Craft beer bars: the issue I have with them

Hey, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool craft beer drinker and have been pretty much since my college days.

BUT what I don't like about the average craft beer bar is the offerings they generally have - the majority of the offerings will be 6.5 - 7% ABV plus beers, and they go up from there.

I kinda find it obnoxious that every time I walk into a craft beer bar wanting a fully-flavored well-made craft beer, what's generally promoted are extreme examples that I don't find enjoyable under most circumstances.

I'm at that bar to have a few beers. Generally 3-4. I DON'T want to annihilate my brain cells drinking at that rate. Especially if I walk in on a Tuesday night.

I was just at a well-respected NYC craft bar and the only beer I could find that was under the 6% ABV bar was Yuengling! That is BS and what I feel discourages people from joining the craft movement. 2 cents y'all.

I cannot relate. I go to craft beer bars for the high ABV beers. Although I normally only have a beer or two before Im out the door.

craft beer at bars is expensive. i usually won't have more than 1 anyway. but yeah i'm with you is it too much to ask for a 5% simple pale ale on tap?

The cost is one thing, Id like to go to a craft beer bar and get a buzz for forking out 7 bux for a beer. normally I will have 3-4 beers and a bite to eat. and call it quits, but feeling pretty good for only consuming a few drinks.

on the other hand I couldnt agree with you more... there are few craft brewerys\bars that have 5% beers...and if they do they are a panty droppers like peach beer, or something fruity, something that I wouldnt normally go for.

I dont know what side to take here, but theres definitely room to argue either way.
it depends on my mood. and who I'm with.

I like what's available at craft bars, personally.

You need to come to detroit then and go to a place like dragonmead, with 60+ beers on tap there are plenty 5% and below. Take al look.

http://www.dragonmead.com/Beers.html

Just scroll down to the descriptions.

Another option is that most of the micros in Michigan serve half pints as well. I often will limit my self to halfs.

It's also cheaper that way.

fastricky said:

BUT what I don't like about the average craft beer bar is the offerings they generally have - the majority of the offerings will be 6.5 - 7% ABV plus beers, and they go up from there... I'm at that bar to have a few beers. Generally 3-4. I DON'T want to annihilate my brain cells drinking at that rate.

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Amen to that!

At my local its all IPA's, IIPA's, and imperial stouts with the occasional 8% Belgian. I like those fine and all, though after one it's nice to move on to a good session beer for the remainder of the night. I'm still anxiously waiting for a US brewery to start making authentic English session ales, a good mild or bitter would be nice!

Edit: Damn, dragonmead looks nice!

iparks81 wrote "and if they do they are a panty droppers like peach beer, or something fruity, something that I wouldnt normally go for."

I think these guys have a different definition of "panty dropper"....
http://www.ellicottvillebrewing.com/html/Beer.html
pantius droppus
The name of this beer has been the topic of many great (and sometimes unusual and awkward) conversations, and has even garnered the blessing of a priest as a Brew Fest. This is our Imperial Pale Ale. It is brewed with tons of delicious secret malts and loads upon loads of glorious hops, and finally dry hopped with copious amounts of Cascade Hops.10.6 ABV | 95 IBU

I think it's getting better. Last year big al's put mild(!) on tap, anchor small beer, iron horse 509 is a fresh hopped session pint and hey Guinness draughts is readily available!

Maybe it's because the craft beer movement, at least in North America, is built around extreme examples and high ABV numbers ? When faced with the decision of either forking 7$ for a 8% RIS or 5$ for a 3.5% Irish Stout, most people's decision will be easy, unless they really like dry stouts.

The fancy beer bars cannot offer stuff that doesn't exist or that they can't get or import easily. Sure they could try to find an American brewed Mild or a Scottish -/60 to put on tap, but at what price and will it sell ?

I guess I'm spoiled. I don't go out to the bars much, but when I do I have a hard time choosing what I want to drink.

http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville/beer?groupby=name

The only reason I don't go more often is even if I'm drinking the moderate ABV beers I still end up spending 50 or 60 bucks if I get food as well...

That is an annoying trend. Many craft beer pubs and brewpubs are missing a good session beer. I want to be able sit down, watch a football game, drink good beer throughout and still remember it afterward.
I bartend at a brewpub that makes around 25 different beers. We have 7 on at a time- 6 regular draft lines and 1 cask. There's always at least 2, usually 3, under 5%. Unfortuneatly, most of the beers we make that I prefer are over 5%.

