Cheers! North County: Bagby is back

There have been teasers on social media that Bagby Beer Company in Oceanside might be reopening soon, and I’ve been craving some Slow Ride Pils ever since co-founder Dande Bagby agreed to appear on the Cheers! podcast.

When I saw their official Instagram post declaring their reopening was official, my heart soared. Then I looked at the clock. It was Sunday at 6:15 p.m. Bagby had opened for the first time that day from noon until 6! Insert curse word here.

Then I started thinking about my upcoming conversation with Dande, and I had a realization. We haven’t been fighting the same quarantine battle. She’s had access to Bagby Beer! The rest of us are out here surviving without! Not fair! I thought.

Back in March, I spoke with Dande about Bagby’s shutdown announcement due to COVID-19, and how uncertain the future was not just for the brewery but for all of us.

The announcement was a poignant description of the fears and concerns facing small businesses during this time. Now that they are choosing to reopen, I wanted to know what had changed. Why now?

The answer was simpler than I anticipated. The coronavirus is still a beast and working around it has been difficult. Dande has expressed the desire that they do no harm as far as possibly spreading the virus to employees or customers or being a hub for that spread.

As a company, they’ve also viewed this break during the pandemic as an opportunity to retool their business from the ground up. They looked at operations, training, staffing and planning and have been making changes.

Those changes took time, and now all of that work has come to fruition. For the first time since March, they feel like they can reopen safely. According to their website, “After 4 long months, we are proud to announce we are ready to serve you our award winning beer, killer cocktails, and delicious food!”

When I asked Dande why now was the time, she said, “The coronavirus is still there so that is the most important thing. … I also think a lot of evidence is suggesting how safe you can be with masks, and gloves and proper distancing. … It has become more clear to us that it is possible to do this in a really, really safe way, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Looking at their safety protocols, what stood out was that there is no interaction of any kind during a pickup. After you order online and head to the brewery, Bagby employees check your ID through the car window, and leave your order on a table next to the parking spot. The brewery employee is far away by the time you get out to grab your order. It is the first truly socially distanced pickup exchange I have seen.

It feels like forever, but really we’ve been in the throes of this pandemic here in SoCal for about five months. My family has been aggressively social distancing, giving up travel, and rarely even making trips to the store, preferring to pay for delivery services (be sure to tip well).

The few ventures we’ve made have been for beer pickups from local brewers we really wanted to support. The luxury of great local beer has been one thing that has really helped us feel … normal.

I’ve already written about how the inherently social nature of humans is the one thing breweries can’t control, and what has impressed me about the Bagby Beer reopening is how they took that into account, eliminating the opportunity for customers and employees to break safety protocols because of it.

It also made me a little sad, because I can’t wait for a time when we can forget about social distancing, and have a beer with friends, with strangers, with our community without the weight of worry that this pandemic has put upon our shoulders. Hopefully, that weight that will someday be lifted due to the efforts of breweries like Bagby and all of us willing to sacrifice to make it happen.

Be sure to listen to my full conversation with Dande Bagby on the next episode of the Cheers! North County podcast. Subscribe wherever you listen to great podcasts so you don’t miss it! Bagby Beer Company is currently open for takeaway Wednesday-Saturdays, 4-9 p.m., and Sundays, noon-6 p.m. Stay safe, healthy and sane out there, and keep livin’ the dream. Cheers everyone.