Do you got any regular beer?

In this day and age? Hah! Just say "it's not 1980, you know."

 

If they have an idea of what they consider normal, can't they just be directed to look at the tap handles?

 

I don't serve beer but I do deliver it. I've come across this many times when I'm servicing my accounts or the average Joe on the street that wants to talk to me about beer just because I'm the "beer guy."
I would say that most people I cross just want "regular" beer, they don't want craft or import beer. I usually tell them to drink what they enjoy and move on. I believe most beer drinkers just want to drink something that easy to drink and gets them drink. That's why believe light beer sells so well.

 

Well you could say "prune beer makes you regular", or "craft beer is regular here". Or take the high road, pour them a BMC if you have it, and offer them a sample of a milder craft such as a hefeweizen or kolsch.

 

Regular beer for me is what is on sale. I just bought a case of Brooklyn Defender for $20.00. Not bad for a regular beer. Takes the pressure off of the "stash" in my basement

 

A good reply might be "no, we only carry irregular beer"

 

OK, I'll bite here.

As to the question of what is "regular beer" I personally think the answer is very evident: "regular beer" is an AAL beer.

A week or so ago I was wine shopping with my wife at my 'local' Total Wine & More which is in the neighboring state of Delaware (Claymont, DE). While there we 'skimmed' through the beer section and I picked up a 6-pack of Yuengling Lord Chesterfield. My wife needless to say took note of this and stated: "You aren't going to buy that (shit), are you?" She did not say the word "shit" but I knew what she was intimating. My response was: "Yes, I am going to buy this 6-pack. Lord Chesterfield is an enjoyable summertime beer". As in a good lawnmower type beer.

I do not buy a lot of AAL beers but I sincerely believe that there is a time and place for almost any sort of beer including "regular beer".

Cheers!

 

Ehh, I don't disagree since it's your personal answer, but normal is so subjective that the customer asking for a "normal beer" might as well ask for a "normal appetizer" or a "normal burger". You may like what you get, or you may loath it, either way - I better not hear otherwise!

For reference, my "normal" (if by definition means "most frequently purchased") beer is PBR or Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale (tied as the most frequent beer purchases I make). Both quite different, yet available in a collection of bars both similar, and glaringly different.

 

Yes, if you consider the question from the perspective of a single, unique individual then it is indeed subjective.

If you consider the question from the perspective as to what are the most popular selling beers in the US by volume the 'answer' is pretty clear: Bud Light, Bud, Coors Light, Miller Lite,...

Cheers!

 

Smart woman

 

A follow up story.

My wife and I attended the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp festival in Philly and Yuengling had a booth. They served two beers: Summer Wheat and Lord Chesterfield. I stated to my wife: 'You should try the Lord Chesterfield". She gave me a 'look' and gave her glass to the server and asked for a Lord Chesterfield. She took a few sips and responded: "Yeah, it's not bad. I can see why you wanted to buy this beer."

I do not win too many 'arguments' so I consider that a BIG victory!!

As was stated in the movie Zombieland: "Enjoy the little things"!!

Cheers!

 

That's still subjective and your interpretation... what market are we selling in? USA? Europe? Asia? Downtown? Uptown? Country? Is it a dance club? A dank and dark speakeasy? A pop-up stand at a local city festival? Is the client in a large, 100+ tap craft place? Are they in a 3 tap "house beer only" place? A local restaurant that features a couple dozen taps?

I just found the jump to AAL a little quick. Blue Moon and other local, large regional offerings could both quite easily be considered "normal" in any given USA region (I don't know much about the international market). Which is what is so perplexing about this question as a bartender, because what is "regular"? A bartender working in a bar with 50+ taps may have a completely different answer than the bar on the corner with 2 taps.

 

In my second post I provide more details:

"If you consider the question from the perspective as to what are the most popular selling beers in the US by volume the 'answer' is pretty clear: Bud Light, Bud, Coors Light, Miller Lite,..."

It seems to me that our discussion on this topic has played out.

Cheers!

 

Fair enough.

It still omits the other half dozen or more markets I pointed out, and it makes an initial assumption that we are in fact talking about the most popular selling beers in the US by volume, but I get your point. If someone gets pissed over being served a Bud Light after asking for a "regular beer", keeping them happy shouldn't be high up on your list. Perhaps educating them should be though.

 

Sorry to jump in here, but it is not subjective and only his interpretation. Bud and Bud Light are two of the best selling beers in the entire world. That is not based on subjective observation but actual sales figures.

 

You are correct. They are both some of the best selling beers in the world with the qualitative data to back it up. I'm merely pointing out that "regular" and "normal" are subjective, and to leap to the conclusion that we're in fact discussing best selling beers in the USA is just that - a leap. After all, any individual customer that approaches the bar asking for "regular beer" on a given night could mean something entirely different from the next.

I didn't mean to pry away from OP's question, as I was, and still am, looking forward to how beer professionals handle the proposed question. Particularly those who serve(d) in establishments geared towards craft.

 

I get the question almost daily from customers and I can't think of a single time that it was not BMC. I can see what you're saying but from my experience at work and what it seems that the OP was going for, it's people in the US that have grown up viewing the best selling beers (BMC) as "regular beer".

And as to how I handle this question: Always with a polite smile and clear directions to the last two sections of our beer cooler or aisle 11 if they don't want it cold.