"Standard" Beers Every Brewery Should Have

[ThatVideoKid]

I'm always interested in a brewery with a focus. If I were to open a brewery/pub it would be Belgian. Now even with that focus, you can offer a lot for even the not Belgian beer drinkers. Give the IPA guys a Belgian IPA or a dry-hopped saison. For the light guys who got dragged along, maybe they could try a light version of a Belgian golden that is fairly light but with some light fun esters/phenols.




Oh and any brewery that doesn't have a stout in #stoutseason is doing it wrong. Though I prefer that the season lasts for 365 days. Taking one day off every 4 years.

 

[BentBrewer]

I think in those cases, why not just serve Bud? If that's what people want just sell it to them instead of taking up your fermenters with stuff that the Bud people won't like as much as Bud.

Here in California at least, to have 'guest' beers, one has to have a different license. To have said different license, one has to serve food. That adds at least $100K to the cost, and cuts down on room for fermenters.

So needless to say, some brewpubs are going to brew something lighter. They stay within license, and turn a better profit than paying for a barrel of Bud.

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

So having given it a bit more thought, over the next couple years I'm planning to perfect recipewise, dial in processwise, and work out a schedule that keeps a few bottles on hand at all times, the following:

-American Porter (flagship)
-Kolsch-inspired Blonde
-Brown IPA
-Dark Saison
-Scottish Export 80
-Dunkleweizen
-Schwarzbier-California Common hybrid

Has range, has a theme, I'm feeling pretty good about this...

The step after that will be to build up the range for 2-3 "seasonal" taps, one of which will probably be a "seasonal stout" tap...

 

[Nomofett]

In my area (Portland) a well respected, quality brewery is going out of business soon. It surprised a lot of people so there's been a lot of talk about what happened. In this article they talk a little about styles and how they didn't give the local market (not the city, but that area of the city) what they wanted.

http://www.wweek.com/bars/beer/2017...-commons-announced-its-closing-what-happened/

So pay of the answer of what should be on tap is what do the people in your area specifically want. If this is for a business (I'm assuming it is) you gotta separate what should be on tap (what will sell) vs what can be on tap (what you want to make)

Just my 2¢

 

[SoCal-Doug]

Something OTHER than IPA's and a stout. The latest fad is to not call them IPA's. They make up "cool" names that insinuate "the 200 IBU's in this crap will melt your esophagus" and the hipsters rush in glassy-eyed and drooling.

Yeah yeah. I know. If you don't follow the trends and fill the demands, you are doomed. It's just frustrating.

 

[Nomofett]

When you say something other do you mean no IPA or stout or do you mean something on top of those and don't just focus on those?

 

[SoCal-Doug]

In my area, most taps are ipa's (or anything else they can grossly over-hop). If you go at the right time, there might be a stout or porter which is probably also 70 or more IBU.

There is a brewhouse in Norco California that, i'm not even kidding, you can smell the hops before you get to the front door. I had a friend recommend something there so I tried it. Holy hell I couldn't breathe and my mouth went numb for a few minutes. This stuff could knock a buzzard off of a crap wagon. I'm ok with IPA's (Goose Island IMO is very good), but does every tap need a flammability warning and include a pack of tums?

To be fair, there's a place in Riverside that occasionally makes a pretty good Saison (Wicks I think), and a BBQ joint in Norco that does a good Irish Red, but the rest of his taps are Coors, PBR, and lighter commercial stuff.

 

[Nomofett]

Yeah, we got our fair share of IPAs up here as well, I just wasn't sure if you were saying to do none or just not to go overboard with them

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

-American Porter (flagship)
-Kolsch-inspired Blonde
-Brown IPA
-Dark Saison
-Scottish Export 80
-Dunkleweizen
-Schwarzbier-California Common hybrid

Though, damnit, I'm gonna need 6 different yeast strains for it. Hmm.

 

[thehaze]

Belgian beers: Saison/Farmhouse/Biere de Garde, Belgian Tripel/Golden/Pale Ale and a big Belgian Dark Strong Ale.
Dark beers: Stout or RIS, (oatmeal) Porter and must have an Imperial Baltic Porter, Black IPA
HEFEWEIZEN for the long, hot summer!
Pissy beers: maybe a Pilsner and / or a Kolsch for those looking for a cheap, " commercial " like beer
IPAs: But as someone pointed out, they usually botch these quite good.

 

[aprichman]

1 x APA
2 x IPA
1 x Stout or Porter
1 x Saison
1 x Amber
1 x Blonde or Wheat
1 x Seasonal

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

At a brew pub, I would expect to see:

Something light: wheat, lager, etc.
Something hoppy: a quality IPA...tough field, it better be good. I'd have two of these at least since it's the #1 style these days (NEIPA and West coast IPA, for example).
Something Dark: Porter, Stout, etc.
Something Middle: True Pale Ale, amber, scotch ale etc.

Pretty much anyone other than a yellow fizzy water only guy can find something to drink in that mix. Ideally, about double that mix is nice. If I had a brewpub, I would have at least 8 of my own beers on tap and 4 guest taps that would feature other "local" (in state) breweries.

In Iowa we have a subset of local breweries that appear to be good "friends". They all have each others beers on tap and collab frequently. Interestingly, they're my favorite breweries in the state. I would foster similar relationships with my "competition".