1. What is your approach to recommending beers to people who ask, “What do you think is good?” or the other variations on the “you choose for me” theme?
That is usually one of the more frustrating questions, because there isn’t one beer that everyone will like (I might think it’s great, you might think it’s great, but they might not think it’s great). I really try to get some feedback from them as to what flavors or styles they like. We try to keep a wide variety of styles, and we have the opportunity to turn people on to these styles they may have never heard of.
2. What did you learn about running a craft beer bar that took you by surprise?
That we were really able to just sell beer and pretty much nothing else. We were going to do sandwiches, and we had chocolate and cheese going for a while too, but the beer sales were going so well that we were able to cut out all food and focus on what we wanted to do, bring in really good beers.
3. What beer style do you think is under appreciated at the moment?
Not sure. I would probably say some kind of German lager. Most breweries seem to skip almost all German styles, especially Lagers. There are definitely economic reasons for why brewers decide not to do lagers, but it would be nice to see more of them.
4. What beer has really found an audience that you thought might not? And conversely, which sure thing didn’t pan out like you thought it would?
I’m pretty sure all beer will have an audience, as long is it is made well. I’ve had a couple of mint beers on recently, the flavor isn’t working for me, but there have been plenty of people that have been really enjoying them.
4b. Not positive I know what the question is, but I’ll give it a go. There have been a couple of beers that we’ll put on and I’ll think is amazing, but it doesn’t sell well. Usually I think it is because it came from one of the larger craft breweries. There are definitely a lot of people that think New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Widmer and the like, can’t produce a good beer, and that is very frustrating.
5. What do you think of the recent surge in brewery openings? (Migration, Coalition, Mt. Tabor)
I think it is great. I don’t think there is a saturation point yet. I think most of these brewpubs are just setup as your local tavern, that just so happens to also make their own beer, seems good to me. If I had a small brewpub or a regular bar, with the same beers that every other bar in town has, right next to my house, I’m going to the small brewpub.