Have you ever noticed that when you are surfing around the Internet for brewery and brewpub websites, there is usually portal entry page? This page usually requests information like your birthday or some other age-related question. After entering this data the regular website page appears. We are often asked why our website has a similar page. The answer to this has history that should be explained before understanding why brewery and brewpubs websites have this portal type entry.
About eight years ago there was an effort by law makers to control content on the Internet. Even today controls of the Internet’s content are a major concern for many web developers. Age-appropriate content and viewers of content that may be inappropriate to individuals who are not wanting to view such information. In the past there have been attempts for passage of laws restricting content on the Internet. Breweries and brewpubs make adult beverages that could be offensive to younger (under age) Internet users. Also responsible vendors make every effort to enforce proper age restrictions on alcohol consumption. It was decided in the brewing community early on that websites promoting beer and alcohol products should have an age portal. This was an effort to be preemptive on controlling access to web pages concerning adult content.
The Florida Brewers Guild and the National Brewers Association recommend that breweries and brewpubs control access of their webpage content. After adult visitors go through the portal page, they can save the responding page to their favorites. The Internet visitor can return to the site directly without visiting the default age portal page by clicking on the save favorites link. Hopefully this has helped you understand why breweries and brewpubs use an age portal "login" page on their sites.
