Dec. 30, 2025

As alcohol consumption declines, Remedy Brewing Co. is beefing up its kitchen to help draw more customers with food.

“What we’re finding now is people want an experience, and they want really good food, and they want really good beer made on-site,” Remedy co-founder Tyler Jepperson said. “And with our pickleball facility, too, we feel like that’s just the whole package of an experience we can give people. So we’re kind of transitioning ourselves to how do we become an experience company – that beer is always No. 1, but it’s got to be food, service and entertainment with it too.”

A Gallup poll conducted in July found that 54 percent of adults drink alcohol, among the lowest since the question was first asked in 1939, and those who do drink are consuming less. In addition, 53 percent said moderate drinking is bad for their health, up from 28 percent a decade ago.

Craft beer production has been declining. It was down 5 percent on a year-over-year basis, according to a midyear survey from the Brewers Association. In 2024, production dropped by 4 percent.

“The demographics are changing, and the numbers don’t lie, and you’ve got to get more creative,” Jepperson said, noting that the traditional craft beer crowd is getting older. “We’ve got kids, we’ve got to be home by 8 o’clock, we don’t go as wild as we used to.”

When Remedy opened in 2017 at the 8th & Railroad Center, it served food that was prepared by a neighboring restaurant. Eventually, the brewery added kitchen equipment so it could cook food, but it never made the large investment to retrofit the kitchen to add a range, fryer and hood system.

Remedy’s original kitchen

“Basically, you can’t renovate a space like this and not spend almost six figures anymore,” Jepperson said. “So what we’re really trying to focus on is getting these guys the tools they need to show off their skill.”

Remedy accomplished that by leasing the Ollies food truck from Backyard BBQ and using it as the main kitchen.

For Backyard BBQ, leasing out Ollies rather than having it sit in storage for the winter made sense, said Eric Elenkiwich, director of operations.

“If we could help somebody out, we thought why not,” he said.

The food truck is parked on the back patio between the brewery and the indoor pickleball courts.

“Basically, it’s about adding new tools in a cost-effective way to let these guys get creative and show off the quality that they can do,” Jepperson said.

Chefs JP Muko and Paul Nothdurft, also known as The Saucy Boyz, have been crafting new menu items and ramping up the flavors on their standards this month. The new Simply Sauced Menu features new items like The Beer Hall Burger, a ground brisket and short rib patty with American cheese, bacon, fried onion, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and beer hall sauce.

The new fried chicken sandwich is a thigh that’s brined in sage and buttermilk, lightly dredged in flour and potato cornstarch, fried and then topped with a spicy peach sauce, lettuce, pickled onion, muenster cheese, bacon and barbecue aioli.

A new french fry flight features sidewinder fries tossed in seasoning and served with ketchup, horseradish aioli, chimichurri aioli, barbecue aioli, beer hall sauce and ranch.

There’s also a standard burger, steak sandwich, all-beef hot dog, chicken cordon blue bites, stuffed bread, boneless wings and traditional wings that are fried, sauced and grilled.

The standard appetizers and flatbreads are still available.

“We’re getting some really great flavors out there that we can finally show what we can do here, hopefully bring more people down and let them know we’re more than just beer,” Muko said.

In January, the focus will be on the Downtown Burger Battle, so the regular menu will be downsized a bit, and after that, the chefs will continue to kick out more great food, Jepperson said.

If using a food truck works as a supplemental kitchen, Remedy will consider buying its own, he said.

Remedy’s hours are 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with the kitchen closing one hour earlier. The 8th & Railroad Center is at 401 E. Eighth St., and Remedy is on the southern half of the boardwalk.