Taps: How many is too many?

Penn Quarter Porter... Yes Please!

 

The thing about taps is that there's no middle ground. There's beer bars with like 15 taps and then there's places with like 70 taps. I've never seen a spot with, say, 45 taps. They'd be ostracized be everyone. The beer nerds would overlook them because of the excessive amount of taps and the fools enticed by tons of taps would pass them over for the joints with 70. Ha.

In any event, a place with like 10 well curated and maintained taps is my type of joint.

 

http://www.thewharfrat.com/menu/drafts This place is one of my favorites next to Max's. It's atmosphere is like a little step into England.

 

Looks like a nice tap list!

 

As long as those infinite tap lines are clean and the beer is fresh, the more the merrier. That said, I understand that it is difficult to keep all of your beer fresh if you are offering 100+ beers on tap. The best bars that I know of that maintain the aforementioned standards have around 20-30 rotating taps, and those are my favorite bars... so 20-30.

 

It's nice, but the atmosphere is the huge part of the enjoyment factor. I mean it's smell, the lighting, the regulars. It's a fantastic little hideaway.

 

Too many and choosing a beer becomes tedious. If all are good beers too many becomes a tease because you can't drink all the beers you want. 10-15 is good if they are well chosen. Most times there will be 3-4 i really want and the rest are not going to be calling my name. I have been to bars with 15 and nothing is interesting so more might have been better there.

Enjoy

 

I was at a local steakhouse tonight that had 6-7 beers on tap. Of those 3 sounded really good. There were two IPAs, a red ale, a couple of wheats, an Octoberfest, and something other. That was plenty enough for me. So, I guess I would say 5-15 taps is good.

 

6792.

What kind of question is this? Is there really ever to many? I went to the Beer Camp with 120+ taps... I sure didn't think that was too many. And it isn't my responsibility to keep them fresh and rotated. AS long as they are, its all good.

 

That is an odd question. Do you want a variety of beer?

 

This pretty much sums it up for me.
Freshness and variety of styles is what I want.

 

Once you breach 100, I start getting suspicious.

 

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

 

C'mon Monte, you can't compare a beer festival to a beer bar.

 

Know a place around here (Bloomington, IN) with over 80 beers on tap. I was stunned. I can't imagine how much work they must put in cleaning up the tap lines.

 

But like you said no one with that amount of taps can be right!

 

So 95 is good , 105 is too many?

 

1 more than the bartender(s) can handle being knowledgeable about.

edit: I'll also add "or than can be kept clean by the staff or than can be sold quickly enough to be fresh".

 

El Bait Shop in Des Moines, IA has had over 100+ craft taps for almost a decade and they do a fantastic job of keeping the beers fresh, rotating them often and doing a damn good business. It's why they are ranked of the the best craft beer bars in the country year after year by Draft Magazine. It's all about how well the business is run and how much they focus on quality beer.

 

Id be happy if ant bar within a half hour of me had any craft beer on tap.