Ghost Kitchens keep popping up in the paper (L.A. Times) and the World Wide Weird (Eater) about the issues and ethics of Ghost Kitchens. Basically, a ghost kitchen just cooks food for delivery. They can be tied to one of the delivery services or be a central hub that prepares meals normally prepared at the restaurant proper.
So, how does this affect beer? If delivery becomes the norm, that means less people sitting down at a restaurant or sitting down at a bar waiting for their table. It could mean that the restaurant with the great beer list starts buying cheaper beer because they are being squeezed by PostGrubMates and their fees. It could mean that restaurants close. Now, here in Los Angeles, that would be less of a beer loss than in cities like Portland, Denver and Seattle where the two are interwoven unlike L.A. where they very rarely meet and breweries are creating their own restaurants.
It also means the potential loss of cheap space for breweries if this trend ramps up and ghost kitchens look for spots that will geographically work for the delivery swarms.
The last item that I see is that it will push more breweries to package. And ironically, beer will at least be the one thing delivered that will stay warm while the cheese congeals and fries become limp and cold. But these ghost kitchens might just become bulk buyers in a way that a stand-alone beer delivery wouldn’t work. That is, if they can move with the alcohol laws.
Then again, prepared food delivery is just going to be a no-go for many people especially rural but even in just a small city and their impacts will not ripple far or wide.
Peel the Label is an infrequent series with no photos or links. Just opinion.