HollowPointBrewer said:

I bartend at a brewpub that makes around 25 different beers. We have 7 on at a time- 6 regular draft lines and 1 cask.

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Would that be the "Run of the Mill" in Saco, Maine? Regardless, they have some pretty decent beers. I remember enjoying the brown ale and porter especially.

Yup, Run of the Mill. The red ale is under 5% and one of my favs. But most of my favs are stronger- cask ipa, regular ipa, xpa, scottish, oatmeal stout, porter, alt....

Oh quit whining and just drink one and go home. Or develop the very useful skill of being able to drink heavily and still function. Or bring in your own can of ultra light beer and pour it surreptitiously under the table.

fastricky said:

Hey, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool craft beer drinker and have been pretty much since my college days.

BUT what I don't like about the average craft beer bar is the offerings they generally have - the majority of the offerings will be 6.5 - 7% ABV plus beers, and they go up from there.

I kinda find it obnoxious that every time I walk into a craft beer bar wanting a fully-flavored well-made craft beer, what's generally promoted are extreme examples that I don't find enjoyable under most circumstances.

I'm at that bar to have a few beers. Generally 3-4. I DON'T want to annihilate my brain cells drinking at that rate. Especially if I walk in on a Tuesday night.

I was just at a well-respected NYC craft bar and the only beer I could find that was under the 6% ABV bar was Yuengling! That is BS and what I feel discourages people from joining the craft movement. 2 cents y'all.

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as I sit here at the firehouse horribly hungover (yes still at quarter to 7pm) I totally agree and after I get my current project all worked out my beer after that will be a reworking of my irish red . . . thinking of aiming for 3%range

I 100% agree with this sentiment, although I say it's mostly bars, not brewpubs. I've been to a ton of brewpubs all over the country (going to 9 in the next 4 days), and almost every one has had a low-alcohol beer on tap.

The so-called craft beer bars usually embrace the "craft beer scene", which tends towards extremes in every style. Commercial IPA's in particular these days are mostly undrinkable to me, which usually means the tap selections are going to follow that pattern. I can't remember the last time I ordered an IPA at a bar.

Thats why i just brewed a 6.5% pale/ipa super nuget hop ale and a 4.5% hoppy ESB altbier! one for more abv and one for less.. Cant wait..

I also agree. The prevalence towards high-ABV and highly hopped beers kind of turns me off from a lot of the craft brews. Is it too much to ask for more English style ales? Good sessions beers that are well-balanced or even a little on the malty side?

But, that's why I homebrew. I can make what I want/like.

I never really paid it much attention, but it has always seemed to me that the selection for ABV under 7% or so is somewhat limited in comparison, but maybe it just seems that way to me due to the styles I like most.

Either way, I guess they should offer one or two low ABV offerings, but in general, from my standpoint, I think they should choose a well rounded selection of delicious beers, regardless of alcohol content.

I can't really relate. My local watering hole currently has 8 beers on tap that fall under 6%

Beer is so expensive at bars that I usually want as much buzz for my buck. If I'm going to spend $8 on a beer I'm going to order the Barley Wine!

This is -becoming- a problem at our favorite bar, which has 26 taps and always plenty of great beer choices. Increasingly, however, there are fewer beers in the 5% and under category....unless you count Bud / Lite, Miller / Lite, and maybe something like Stella Artois, the BMC beer of Europe, which I don't. And we don't always feel like drinking something in the 8-11% ABV range, particularly as we usually like to have several....and then one confronts the issue of who's designated to drive......

I attribute this simply to the fact that they can make a bigger margin selling these beers than some session ale.......

My local watering hole has a real good mix with only a few at or above 7%. I only have 2 while watching football on Sundays, so like those to be 6-7% beers.

8 bucks?!! How big is that beer? For that much I'd just go buy a nice big bottle of something and stay home.

PanzerBanana said:

8 bucks?!! How big is that beer? For that much I'd just go buy a nice big bottle of something and stay home.

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Most belgians around here are $8 plus

Then again when you find Cantillon on tap, you'll pay whatever price they're asking for

bovineblitz said:

Most belgians around here are $8 plus

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Same here. Most of them come in a 10 ounce pour as well.

indeed. local craft bar has 50+ taps, rarely they have something under 5%.

i'd like to go somewhere where I can drink milds/bitters for a few hours and still be able to get home.

