How many taps is too many?

Fresh printed menus everyday help with that. Tap list is always up to date. Waitstaff might not know them all (but they should) but at least the info is there.

 

Agree that it is 100% dependant on traffic and management. There are bars with 4 taps that can't seem to handle it, and there are craft pubs that handle a wall of taps.
However, seeing some pictures of those 100+ tap places in this thread make me wonder myself. They must have a shit-ton of customers and staff.

 

I wish all establishments with an illustrious beer list sported up-to-date, printed menus. One restaurant near me has unmarked taps AND no printed beer menu. The waitstaff never know what's on draft.

 

Like people above are saying: As long as there is enough traffic to ensure that a keg won't be tapped for more than a couple weeks (shouldn't be too much of a problem considering that most craft comes in 1/6 barrels which only equal out to roughly 5 gallons) and (very important) the draft lines are cleaned regularly.

That being said, I tend to prefer bars with smaller selections.

 

I have been to many bars with a pretty unbelieve amount of taps. The problem for me is they are busy and they usually feel pretty crowded an impersonal. If you can’t cover the spectrum with around 20 taps supplemented with a good selection of bottles and cans you can count me out. Anyway, I'm a homebody these days and almost only drink at home so feel free to ignore my comment.

 

Depends on reputation/popularity and type of establishment, as well as the quality of beers used to compile a large selection of taps. Using one unnamed place in my hometown as an example, which I guess is a hint of which place, has over 100 taps and is always crowded but the Bud Light and Coors Light seem to be most popular so the IPAs tend to skunk. Conversely, there are places that I've visited with same tap quantity but less "commercial" selection that this hasn't happened and in fact hoppier beers tend to sell quick and taste fresh.

 

No such thing as to many as long as there is enough business to keep it all fresh.

 

I didn't vote because as others have mentioned, it isn't black and white. Depends on the traffic and quality of the operation. I have been to some that have less than 12 that are old and poorly maintained, and some with 60 + that are fresh and very clean. I would say for an average place though, 2-3 dozen give or take is an easily manageable number.

 

I moved from East Lansing a week before Hopcat opened. Tragic. tragic timing on my part

 

As much as I'd like to see a 1000 tap beer emporium, it would need thousands of people every day to get the right turnover and as such it would have to be some sort of hideous, people infested barn that I wouldn't want to drink in

My ideal pub would have maybe 6-10 well thought out cask offerings, and maybe another 10 good keg offerings as well as a nice selection of bottled beer. There's no need for more imo. That would ensure a daily turnover of a few taps

 

I personally think this is way too many to trust. I'm more a fan of the 20-30 range at most.

How about 378 taps? http://www.theraleighbeergarden.com/

$18,900 just in deposits . . .

 

That is terribly tragic. I moved to the west coast before I knew there was more to Michigan beer than Two Hearted.

 

Is that El Bait Shop in Des Moines?

 

I like about 20 taps, give me a lot of options. Here in NYC there are more than a few beer bars that have 20-30 taps and the beers rotate over extremely fast. Its pretty rare that a beer will last more than a week.

 

Yes sir, just added 60 taps last year making the total 180. They don't always have every one filled and definitely get a lot of traffic.

 

On the other end of the spectrum, there's a beer bar in Portland [where else?] that has a electronic display board that not only tells you what's available, but also shows how much beer is left in the keg. I can't think of the name [it's on the tip of my tongue but I'm alone right now and don't have a mirror so I can't read it]. I don't know how quickly the board is updated when kegs kick, but the concept is way cool.

 

Can never have enough taps. Good sales people will push the old ones and the good ones won't last long

 

Was there this past December and stayed in a hotel across the street on a West to East road trip. Amazing place. Great bartenders. And quite impressive that they have the taps pretty much arranged by brewery. In fact, the next day was quite a struggle since I lost track of time. I'll be back.

 

If foot traffic is good, no such thing as too many taps. Here in the Bay area it seems as soon as a place taps a keg the stuff is gone.