The Craft Beer Revolution

[Creed of Heresy]

Wine is under-rated.

I found a taste recently for black currant mead.

[Jackalope]

Only 50?

+

The pub I frequent has 60 rotating taps. 

Madison has some catch-up to do.

[Tobie]

+

The pub I frequent has 60 rotating taps. 

Madison has some catch-up to do.

If you like having lots of choice in a pub, head to Brussels. There's a bar there called Delirium which has the world record for the number of different beers available (at last count over 2400), plus a huge selection of vodka, tequila, absinthe and whisky. Plus the stuff they make themselves is among the best beer you can buy.

[zebo-the-fat]

My local real ale pub had a large carved wooden sign over the bar. We had lots of fun watching visitors try to work out what "WYBMAPIITY" was supposed to mean

Anyone here know?

[Creed of Heresy]

I'm pretty sure the number is well over 50, but that's the average number in your average grocery store around here.

Go to some of the bars in Milwaukee, though, you'll find hundreds.

For every farm out here there's a micro-brew.

And there's a lot of farms around here.

[Rev. Rye]

Honestly, I don't like alcohol, and I'm fairly sure that the sum total of the alcohol that passed through my body in my 25 years on earth wouldn't even fill a pint glass, but when I did try beer, I did some research and found that Trappist monks make the best beers.

[Desert Diva]

My local real ale pub had a large carved wooden sign over the bar. We had lots of fun watching visitors try to work out what "WYBMAPIITY" was supposed to mean

Anyone here know?

Would you buy me a pint if I told you?

[zebo-the-fat]

My local real ale pub had a large carved wooden sign over the bar. We had lots of fun watching visitors try to work out what "WYBMAPIITY" was supposed to mean

Anyone here know?

Would you buy me a pint if I told you?

Got it in one! 

[Polaris]

The only issue I have with craft beer right now (there are exceptions to the following observation) but despite all the varieties of craft beer, you either have most beers being IPAs, stouts, and some poorly-approximated versions of strong Belgian ales.

I think that is less against the craft beer industry and more in line with what the customers want. Most breweries where I live have 5 different IPAs, four different stouts, and a couple of those strong ales (not always Belgian, but the same type of taste they way they brew it....they don't always change yeasts between batches of different beers). On the flip side, good luck trying to find a weizenbock (Council is the only brewery in San Diego where I found it) or even a wheat beer at most breweries. Sure it's still a lot more variety than your lawnmower lager, but after 40 years of craft beer being on the market, more variety is needed.

[Jackalope]

The only issue I have with craft beer right now (there are exceptions to the following observation) but despite all the varieties of craft beer, you either have most beers being IPAs, stouts, and some poorly-approximated versions of strong Belgian ales.

I think that is less against the craft beer industry and more in line with what the customers want. Most breweries where I live have 5 different IPAs, four different stouts, and a couple of those strong ales (not always Belgian, but the same type of taste they way they brew it....they don't always change yeasts between batches of different beers). On the flip side, good luck trying to find a weizenbock (Council is the only brewery in San Diego where I found it) or even a wheat beer at most breweries. Sure it's still a lot more variety than your lawnmower lager, but after 40 years of craft beer being on the market, more variety is needed.

Well, like you say, it's probably in line with what customers want. 

I only occasionally buy bottled beer, I prefer draught, and so usually drink at my favorite pub, or draught beer at home.  I rarely buy bottled beer - though just an hour ago I stopped at the store to pick up a few things, and browsed the beer section because the keg at home is empty.  The store had 30-40 different craft labels, but better than half of them were IPAs, and most of the rest were pales.  One stout.  One porter.  Not a single beer I was crazy about drinking (I ended up buying an imperial rye and a double red just because I was thirsty) - not even a decent import.  (Many grocers here have a great selection, but I wasn't out looking for beer.)

The typical pub taplist is similar, dominated by IPA, pales, and the like.  I dunno, seems to be a west coast thing (the IPA fetishism), but I don't know what the scene is like elsewhere.

I know there's a lot of variety being brewed, because my home pub carries a huge variety, but the typical 10-20 tap pub and the typical grocery isn't carrying most of it.