A little off subject. A past bar in my town had 12 taps. 10 were IPA's, the other 2 Miller a Guinness. Now I like an IPA, but I also like variety, something to knock down 4-6 beers. I asked if they would change the taps up a bit, the bartender said no, he is really in to IPA's and wanted to keep it that way. In the end I stopped going, and the place has closed down.

I do agree that a high abv beer can be nice, but going out with friends something around 4-5% would be great.

Of all the craft bars Ive been to, Ive never noticed or had that problem. The places I go to frequently have a wide range of styles and alcohol content. My problem is usually with the incompetence of the wait/bar staff, usually pertaining to their lack of knowledge. Most places Ive gone to in Chicago are pretty good in that regard, but everything in the Suburbs is pretty sub-par from that point of view.

I'd have to say it all depends on the brewpub. Some guys open brew pubs to run as a business to make a profit, which requires that they appeal to the masses. Other guys open brew pubs because they want to brew what they like regardless of what other people think. Some guys want to be the next Sam Calagione.

I've never really thought about it or had a problem either. I guess that I feel about it the same way that I feel about brewing beer.

If I'm going to spend 6 hours on a brew, then I'm going to make something that will cost an arm and a leg to buy retail.

I'm not going to spend 6 hours brewing something that I can buy for $1 per bottle.

If I'm going to seek out a craft brew bar, then I want to drink good craft beer. Not something that I can go to Costco and get for $20 a case. I guess I relate craft beer with higher ABV extremes - anything sub 6%, just give me a SNPA please.

My problem with brew wall halls is the price you pay for the selection and the yuppie-magnet they turn into. Which is actually not particularly fair to say, because I AM a yuppie. But aside from that, it's the Intestinally Passed Ale snobs I can't stand. And before you mob me, I said snobs. If you aren't a snob, I have no beef with you.

...Hey... a search of Google seems to indicate that this particular IPA joke has not been made on the Internet yet. Yay me!

IPA snobs? That is such a ridiculously specific, and probably tiny, demographic.

Sounds like this is a regional thing. As a few other SoCal folks have stated, we don't seem to have this problem out here.

My local food/beer places are Huntington Beach Brewing, Rock Bottom & BJ's and they all have great (lower) alcohol quaffers to go with the food. (and all 3 give the AHA discount!)

philrose said:

I think it's getting better. Last year big al's put mild(!) on tap, anchor small beer, iron horse 509 is a fresh hopped session pint and hey Guinness draughts is readily available!

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It's all about the red they sell.
so good!

In Utah it is always the other side of the argument. With the strange alcohol laws here finding anything on tap over 4% ABV is not possible.

You should come to St. Louis. We have the International Tap House. 500 different beers, 20 countries, 2 locations. It's glorious.

I have an english co-worker, and we will sometimes go out for a drink after work or on weekends. He asked me once, "why do you Americans have to make all your beer 7-8%+? Don't you want to go out, have a few pints, go home, and get up and go to work tomorrow feeling good?" I have to agree with him. When I was in England, you stop off for a few pints at the pub, have 2-3 and can easily get up early the next day. The bitter and dry stout are the standard bearers of this. Very flavorful beer, good body, but around 4%. However, that is a big part of their culture. I guess it is all about what you are looking for.

I kind of view the American craft brew industry as in its adolescent phase. Brewers and consumers are exploring boundaries, seeing how far they can push it, but there are a ton of "me too" beers. The double American IPA is the perfect example. If one guys beer has 120 IBU's and 8%, another has to have 130 and 8.5%! However, it seems pretty obvious from what is on the shelves, that extreme sells, so you can't blame them for trying to make money. Some bars get it, and serve appropriately high ABV beers in smaller glassware. Others seem to keep pouring those 10% belgians in standard pint glasses. All well, buyer beware I guess.

WolvinMaine said:

I have an english co-worker, and we will sometimes go out for a drink after work or on weekends. He asked me once, "why do you Americans have to make all your beer 7-8%+? Don't you want to go out, have a few pints, go home, and get up and go to work tomorrow feeling good?" <snip>.

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There's something to this, I think, and the current "big beer mania" has to run its course in the U.S., I think. There's always Guinness and something like Fuller's London Pride, which are usually on tap at our favorite bar. And the British have the problem of volume, too....going out and having three Imperial pints is just like throwing in an extra beer!