Is draft a deal breaker?

I agree with Chris' (@Domingo) concept of "as long as bottles/cans are good, priced right, and fresh". The chances of all three of that criteria being met for all bottle offerings is slim and none.

I'll take my drinking business to establishments that serve draft beer. There is no 100% guarantee that the kegs are fresh but I prefer those chances.

Cheers!

 

Does the restaurant have good to great food? If so, I don't care about the beer selection. I can always get something at a store or somewhere else at another time....

 

If i go to a bar, i want draft because i cant get that at home.

 

If Monk's Cafe and Novare Res have taps, then good for them I guess? Seems unnecessary next to their bottle lists.

So it wouldn't matter a bit to me, but it better be one hell of a bottle list.

 

I order draught while at a bar or restaurant 99% of the time if I'm ordering beer. It used to be the other way around many years ago.

People are commenting that they don't know the age of the bottles... yeah, but do you know the cleanliness of the lines?

 

Chris, since you order draft 99% of the time how do you personally 'square the circle' as regards beer line cleanliness? Do you ask to see the draft cleaning logbook?

Cheers!

 

I just order what I want. Sometimes it stings. Life goes on and you roll with it (unless you can't), but as they say: fool me once...
Issues with old bottles are real but they are also an issue du jour around here.

Edit: How many expressions can I cram into one post?

 

I prefer draft when I go out and to avoid stale beer. I stick with local seasonals. I get to try a lot of new beers this way and it is likely to be fresh.

 

This is why American bars need to get on board with the British tradition of offering a taste before you buy. ... Now as a Brussels dweller I must say, I have to go a bit off my daily beaten path to get anything but the basics on draft. You're all spoiled! (But my bottles are way cheaper, so...)

 

Good point. I have the annoying habit of ordering a taste first, but I'll only do this under certain circumstances. In the cases where I've been burned, I did not request a taste beforehand.

 

Several more. Keep practicing. You'll get there grasshopper.

 

I prefer to always drink drafts when I'm out at a bar. I know of a local "BEER BAR" that has a ridiculous amount of bottled beers (about 20 rotating draft lines) . When I was 21 and first going there I though it was the best thing ever. Now about 8 years later and knowing some of those beers are still sitting on that same shelf. I'll go with whatever is new on draft haha.

 

No problem for me, as long as they offer something interesting on cask!

 

To echo but expand upon another comment, I would not go to a restaurant or bar specifically for their beer selection. I can usually buy bottles, cans, mini-kegs etc. at a store and enjoy them at home in comfort for a fraction of the price. And there is nothing inherently special about drinking beer from a large can that has been run through (often) dirty tap lines. As a recent thread discussed, it also the case that even many newly opened kegs sat around for quite a while somewhere before being tapped, so freshness cannot be assumed.

Therefore, on the rare occasions when I find myself out and wanting to order a beer, I look for bottles or other brewery-filled containers that are difficult to find at local stores, have whatever's offered at a special price, or just order an old favorite and cowboy up about the excessive cost. Of course, if it's a real deal place that offers authentic cask ale, that's another story.

 

Always prefer draft when out, I would avoid that place if I knew they had none ahead of time. Popping in for the first time, it would not be an issue at all. There will be an interesting conversation with the bartender though...

 

a bar without a draft system isn't a bar.

if i wanted bottles i'd go to the bottle shop and drink them at home.

 

A restaurant versus a bar are two very different opinions.

If it's a bar, and it doesn't have draft, then it is sorely lacking. A bar should have a good selection of draft and bottles.

If it is a restaurant, maybe they didn't want to install a large draft system and a cellar, so it's easier for them to have bottles. I've been in a number of restaurants that only had bottles, the prices were fine, and the selection was decent. So, I was happy.

 

Personally I wouldn't mind a restaurant with only bottled or canned beer. Not that picky. But a bar without taps, that would be weird.

 

If the beers that are meant to be consumed fresh are fresh, it wouldn't bother me much, but my tab would probably be quite a bit more pricey than if they had draft so I wouldn't spend as much time there as I would other bars with taps. So not a deal breaker but definitely a deal weakener.

 

I was at a local, quaint breakfast place this past summer, when something similar happened. No taps, but I saw they had some Boulevard Imperial Stout X bombers in the front fridge. Being a bit of an optimistic, and considering the fact it was a breakfast place, I figured it would be the Coffee Ale version from this past year (2015). It was not. Had it been, I probably would've bought one or two bottles.

That's the only time I've ever considered buying a bottle/can at a restaurant or bar. If I'm paying for a beer at a place with a huge mark-up (i.e. restaurant or bar), I'm not going to buy a bottle or can. Sorry, but I want that draft experience.