If it’s Thursday night, you may find Chris Aaland bellied up to the bar at Lady Falconburgh’s Barley Exchange, where, for the last 12 years, he has drunk more than 3,000 beers and earned a spot on the pub’s wall that surpasses any other beer lover’s.
Aaland takes imbibing to a great extent at Lady Falconburgh’s, where customers can earn a brick on its wall for every 100 beers they drink. Aaland has 33 bricks. Where he gains fame, the beer pub gains customer loyalty.
Consider this: Each beer brick requires you to drink 100 beers. If Aaland has 33 bricks, he has downed 3,300 beers. Using an average of $4 per beer, it’s possible he has spent $13,200 on beer in the last 12 years.
“I keep two beer cards going at once,” Aaland said.
He said it takes him about four months to go through a beer card.
“I only come in about once a week and usually get two or three beers,” he said.
Similar to airline miles or business punch cards, local bars offer perks and membership status to loyal customers. These perks help build loyalty and give customers a sense of belonging.
Aaland said he goes to other bars in town, but he tries to remain loyal to Lady Falconburgh’s because it is always turning over new beers for customers to try.
“I’ve had a lot of horrible beers over the years, and I’ve had a lot of great beers,” he said.
Broadening the palate
Besides Lady Falconburgh’s, Lost Dog Bar & Lounge has clubs that recognize customers’ drinking efforts. Lady Falconburgh’s club includes only beer; Lost Dog’s clubs include vodka, tequila, bourbon and scotch. There, customers earn a plaque with their name engraved on it.
El Moro’s offers a different kind of customer rewards program. For every dollar customers spend, they receive one point, said Bill Verhelst, an employee at El Moro.
After surpassing set point goals, customers are rewarded with different items such as a free tall boy, or a free appetizer. When customers reach 1,200 points – or $1,200 spent – they earn a $100 gift certificate to the restaurant and an El Moro T-shirt.
A tradition everybody loves
Lady Falconburgh’s started offering the beer club when it opened in 1995. Liana Smith bought the bar in 2006, and she kept the club intact.
“It is a tradition that, I think, everybody loves.” Smith said. “It encourages people to try new beers.”
Aaland said that through the years, his taste for beer has evolved because he has had the opportunity to try many different beers at Lady Falconburgh’s.
“I‘d like to say my favorite beer, I haven’t tried,” he said.
Aaland has one card that he uses strictly for Colorado beers.
Lady Falconburgh’s has been increasing its offering of Colorado-brewed beers, he said, rotating them more quickly so people like him can master another card.
The Lost Dog started with the tequila club in 2005.
It was a reason to get customers to try new types of tequilas, said Eric Barnett, who has been a bartender there for 10 years.
Eventually the Lost Dog added the bourbon, scotch and vodka clubs. Now, more than 700 people participate in the liquor clubs.
Much like the beer bricks at Lady Falconburgh’s, liquor club members at the Lost Dog can personalize their engraved plaque.
Logan Austin, an employee at the Lost Dog, said some club members etch their names on the plaque while others engrave a phrase.
Some of the pseudo names that hang from the rafters include: “2Legit,” “Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker,” “For all my lost dogs,” “Old Dickson” and “Carrie not near but far.”
Austin said club members usually strive to be unique.
Big Fred, a former doorman at the Lost Dog and the first member of the vodka club, finished all 60 vodkas in nine sittings, Barnett said.
“He would do seven shots of vodka in one sitting,” Austin said.
Big Fred is atypical. Most people tend to take their time. Before becoming an employee at the Lost Dog, Austin earned a name for himself in the master collector club.
Customers in the master collector club are people who are part of all four of the Lost Dog’s liquor clubs.
It took Austin just more than four years and an estimated $2,500 to earn his master collector plaque.
“I didn’t work here when I became part of the master collector club, so I had to pay full price for all of those drinks,” Austin said.
The first club Austin became a part of was the scotch club.
“I did it to get into higher-end stuff and to see what’s out there,” he said.
tferraro@durangoherald.com
How the clubs work
Lady Falconburgh’s Brick Club
Lady Falconburgh’s gives each participant an index card that lists all beers available. Customers who drink 100 different beers earn the right to paint a brick inside the bar. Cards are kept in a secure location behind the bar.
Lost Dog drinking clubs
The Lost Dog Bar & Lounge offers four different liquor clubs: for tequila, vodka, bourbon and scotch. To join any of the clubs, customers must try all selections, including 60 tequilas, 60 vodkas, 20 scotches and 30 bourbons. The bartender keeps track of customers’ progress with cards on file. Customers who join all four clubs become part of the master collector club.
