Last Call for the Beer Bar?

Oh yeah. Throw in some of the shops having a patio / biergarten area, food trucks, and even live music events (hi, Cappy's), and they're effectively a beer bar with an expansive bottle/can selection and liquor bottles to go. Lol.

That said, I do miss Beer Temple and Bavarian Lodge from Chicagoland, as those places had some phenomenal taplists. Cincinnati has nothing really comparable, unless it flies well under the radar.

 

ditto for me. My favorite places are the food places that happen to have outstanding beers on taps or on tap plus great assortment of cans/bottle. I can think of two of those places within a couple miles of my house each with over a dozen great beers on tap all the time and excellent food, too. I actually prefer them to breweries because the beers represent the best of their styles rather than a brewery that might have 2 really good ones out of 6, and the food tends to be better, too. To me bars connote some dark, cave-like environment where they focus on alcohol and maybe they serve up some sad variant of classic sandwiches or wings or other foodstuffs to soak up alcohol so the heavy drinkers can weave their way home through traffic.

 

Honestly I think more beer stores and bottle shops should have bars at the location. I love to sit down and have a beer or 2 while I decide what to get. Half the fun of going!

 

What happened? I wasn’t aware of anything.

 

Crew of P.O.C Republicans in maga hats who didnt bother anyone and were just looking to have a good time got cops called on them by staff.
Even other patrons who were not bothered by them at all were dumbfounded by the 13 cops cars that pulled up on them and escorted them out.
I'm no fan of either political party but we have a damned right to free speech and the like.
They were having mature,non confrontational debates with other patrons there who were also enjoying their presence and were not threatened by them AT ALL.

Just refer to yelp and you'll see not only that, but how women have been treated there as well.

Have never set foot in that place and have no desire to no matter what they have on tap.

 

Thx for the info. Sad -- but I'm glad there was one place in our great country recently where there were mature non-confrontational political debates...

 

I suppose there are some distant analogies to the US craft beer bar decline and what has been happening for a long time in the UK w/the Pub scene. That is probably more a generational thing which has happened despite the rise in small batch/craft breweries in the UK. Good piece on 60 minutes a few weeks ago about the continued decline of the Pub. Fortunately - my favorite beer bars near me and ones I frequently visit on work travel are still going strong - Armsby/3 Penny/BlackBack in NE, Fathers Office in Santa Monica and the Nook In HSV -- all have that great beer/food combo that has you wanting to go back as soon as you leave.

 

This is a great post and one I agree with 100%. I think, in a brewery dead zone like Manhattan, the beer bar is essential. Forget about people like you who live in the area, you know how many people from the metro area work there who like to blow off a little steam before getting on that train ride home?

I haven’t worked in Manhattan for a few years now, but I can’t tell how many times I blew off just the slightest little steam after a rough day, even if it was just a pint. And, to touch on your point, forget the fact they are Ciccerones, certified beer servers or know beer history (which most do), a lot of the beertenders were just friendly people always with a smile and an ear to listen to us bitch, even when it was busy. They seemed like they enjoyed what they did, enjoyed talking beer with their customers, and were passionate about not only beer but making a connection with their customers. Places like the Ginger Man and Rattle N Hum are closed now and that just makes me sad.

My first KBS was in a Manhattan beer bar. My first Other Half was in a Manhattan beer bar. Hell, my first Aventinus was in the Peculiar Pub on Bleecker in the mid-90s.

On the flip side, at least in the NYC metro area, the other boroughs and suburban areas are filled with breweries. Too many of them, if you ask me. Breweries with tap rooms, with the kegs right in the cool box just on the other side of the taps is a plus. But, generally, most breweries don’t have guest taps, so you’re drinking whatever the brewery has to offer and nothing else which could be looked at as a negative if you’re not into that particular brewery. Plus, you’re dealing with covid too and whatever rules that state/county/establishment has in place, plus, your personal feelings on being in a bar/taproom surrounded by a bunch of strangers.

Im in my mid-40s, so at this point, I’m team taproom. I’m not looking for a crazy time, and I’m not looking to bump elbows by the bar. I want to sit, I want to relax, I want to bring home some beer with me. I like doing the “beer bar” when I’m looking to sit down and eat. When I was younger, though, my answer would have been team beer bar, so I hope there’s still room for both in today’s market.

TL/DR: I hope there’s a place where the beer bar and the taproom can co-exist. It’s tricky times but imo there’s always room for both.

 

Is this even allowed in MA?

 

Thanks for the heads up. That was a good read.

 

It's allowed although rare in Jersey and Pennsylvania, and I very much enjoy that kind of experience. In terms of Mass, you guys have enough good breweries I think you will survive

 

This whole story sounded like a 2020 election mad libs wow

 

Yeah, me too. Most breweries could do a small kitchen, focusing on nice soups and sandwiches, and you'd know what was in store when you headed there. It's like playing lotto with food trucks; some are really good, most average-ish, and some terrible. Add in the fact that most food trucks focus in an area/style of food, and if I'm hungry, and the food truck that is the vegetarian one that shows up all around town, I'm shit out of luck that day.

 

I take the vegetarian food truck as a sign to get out of my comfort zone... and go to another bar! Cheers!

 

There's a lot of good stuff to be said for taprooms and I'm totally with you on how I enjoy each individually and think of them as separate experiences. I actually think you make an even better point here though - the people I've gotten to know who work at bars and have taught me about beer or about breweries or about history sort of only because I liked them as people to start with. Meeting people at bars to be social was probably one of the main reasons I got in the habit of doing that in the first place.

I also think the social aspect of going to bars has probably made me not just more knowledgeable and involved in the local beer scene in NYC than I would have been going to breweries, but also more outgoing as a person. My best friend, I met at City Hops because someone organized a Beer Advocate meetup (sadly, that bar is now gone) - every year on the day we met we have a small share to commemorate that day at City Hops. Most of my work friends and I became close because Rattle N Hum was across the street from our office and we'd grab a pint after work there once a week. We moved to our newest apartment uptown in part because we love Harlem Hops so much. Taprooms are great, but beer bars really complete the city in my opinion.

Thanks for the insightful response!

 

Haha…what’s the odds we’ve had a beer together at RnH before? Probably pretty high. I knew Joe the manager and most of the beertenders (probably Krista the best). I’m very tall and fairly skinny with noticeable sideburns, I stick out in a crowd haha

 

The combination of package and by-the-drink sales depends on licensing, which varies with state law, and sometimes with local codes.

 

Maybe it's a little too different from being a 'beer store', but if a bar is allowed in MA just check the Whole Foods stores. They seem to be on a quest to add taps/bar at all of their locations.

 

I don't know, I still miss my now-closed local here in Colorado Springs (r.i.p. Brewer's Republic). Sure, I walk down to a nearby brewery as a quasi-replacement, but it's not the same; they don't brew all that great. I support local when the local is good to great. But I miss the range, variety, and occasional experimentation of something on tap that was not local. Miss that place. Losing Falling Rock in Denver hurt too, great place to sample and enjoy beers from across the country. Some new "concepts" that are close to taprooms started since the pandemic but all they offer is local beer. Man, if I wanted local beer I'd go to the brewery itself.... (shakin' my head). But I digress....
Cheers!