When the taproom first opened back in 2013, Jim and I worked nearly every shift behind the bar. And in that time, we really got to know some of those patrons that started to frequent our place. One of those regulars was an insurance agent named Joe Long. He worked at Farmer’s right across the street, so it made sense we’d get to see a lot of him.
It wasn’t long after Joe came by enjoying a Fairhope 51, and then very soon after solely Causeway IPA, that we realized what better person to provide our insurance than someone who greatly supported what we had going. But no, this is not a boring story about insurance. In fact, Joe might have been the least boring insurance agent that ever existed. But he did get us some great rates over the years!
One thing we also realized early on was that Joe knew almost everyone that came in our doors - in large part because he had their insurance covered as well. But we also noticed that when the taproom got busy, Joe got gone. For knowing so many people, he sure did not enjoy a packed out brewery. A couple beers, a few games of Golden Tee, then gone as the band started setting up.
Since he normally came by in the afternoon, there were plenty of spots open at the bar, and he almost always sat at the exact same seat near the dishwashing sink. When the time came to re-order the cloth seat backs to our wooden barstools, the perfect idea popped in our heads… get Joe a custom seatback with his name on it. And that's just what we did.
Of course, Joe was honored and a little embarrassed to have this name plate set out just for him. In fact, if he walked in and someone was sitting in his chair, he would just quietly stand at the end of the bar and pray that no one called him by name - thus letting that customer know that he needed to move out of the reserved barstool. To be honest, and I’ve told him, I was always annoyed that he would not kick people out of the seat! Could have been such a fun thing to see happen: Sir, you are in my chair. Does it have your name on it? Why yes, yes it does.
But alas, that never occurred. Joe did take great care of his stool, however. He installed a cushion on the seat to replace the hard wooden seating the other stools had. During the holidays, he would adorn it with Christmas lights. But he never asked anyone to move out of that seat. We frequently got asked by other customers as to how one goes about getting his name on the back of a chair, and Jim always responded “Start by coming in four or five days every week for two years, and then save us $10,000 on our insurance."
Fast forward about 10 years, and we are proud to announce that we are bringing back Joe’s chair. This will be an updated version, but it will be in the same spot. And we are adding something that was always talked about but never seen through - a guestbook. That’s right, if you come in and grab a spot in Joe’s chair, we’ll have a guestbook you can sign and leave a note about your experience in that barstool at Fairhope Brewing Company.
And next time you see Joe around, tell him this: I don’t drink Everyday. I drink Causedays.
