Do you got any regular beer?

A neighbor stopped by tonight and I offered her a trois pistoles. She took one look and a whiff and said no way. She just likes normal beer. I understood as most people like regular- beer and craft beer is too intense on almost every level for them

 

Saying craft beer is too intense is a broad generalization that I can't agree with.

 

Rather than confronting and challenging a BMC devotee, I'd sure want the opportunity to be nice to them and see if I can ease them into craft by trying something they may well like. A hefeweizen or kolsch is not a world apart from AAL. They may well like it.

 

From my perspective, normal beer is IPA. I say this because the vast majority of bars and bottle shops I frequent are "craft" beer places. Yet, I find that in these places where I'm supposed to be hit with a great variety of diverse brews, I find that IPA quantities dominate the choices available. Thus, taken from this perspective, IPA is like the new "normal".

 

Oddly that's what my neighbor said,it was too intense and she prefers regular beer. I won't bother saying what brands she said she likes but they were more gun of the mill.

 

Is a hefe or kolsch more like aal than a craft pilsner?

 

No, but maybe more available?

 

Colt 45?

 

I've sat at the bar (a few times in a brewpub, no less) and heard this question. Usually the bartender just says "Sure do!" amd brings a Kolsch or Helles or Pilsner to them. Whatever closest resembles yellow fizzy drink.

 

The thing is, I get where someone is coming from when they say something like that. I'd venture that type of person is used to BMC, was offered a sip of some IPA (or even APA!) and didn't enjoy it.

I've heard more than once from friends and family who haven't strayed much from BMC that they can't stand dark beers. Now I know they mean porters/stouts because of our relationship but if I didn't I might ask: are we talking Vienna lagers, stouts, porters, dubbels, quads, fruited ales, black IPAs, ambers/reds, etc ? Because all could qualify as "dark" but they're all a bit different.

Outside of our niche here, there's a broad generalization of what craft beer is. It's not regular beer. It's that weird beer your brother-in-law takes notes about while he shoves his nose in the glass.

 

I'd ask them to define "regular" since different people would likely answer that differently. What is "regular" for one person may not be so for someone else.

Eric

 

I usually take them to the BMC item that they clearly have in mind. If they have a moment, though, I say " If you like this one, you should try this one sometime." At which point to a craft lager or perhaps a blonde ale.

I have had several customers over the years who will still grab the "regular" beer they came for, but will take a six pack of the one I recommended, too. Many have returned on their next visit telling me how much they liked the new style. A few have even made the beer I suggested their ne favorite.

 

Imo there are a few kinds of regular beer. The lager per se is a regular beer. The hefe is not. At least to your average person. Also dark beer seems not to be regular beer and if you ask the average person in the store aisle they will say " I don't like that dark beer." I find both those responses to be interesting because craft has made it's reputation on stouts and dark beer. Then there is all the packaging. Regular beer is beer you recognize or a name you recognize. Also bitter is not a popular flavor on the american palate and the IPA and it's sensational bitterness has turned people away . In fact you will see plenty of threads on how do I warm up to the IPA. The final category for regular beer is abv. If you have a bad experience you tend not to return to it. so if someone thought they were buying regular (low abv) beer and got something with a high abv they might not return to it.

 

In my opinion this is just the opposite of when I go to non craft beer centric establishment and ask "Do you have any craft beer?" So in my opinion, regular beer means AALs.

Also, I'm pretty happy that when I ask that question, the employee doesn't say, "if you like pilsners then why don't you try this Miller Lite." To each his own, let people drink what they want.

 

Sure, I've had friends and acquaintances ask me some variation of "do you have any regular beer" when they drop by and I offer some refreshment. What they're asking for (I know them) is a lightly colored, lightly flavored beer with less than 15 BU and preferably from a can. When I offer what I'm having I usually get a laugh.

 

Perhaps from your personal perspective what you consider to be normal for yourself is personal and subjective, but the larger context set by the OP is what does a typical bar owner or bar tender find people in general are looking for when they ask if someone has "regular beer."

Then it becomes a statsitical question of what constitutes "normal" or "regular," not a peronal or subjective judgement. When looking at consensus across multiple bar owners or bar tenders it becomes an even larger statistical question. At a national level it becomes and even larger statistical question.

 

Lord Chesterfield is awesome. Haven't had it in years and would gladly jump at the chance but you can't get it 'round these parts.

 

Since Yuengling is distributed into North Carolina that "can't get it" might be overcome if you were willing to buy an entire case at one time. One of my retailers, who handles mostly cases, is willing to order for me a case of any beer that comes into PA bottled. Check with a high volume store and see if they can make those arrangements.

 

In the ideal world, the interaction would happen like this:

Bartender: "What can I get you?"
Bar Patron: "Do you guys have any regular beer here? I don't recognize any of the ones on tap."
Bartender: "What do you consider "regular beer"? Are you looking for something specific?"
Bar Patron: "I usually drink Bud Light, but Coors Light or Miller Lite would be OK."
Bartender: "Sorry, we don't carry any of those. Would you be willing to try something similar?"
Bar Patron: "Sure"
Bartender: "Here's a Helles Lager that you might enjoy"
Bar Patron: "Wow . . . this is pretty good. Thanks, man!"
Bartender: "No problem"

Here's how it actually happens:

Bartender: "What can I get you?"
Bar Patron: "You have any normal beer in this place?" elbows brah to his right
Bartender: "We've got lots of normal beer. Are you looking for something in particular?"
Bar Patron: "Bud Light, man! Any bar that doesn't have my beer sucks."
Bartender: "Sorry, we don't carry Bud Light. Would you be willing to try something similar?"
Bar Patron: "Did you hear me? If you don't have Bud Light, we're out of here. This bar sucks! Let's go, brah."
Bartender: "Suit yourselves."