stlbites.com – st. louis food blog of bill burge

Better Restaurant Beer

Mar 17, 2008 beer, restaurants

Dear restaurants,

When I go to your restaurant, even though I’m not the beer snob some people are, sometimes I want beer instead of wine; and by beer I mean good beer; and by good beer I do not mean Stella Artois.

I mention this because even if you’re not super interested in researching the beers on your menu, or even carrying an extensive list, after listening to Mike rant more than a few times about restaurants and beer menus, he has convinced me there is a disparity between restaurants with good wine lists and that same restaurant’s beer selections.

Rather than simply complaining, however, Mike has come up with a solution by putting together sample beer lists that not only recognize the need for profit and the demand for certain brands, but also of better than average beer that while maybe not the ultimate showing of love to the beer snob would at least tread a middle ground where the Bud Select drinkers of the world can clink their ice cold bottles with the same joy that those of us with a Two Hearted Ale or O’Fallon 5 Day IPA obsession could experience as we poor it perfectly into appropriate glassware.

Which is another point by the way — if you care about service ware enough to not serve white and red wine in the same glass, than is it to much to ask that you might also not serve something like pale ale in a hefeweizen glass?

In all seriousness though, please look at Mike’s lists as he suggests several options to spruce up your beer list. In doing so I think you will find that you might just drum up a little more business because there really is a segment of diners that won’t frequent a place where they can’t get good beer.

Bill

Tags: 5 Day IPA, beer, beer lists, Bell's Brewery, O'Fallon Brewery, Two Hearted Ale stlhops.com