Bar Owners: Must-Have Craft Beers

First off, congrats!
Now, I'm sure you're going to get a very wide range of answers in this forum. How many handles are you going to offer? Do you want to try to be craft exclusive like Fountainhead or Map Room? What does your local competition offer?
Within the area I would assume you're going to want to stick with Daisy Cutter and/or Anti-Hero on tap, probably a Goose handle (one of their Belgians), something from Founders is usually pretty nice. Throw a Bell's seasonal handle on.
Personally, I don't do anything "year-round" at my restaurant; I don't like being locked in to any specific handle.
Feel free to BM me if you have any other specific questions. I know I'm just one opinion, but I'd like to think I know what I'm doing and enjoy helping people.

 

Are you allowed to share the name with a local... I'm in the La Grange area? Personally speaking, I'm a huge fan of Allagash Brewing, Alaskan Brewery, Grand Rapids Brewing Company and Bell's Brewery to name a few...

 

You realize that half of the breweries you named are not available in IL, right?

 

I don't have a huge craft beer following yet, and I have no craft draft available, but my experience with bottles has told me to not have year round beers. What's working for me is getting in new beers every week.

When a new one comes in I'll go through half a case to a case in the first week, but then the interest will slow down, so I don't usually buy more than two cases of any one beer to start. If it keeps the steam up though, I'll just get more the next week until the interest wanes.

I do have brand loyalty though as Travis mentioned. If you want the special releases, you have to form the relationship with the brewery.

 

Instead of Grand Rapids Brewing you probably meant to say Founders Brewing. Grand Rapids Brewing does not distribute their beers as far as I know.

 

Not sure what's available in your area so I won't be much help but how many drafts and bottles are you looking to carry? This will greatly help in answering the question.

 

where in chicago is this going to be? Gold coast, river north?? Should definitely have 3 floyds, half acres , check out small town brewery in wacaunda.

 

I have success with Anchor and Left Hand products. I don't really see Abita or Magic Hat controlling this market too much. Being that I'm also from the south, and have been exposed to both of those for a long time I can tell you that these are not major players in Chicago.

 

depends on what kind of bar you want to be. if you're going to be a sports bar serving tons of BMC but maybe want to dedicate a couple of taps to craft and offer some bottles, you're going to need very different recommendations from if you're trying to be a 'beer bar'. what kind of bar are you going to be running and where is it? 'upscale urban area' could mean a lot, and unless you're bound by some NDA (which you very well could be), you're limiting the help someone can give you by staying vague.

that said, you're probably going to get a lot of people on this site recommending brews for a 'beer bar'. if you ever want to be known as a 'beer bar', especially in the incredibly competitive chicago, i would suggest someone with solid beer credentials to run your beer program (i.e. a certified cicerone would be a start). asking a question as broad as 'what kind of craft beers should we have' suggests to me that you don't have the requisite knowledge to put together a solid array of craft, to keep it fresh (where appropriate), to keep it seasonal (where appropriate), and to keep your finger on the button of 'what's hot' in craft beer that would be needed to run a solid 'beer bar'. not saying you couldn't learn, but if this is the market you're going for, your knowledge is going to be vastly outpaced by a good chunk of your customer base when the doors open.

edit: for full disclosure, i am not a bar owner and i don't work in the beer industry. merely the perspective of an outsider and one of your possible future customers.

 

I have had Steam on tap and Porter in bottles. The Lager has had a pretty solid presence for a couple months now. Their autumn maple is also really damn good too.

 

A local tavern up here in Wisconsin that is known for having more craft options than most in the area does something interesting. Each month they have what they call "Beer School" where they feature a craft brewery's offerings and serve their homemade pizzas with them. The vendor, or a rep from the brewery if it is close enough, comes in and hosts the tasting. They charge $10-15 and require pre-registration. Obviously in Chicago you could probably charge much more than they can in Sheboygan, WI. They then feature those craft selections for the rest of the month along side their more regular selection. Mostly they have gone with Wisconsin craft breweries like New Glarus, Lakefront, Ale Asylum, and Central Waters, but have also branched out to include other offerings like Southern Tier, Ommegang, and Flying Dog.

 

Anti-Hero on tap all year!

 

For my money it's all about the tap list. That's my main priority when scoping out a new joint.

Bottles - even an "impressive" bottle list - cannot compare to the taste of beer on tap.
When I see bottled beer my first thought is "I can get this same bottle cheaper if I buy it in the store." That thought never crosses my mind when buying tap beer...

 

I almost never buy bottles unless they don't have much good stuff on tap.

 

I'd say rock the local stuff as much as possible. Hoppy stuff, Belgian/wild/sour stuff, and stouts are what are hottest right now and you live in a good city for all three.

 

Founders and Bell's and Three Floyds. I know none of those are truly local, but Three Floyds should be a must in Chicago, and Founders and Bell's are super popular... even at out-of-state bars I've gone to.

Not to mention you get more beer for less money on draft... I don't understand bottles at a bar, myself.

 

One two three four five.... Two Hearted... regardless Should be a year round. At any craft bar.