Putting 40 beers on draft and need help

If you rotate taps from breweries of the first list that I posted, including some from Goose Island, Dogfish Head, Deschutes, Hair of the Dog, and Boneyard (if possible), then you shouldn't have a problem drawing the craft beer crowd (as long as your prices are fair).

 

40 taps at a restaurant that seemingly is not known for having good beer? You'll be serving outdated beer in no time.

For restaurants is rather see 12 distinct beers that pair well with food.

 

My two cents:

Focus on breweries and not specific beers. Sure something like SNPA should be there constantly but maybe dedicate 3 - 5 taps to Sierra Nevada but have different styles of beer rotating.

Look at the Beer Styles on here and then look at what has the most reviews. I'm not a fan of Anchor Steam, for example, but a hell of a lot of other people are.

All of the major breweries have reps. Find out who they are and have Tap Takeovers. Give new breweries a chance to introduce their products. Look at my Daredevil glass avatar. The owners of Daredevil came to Bloomington and brought their beers and gave out glassware. I normally would not have gone there that night.

There are lots of "tickers" out there - myself being one of them. Keep your draft list current and use social media to announce when something new is tapped.

 

One thing that hasn't really been mentioned is glassware. 40 taps will almost necessitate a complete overhaul of your glassware. If you're trying to bring in beer geeks and you serve them a hefeweizen in a pint glass you're going to get some funny looks. Plus, if your bartenders are trying to guess at the proper level at which to pour a strong Double IPA, you may get complaints about under-pouring or over-serving. I love it when a beer comes to me in a proper glass. If it doesn't I feel like I am not getting the full value that I should be for the premium price that I am paying. That happened to me last week at one of the 120+ tap places around Boston. I'm not planning to go back there. I'll spend my money at the small place with 12 taps, rotating selection, and excellent attention to detail.

 

Just look at BAs top 250 beers and put the top 40 on tap. Easy peasy.

 

Don't make any more than 8 of those taps American IPAs please. Even that's probably too many, I think 6 would be a better number.

Offer a variety and try to keep it seasonally appropriate (stout heavy in the fall/winter, Pale Ales and Lagers in the summer).

Most importantly - you MUST make sure your staff is educated. I've been told an IPA is light 'like Hoegaarden' and that's not helpful for the you, the server or the customer. You don't need an army of beer geeks, but they have to know at a minimum that IPAs are generally bitter and Guinness (dark beer in general) isn't always strong or heavy.

 

I really like the idea of some rotating taps and keeping the beer list updated on a webpage, social media, etc. If you are trying to draw in the craft beer crowd you will have some competition (I assume). I have choices and if I can see what's on tap, then I am more likely to show up at that particular establishment.

Give me a beer bar with some variety and some good food (kid friendly would be nice also, at least early dinner time, cheap or buy one adult get one kid free meal type of deal) and you'll see me once a week at a minimum.

 

this is why God invented the sixtel. True his beer cost will go up a bit. But judiciously using sixth bbl kegs, especially for the hoppier and most prone-to-fading beers (many of which are primarily or even solely available in sixtels anyhoo) will obviate this problem until the word gets out and he has the demand to quickly move 1/2 bbls of everything quickly enough to insure freshness.

 

Hire someone who knows something about beer rather than seeking free advice on the internet. But seriously if you plan on having that many taps I hope you have someone who knows a thing or two about craft beer. Sounds like you're just trying to cash in the craft beer "trend".

 

Eh.... The local place I go to has 30-40 taps, all craft, and they serve everything in a Mason jar, and it doesn't bother me one bit.

 

These threads pop on here from time to time ... I always suspect they are posted from someone attention seeking, living a fantasy, in need of a conversation.

So you have a restaurant and in a months time you are sticking 40 taps on so I figure that's about $6,000 worth of beer on tap at once.

You ask advice from a respected but largely amateur based beer forum with just one month to go ...

REALLY ????????????????????????

If I were contemplating stick 40 taps in a restuarant I wouldn't be asking advice on a beer forum at this stage in the game.

You are either clueless or a fantasist !!!

 

http://ie.taphunter.com/location/

Get your restaurant listed on this website. You can do it now with your current 8 taps and keep your tap list up to date!

As of now, there are only 3 beer bar listed in the Inland Empire, and the closest one listed to your location is in Rancho Cucamonga. This should help promote your beer bar. Include the link to Taphunter on your restaurants' web/FB page.

Include your bottle selection.

Your competition appears to be 3 gastropubs (if you happen to not own one of these): Back Abbey, Eureka!, and Limerick's Tavern. They may not have the greater # of taps, but they've already established themselves as worthy beer bars, each having 4 stars on Yelp and reviews calling out their good beer selection (Eureka appears to be the only one reviewed here on BA). I would visit each and take note of their tap list (if not done so already).

 

I think we have a winner!

 

The Ocean Mist.

 

Admittedly I know jack shit about business. I only made the suggestion because, in my experience, places with tons of crap on tap stay in business. I could easily point to many business across Rhode Island that focus on BMC and it's variants and are packed eight days per week. I totally agree with what you guys are saying about focusing on craft and would support such businesses in a heart beat. Additionally, I am not a fan of the type of bar I outlined in my "business proposal." It's just a reflection of what I have seen work in RI. Then again, Rhode Islanders don't know shit about craft beer. Ha ha! Cheers!

 

If you need to come onto a forum such as this to make these decisions, then I see that as a strong indicator that you probably shouldn't be undertaking this project. I'd put your focus into your food, and make that your differentiating factor.

 

I wouldn't offer a ton of macros on tap. Plenty of good bars nowadays will have one tapped macro light (like Coors Light), and the rest are by the bottle. The way it should be.

 

Have 20 permanent taps, and 20 rotating.
Permanent craft: Good but safe craft selection here.
Ballast Point: Sculpin and Wahoo Wheat
Firestone Walker DBA and Union Jack or Double Jack
Stone Arrogantont Bastard
SN Pale Ale
Deschutes Black Butte Porter, Mirror Pond Pale Ale
Anchor Steam
Lagunitas Pils
Rogue Dead Guy Ale
Green Flash West Coast IPA, Double Stout
Coronado Orange Street Wit

for rotating:
Russian River, any
rotating SN (not sexy but have good variety)
Anything from Alpine
Green Flash saison or Belgian style

Just a few suggestions. the above should move easily.

 

or hire a beer director. One of the best beer bars in Washington DC started like this and hired a great beer director. Now the place is epic.

 

To each his own, but I still think it's something to consider. Frankly, it would bother me. I think the glass is part of the experience.