Craft beer bars: the issue I have with them

[JJL]

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.

 

[phatuna]

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.

 

[edgeofblade]

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!

 

[bovineblitz]

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

 

[JonW]

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!)

 

[pnj]

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!

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

 

[cfonnes]

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.

 

[AmandaK]

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

 

[WolvinMaine]

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.

 

[rico567]

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>.

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!

 

[motobrewer]

i think the biggest issue is price/profit.

are you gonna pay $5 for a 3% bitter?
are the breweries gonna make much profit selling 6packs of 3% bitter for $4 when they can sell 6packs of 5% stout for $8.99?

donno, i'm wondering...

 

[GaryJohn]

regarding the OP, I think it's normal to hav 6.5-7% beers. That's how most beers were before the light lager craze that started in the early 1900's. The pendulum is just swinging back imo.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

I completely agree with this. The best beer bar in my area has pretty much exlusively higher gravity beers on draft. The only thing they offer lower than 5% are fruity belgian lambics, which I do not enjoy. It's hard to resist having a few of the higher gravity beers on Tuesdays and Thursdays when all drafts are $2.50.

I've been working on a beer along the lines of San Diego Co. Session Ale, which I thought was fantastic. I'd really like to see a movement in craft brewing to create session beers with big flavor like that.

 

[IffyG]

are you gonna pay $5 for a 3% bitter?

If you go to a bar you pretty much accept that you will be paying through the nose for beer. The only beer I can get for less than 5 bucks a pint in Nashville is BMC stuff... I'll gladly spend 5 or 6 bucks for something that has some body and flavor to it.

 

[Brewstorm]

When it comes to price, selection and abv, its important to remember the wholesale costs of draft beer. Many, many times, the BMC is by far more profitable to sell. A pint of BMC is about $.62, sold for around $4. A good craft can easily cost the bar $3 a pint. Probably HAVE TOO sell around $7. at that price, a couple of things will happen.
1. you don't expect too many people to sit around and have 8, like a BMC drinker might, based on price alone.
2. It needs to be a perceived value. (unknowledgeable people think they cost the same to make, just a different recipe)
3. While we all appreciate craft beer, we are a small minority. Its not about getting every BMC drinker to craft, it about the steering the undecideds toward craft.
4. Outside of our 'craft beer circle' we are just now beginning to see the general beer drinking public take notice.

A well run bar, IMO, will have a diverse selection of product. High abv, low abv, ales, lagers, wheats. In this area, there are a few bars with 20 taps, and they all are low alcohol lagers. The thinking is, BMC is what people like.

I personally find it worse when a craft bar have a selection of beers all in the same styles. They don't want to push the flavor envelope. How many have Stock ales with brett, scottish griut, saisons, belgians? Very, Very few. But they may have 15 similar lagers and IPAs.

 

[integrator]

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.

maybe it's time for me to take a road trip.....

 

[horner638]

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.

This is certainly a cultural phenomenon in England, Ireland, and a few other countries. Pubs are located right in the middle of a community and on every other block. The whole family will come for dinner or stop by for a pint after dinner. I haven't found the same to be true in the US. I have found the occasional dive bar that has had this same kind of vibe but not widespread like in England. Our bars end up being trendy meat markets which is cool in a different way but when I want to relax and hang out I crack open a bottle of home brew and hang out at a friends rather than go the a bar and order an $8 glass of what ever is the coolest beer this week :fro:

 

[motobrewer]

This is certainly a cultural phenomenon in England, Ireland, and a few other countries. Pubs are located right in the middle of a community and on every other block. The whole family will come for dinner or stop by for a pint after dinner. I haven't found the same to be true in the US. I have found the occasional dive bar that has had this same kind of vibe but not widespread like in England. Our bars end up being trendy meat markets which is cool in a different way but when I want to relax and hang out I crack open a bottle of home brew and hang out at a friends rather than go the a bar and order an $8 glass of what ever is the coolest beer this week :fro:

this is how it used to be in the 50's and 60's in the US. people lived, worked, shopped, and drank within blocks from their house.

bar on every corner of the intersection.