If you could curate the beer menu for a new gastropub, what five beers would you have on draft and what bottles would you have available? I was asked this question by a friend who is opening a gastropub in California, near San Francisco. He wants to have a small but amazing beer list that compliments the food, but also gets people excited who just want to drink. At first, I thought this would be easy to answer; however, after thinking about it, I don't think it is. Any suggestions? Distribution might be an issue too.
I think that’s kind of the wrong approach. You don’t want a static taplist, but rather one that rotates out lots of new stuff all the time – that’s what gets beer geeks to keep coming back. Also, if he has the connections, putting one rareish/variant beer on tap for the grand opening would cement it in people’s minds as a place that can pull strings. E.g. I was skeptical of a new gastropub that opened near me earlier this year until I went opening day and they had coconut VaS on tap.
Agreed, keeping a balance of styles on the five taps and choosing beers that complement the food are far more valuable than choosing five perfect beers to have as static taps. As a very general example: Tap 1 - Lighter American Beer - balanced pale ales and ambers, American wheats and blondes, and brown ales Tap 2 - Lighter European - ESBs, hefeweizens, saisons, Belgian blondes, etc. Tap 3 - Hoppy - IPAs and Double IPAs Tap 4 - Dark non-Belgian - porters and stouts, both normal and imperial, wee heavy, and barleywines Tap 5 - Strong Belgian - BSDA, BSGA, tripels, quads With proper choices in each given category, you'll have good pairings for most food items and a broad enough selection to appeal to both beer newbies as well as beer geeks.
If your friend already hasn't encourage them to talk to local spots. There are lot of restuarants/gastropubs/bars with food, which have great tap lists and have been established in the bay area for a few years.
If you want good food pairing beer, a nice saison and an amber/brown are a must. A nice pale or IPA that isn't crazy strong will be great with spicy or citrusy foods. You'll want to have at least one big ass beer (barleywine, imp stout, etc) to pair with desserts and rich foods. Where is this place opening? I'd love to hear more/help out!
You're definitely right about the static tap. My first inclination was to put on the beers I love, but you are on point! Having a set draft list would be boring and doesn't really excite people who want to try something new. The idea of having the style stay the same for each tap, but change it up with different beers in that style is great. That way it can constantly compliment the food, but offer variety. Thanks so much for your help.
Thanks for the advice. I definitely like the one big beer option. My buddy was just asking my opinion on stuff. Probably won't even listen, but hopefully I can help influence him a little. The project has been a little hush hush, so I don't know if should speak of specifics, but it will be in Oakland. I'll ask him if I can post something when they close to opening. Thanks again!
Did you see that the request is for just 5 tap lines? This isn't meant for beer geeks, this is a foodie destination that they want a solid variety of quality beers. One of the best bars in Seal Beach, just two blocks from Beachwood, is 320 Main and they have had the 5 or 6 craft tap lines going since they opened and they rarely change. And they have been incredibly successful. Keep in mind that true beer geeks, for most businesses that even offer craft beers, represent a very small part of their profits. The vast majority are always going to be people who wade in the shallow end and realistically they feel cool enough just saying that they don't drink BMC anymore. While Xul agreed with the rotating taps and I think that may be taking it too far, I do generally agree with Xul's breakdown of how the taps should be distributed. I would say to change them up every now and then, simply because what may be the first 5 beers, may not end up being the potentially best selling and it may take a couple of tries to find the businesses sweet spot. The problem with the rotating taps concept is that it is now so ominpresent in the beer community, that it is practically laughable from a business perspective now. only about 5% of the businesses doing this, actually do it well and the other 95% are either now having their beers selected by somebody who used to drink at the bar or the distributors are just selling them whatever they want. And rarely have I ever seen any bar with just 5 taps become a beer mecca for geeks, unless they were in some rural part of the country. I think the fact that they are sticking to 5 taps shows that the priority is on the food. And there is nothing wrong with finding 5 solid beers that cover varying tastes and compliment a variety of foods.
Your friend is opening a gastropub and his strategy on selecting beers is to have his friend ask strangers on a website that caters to the most extreme and opinionated beer geeks who represent an incredibly small percentage of the restaurant going public?
