anti-bottle

Kegs can be from anywhere in the world. Not stocking bottles might have more to do with inventory turnover rates.

 

I've been in a few places where I thought, I wish I hadn't ordered that bottle that was probably sitting under the stairs for two years. I get why this policy gets some respect. I imagine it also must be waaaay more convenient for their own handling. I don't see that as a bad thing. I realize now that I think I'd been spent a fair bit of time in English and Irish pubs before I realize that most of them even have bottles. All that said, I'm not anti-bottle -- and how could I be, living in Belgium, where until not many years ago, the taps were just for the beers that they served to customers who don't specify what kind of beer they want, if you catch my drift.

 

I've never run across a "no bottle list" place. All of the good beer joints locally have both. I have seen a decrease in the size of some bottle lists and I would suspect @zid 's theory about turnover. I have a friend who used to be an owner of a bar that when they opened, had a huge bottle list and 20 taps. The bar was wildly popular, but he wasn't moving about 60% of his bottle inventory enough to justify it. They tightened up their bottle list and tap list in order to have fresher beer for their customers. He also switched most of his taps to locals/adjuncts. Point is, his bar was very popular with great food and a great crowd but he still couldn't turn his bottle inventory enough to justify having it. I can only imagine it is the case for a lot of places with huge lists.

 

And the bottom line is...if you want something in a bottle, go to the store and pick it up. I understand the social aspects of going out for a few beers but paying a premium for something you can enjoy at home doesn't make sense to me. But to each their own.

 

Thinking that @zid and @tmbgnicu have nailed it. Even with outstanding beers in bottle they can take a long time to move out of stock when the place also has a great tap list. In one place locally I found they had acquired two cases of the breweries Eiskellar aged Aventinus, one that had been aged for 3 years the other for 5 years. (Both beers that were bottle aged and stupendous BTW.) Despite their being clearly listed on the menu it was well over 18 mos. betweeen when I had my first of one of those two beer and then got to finish off the last they had in stock. That's a long time to have your money tied up in stock that isn't selling, no matter how much a few people like it. Most bars cater to their customer base by stock what's selling and in the places I frequent I almost always go from the tap list because they often have stuff I want to try that is also fresher than anything in bottle.

BTW: I don't think what you saw is a sign of localvorism as much as it is a buisness decision and/or a fresh beer only decision. In NYC, a true localvore place probably wouldn't have anything on tap from even as far 100 miles away.

 

Can you elaborate? The last three times I went to a bar in NY, I enjoyed keg beer from Blaugies, BFM, and Birrificio Montegioco.

I'd be curious which bars you went to. I know of two places in Brooklyn that have a local approach (if I remember correctly). Neither places are high on the list for beer lovers. I think one is just NY product and the other is broader (neighboring states). A bar like that would have no problem including local bottles and cans as well. It's a crowded market in NYC and places do what they can to stand out.

 

The only places I've been in that don't have a bottle list are brew pubs that only serve their own beers. I would understand if a bar did ban bottles and would not be upset about it.

 

That movement has its tentacles out in a variety of ways, whether it is taking over handles that went to far better regional beers or whether it is having a no bottles policy. Stand up to it as best you can and vote with your dollars. In the end I think it will lose out for beer because there's enough people who appreciate the best beers available in a given market, even if they come from an adjacent state that is taboo for purchasing beer from because it isn't local.

 

The last time I had bottled beer at a bar was over 3 years ago. The bar had Founders Imperial Stout in bottles. Since I had never drank it or seen it at retail I got a bottle.

 

I'm the same way. When when I go out to a bar to drink I typically want something I can't get in a bottle. Exceptions of course for limited releases that I couldn't get my hands on when it was in stores.

 

If a bar has a good tap list no way I buy a bottle. I have bought a bottle a few times because the tap list sucked but that's mostly at restaurants.

 

Nothing worse than someplace trying to offer a wide variety of bottles on a permanent basis, only to have them not move quick enough. I was stoked to see Breakfast Stout on a menu the other day, only to be served a bottle from Nov 2013. They had no clue they were that old, shame. That and the inflated 12oz. bottle price, makes that a tough road to go down unless you are a craft beer-centric bar.

 

Back in Gary, Indiana in one of the suburbs called "Black Oak", you could not get beer in bottles ether, but for a different reason. It just made no sense putting a weapon with in easy reach from a bar fight...

 

Bottling and canning lines are a huge investment in both inventory and brewery foot print space, as well as money. These days many new breweries forgo the bottle/can and just keg and growler to fit the needs of their accounts and patrons.

The Loca-vore movement is all well and good but their rational could be a few tenants of the movement. Reduce waste or environmental impact ( instead of shipping 165 bottle of beer they could ship a half barrel keg). The second tenant is to reduce processing (more time and energy is spent cleaning and filling and branding the bottles and packaging than just filling a keg).

 

I'd rather it be tap, no bottles than the other way around. There are a few nice places here in Asheville (surprisingly enough) that only do bottles and, while the majority of them have nicely curated lists, most of us beer geeks are looking for draft when we go out.

 

I rarely drink bottled beer because I rarely drink at home. That's because my area is awash with cracking good cask ale pubs which lure me out. I am able to compare cask and bottled versions of the same beer ; the bottled version is like a 2 dimensional form of the cask. The downside is that pub beer is much more expensive than that from the supermarket , to me it's well worth the extra and you get the ambience and company of a pub to enhance the experience.

 

My favorite beer bar has European beers on tap constantly. I'm not talking about European labels brewed here in North America, I'm talking beers brewed and kegged in Europe.

 

Exactly. Buying a bottle at a bar almost always means paying more for a beer that is both older and colder than I prefer. I rarely get a bottle at either of my two favorite beer bars.

Many people hold this same philosophy and this makes it very difficult for craft bars to draw profit from a wide ranging bottle selection. It does not surprise me that there are bars with an awesome array of tapped beer but no bottles.