Bottles: Quality over Quantity?

Same logic applies to bars that have a massive amount of taps. I would rather have less selection and high turnover.

 

If we're talking about a store where I go regularly, then yes, a reasonable turnover rate is extremely important.

On the other hand, if we're talking a shop I stumble across and probably won't visit again, then nothing would be more exciting than seeing a huge selection of dusty bottles; I'd have to think there would be some gems in that collection!

 

My local small chain store has a huge selection. Most of which are dusty and over-priced (IMO). I usually just pick up 12-packs at this store and can almost always find something that's reasonably fresh (less than two months old). If I want to stock up on treats I go to a store that specializes in craft beer.

 

Yeah - I purposefully avoid the "we have 100+ taps of craft!" places. Bottle shops are a mixed bag for reasons stated above, but net/net I'd take the smaller, but fresher / better curated selection there too.

 

quality trumps quantity all day long

 

Freshness & Quality.

Usually it is the places with the higher volume & turnover, as others said.


But if freshness is the same, then it comes down to price & convenience. For example, every time that the new STONE Enjoy By hits the market, it is the same pallet(s) from the distributor delivered around town, so you can choose to pay $3 more for the same bomber at one place vs. another.

 

First time I had this realization was at a little dive bar in Manistee, MI where upon entering I glanced at a tap list of only like 4 beers and almost dismissed the notion of ordering beer until I realized that the 4 they had were REALLY GOOD beers. So quality over quantity was absolutely the right way to go.

I also witnessed a bar/restaurant in RIC that HAD to have EVERY great keg out there and had maybe 16 taps? They ended up going out of business and from what I heard from an insider that had to credit back the beer, they had over $5K in untapped beer. That's an astonishing amount of capital (VA is cash/check only for booze - no credit) tied up in a product that isn't moving very quickly, especially for a business that has narrow margins and depends on product moving fast. Moral of the story - buy small, buy good, turn over taps quickly.

I can remember my first glittery eyed encounter with what was at the time a "huge" selection back in the early 90's when a little liquor store on Old Seward Hwy. in Anchorage proudly flew a sign that said "Over 82 different beers!" (number may be off but it was 80 something) and yep, they got my business. My thought was with that kind of selection I can have tons of fun trying new stuff. And for the most part, that carried with me up until not too long ago. Fast forward to today where I have two forces tugging at me. First off, I tend to look more precisely for products now that either I've had and enjoyed or something I've seen or heard about on this site. So less opportunity fro me to simply peruse through beer I have never heard of. Secondly, quality is certainly a factor as to why I have become less adventurous. I feel as if you can predict that one out of every 3, hell maybe 2 IPAs will be less than "good" due to age or just subpar product from a mediocre brewery, so why even try any longer unless I hear about an exception on this site.

So to make a long post short, I'll certainly take far more discrimination when it comes to purchasing if the end result is a more consistent higher quality selection.

 

for anyone in the front range of colorado or on a beercation if you are in boulder both the West End Tavern, and Backcountry Pizza(boulder location ) have both quality and quantity on tap imo

 

Agree with OP. I prefer a bottle shop with less selection and greater quality however most bottle shops I visit have a selection of old beer just sitting collecting dust. I would guess it's impossible to know exactly what customers will buy so there wil always freshness issues.

 

I think a lot of this has to do with where you are in the country. Population and foot traffic have to be taken into account. I feel comfortable going to a bar with thirty taps anywhere in NYC (or a bottle shop with shelves and shelves and shelves) because I know the amount of people that stop in and make purchases is much higher than anywhere else.

If I was in Nowhere, Idaho, I would have reservations about going into identical places.

 

The bottle shop i regular does have a big selection but by being there fairly often (especially when deliveries come in) i know what has a high turnover rate so I'm not buying the stuff that sits around forever

 

I totally agree. I live in a town where a World Of Beer opened about a year ago. But there's a restaurant/bar around the corner that has been doing multiple taps of quality/"craft" beer for nearly 30 years...they have always had a well curated collection of a dozen or so great beers on the taps, and after experiencing the lousy and un-informed service at WOB (not to mention badly maintained beer lines and spoiled brew coming from some of the taps), the smaller place around the corner offers an infinitely better overall experience than the gimmicky World Of Beer.

 

quality

 

Typically Quality is better. Number of taps in a bar, it's all about whether those tap lines are cold and clean.

 

My taste buds prefer quality over quantity for sure! The allure of many beers is a force to be wary of!

 

Quality over quantity 10 times out of 10

 

fresh beer with a smart selection...which does not mean high-end only...it means good and great beer for all sorts

 

I think the logic here is flawed. Given the choice between quality or quantity, of course people here will vote for quality.
While there can be a relation between the two (as expressed in the OP), there really isn't a locked in relationship. You can have a bar/shop with both quantity and quality or neither.

I've been in well regarded shops with a small "curated" inventory that had old beer on the shelf. I've been in mega-stores with old beer on the shelf, that also happened to be the only store that carried certain excellent fresh beers. Bars with only two taps and dirty lines.