Why is craft beer so hard?

Once you've tasted the good stuff, it's hard to settle for less.

 

But yet more people go to restaurants like Applebee’s then go to a farm to table restaurant.

Cheers!

 

As the manager of Crabby O' Mondays said on Spongebob: "We find our customers are quite happy with the contrived and the mediocre."

 

I think you have a lot of company with this viewpoint.

 

I don't agree with it, but in some ways I understand it by listening to those folks - they spend money on specific beers/breweries for reasons other than taste. It doesn't matter that they think the IPA next to it on the taplist is much, much better. They have other values at play that influence their choices. And when enough people think that way, it changes things - what beers we all have to choose from on the taplist, etc. So, I speak up for this and hope people will think more critically and drink what they think tastes best, regardless of where it is from or how big the brewery is.

 

weighted by production, the average beer sold (in the US? On the planet?) is macro AAL's. Possibly mass market European lagers. Someone buying "average craft beer" is already buying beer that is much above average.

 

Jack nailed it.

Given the fact that there's thousands of fast casual concepts at the national level and tens of thousands more at the local level, all around the country, it shouldn't be too surprising that a great many Americans will "go-to" something which their palate is comfortable with, and this even extends to Craft Beer. It really isn't that hard.

To qualify that, I'd prefer my choice from a handful of average I.P.A. than my choice from the same number of American Pale Lagers -- anyone who knows me knows that's heresy on a couple of levels, but so be it!

 

So I have started looking at taplists in DC and NoVa- I don't go to craft beer bars much, I get my nonlocal beers at the supermarket or TW mostly, but out of curiosity I wanted to see if locals were actually dominating the market. I posted the draft list at Churchkey, the uber beernerd bar in DC, and it had 3 beers from Va-DC-Md ouit of 50. Rustico, Pizza Paradiso, I think were similar. Bilbo Baggins was a bit more locally focused, but they were serving craft beer before the beernerd days, when it was much more a part of the whole eat local buy small movement, and even they have lots of non local beers. Really if you want local beers on tap in the DC area, aside from a few of the most popular (and best?) you pretty much have to go the brewpub/taproom. I don't know if its because we are more cosmopolitan here (there is certainly a big locavore/organic movement) or if the whole phenom is exaggerated.

Where the locals ARE more dominant is on supermarket shelves, where they take up a lot space. But I assume beernerd types looking for the best beers are more likely to be going to the better bottle shops or to the Total Wine, not to Harris Teeter and Safeway.

 

Also I guess it depend how you classify DFH. I see that a lot around here, on taplists and in stores. A non-narrow locavore could easily see it as local, but its from two states away (from either DC or Va) and its national reputation seems to be very strong.

 

To answer the original question- It's not. This seems to be a long thread to answer a pretty simple question.

 

I wish it was the same here. Some have a policy such as half must be locals, for example. One new place is 100% AZ beer only.

 

http://www.rusticorestaurant.com/menus/documents/AlexandriaDraft04-03-15.pdf

Here is rustico - 7 DC-Md-Va beers out of 32 (8 if you count a collaboration of a Va breweries and a nonlocal) Of course quite a few of the non locals are imports. Stlll plenty of California, Utah, Colorado, Michigan



http://www.bilbobaggins.net/#!beers/c1sc2

BilboBaggins - 2 Va beers out of a dozen on draft. 3 local IF you count DogFishHead as local.

Alexandria has ONE local brewery right noiw. Port City Brewing. I think they are pretty good, but I guess they are not considered close to "the best beers on the planet" AFAICT there is not a single restaurant or bar in alexandria that carries more than two of their beers on draft at any given time, if that many, though they have I think six regular beers, and quite a few seasonals. You can usually find about 4 of their beers on shelves at local supermarkets. To get all six plus their current seasonal you have to either go to Total Wine (and find it amidst the million or so beers there) or to the brewery.

 

It's not so much that it's "hard" it's that, like everything in life, you get out of it what you put into it.

If you want to be very casual about it, and not be proactive about checking dates or researching beers you drink, you'll get a mixed bag of sometimes poor results.

If you put a lot of passion into it, it is much easier to find yourself only drinking beers of a much higher quality; you'll know the spots to go to and the spots to avoid, you'll be aware of what beers are worth seeking out and which should be passed over.

 

or take Ramparts

http://www.rampartstavern.com/id27.html

Out of that long list (bottle and cans, they do not seem to post their draft list) of what, a hundred beers, there are two from maryland and two from Va (both from Port City) (compared to SIX from Colorado) I will continue to look for a restaurant or bar in Alexandria that carries more than two of PCB's offerings (in fact they have five flagships, plus a seasonal for each season and some occasionals) but I do not expect to find one.

 

Pardon - Alexandria has one local production brewery. We also have a brewpub, with one more on the way I think.

 

Iknow you have an issue with people choosing local craft over something from out of town but I just don't understand. Maybe that person wants to try something new, maybe they want to support a local business, maybe they've had that out of town "BA higher rated" beer a million times. Maybe they aren't interested in something brewed on the other side of the country. Anyway there are tons of great local options where I live, sounds like there's something wrong with your local scene. Relax and don't be so judgemental on other people's choices.

 

I will try to make this my last - I have actually found a place in Alexandria that matches what YM is talking about
http://www.mason-social.com/beer-list/
MasonSocial Out of 18 beers available 11 are from Md-DC-Va (and one of the other 7 is an import, and one is Miller Lite - there is also a local cider) Though even they only have two offerings from PCB - but one is an occasional.

 

go to Meridian Pint, I find they have a tendency to have more local offerings on their menu. They often have DC Brau, Port City and Atlas, but will also have plenty of the MD and VA offerings, such as Lost Rhino, Mad Fox, Denizens, Flying Dog, Stillwater, Union, and so on... although what your definition of local is might be something different from others.

 

The people you (repeatedly!) bemoan who have "other values at play" ARE thinking critically. As you acknowledge, for them "other values" are perhaps more important than what simply "tastes best."

 

This is going to be a babble, babble post... You're getting a lot of haters to come at you, but I'm right there with you man. I think we are oversaturated with mediocre beers here in the US (talking craft beers, macro is obviously 10X worse but that's another story). I'm not talking very small breweries that are getting started, but also those that bottle and hit regional distribution. When it comes to IPAs, I have a hard time buying commercial varieties (some exceptions would be Columbus IPA, White Rajah, Chillwave). I have to hear good things about an IPA before I buy it.

This being said, I feel like as a homebrewer, I produce a much better beer than a lot of breweries. Not being cocky, just telling it how it is. I can control pretty much all factors. If we're talking IPAs, they're always (more or less) fresh and that's what matters the most. I can use the hop varieties I know I enjoy and not have to rely on another brewer to make that decision for me (although a lot of commercial beers have inspired my own homebrews).

I think that, in the end, most people aren't like you and I. A lot of people will drink shitty beer and act like it's all good because "well, it's local" or "at least we are supporting the future of craft beer" (Neil House, anyone?). It makes no sense to me, but I see it all the time. My dad is a big craft beer fan and loves Elevator Three Frogs IPA. I personally think it's a pretty shitty IPA. I've got several friends that are the same way. We all have different tastes, though. As long as the shit beer is selling, it will continue to be produced. I like local, but only if it's worthy. There are plenty of good local options out there for me, but there are also still plenty of shitty ones that people buy up.