremental revenue.
This is one reason a value-based membership can outperform a discount-only club. A discount has value only after the guest decides to make a purchase. An included product gives the guest a reason to make the trip in the first place.
More Discounts Can Produce Better Economics
The most surprising part of ISM’s membership story is what happened to its discounts.
Before the current membership structure, McCall said monthly discounts represented approximately 1.5% to 2% of sales and totaled around $2,000 per month. With memberships, recorded discounts grew to approximately $6,000 per month.
At first glance, that could appear concerning. But those discounts are supported by recurring membership fees. After McCall deducts the membership revenue collected, he estimates ISM’s effective discount percentage is closer to 1%—lower than it was before.
The program may also replace less controlled discounting. Instead of employees informally giving drinks to friends, those regulars can join a membership with clearly defined benefits and revenue attached to it.
The larger takeaway is that gross discount totals do not tell the full story. Operators should evaluate:
- Membership revenue collected.
- Incremental visits generated.
- Purchases made during redemption visits.
- The product cost of included benefits.
- Changes in unauthorized or discretionary discounts.
- Member spending compared with nonmember spending.
Build Belonging, Not Just a Bargain
A compelling brewery membership should make people feel closer to the brand. ISM supports that connection with quarterly events, exclusive merchandise, access to its brewers, and benefits rooted in its Friends and Family identity.
There are many ways breweries can expand this idea:
- Early access to a new beer release.
- Member-only beers or food items.
- Exclusive merchandise.
- Invitations to tastings or release events.
- Benefits for a spouse, partner, or family.
- Recognition by staff when the member visits.
When membership status is connected to the guest profile, the brewery can also make those benefits easier to deliver. A member-only menu can appear automatically, and employees can recognize members or VIPs during a visit.
That creates an opportunity for personal hospitality: a sample of a new beer, a conversation with the brewer, or another small gesture that reinforces the member’s relationship with the brewery.
A Framework for Designing Your Brewery Membership
Breweries building or revisiting a membership program can start with five questions:
- What creates obvious monthly value? Give members something they can easily understand and use.
- What behavior should the program encourage? Consider weekday traffic, repeat visits, packaged beer sales, or event participation.
- Which products have enough margin to support the benefit? Build the strongest offers around products the brewery controls.
- How will employees identify and serve members? Benefits should be easy to apply consistently without relying on staff memory.
- How will success be measured? Look beyond discounts to recurring revenue, visit frequency, incremental spend, and retention.
ISM Brewing’s program works because the benefits are not random. Each component supports a business objective while giving members a genuine reason to remain engaged.
Learn how GoTab’s brewery POS connects memberships, subscriptions, guest profiles, ordering, and payments in one flexible brewery platform.
