“Come rally friends and raise your cups, at Temescal Brewing where it’s pilsners up.” — The Summertime Drinking Society chant
At Temescal Brewing, Monday night is “Society Night,” dedicated to the “distinguished members” (their words) of its new Summertime Drinking Society.
That’s also when Temescal regular and SDS member Tony McGinn likes to go—to claim his free round and grab a torta from the nearby Tacos La Patrona food truck. This past Monday, he also tried to take on one of the challenges from his membership “passport” and name every bartender.
“You want to know the people serving,” says McGinn. “It feels almost rude not to.”
Just a few weeks after its launch on June 10, drinkers claimed nearly half of the 100 spots available to join the drinking society membership built around perks, exclusivity and fun. It’s the dialed-up, summertime version of the brewery’s more laid-back wintertime program, a season pass to its “No Jerks Ski Village.”
“Our goal here was to create a distinguished institution where people could really feel like they were a party of something honorable and downright fancy,” says owner Sam Gilbert. “But, ultimately, at the same time what we’re doing is crushing beers in lawn chairs.”
That high/low vibe permeates everything from the program’s marketing materials and special member chant (“Yo ho, yo ho, summertime means drinking slow” is a particularly pirate-y stanza)—to the challenges inside the passport that invite drinkers to do things like buy a stranger a beer or help the bar get through their stock of Underberg, an herbal German aperitif.
“I’m really pushing to order the most Underbergs this season,” says McGinn. “It’s me and Dylan, we’re head to head.”
Though it’s all in good fun, success is definitely rewarded. Members might get anything from a stamp in their passport or a piece of swag to special perks such as the “lawn chair privilege” that gives one the right to stake claim on any spot on the patio with a lawn chair of their choosing.
“We don’t just half-ass it and put out some discounts,” says Gilbert.
There are discounts, of course. A $99 fee gets members 20 ounce pours for 16 ounce prices and 20% off to-go cans and bottles all week. The perks take it a level further. Those extra four ounces come in special society glassware; your initiation includes a hand-embossed membership card featuring a rather dandy personified beer.
“I think people can choose how much they want to commit,” says McGinn. “If someone doesn’t want to do any accomplishments at all—still a great deal.”
Gilbert, the owner, says the goal is to build camaraderie and to get people out of their homes, into the world, and talking to each other. Reports of crime in Oakland are overblown, he says, but the post-pandemic change in going-out habits are acutely felt.
“Our job as a brewery has always been to get people to show up and meet each other. We’re trying to be this glue in our neighborhood and in Oakland,” he says.
