Opening an all-local craft beer bar

Two of those places offer BMC all the time...CCTH and Beer Exchange. CCTH has a dedicated tap for Stella (and usually PBR on). Beer exchange regularly has miller lite on tap as well. HopCat is a different beast.

 

With regard to CCTH, agreed, but I always figured that was more a kitschy nod to hipsters (iirc, you can get PBR at Hopcat too) than it was a business driver.

On KBE, fair point. I don't go there very often (too much of a cluster for me).

 

A tri-state area really isn't "local." It is regional. It isn't as if PA is a small state, either. It takes more than 4 hours just to get from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. And arguments could be made that just within the one state you have two very distinct localities. In my previous response to the OP, the largest definitions of local usually end at a state's borders, simply because the concepts of supporting local businesses (breweries, or otherwise) is that they employ people within state and also pay taxes inside of that state (as do their employees). And those businesses and employees also buy more goods and services within that state, all of which is a benefit to local (or state) economies. For somebody to draw the line at 3 states, then why not 4, 5 or 6 states, if you live in a state that has that many bordering states? It just becomes a random line being drawn in the sand that doesn't mean much. If they are marketing this as "local" and it is just relatively close, then it is really only marketing and does little to benefit the actual local economy. Which is actually a major part of the "local" movement.

 

There's a big craft bar near me (Gingerman) that has 52 taps, and no BMC on draft. They do have it in bottles, for when people ask. They seem to do pretty well. I do think it's important to have the BMC on hand because while you'd like to think most people in a craft bar are there because they want a good beer, sometimes they'll bring friends/family/etc along who just want to drink what they know, and it would be silly to turn away customers (and profit) if you can't meet their fizzy yellow water needs.