"One of our taproom guys kind of brought it up, and we saw some of the churches do it on Easter, so we thought we would try it," co-owner John O'Hara said.
The brewpub hosted its first drive-in movie April 16 by screening "The Goonies," and it screened "Tombstone" the following week. On May 1, O'Hara said the brewpub will be showing "Remember the Titans."
"We started with the eighties, then the nineties, and then, we'll do the 2000s tomorrow, so we'll probably do something from the 2010s next Friday," O'Hara said.
To keep aligned with social distancing guidelines, O'Hara said the brewpub has put in several measures to help curb the spread of coronavirus when hosting drive-in movie screenings.
"All of our people have full [personal protective equipment]," he said. "We've been making sure the cars are at least 6 feet apart, and so they don't have to use the inside bathrooms, we have sanitary stations and port-a potties positioned on the property. So they don't really even have to walk by each other to go to the bathroom."
Additionally, O'Hara said that since the drive-in movie screenings have a 75-car limit, the business requires attendees to purchase tickets in advance online. Tickets cost $20 per adult and include two 16-ounce beers of their choice; a child ticket costs $10 and includes one 16-ounce root beer. O'Hara added that attendees are allowed to bring their own food to enjoy during the movie, and they can also order food from an on-site food truck.
The movies always begin around 8:15 p.m., although O'Hara said attendees can park as early at 6 p.m. to get a good spot.
O'Hara said Fortress BeerWorks plans to continue hosting weekly drive-in movies until they are able to reopen their taproom later this month.
"The cool thing about the drive-in movies is that we'll probably start doing this in the fall for special events," O'Hara said. "We probably won't do it every week but definitely as a special event."
To purchase tickets for one of Fortress BeerWorks' upcoming drive-in movie screenings, click here. To learn more about Fortress BeerWorks and its owners, click here.
